Abstract
AbstractNitrogen‐doped carbon materials as durable high‐performance oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts showed great potential to replace Pt‐based catalysts. In this paper, a N‐self‐doped carbon catalyst is fabricated from natural biomass (water hyacinth) via a facile pyrolysis process. The as‐prepared catalysts with high specific surface area (828.50 m2 g−1) possess hierarchical porous structures and excellent ORR efficiency. The catalysts exhibit a high onset potential (Eonset=0.948 V), half‐wave potential (E1/2=0.827 V) and limiting current density (JL=4.95 mA cm−2), which is comparable to commercial Pt/C. Moreover, the long‐term stability and tolerance to methanol of the as‐prepared catalysts are also superior to those of Pt/C. The outstanding electrochemical performance is ascribed to the hierarchical porous structure with accessible active sites, which originated from the natural properties of water hyacinth. This work opens a new door for the synthesis of NC catalysts using biomass as a precursor. The as‐prepared catalysts have great potential for further study and applications in energy.
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