Direct Synthesis of Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanosheets
with High Surface Area and Excellent Oxygen Reduction Performance
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Abstract
Graphene-like nitrogen-doped carbon
nanosheets (NCN) have become a fascinating carbon-based material for
advanced energy storage and conversion devices, but its easy, cheap,
and environmentally friendly synthesis is still a grand challenge.
Herein we directly synthesized porous NCN material via the facile
pyrolysis of chitosan and urea without the requirement of any catalyst
or post-treatment. As-prepared material exhibits a very large BET
surface area of ∼1510 m<sup>2</sup> g<sup>–1</sup> and
a high ratio of graphitic/pyridinic nitrogen structure (2.69 at. %
graphitic N and 1.20 at. % pyridinic N). Moreover, compared to a commercial
Pt/C catalyst, NCN displays excellent electrocatalytic activity, better
long-term stability, and methanol tolerance ability toward the oxygen
reduction reaction, indicating a promising metal-free alternative
to Pt-based cathode catalysts in alkaline fuel cells. This scalable
fabrication method supplies a low-cost, high-efficiency metal-free
oxygen reduction electrocatalyst and also suggests an economic and
sustainable route from biomass-based molecules to value-added nanocarbon
materials