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B, N Co‐Doped Three‐Dimensional Carbon Aerogels with Excellent Electrochemical Performance for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction
Author(s) -
Yu Jie,
Wang Congliang,
Yuan Wenjing,
Shen Yuhua,
Xie Anjian
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201806201
Subject(s) - catalysis , materials science , electrochemistry , methanol , hydrogen peroxide , carbon fibers , carbonization , reversible hydrogen electrode , boron , lithium (medication) , specific surface area , inorganic chemistry , chemical engineering , nitrogen , electrode , chemistry , scanning electron microscope , composite material , organic chemistry , reference electrode , medicine , composite number , engineering , endocrinology
Herein, an ordinary and mass‐production approach is reported to synthesize boron (B) and nitrogen (N) co‐doped three‐dimensional (3D) carbon aerogels (CA) by using glucose and borax as the raw materials by a simple hydrothermal method and then carbonization in NH 3 atmosphere. The porous material (BN‐CA‐900) possesses a large specific surface area (1032 m 2 g −1 ) and high contents of doped pyridinic N and graphitic N. The onset potential (0.91 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode, RHE), half‐wave potential (0.77 V vs. RHE), and current density (5.70 mA cm −2 at 0.2 V vs. RHE) of BN‐CA‐900 for ORR are similar to those of commercial Pt/C, indicating that BN‐CA‐900 has a comparable catalytic activity with Pt/C in alkaline media. The number of electron transfer is 3.86–3.99 and the yield of hydrogen peroxide is less than 6.8 %. BN‐CA‐900 also presents decent catalytic performance in acidic medium. Moreover, the stability and methanol tolerance of BN‐CA‐900 are superior to commercial Pt/C in both alkaline and acidic media. The prepared BN‐CA‐900 is a promising candidate that may be applied in other areas, such as the adsorption of pollution, porous conductive electrodes, and lithium‐ion batteries.