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Coprinus comatus-derived nitrogen-containing biocarbon electrocatalyst with the addition of self-generating graphene-like support for superior oxygen reduction reaction

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  • Materials Science
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Science Bulletin

Abstract

The development of nitrogen-rich biomass-derived carbon catalysts provides an attractive perspective to substitute for Pt-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). We here report a facile strategy for synthesis of a nitrogen-doped biocarbon/graphene-like composite electrocatalyst by pyrolyzing a solid-state mixture of coprinus comatus biomass and melamine under nitrogen protection. The graphtic carbon nitride formed by polycondensation of melamine at 600 °C acts as a self-sacrificing template to generate the nitrogen-doped graphene-like sheet, which can function as an inserting agent and self-generating support. The composite catalyst exhibits the most promising catalytic activity towards the four-electron ORR with a half-wave potential of around 0.83 V (vs. RHE), and more excellent stability and tolerance to methanol/ethanol compared to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. It is interestingly found that both a higher content of nitrogen and a larger ratio of graphitic-nitrogen species, which may derive from self-addition of graphene-like support into the catalyst, can effectively improve the electrocatalytic activity. The planar N group may be the nitrogen functionality that is most responsible for maintaining the ORR activity in alkaline medium. This study can largely encourage the exploration of high-performance carbon-based catalysts from economical and sustainable fungus biomass.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the Basic and Frontier Research Program of Chongqing Municipality (cstc2015jcyjA50032, cstc2014jcyjA50038), the Scientific and Technological Research Program of Chongqing Municipal Education Commission (KJ1501118), the Talent Introduction Project of Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences (R2014CJ02), and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (21273292). We gratefully thank Prof. Wen**g Yang, Dianyong Tang, Qizhi Diao, Zhongli Luo, and Yujun Si for helpful discussions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Institute for New Materials Technology, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China

    Chaozhong Guo, Lingtao Sun & Haibo Ruan

  2. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University, Chongqing, 400044, China

    Chaozhong Guo & Changguo Chen

  3. School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Chongqing University of Arts and Sciences, Chongqing, 402160, China

    Chaozhong Guo, Wenli Liao, Zhongbin Li, Qingshan Wu, Qinghong Luo & Jie Huang

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  1. Chaozhong Guo
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  2. Wenli Liao
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Correspondence to Chaozhong Guo or Changguo Chen.

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Guo, C., Liao, W., Li, Z. et al. Coprinus comatus-derived nitrogen-containing biocarbon electrocatalyst with the addition of self-generating graphene-like support for superior oxygen reduction reaction. Sci. Bull. 61, 948–958 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-016-1088-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11434-016-1088-9

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