Development of Novel Non-noble-metal Porous Carbon Materials and Its Oxygen Reduction Performance

Development of high efficient carbon-based non-noble metal oxygen reduction catalysts is the key to fuel cell in breaking through the high cost barriers and commercial applications. In this work, a novel Co/N-doped porous carbon hybrid is synthesized through a simple vulcanization and calcination strategy using the metal-organic-frameworks as precursors. By optimizing the synthesis process, the catalytic activity of the material toward oxygen reduction reaction is improved, and the relationship between the microstructure and oxygen reduction performance is obtained. This strategy may provide a reference for the preparation of non-noble metal catalysts. Experimental results show that when Zn is contained in the precursors, the derived catalyst after pyrolysis at 900℃ shows the prominent oxygen reduction reaction activity, durability and methanol tolerance comparable to those of commercial Pt/C catalyst with an oneset potential of 1.009 V, a half-wave potential of 0.864 V and a limit current density of 5.310 mA•cm^-2.