Nitrogen doped large mesoporous carbon for oxygen reduction electrocatalyst using DNA as carbon and nitrogen precursor

By using herring sperm DNA as carbon and nitrogen precursor and commercial hydrophilic nano-CaCO3 as hard-template, a one step and green method to synthesize nitrogen doped large mesoporous carbon (N-LMC) is presented. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption–desorption and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) were employed to confirm the characterizations of N-LMC. The as-prepared material exhibited higher electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) than LMC. Moreover, the influence of different amounts of N-bonding configurations formed at different carbonization temperatures in N-LMC for the ORR was researched. Results indicated that N-LMC treated at 800 °C (N-LMC-800) with high amounts of pyridinic N and graphitic N showed improved electrocatalytic activity for the ORR.

► A one step and green synthesis of nitrogen doped large mesoporous carbon (N-LMC).
► Creatively introducing herring sperm DNA as nitrogen and carbon precursor.
► N-LMC with large mesoporous structure and high nitrogen content.
► N-LMC showing high electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction.