Nitrogen doped sublimed carbon as non-noble metal catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

•A sublimed carbon material is prepared by a simple solid-state pyrolysis method.•The carbon material is doped with nitrogen with different nitrogen sources.•The nitrogen doped sublimed carbon show good performance as catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction.

A sublimed carbon has been synthesized by a simple solid-state pyrolysis method and the carbon works as non-noble metal oxygen reduction catalyst after doping with nitrogen. The content of nitrogen introduced by doping is found to be a factor influencing the electrocatalytic activity. The nitrogen doped carbon can find potential applications in fuel cells and other devices where oxygen reduction reaction works as cathode reaction.

Graphical abstractA sublimed carbon material by a simple solid-state pyrolysis method. The carbon material is doped with nitrogen with different nitrogen sources. The nitrogen doped sublimed carbon show good performance as catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction.Figure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload high-quality image (159 K)Download as PowerPoint slide