Electrocatalytic Activity for the Oxygen Reduction on the Novel Carbon Material Containing Nitrogen Prepared by Using Two-Step Pyrolysis of Hemolymph Protein

摘要

There is a growing interest in oxygen electrochemistry as conversions between O2 and H2O play animportant role in a variety of new energy technologies. Here we design the nitrogen-containing carbonmaterial by using two-step carbonization of hemolymph protein to study the process of oxygenreduction catalysis in alkaline media. The structural and chemical properties of carbon material wasstudied using the X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray photoelectronspectroscopy, and its catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), methanol-tolerantperformance and long-term stability were evaluated by linear sweeping voltammetry and amperometricI-t curve. The results indicate that the ORR onset potential for carbon material is approximately 0.05 V(vs. Hg/HgO) being close to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. An important finding is the methanol- tolerant performance and stability of carbon material has outperformed the Pt/C catalyst. We alsopropose the pyrrolic- and pyridinic-nitrogen groups may be the catalytic active sites for the ORR. Thiswork would stimulate ones to develop the activated carbon materials by using native proteins.