title: Efficient metal-free oxygen reduction in alkaline medium on high-surface-area mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbons made from ionic liquids and nucleobases.
abstract: Mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon materials with high surface areas up to 1500 m(2) g(-1) were conveniently made by the carbonization of nucleobases dissolved in an all-organic ionic liquid (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide). Using hard templating with silica nanoparticles, this process yields high-surface-area nitrogen-doped carbon materials with nitrogen contents as high as 12 wt %, narrow mesopore size distribution of ca. 12 nm diameter, and local graphitic carbon structure. It is demonstrated that the resulting nitrogen-doped carbons show very high catalytic activity, even in the metal-free case in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) for fuel cells. Specifically, the as-prepared materials exhibit a low onset voltage for ORR in alkaline medium and a high methanol tolerance, compared with those of commercial 20 wt % Pt/C catalyst. We regard this as a first step toward an all-sustainable fuel cell, avoiding noble metals.
authors.affiliation: Colloid Chemistry, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Am Mühlenberg 1, 14476 Potsdam/Golm, Germany. wen.yang@mpikg.mpg.de
authors.forename: Wen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Tim-Patrick
authors.initials: TP
authors.lastname: Fellinger
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Antonietti
mesh_terms: D000468:Alkalies / Q000737:chemistry*; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D052578:Ionic Liquids / Q000737:chemistry*; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000737:chemistry*; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000737:chemistry*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D016062:Porosity; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D000468:Alkalies; D052578:Ionic Liquids; D009711:Nucleotides; D002244:Carbon; D009584:Nitrogen; D010100:Oxygen