title: Soft-Templating Synthesis of N-Doped Mesoporous Carbon Nanospheres for Enhanced Oxygen Reduction Reaction.
abstract: The development of ordered mesoporous carbon materials with controllable structures and improved physicochemical properties by doping heteroatoms such as nitrogen into the carbon framework has attracted a lot of attention, especially in relation to energy storage and conversion. Herein, a series of nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon spheres (NMCs) was synthesized via a facile dual soft-templating procedure by tuning the nitrogen content and carbonization temperature. Various physical and (electro)chemical properties of the NMCs have been comprehensively investigated to pave the way for a feasible design of nitrogen-containing porous carbon materials. The optimized sample showed a favorable electrocatalytic activity as evidenced by a high kinetic current and positive onset potential for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to its large surface area, high pore volume, good conductivity, and high nitrogen content, which make it a highly efficient ORR metal-free catalyst in alkaline solutions.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: Bita
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bayatsarmadi
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia.
authors.forename: Yao
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio, 44240, USA.
authors.forename: Mietek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jaroniec
authors.affiliation: School of Chemical Engineering, the University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, 5005, Australia. s.qiao@adelaide.edu.au.
authors.forename: Shi Zhang
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: Qiao
keywords: electrocatalyst; mesoporous carbon; nitrogen-doping; oxygen reduction reaction; soft-templating