Hemp derived N-doped highly porous carbon containing Co nanoparticles as electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction

Biomass derived porous carbon was wildly used in non-precious metal carbon based electrocatalysts for ORR due to its low cost and sustainability. Here, we develop a facile route to prepare Co/N doped hemp derived highly porous carbon (Co/NHPC) as ORR electrocatalyst. The prepared Co/NHPC-90 possess 3D hierarchically porous nanostructure with high specific surface areas (1251 m 2 g −1 ) and large pore volumes (0.99 cm 3 g −1 ) due to the chemical activation of NaHCO 3 , which is benefit for the mass/electron transfer and exposure of active sites. In addition, melamine and cobalt nitrate were selected as nitrogen and metal source respectively to enrich the density of active sites. Thus, Co/NHPC-90 exhibits excellent ORR electrocatalytic performance with high half-wave potential (0.826 V), superior catalytic stability and tolerance to methanol.