NaCl Crystal Tuning Nitrogen Self-Doped Porous Graphitic Carbon Nanosheets for Efficient Oxygen Reduction

The demand on the highly efficient and low-cost cathodic electrocatalysts for commercialization of fuel cells is rapidly increasing. One smart route for obtaining these ideal electrocatalysts is extracting active carbon materials from natural and cheap biomass waste. Here, we prepared a novel nitrogen self-doped porous graphitic carbon nanosheets (NPGCNs-NaCl) derived from a nitrogen-rich pruning of Lycium barbarum L. using NaCl crystal as intercalation agent. The as-obtained NPGCNs-NaCl possessed porous structure, large surface area, increased content of nitrogen and high graphitic carbon, and thus making it with high electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Most importantly, significantly enhanced stability and tolerance against methanol were observed compared with commercial Pt/C catalyst in alkaline solution. This work is believed to open a new avenue for manufacturing advanced and low-cost ORR electrocatalysts in fuel cells from biomass waste.