Hierarchical Metal-Free Nitrogen-Doped Porous Graphene/Carbon Composites as an Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalyst

Hierarchical nitrogen-doped porous graphene/carbon (NPGC) composites were fabricated by a simple and nontemplate method. The morphology characterizations demonstrate that reduced graphene oxide was successfully coated by the carbon derived from glucose, and a well-organized and interpenetrated hierarchical porous structure of NPGC was formed after pyrolysis at 950 °C. Notably, the prepared material, denoted as NPGC-950, has superlarge specific surface area (1510.83 m2 g–1) and relatively high content percentage of pyridinic and graphitic nitrogen. As an efficient metal-free electrocatalyst, NPGC-950 exhibits a high onset potential (0.91 V vs RHE) and a nearly four-electron pathway for oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline solution as well as stronger methanol tolerance and better long-term durability than commercial Pt/C. In view of these excellent features, the obtained hierarchical N-doped metal-free porous carbon material is a promising catalyst for oxygen reduction reaction and could be widely applied in industry.