Original design of nitrogen-doped carbon aerogels from sustainable precursors: application as metal-free oxygen reduction catalysts
By Brun, Nicolas; Wohlgemuth, Stephanie A.; Osiceanu, Petre & Titirici, Magdalena M.
Published in Green Chem.
The Royal Society of Chemistry
2013
Abstract
A new sustainable approach based on the hydrothermal carbonization of biomass-derivatives is reported for the synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon-based aerogels. The catalyst-free hydrothermal treatment of both carbohydrate-based derivatives, i.e. glucose, d-glucosamine and/or N-acetyl-d-glucosamine, and phenolic compounds, i.e. phloroglucinol and/or cyanuric acid, led to highly porous monolithic gels. After pyrolysis under an inert atmosphere, conductive N-doped carbon aerogels were obtained, displaying nitrogen-doping levels of 3-5 wt% and BET surface areas of up to 450 m2 g-1. These original materials showed the first promising results as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction and are expected to be used in a wide variety of fields, including for advanced energy conversion and storage devices.