High oxygen-reduction activity and durability of nitrogen-doped graphene

Nitrogen-doped graphene as a metal-free catalyst for oxygen reduction was synthesized by heat-treatment of graphene using ammonia. It was found that the optimum temperature was 900 °C. The resulting catalyst had a very high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity through a four-electron transfer process in oxygen-saturated 0.1 M KOH. Most importantly, the electrocatalytic activity and durability of this material are comparable or better than the commercial Pt/C (loading: 4.85 µgPt cm−2). XPS characterization of these catalysts was tested to identify the active N species for ORR.