Synergistic effect of S,N-co-doped mesoporous carbon materials with high performance for oxygen-reduction reaction and Li-ion batteries

S,N-co-doped porous carbon (SNPC) materials are good candidates for the cathodic oxygen-reduction reaction (ORR) and lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, SNPC gives low yield and is expensive. Herein, we report a new and efficient method for synthesizing a S,N-co-doped mesoporous carbon material through the carbonization of S,N-containing precursors in molten ZnCl2, where ZnCl2 served as the ionic solvent and Lewis acid catalyst. The resultant SNPC-800 showed a mesoporous structure with a specific surface area of 1235 m2 g−1 and a mesopore-size range of 10–45 nm, which were considerably larger than those obtained through the carbonization of ionic liquids and fabrication of graphene oxides. Furthermore, ORR measurements indicated good catalytic activity, comparable to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Also the SNPC-800 material exhibited excellent catalytic stability, and high methanol tolerance compared to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. Density functional theory calculation results revealed that the catalytic properties originated from the synergistic effect of the S/N dopant and that the main catalytic reaction path followed an associative mechanism. LIB tests further showed high reversible capacity, as well as excellent cycling stability and rate performance.