In-situ synthesis of Co nanoparticles encapsulated in mesoporous Co, N-codoped graphene-like carbon hybrid as an efficient oxygen reduction electrocatalyst

Abstract Rational design and construction of robust electrocatalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are vital for energy conversion devices. Here, we report a hierarchically engineered Co nanoparticle (NP) encapsulated in Co, N codoped graphene-like carbon sample (Co@NC) via direct pyrolyzing the mixture of glucose, dicyandiamide and cobalt salt. Benefiting from the Co-N4 moiety and high content of doped N species (8.81 at. %) which highly dispersed on the large Co NP modified carbon surface, Co@NC sample delivers remarkable ORR catalytic performance with an onset potential of 0.98 V and a half-wave potential of 0.86 V together with robust durability, which outperforms the benchmark Pt/C catalyst and most of published Co-Nx-C samples in alkali. This facile mass-producible strategy undoubtedly provides an avenue to achieve highly active and durable practical-oriented electrocatalytic catalysts for wide electrochemical energy devices.