In
this recent decade, great interest has risen to develop metal-free
and cheap, biomass-derived electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction
(ORR). Herein, we report a facile strategy to synthesize an electrochemically
active nanocarbon material from the renewable and biological resource,
wood biomass. The ORR activity of the catalyst material was investigated
in 0.1 M KOH solution by employing the rotating disc electrode method.
Scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray
photoelectron spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy were employed to
obtain more information about the catalyst material’s morphology
and composition. The material exhibits outstanding electrocatalytic
activity with low onset potential and high current density, similar
to that of a commercial Pt/C catalyst in an alkaline medium. The results
clearly ascertain that wooden biomass can be easily transformed into
novel carbon nanostructures with superior ORR activity and possibility
to be used in fuel cells and metal–air batteries.
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