An expedient, template-free, high-yield, and solventless route to nitrogen-rich micro- and mesoporous carbons is reported based on direct, atmospheric-pressure carbonization of task-specific ionic liquids bearing one or more nitrile side chains. The resulting textural properties (pore regime, surface area) are highly dependent upon the structural motifs of the ions comprising the corresponding parent ionic liquid, and uniform carbon films are routinely deposited with this novel methodology, highlighting excited new opportunities in the development of advanced functional carbon composites.

Perovskites are of great interest as replacements for precious metals and oxides used in bifunctional air electrodes involving the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Herein, we report the synthesis and activity of a phase-pure nanocrystal perovskite catalyst that is highly active for the OER and ORR. The OER mass activity of LaNiO3, synthesized by the calcination of a rapidly dried nanoparticle dispersion and supported on nitrogen-doped carbon, is demonstrated to be nearly 3-fold that of 6 nm IrO2 and exhibits no hysteresis during oxygen evolution. Moreover, strong OER/ORR bifunctionality is shown by the low total overpotential (1.02 V) between the reactions, on par or better than that of noble metal catalysts such as Pt (1.16 V) and Ir (0.92 V). These results are examined in the context of surface hydroxylation, and a new OER cycle is proposed that unifies theory and the unique surface properties of LaNiO3.

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We present a series of perovskite electrocatalysts that are highly active for both the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in an aqueous alkaline electrolyte. Lanthanum-based perovskites containing different transition metal active sites (LaBO 3 , B = Ni, Ni 0.75 Fe 0.25 , Co, Mn) are synthesized by a general colloidal method, yielding phase pure catalysts of homogeneous morphology and surface area (8−14 m 2 /g). Each perovskite's ability to catalyze the OER and ORR is examined using thin film rotating disk electrochemistry (RDE). LaCoO 3 supported on nitrogen-doped carbon is shown to be ∼3 times more active for the OER than high-surface-area IrO 2 . Furthermore, LaCoO 3 is demonstrated to be highly bifunctional by having a lower total overpotential between the OER and ORR (ΔE = 1.00 V) than Pt (ΔE = 1.16) and Ru (ΔE = 1.01). The OER and ORR pathways are perturbed by the introduction of peroxide disproportionation functionality via support interactions and selective doping of the catalyst. LaNi 0.75 Fe 0.25 O 3 's ability to disproportionate peroxide is hypothesized to be responsible for the ∼50% improvement over LaNiO 3 in catalytic activity toward the ORR, despite similar electronic structure. These results allow us to examine the pathways for OER and ORR in context of support interactions, transition metal redox processes, and catalytic bifunctionality.