Carbon aerogels have large specific surface areas suitable for the formation of large numbers of exposed catalytically active sites for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this study, as-prepared carbon aerogels undergo a manganese-assisted annealing process, resulting in a 754 m 2 g −1 specific surface area, abundant macropores, and a fourfold increase in the surface nitrogen content. An optimized Mn−N codoped carbon aerogel, with a 1:10 mass ratio of MnCl 2 •4H 2 O to carbon, annealed at 800 °C, exhibited excellent ORR catalytic activity in a three-electrode system, reaching an onset potential of 0.988 V, slightly higher than 0.975 V of commercial Pt/C (20 wt %, Johnson Matthey). A primary zinc−air battery utilizing this non-noble metal-containing material as an ORR cathode catalyst, operating at a current density of 100 mA cm −2 , demonstrated an open-circuit voltage, output voltage, and power density of 1.467 V, 1.124 V, and 112.38 mW cm −2 , respectively, 11 mV, 97 mV, and 9.75 mW cm −2 higher than those values of a Pt/C-containing zinc−air battery. Excellent ORR performance of the Mn−N codoped carbon aerogel could be resulting from the synergistic effect of abundant macropores, highdensity nitrogen-based catalytically active sites, and a certain amount of MnO catalytically active sites.

Being a most promising alternative to platinum-based catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction, nitrogen-doped carbon materials have been extensively investigated to improve their electro-catalytic activity. In this work, a facile process...

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