Novel self-nitrogen-doped porous carbon from waste leather as highly active metal-free electrocatalyst for the ORR

N-Doped Porous Carbon from Sargassum spp. as Efficient Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for O2 Reduction in Alkaline Fuel Cells

“…The peaks located at 288.6 and 290.0 eV were assigned to C-O bonds (O-C-O/C=O and O-C=O, respectively), and the peak at 291.5 ± 0.1 was related to the π-π* shake-up satellite, which is common in high-temperature treated carbons [44]. High-resolution spectra for N1s showed peaks which were assigned as follows: N1 from 398.1 to 399.3 eV; N2 from 399.8 to 401.2 eV, and N3 from 401.1 to 402.7 eV [23]. Pyridine treatment eliminated the sulphur from doped samples and changed the nitrogen-bond type.…”

“…In previous years, vegetal and animal origin biomasses such as moss [9], lotus stem [10], oil seed [11], luffa sponge fibers [12], amaranthus [13], pomelo peel [14], brewer's yeast [15], okara [16], fish [17], chicken feather [18], porcine blood [19,20], olive oil [21] and waste leather scraps [22,23] have been reported as carbon and heteroatom precursors for the synthesis of electrocatalysts, as they have been found to enhance ORR performance. Additionally, through chemical treatments, such as activation and doping, physicochemical and electrochemical properties can be tuned.…”

“…Additionally, through chemical treatments, such as activation and doping, physicochemical and electrochemical properties can be tuned. Specifically, KOH activation agents that promote microporosity [24] have been used to synthesize electrocatalysts towards ORR [12,22,23]. On the other hand, doping with heteroatoms is one of the most effective methods to tailor the electronic properties of carbon nanomaterials [25], when doping the carbonaceous framework with heteroatoms, electronegativities and atom sizes could lead to alteration of the electron densities, resulting in the formation of active centers for ORR and contributing to an improvement in the electrochemical stability [26].…”

Recent Advances in Functionalized Nanoporous Carbons Derived from Waste Resources and Their Applications in Energy and Environment

“…Leather scraps were also utilized by Alonso‐Lemus et al to generate self‐nitrogen‐doped NCM through thermochemical treatments such as pyrolysis, chemical activation and doping, which can be used as an alternative metal‐free electrocatalyst toward ORR. [ 153 ] These catalysts were proved to be a promising sustainable and suitable alternative in terms of performance in alkaline fuel cells and other energy storage/generation technologies due to their very high surface area and mesoporosity.…”

Soybean straw biomass-derived Fe–N co-doped porous carbon as an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction in both alkaline and acidic media

“…10 Biomass is an abundant natural source of carbon and nitrogen. Recently, many research groups have used biomass, such as coffee waste, 11 shrimp skin, 12 leather, 13 aquatic plants, 14 as precursors to synthesize ORR catalysts. Among these sources, soybean straw is a perfect biomass precursor to synthesize nitrogen-doped carbon due to the presence of abundant plant proteins (10-12%).…”