ZnCl₂ as a “Nitrogen Bank” to Inhibit Nitrogen Loss during the Thermal Conversion of Nitrogen-Containing Carbon Precursors to Nitrogen-Doped Carbon

Abstract

A universal synthesis strategy for inhibiting the nitrogen loss during the thermal conversion of N-containing carbon precursors to nitrogen-doped carbon is developed. ZnCl2, as a sacrificial additive in the pyrolysis, acts like a “nitrogen bank” (“N-bank”) to accommodate the N-containing intermediates from the decomposed precursors and redopes the nitrogen back into the final carbon materials. The nitrogen-doped carbon synthesized by this N-bank synthesis strategy has a significantly elevated nitrogen content and shows an excellent catalytic performance toward the oxygen reduction reaction (E 1/2 = 0.89 VRHE).

Low-cost pyrolysis of biomass-derived nitrogen-doped porous carbon: Chlorella vulgaris replaces melamine as a nitrogen source

“…ZnCl 2 can create wide micropores and small mesopores during activation, which promotes the migration of electrolyte ions (Martin et al, 1996). Moreover, Su et al found that ZnCl 2 as a sacri cial additive, could play the role of a N-bank during the thermal conversion of nitrogen-containing carbon precursors to nitrogen-doped carbon, which can sequester nitrogen in nitrogen-containing precursors and signi cantly inhibit nitrogen loss (Su et al, 2021). Therefore, ZnCl 2 will be selected as an activator in this work because of its good pore-forming ability and nitrogen xation function.…”

Room-Temperature One-Pot Synthesis of pH-Responsive Pyridine-Functionalized Carbon Surfaces

“…Most methods for introducing nitrogen functionalities into or onto carbon require high temperatures, for example, chemical vapor deposition, 13 carbonization of N-containing carbon-based polymers, 14 pyrolysis of carbon- and nitrogen-containing precursors, 15 and arc-discharge from graphite electrodes. 16 As stated above, these methods are generally not successful in selecting for one nitrogen bonding environment over another.…”

Progress in the use of organic potassium salts for the synthesis of porous carbon nanomaterials: microstructure engineering for advanced supercapacitors

“…and oxidative acids (HNO 3 , H 2 SO 4 , H 3 PO 4 ). [74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84] Among them, KOH is the most powerful activation agent and the activation mechanism can be expressed as outlined below:…”

“…and oxidative acids (HNO 3 , H 2 SO 4 , H 3 PO 4 ). 74–84 Among them, KOH is the most powerful activation agent and the activation mechanism can be expressed as outlined below: 11 6KOH + 2C → 2K + 3H 2 + 2K 2 CO 3 K + KOH → K 2 O + H 2 K 2 O + CO 2 → K 2 CO 3 K 2 CO 3 + 2C → 2K + 3COK 2 O + C → 2K + CO…”