Boron and nitrogen co-doped carbon dots for boosting electrocatalytic oxygen reduction

Carbon dots (CDs) have become an emerging carbon nanomaterial for use in energy-conversion systems because of their large surface area and rapid electron transfer. Carbon dots (BN-CDs) doped with both boron and nitrogen were synthesized by a simple one-step electrochemical etching approach using low-cost petroleum coke as precursor. Compared with CDs doped with only B or N, BN-CDs showed an excellent four-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity with a positive onset potential of 0.958 V and a large diffusion-limited current density of −4.32 mA cm⁻². Furthermore, the long-term stability and methanol tolerance of BN-CDs were better than those of a commercial Pt/C catalyst. It was found by density functional theory (DFT) calculation that the co-doping of N and B promoted the adsorption of O₂ molecules in the ORR process. This work provides new insight into the rational design of carbon nanomaterials and their use in energy conversion.