A carbon catalyst doped with Co and N derived from the metal-organic framework hybrid (ZIF-8@ZIF-67) for efficient oxygen reduction reaction

Carbon-based catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are considered potential substitutes for the expensive platinum-based catalysts. Recently, transition metal and nitrogen co-doped carbon materials (M-N-C) have attracted much attention from researchers due to their low cost and excellent activity. A cobalt- and nitrogen-co-doped porous carbon material (Co-N@CNT-C800) was prepared by the simple one-step pyrolysis of a star fruit-like MOF hybrid (ZIF-8@ZIF-67) at 800 °C. It consisted of CNTs with substantial Co and N co-doping and had a large surface area (428 m²·g⁻¹). It had an excellent half-wave potential and good current density in alkaline media in the ORR with values of 0.841 V and 5.07 mA·cm⁻², respectively. Compared with commercial Pt/C materials it also had excellent electrochemical stability and methanol tolerance. This research provides an effective way to fabricate low cost, high activity electrocatalysts for use in energy conversion.