Copper-nitrogen dual-doped activated carbon derived from alder wood as an electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction

In the present study, unmodified nitrogen-doped carbon material (N-doped C) and modified with copper nanoparticles (CuNPs) nitrogen-doped carbon material (Cu-N-doped C) have been synthesized using wood biomass as a carbon precursor, dicyandiamide as a nitrogen precursor, and anhydrous copper acetate as the precursor of Cu. The morphology, structure, and chemical composition of the obtained materials have been analyzed by performing nitrogen sorption experiments and described using transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning-electron microscopy (SEM). The electrocatalytic performance of N-doped C and Cu-N-doped C materials has been evaluated for the electro-reduction of oxygen (ORR) in alkaline media using linear scan voltammetry (LSV) and the rotating disk and ring-disk electrode (RDE and RRDE) methods. It has been determined that the nitrogen-doped carbon material and that modified with CuNPs have been synthesized with graphene-like structures and especially high specific surface areas of 2631 m² g⁻¹ and 2243 m² g⁻¹, respectively. The onset potential (E_onset) and half-wave (E_1/2) potential values are approximately 0.921 V and 0.828 V, respectively, for the N-doped carbon with the loading of 0.0889 mg_cat cm⁻² and 0.975 V and 0.843 V, respectively, for Cu–N-doped carbon (0.4044 mg_cat cm⁻²), comparable with the commercial Pt/C catalyst.