Exploring Cellulose Nanofibrils As Renewable Resource for Metal-Free Heteroatoms-Doped Carbon Electrocatalyst

With increasing development toward sustainable energy technologies for the future, a cost-effective electrochemical reaction has become a critical aspect for its practical applications. Replacing traditional metal-based electrocatalysts with carbon-based electrocatalyst offers both economical and environmental benefits. Cellulose nanofibrils, as biomass resources, have drawn a great interest as promising raw materials for preparing carbonaceous materials. In addition, enhanced electrochemical properties of carbon materials could be achieved by incorporating heteroatoms dopants. In this work, metal-free heteroatoms-doped carbons derived from carbon nanofibrils are explored as electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction. The characteristics of doped carbons were investigated and their electrocatalytic activities were demonstrated.