Edge-enriched N, S co-doped hierarchical porous carbon for oxygen reduction reaction

The development of carbon materials with high electrochemical performance for next-generation energy device is emerging, especially N, S co-doped carbon materials have sparked intensive attention. However,the exploration of N, S co-doped carbon with well-defined active sites and hierarchical porous structures are still limited. In this study, we prepared a series of edge-enriched N, S co-doped carbon materials through pyrolysis of thiourea(TU) encapsulated in zeolitic imidazolate frameworks(TU@ZIF) composites,which delivered very good oxygen reduction reaction(ORR) performance in alkaline medium with onset potential of 0.94 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE), good stability and methanol tolerance. Density functional theory(DFT) calculations suggested that carbon atoms adjacent to N and S are probable active sites for ORR intermediates in edge-enriched N, S co-doped carbon materials because higher electron density can enhance O2adsorption, lower formation barriers of intermediates, improving the ORR performance comparing to intact N, S co-doped carbon materials. This study might provide a new pathway for improving ORR activity by the integration engineering of edge sites, and electronic structure of heteroatom doped carbon electrocatalysts.