Low temperature and rapid synthesis of nitrogen-doped carbon-based catalysts via atmospheric pressure plasma

Nitrogen-doped carbon materials have attracted significant attention as promising non-metal electrochemical catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction. The commonly used chemical synthesis methods which usually necessitate prolonged elevated-temperature sintering are unsuitable for thermally sensitive catalysts. Generally, these methods require a long duration of gas infiltration and the involvement of toxic chemical reagents. These factors make it difficult to maintain sample consistency during the preparation process. In this paper, a low-temperature synthesis approach is introduced to prepare nitrogen-doped carbon-based catalysts using Ar surface dielectric barrier discharge to treat a mixed precursor of Ketjen Black and ammonium carbonate at atmospheric pressure. The obtained catalysts exhibit moderate defects and successful nitrogen doping. Compared with catalysts prepared using traditional chemical methods, they show superior electrochemical performance. The limiting current density has exhibited performance superior to commercial Pt/C catalysts, as well as higher stability and methanol tolerance. Furthermore, the mechanism of nitrogen doping achieved through plasma treat chemical bonds is explained. This work proposes a feasible strategy for synthesizing nitrogen-doped carbon materials and tuning catalyst performance, and provides deep insights into the plasma regulation of catalysts.