One stone, two birds: Gastrodia elata-derived heteroatom-doped carbon materials for efficient oxygen reduction electrocatalyst and as fluorescent decorative materials

We demonstrate a one-stone-two-birds strategy for synthesizing nitrogen-doped carbon materials via hydrothermal treatment of Gastrodia elata. The solid product followed by further ionothermal pyrolysis exhibits excellent electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction via a dominant four-electron oxygen reduction pathway in alkaline medium, and shows superior crossover resistance, CO tolerance, and catalytic stability to a commercial Pt/C catalyst. The supernatant exhibits strong blue fluorescence under UV radiation, showing its promising potential as new-generation decorative materials combining with Chinese folk paper-cut art and displaying mysterious and stimulating stage effects. Given these excellent electrocatalytic and optical properties, ease of preparation, and abundant resources, such one-stone-two-birds methodology not only endows the products with desirable functionality, but also timely reminds our researchers of the well-accepted saying that things should be used to their best advantages, which becomes more and more urgent especially in recent days characteristic of progressive resource scarcity.