High Performance Heteroatoms Quaternary-doped Carbon Catalysts Derived from Shewanella Bacteria for Oxygen Reduction

A novel heteroatoms (N, P, S and Fe) quaternary-doped carbon (HQDC-X, X refers to the pyrolysis temperature) can be fabricated by directly pyrolyzing a gram-negative bacteria, S. oneidensis MR-1 as precursors at 800 °C, 900 °C and 1000 °C under argon atmosphere. These HQDC-X catalysts maintain the cylindrical shape of bacteria after pyrolysis under high temperatures, while heteroatoms including N, P, S and Fe distribute homogeneously on the carbon frameworks. As a result, HQDC-X catalysts exhibit excellent electrocatalytic activity for ORR via a dominant four-electron oxygen reduction pathway in alkaline medium, which is comparable with that of commercial Pt/C. More importantly, HQDC-X catalysts show better tolerance for methanol crossover and CO poisoning effects, long-term durability than commercial Pt/C, which could be promising alternatives to costly Pt-based electrocatalysts for ORR. The method may provide a promising avenue to develop cheap ORR catalysts from inexpensive, scalable and biological recursors.