Phosphorus and Nitrogen Dual Doped and Simultaneously Reduced Graphene Oxide with High Surface Area as Efficient Metal-Free Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction

A P, N dual doped reduced graphene oxide (PN-rGO) catalyst with high surface area (376.20 m2·g−1), relatively high P-doping level (1.02 at. %) and a trace amount of N (0.35 at. %) was successfully prepared using a one-step method by directly pyrolyzing a homogenous mixture of graphite oxide (GO) and diammonium hydrogen phosphate ((NH4)2HPO4) in an argon atmosphere, during which the thermal expansion, deoxidization of GO and P, N co-doping were realized simultaneously. The catalyst exhibited enhanced catalytic performances for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) via a dominated four-electron reduction pathway, as well as superior long-term stability, better tolerance to methanol crossover than that of commercial Pt/C catalyst in an alkaline solution.