Ball‐Milling Effect on Biomass‐Derived Nanocarbon Catalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Abstract Nano‐carbon oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst having a large N atoms content derived from biomass has been widely studied recently in fuel cells. In this paper, yuba of high‐protein (wt. 53 %) was employed as precursor to fabricate N self‐doped porous carbon ORR electrocatalysts with high N content. In terms of ORR performance, Y‐850 exhibited the optimal electrocatalytic activity among all the samples at different pyrolysis temperatures, which is comparable that of commercial 20 % Pt/C. The prominent ORR characteristic of Y‐850 is mainly contributed by its high N content, especially high graphitic‐N content. In order to further improve its ORR performance, ball‐milling was conducted on Y‐850 before and after pyrolysis. The results indicate that an appropriate ball‐milling before pyrolysis can effectively increase the limited current density of ORR.