Covalent triazine polymer derived porous carbon with high porosity and nitrogen content for bifunctional oxygen catalysis in zinc–air battery

Nitrogen-doped porous carbon possesses widespread applications in energy-related fields due to its unique properties. However, preparation of porous carbon (specific surface area > 3000 m2 g–1) with high nitrogen content (> 10 wt%) remains great challenges because of high synthesis temperature. Herein, a covalent triazine polymer was innovatively designed by cyclotrimerization of tetracyanoethylene, and used to produce the high nitrogen-doped porous carbon. The as-prepared porous carbon (HNPC-900) possesses a high nitrogen content (14.2 wt%) and large specific surface area (3210 m2 g–1). When HNPC-900 was applied as the air-cathode for zinc–air batteries, it shows a high specific capacity (797 mAh gzn–1) and stable rechargeability (more than 380 h over 960 cycles at 5 mA cm–2), outperforming the cathode composed of RuO2 and 20 wt% Pt/C. This ingenious design provides a feasible strategy to prepare high nitrogen-doped porous carbon, giving extensive application prospects of porous carbon for catalysis and energy storage fields.