Bifunctional Nitrogen-Doped Microporous Carbon Microspheres Derived from Poly(o-methylaniline) for Oxygen Reduction and Supercapacitors

Heteroatom-doped carbon materials have attracted significant attention because of their applications in oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and supercapacitors. Here we demonstrate a facile poly(o-methylaniline)-derived fabrication of bifunctional microporous nitrogen-doped carbon microspheres (NCMSs) with high electrocatalytic activity and stability for ORR and energy storage in supercapacitors. At a pyrolysis temperature of 900 °C, the highly dispersed NCMSs present a high surface area (727.1 m² g^-1), proper total content of doping N, and high concentration of quaternary N, which exhibit superior electrocatalytic activities for ORR to the commercial Pt/C catalysts, high specific capacitance (414 F g^-1), and excellent durability, making them very promising for advanced energy conversion and storage. The presented conducting polymer-derived strategy may provide a new way for the fabrication of heteroatom-doped carbon materials for energy device applications.