Highly Efficient Oxygen and Hydrogen Electrocatalytic Activities of Self‐Morphogenic Nanoporous Carbon, Nitrogen Architectures

Abstract Designing highly functional materials based on abundant elements is an important challenge. It would lead to a leap for energy conversion technology if a system comprising affordable material could work as electrocatalyst for important reactions in electrochemical energy storage and conversion and fuel production. This report shows simple nitrile chemistry as a new strategy to obtain nanoporous C,N architectures (npCNAs) with high activities for both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The key is to control both morphology and chemical structure of the catalyst. The npCNAs showed the distinct four‐electron process in H₂SO₄ solution with a high activity of 7.7 mA mg_cat⁻¹ and an exchange current density (J₀) of 2.81×10⁻¹⁰ A cm⁻²_geo (Tafel slope=ca. 120 mV dec⁻¹) for the ORR and at the same time an enhanced HER activity with J₀=1.454×10⁻⁵ A cm⁻²_geo.