An efficient carbon catalyst supports with mesoporous graphene-like morphology

In this work, we report the synthesis of ordered mesoporous carbon sheets (OMCS) with graphene-like morphology and their applications as the support for electrocatalysts. This lamellar material exhibits uniform mesoporous channels and ease of modification by using different nitrogen sources, such as melamine, urea, and ammonia. Nitrogen-doping on this material leads to a high specific surface area of 761 m2 g−1 and uniform pores with a diameter of 9 nm. Electrochemical tests show that the N-doped OMCS possesses high catalytic activities on the oxygen reduction reaction, which can be attributed to the pyridinic-type and pyrrolic-type nitrogen activating nearby carbon atoms. In addition, we demonstrate that the unique physical structure and surface chemical properties of OMCS improve the dispersion and structure of supported metal Ru nanoparticles, which lead to enhance oxygen evolution reaction activity.