Metal-free ionic liquid-derived electrocatalyst for high-performance oxygen reduction in acidic and alkaline electrolytes

We report herein a new simplified approach to metal-free N-doped carbon aerogels made from ionic liquids by a bottom-up “salt templating” strategy, which are known to be promising electrocatalytic materials. An optimized pore transport system as well as a high catalytically active surface allowed the ionic liquid-derived carbons to possess favourably high electrocatalytic performance in oxygen reduction under alkaline and, not found for similar materials made by other pathways, under technically more relevant acidic conditions. Even in acid, the performance favourably compares with a commercial Pt-based catalyst.