Heteroatom (N and P) enriched nanoporous carbon as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrazine oxidation reaction

An efficient heteroatom enriched electrocatalyst (HPHMC900) with high specific surface area (SABET) of 1634 m2 g−1 has been synthesized by calcination of heteroatom enriched inorganic–organic hybrid material (HPHM) with low SABET of 16 m2 g−1. A 100-fold increase in the SABET was observed in this heteroatom enriched carbon, which has been used to investigate the catalytic activity for hydrazine oxidation reaction. It was observed that the HPHMC900 showed low onset potential of 0.25 V vs R.H.E. The maximum current density of 96 mA cm−2 was achieved at 0.9 mV. The HPHMC900 performance was further compared with the parent material HPHM as well as other synthesized electrocatalysts, HPHMC500 and HPHMC700. These materials have shown onset potential of 0.5 V (HPHM), 0.48 V (HPHMC500) and 0.45 V (HPHMC700) vs R.H.E. Also, the performance of HPHMC900 was compared with the best performing commercial 20 wt% Pt/C electrocatalyst. The specimen has a minimum Tafel slope of 14 mV dec-1 and 100% stability for 12 h without any loss of activity. The high SABET with exposed heteroatoms/active sites has contributed for the superior activity of HPHMC900 compared to other electrocatalysts investigated in this research. © 2021 Elsevier Ltd