N, B, F – Engineered Nanocellulose – Cornstalks Aerogels for High‐Performance ORR/OER Materials

Abstract

AbstractDeveloping low‐cost, durable, and highly‐active bifunctional electrocatalysts from sustainable biomass for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remains a formidable challenge. Here, a novel approach is demonstrated for fabricating a porous biochar‐derived nanocellulose‐cornstalks aerogel by engineering of synergetic N, B, and F incorporation. Nanocellulose is used to disperse the carbonous cornstalks as the sufficiently nanostructured porous template, enabling the facile incorporation of N, B, and F to strengthen electron transfer efficiency and synergistically guarantee bifunctional ORR activity of a half‐wave potential of 0.845 V which outperforms the commercial Pt/C catalysts; moreover, it also shows an overpotential of 368 mV at 10 mA cm−2 by a maximum several or dozens of times compared to the exiting biomass‐derived electrocatalysts. The N, B, and F‐engineered agro‐forestry biomass with tailoring nanostructure that shows similarly high‐performance ORR/OER activity, directing the next generation of biomass‐derived electrocatalysts with ecological sustainability and cost‐effectivity.