The comparable catalytic activities of non-noble metal electrocatalysts are the prime to enable their breakthrough performances for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this work, the nitrogen-doped carbon aerogels are strategically functionalized with Ce/Fe elements. The increased content of pyridinic nitrogen from 16.71% to 20.28% coupled with a macro-porous structure result in an enhanced ORR catalytic performance. The performance evaluation shows that the ORR onset potential of the functionalized sample shifts from 0.893 V to 0.968 V comparing to the unfunctionalized sample. The open cell voltage reaches 1.450 V when the optimal catalyst is assembled into a zinc-air cell as the cathode, and such performance is comparable to the commercial Pt/C catalyst.

非贵金属电催化剂的可比催化活性是实现氧还原反应 (ORR) 突破性能的主要因素。在这项工作中，掺氮碳气凝胶被 Ce/Fe 元素战略性地功能化。吡啶氮的含量从 16.71% 增加到 20.28%，加上大孔结构导致 ORR 催化性能增强。性能评估表明，与未官能化样品相比，官能化样品的 ORR 起始电位从 0.893 V 转变为 0.968 V。当将最佳催化剂组装成锌空气电池作为阴极时，开路电压达到 1.450 V，该性能可与商业 Pt/C 催化剂相媲美。