Nitrogen-Doped Cellulose-Based Porous Carbon for Electrocatalytic CO2 Reduction to CO

Carbon capture and conversion technology is the main method to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Porous carbon with large surface area, excellent thermal stability and low-cost has a wide application potential in the field. In this study, nitrogen-doped porous carbon is prepared by hydrothermal carbonization and chemical activation with methyl cellulose and melamine as carbon precursor and nitrogen sources. The effects of activating agent and nitrogen-doping ratios on the structure and electrocatalytic reduction performance are studied. The sample prepared under optimized conditions has a specific surface area of 1417 m2 g−1, total pore volume of 0.9 cm3 g−1, micropore volume of 0.36 cm3 g−1, as well as abundant nitrogen active sites. It exhibits a high CO Faraday efficiency (91