Silicon carbide-derived carbon electrocatalysts dual doped with nitrogen and phosphorus for the oxygen reduction reaction in an alkaline medium.

• Silicon carbide-derived carbon was doped with nitrogen and phosphorus moieties. • Eco-friendly substances were used as the nitrogen and phosphorus doping agents. • High specific surface area of catalysts (ca 1000 m2 g−1) was maintained after doping. • High E onset (0.9 V) and nearly 4e− ORR pathway was observed for N,P-doped SiCDC. In this study, two compounds (melamine phosphate and hexachlorocyclotriphosphazene) were used as nitrogen and phosphorus precursors to dope silicon carbide-derived carbon (SiCDC) with nitrogen and phosphorus moieties. The successful heteroatom doping was confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy/energy-dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX) analysis. The resulting N,P-doped SiCDC exhibited high oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) performance in alkaline conditions in terms of onset and half-wave potential, slightly surpassing the ORR activity of solely N-doped SiCDC. Since N 2 physisorption showed that the porosity parameters and specific surface area of N,P-doped SiCDC (in which melamine phosphate was used as a N and P precursor) were rather similar to that of N-doped SiCDC, the improvement in the ORR activity of N,P-doped SiCDC could be attributed to the new ORR-active sites produced by the introduction of nitrogen and phosphorus moieties into the SiCDC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]