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In order to obtain low-cost, high efficient and great performance catalysts for accelerating electrochemical oxygen reduction, various kinds of materials, including metal oxides, nitrides, oxynitrides, carbonitrides, metal chalcogenides, carbon-based non-noble metal and metal-free catalysts, have been intensively studied . Among the catalysts for ORR, Pt-based catalysts are regarded as the most active ones , whereas their application is limited due to the high price and limited resources of Pt. Due to the sluggish reaction kinetics of the ORR at the cathode, the overall energy conversion efficiency of these technologies has been seriously limited . The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) plays a significant role in the performance of numerous energy-conversion devices, including low-temperature fuel cells, metal-air batteries and certain electrolyzers . Keywords: N-doped carbon, cobalt, nanoparticles, oxygen reduction INTRODUCTION It has been determined that modifying of N-doped carbon material with cobalt nanoparticles results in enhanced activity for the oxygen electro-reduction as compared with that of pure N-doped carbon material.
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The morphology, structure and composition of the synthesised catalyst was characterised using TEM, XPS, Raman Spectroscopy and ICP-OES, whereas the activity of the prepared catalyst was evaluated for the electro-reduction of oxygen in an alkaline medium by employing the rotating disk electrode method. In the present study, carbon-derived material from pulping residues, such as black liquor, was doped with a cheap nitrogen precursor, dicyandiamide, and after that modified with cobalt nanoparticles using electroless metal plating.