Amorphous carbon enriched with pyridinic nitrogen as an efficient metal-free electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction.

An amorphous metal-free N-doped carbon film prepared by sputtering and annealing exhibits comparable electrocatalytic activity and superior stability and methanol tolerance to the commercial Pt/C catalyst via a four-electron pathway for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Pyridinic nitrogen in films plays a key role in electrocatalytic activity for ORR.