Nitrogen-doped one-dimensional (1D) macroporous carbonaceous nanotube arrays and their application in electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reactions.

A nitrogen(N)-doped one-dimensional (1D) macroporous carbonaceous nanotube array was fabricated by using an anodic alumina oxide (AAO) template. The large diameter of the nanotubes (∼200 nm) could overcome the sluggish mass transfer phenomena in the common micro/mesoporous carbon-based electrodes. Combining the activation of the π electrons of the sp(2) carbon array by N-doping, the novel 1D macroporous carbonaceous nanotube array exhibited high performance for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).