Fabrication of an N-doped mesoporous bio-carbon electrocatalyst efficient in Zn-air batteries by an in situ gas-foaming strategy.

A nitrogen doped bio-carbon catalyst with high specific surface area and a hierarchical interconnected porous structure was fabricated by an in situ gas-foaming strategy from sodium alginate and ammonium chloride. The optimized catalyst displays a fabulous ORR activity, providing a facile approach for the mass production of metal-free bio-carbon catalysts in fuel cells and metal-air batteries.