Balancing the Micro‐Mesoporosity for Activity Maximization of N‐Doped Carbonaceous Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Carbonaceous porous structures have instigated global research interest as promising low‐cost electrocatalysts for numerous energy technologies. However, the rational design principle of pore structures for activity maximization is still unclear. In this work, a series of N‐doped carbon (N‐C) catalysts with exclusively different micro‐mesoporosity are investigated for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). By combining the experiment results and a pioneering mathematical model, it was observed that the best catalytic activity can only be attained by balancing the micro‐mesoporosity. These findings offer a definite criterion for pore structure optimization in carbon‐based ORR catalysts, which is of great importance for various energy technologies. Balancing the yin–yang of electrocatalysts: N‐doped carbon (N‐C) with different ratios of micro‐mesoporosities are investigated as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. Combination of experimental results and a pioneering mathematical model is used to reveal that the best catalytic activity can be achieved by balancing the micro‐and mesoporosity.