Enhancement of Electrochemical Hydrogen Insertion in N-Doped Highly Ordered Mesoporous Carbon

An N-doped highly ordered mesoporous carbon material is synthesized. The nitrogen functionalities are found to be chemically bonded on the carbon surface, and the mole ratio of N to C is 1:100. The electrochemical H insertion into the carbon interlayers is enhanced 1.5 times for the N-doped carbon electrode. Such a promotion of H insertion is believed to result from the interference of the N-dopants with the H+H recombination and the carbon surface electronic structure; therefore, the competitive hydrogen evolution path is discriminated against in favor of the H insertion path.