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The rational design and synthesis of mesoporous functional materials is of great significance to tackle fundamental challenges in materials science and to yield practical solutions for efficient energy utilization. Here, a novel p-toluenesulfonic acid-assisted mechanochemical approach is used to prepare a silica-templated bipyridine-containing covalent organic framework (COF), which can be further converted into an iron–nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon (mC-TpBpy-Fe) upon carbonization and template removal. The resulting mC-TpBpy-Fe exhibits a large pore volume and surface area, which significantly promote the mass transfer efficiency and increase the accessibility of the active sites, yielding a high ORR activity with a competitive half-wave potential of 0.845 V and limiting current density of 5.92 mA/cm2 (vs 0.852 V and 5.57 mA/cm2 for Pt/C). Application of this COF derived mesoporous carbon within a Zn–air battery revealed that it can operate in ambient conditions with a competitive discharge performance, showing its potential for practical applications.
Zhao et al. (Tue,) studied this question.