Synthesis and Characterization of N-Doped Carbon Aerogel Based on Oil Palm Empty Fruit Bunch as Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalyst in Seawater Batteries

Some areas in Indonesia have difficulty accessing electricity [1]. One of the alternative is sea water battery because of its good theoretical performance and great seawater potential in Indonesia [2]. However the performance is limited by the sluggish Oxygen Reduction Reaction, therefore electrocatalyst is needed to increase the rate of reaction [2]. Oil palm empty fruit bunch carbon aerogel is one of the alternative because of its excellent electrocatalytic performance and can be made from abundant material with high content of cellulose [3]. Carbon aerogel can be obtained from pyrolizing oil palm empty fruit bunch based aerogel cellulose. Activity of the Oxygen Reduction Reaction can be determined from pyridinic N concentration in the carbon aerogel [4]. This research focuses on synthesizing nitrogen-doped carbon aerogel from oil palm empty fruit bunch and characterized its electrocatalytic performance. Research started with synthesizing cellulose aerogel with urea-ammonia crosslinking precursor and followed by pyrolysis of cellulose aerogel to carbon aerogel at 600°C. Samples were characterized using FTIR, XRD, CV, LSV, and LP. The FTIR Spectra analysis shows that the carbon aerogel was N-doped with pyridinic N. Electrochemical performance analysis in 3.5% NaCl as electrolyte shows that carbon aerogel undergoes 2-electron ORR pathway with kinetic current density of ik=0.107 mA/cm² and current density of io=0.295 μA/cm².