▎ 摘　　要

Today the search for new energy resources is a crucial topic for materials science. The development of new effective catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction can significantly improve the performance of fuel cells as well as electrocatalytic hydrogen production. This study presents the scalable synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene oxide for the oxygen reduction reaction. The combination of an ab initio theoretical investigation of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) mechanism and detailed electrochemical characterization allowed the identification of electrocatalytically active nitrogen functionalities. The dominant effect on electrocatalytic activity is the presence of graphitic and pyridinic nitrogen and also N-oxide functionalities. The overpotential of ORR for nitrogen-doped graphene oxide prepared by microwave-assisted synthesis outperformed the metal-doped graphene materials. (C) 2018 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.