B/N co-doped carbon derived from the sustainable chitin for C H bond oxidation

•B/N co-doped carbon materials possessing high surface area (1100–1400 m2/g) are derived from sustainable chitin.•Excellent catalytic performance of B/N co-doped carbon in CH oxidation is achieved.•B-N bonds become the main B form in carbon materials at higher annealing temperature.•Density of states nearby Fermi energy of B, N and neighboring C atoms are researched by DFT calculations.