Article Title
Facile synthesis of porous nitrogen-doped holey graphene as an efficient metal-free catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction
Authors
Li Qin, State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Ruimin Ding, State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
Huixiang Wang, State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Jianghong Wu, State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Conghui Wang, State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China
Chenghua Zhang, State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
Synfuels China Technology Co. Ltd, Beijing 101407, China
Yao Xu, State Key Laboratory of Transient Optics and Photonics, Xi’an Institute of Optics and Precision Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi’an 710119, China
Liancheng Wang, State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
Baoliang Lv, State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
Key Laboratory of Carbon Materials, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China
Keywords
porous holey N-doped graphene, in situ templates, post-thermal treatment, oxygen reduction reaction
Abstract
ABSTRACT Nitrogen-doped graphene is a promising candidate for the replacement of noble metal-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reactions (ORRs). The addition of pores and holes into nitrogen-doped graphene enhances the ORR activity by introducing abundant exposed edges, accelerating mass transfer, and impeding aggregation of the graphene sheets. Herein, we present a straightforward but effective strategy for generating porous holey nitrogen-doped graphene (PHNG) via the pyrolysis of urea and magnesium acetate tetrahydrate. Due to the combined effects of the in situ generated gases and MgO nanoparticles, the synthesized PHNGs featured not only numerous out-of-plane pores among the crumpled graphene sheets, but also interpenetrated nanoscale (5–15 nm) holes in the assembled graphene. Moreover, the nitrogen doping configurations of PHNG were optimized by post-thermal treatments at different temperatures. It was found that the overall content of pyridinic and quaternary nitrogen positively correlates with the ORR activity; in particular, pyridinic nitrogen generates the most desirable characteristics for the ORR. This work reveals new routes for the synthesis of PHNG-based materials and elucidates the contributions of various nitrogen species to ORRs.
Graphical Abstract
Publisher
Tsinghua University Press
Recommended Citation
Li Qin,Ruimin Ding,Huixiang Wang,Jianghong Wu,Conghui Wang,Chenghua Zhang,Yao Xu,Liancheng Wang,Baoliang Lv, Facile synthesis of porous nitrogen-doped holey graphene as an efficient metal-free catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction. NanoRes.2017, 10(1): 305–319
