Monoatomic-thick graphitic carbon nitride dots on graphene sheets as an efficient catalyst in the oxygen reduction reaction. Issue 7 (21st January 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wang, Xiaopeng; Wang, Lixia; Zhao, Fei; Hu, Chuangang; Zhao, Yang; Zhang, Zhipan; Chen, Shilu; Shi, Gaoquan; Qu, Liangti
• Is Part Of: Nanoscale. Volume 7:Issue 7(2015)
• Page Start: 3035
• Page End: 3042
• Publication Date: 2015-01-21
• Subjects: Nanoscience -- Periodicals; Nanotechnology -- Periodicals; 620.505
• DOI: 10.1039/c4nr05343e
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2040-3364

Abstract

Abstract : Monoatomic-thick graphitic carbon nitride dots on graphene sheets rival the electrocatalytic activity of the commercial Pt/C catalyst in the oxygen reduction reaction. Abstract : Atomically thick two-dimensional materials have been increasingly attracting research interest not only due to their promising applications in a range of functional devices but also to their theoretical value to unraveling the catalytic electron transfer process within a simplified scenario. In this work, the monoatomic-thick dot-sized graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3 N4 ) has been synthesized and intimately contacted to the basal plane of the graphene sheet to form the monolayer g-C3 N4 dots@graphene (MTCG). The electrocatalytic activity of the MTCG in the oxygen reduction reaction is found to rival that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst in terms of the catalytic current density and half-wave potential. The density functional theory calculations confirm the catalytic improvement of the MTCG originates from a higher efficiency for the reduction of OOH − than that of the g-C3 N4 alone; therefore, the current work is expected to provide new insights in developing next-generation, highly efficient catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction.