Copper-assisted thermal conversion of microporous covalent melamine-boroxine frameworks to hollow B, N-codoped carbon capsules as bifunctional metal-free electrode materials. (1st March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Zhou, Ziqian; Zhang, Xiaoying; Xing, Lidan; Liu, Jiaxin; Kong, Aiguo; Shan, Yongkui
• Is Part Of: Electrochimica acta. Volume 298(2019)
• Page Start: 210
• Page End: 218
• Publication Date: 2019-03-01
• Subjects: B, N-codoped -- Carbon capsule -- Supercapacitor -- Covalent organic frameworks -- Metal-free catalysts; Electrochemistry -- Periodicals; Electrochemistry, Industrial -- Periodicals; 541.37
• DOI: 10.1016/j.electacta.2018.12.080
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0013-4686

Abstract

Abstract: Low-cost melamine and 4-formylphenylboronic acid were assembled into new covalent melamine-boroxine frameworks (COFs) with rich content of nitrogen and boron by a simple one-pot synthesis routine. B, N-codoped carbons (B-N-C) could be successfully derived by copper-assisted thermal conversion of this designed plate-like COF. Differ from other microporous carbon plates derived from COFs, the prepared B-N-C here not only showed the unique hollow capsule morphologies, but also demonstrated the dominant mesoporosities. The easy-decomposition melamine-boroxine organic blocks and catalysis and template functions of Cu species including Cu(NO3 )2, Cu2 (NO3 )(OH)3 and Cu played the vital roles in the formation of hollow B-N-C capsules. The B-N-C capsules exhibited efficient catalytic performance for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in wide pH electrolytes, especially in alkaline solution. Its ORR half-wave potential reached 0.85 V in 0.1 M KOH, 20 mV more positive than the best B, N-codoped carbons previously. It also served as an advanced electrode material for supercapacitor with a specific capacitance of 230 F g −1 . This research not only developed a novel copper-assisted thermal conversion pathway of melamine-boroxine frameworks for preparing heteroatom-doped carbons with open capsule morphology and large-pore mesoporosities, but also provided a reliable metal-free ORR electro-catalyst and capacitor material with satisfying performance. Graphical abstract: