Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Capsules via Poly(ionic liquid)‐Based Layer‐by‐Layer Assembly

Layer‐by‐layer (LbL) assembly technique is applied for the first time for the preparation of nitrogen‐doped carbon capsules. This approach uses colloid silica as template and two polymeric deposition components, that is, poly(ammonium acrylate) and a poly (ionic liquid) poly(3‐cyanomethyl‐1‐vinylimidazolium bromide), which acts as both the carbon precursor and nitrogen source. Nitrogen‐doped carbon capsules are prepared successfully by polymer wrapping, subsequent carbonization and template removal. The as‐synthesized carbon capsules contain ≈7 wt% of nitrogen and have a structured specific surface area of 423 m² g⁻¹. Their application as supercapacitor has been briefly introduced. This work proves that LbL assembly methodology is available for preparing carbon structures of complex morphology.     

Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Monolith for Alkaline Supercapacitors and Understanding Nitrogen‐Induced Redox Transitions

A nitrogen‐doped porous carbon monolith was synthesized as a pseudo‐capacitive electrode for use in alkaline supercapacitors. Ammonia‐assisted carbonization was used to dope the surface with nitrogen heteroatoms in a way that replaced carbon atoms but kept the oxygen content constant. Ammonia treatment expanded the micropore size‐distributions and increased the specific surface area from 383 m² g^?1 to 679 m² g^?1. The nitrogen‐containing porous carbon material showed a higher capacitance (246 F g^?1) in comparison with the nitrogen‐free one (186 F g^?1). Ex situ electrochemical spectroscopy was used to investigate the evolution of the nitrogen‐containing functional groups on the surface of the N‐doped carbon electrodes in a three‐electrode cell. In addition, first‐principles calculations were explored regarding the electronic structures of different nitrogen groups to determine their relative redox potentials. We proposed possible redox reaction pathways based on the calculated redox affinity of different groups and surface analysis, which involved the reversible attachment/detachment of hydroxy groups between pyridone and pyridine. The oxidation of nitrogen atoms in pyridine was also suggested as a possible reaction pathway.     

Nitrogen,Phosphorus, and Sulfur Co‐Doped Hollow Carbon Shell as Superior Metal‐Free Catalyst for Selective Oxidation of Aromatic Alkanes

Metal‐free heteroatom‐doped carbocatalysts with a high surface area are desirable for catalytic reactions. In this study, we found an efficient strategy to prepare nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur co‐doped hollow carbon shells (denote as NPS‐HCS) with a surface area of 1020 m² g^?1. Using a poly(cyclotriphosphazene‐co‐4,4′‐sulfonyldiphenol) (PZS) shell as carbon source and N, P, S‐doping source, and the ZIF‐67 core as structural template as well as extra N‐doping source, NPS‐HCS were obtained with a high surface area and superhydrophilicity. All these features render the prepared NPS‐HCS a superior metal‐free carbocatalyst for the selective oxidation of aromatic alkanes in aqueous solution. This study provides a reliable and facile route to prepare doped carbocatalysts with enhanced catalytic properties.     

Nitrogen,Phosphorus, and Sulfur Co‐Doped Hollow Carbon Shell as Superior Metal‐Free Catalyst for Selective Oxidation of Aromatic Alkanes

Metal‐free heteroatom‐doped carbocatalysts with a high surface area are desirable for catalytic reactions. In this study, we found an efficient strategy to prepare nitrogen, phosphorus, and sulfur co‐doped hollow carbon shells (denote as NPS‐HCS) with a surface area of 1020 m² g⁻¹. Using a poly(cyclotriphosphazene‐co‐4,4′‐sulfonyldiphenol) (PZS) shell as carbon source and N, P, S‐doping source, and the ZIF‐67 core as structural template as well as extra N‐doping source, NPS‐HCS were obtained with a high surface area and superhydrophilicity. All these features render the prepared NPS‐HCS a superior metal‐free carbocatalyst for the selective oxidation of aromatic alkanes in aqueous solution. This study provides a reliable and facile route to prepare doped carbocatalysts with enhanced catalytic properties.     

Metal‐Nitrogen‐doped Porous Carbons Derived from Metal‐Containing Ionic Liquids for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

This study describes a self‐doping and additive‐free strategy for the synthesis of metal‐nitrogen‐doped porous carbon materials (CMs) via carbonizing well‐tailored precursors, metal‐containing ionic liquids (M‐ILs). The organic skeleton in M‐ILs serves as both carbon and nitrogen sources, while metal ions acts as porogen and metallic dopants. A high nitrogen content, appropriate content of metallic species and hierarchical porosity synergistically endow the resultant CMs (MIBA‐M‐T) as effective electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). MIBA‐Fe‐900 with a high specific surface area of 1567 m² g^?1 exhibits an activity similar to that of Pt/C catalyst, a higher tolerance to methanol than Pt/C, and long‐term durability. This work supplies a simple and convenient route for the preparation of metal‐containing carbon electrocatalysts.     

Bullet‐like Cu9S5 Hollow Particles Coated with Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon for Sodium‐Ion Batteries

Metal sulfides with excellent redox reversibility and high capacity are very promising electrode materials for sodium‐ion batteries. However, their practical application is still hindered by the poor rate capability and limited cycle life. Herein, a template‐based strategy is developed to synthesize nitrogen‐doped carbon‐coated Cu₉S₅ bullet‐like hollow particles starting from bullet‐like ZnO particles. With the structural and compositional advantages, these unique nitrogen‐doped carbon‐coated Cu₉S₅ bullet‐like hollow particles manifest excellent sodium storage properties with superior rate capability and ultra‐stable cycling performance.     

Compositing Amorphous TiO2 with N‐Doped Carbon as High‐Rate Anode Materials for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Compositing amorphous TiO₂ with nitrogen‐doped carbon through Ti? N bonding to form an amorphous TiO₂/N‐doped carbon hybrid (denoted a‐TiO₂/C? N) has been achieved by a two‐step hydrothermal–calcining method with hydrazine hydrate as an inhibitor and nitrogen source. The resultant a‐TiO₂/C? N hybrid has a surface area as high as 108 m² g^?1 and, when used as an anode material, exhibits a capacity as high as 290.0 mA h g^?1 at a current rate of 1 C and a reversible capacity over 156 mA h g^?1 at a current rate of 10 C after 100 cycles; these results are better than those found in most reports on crystalline TiO₂. This superior electrochemical performance could be ascribed to a combined effect of several factors, including the amorphous nature, porous structure, high surface area, and N‐doped carbon.     

A Nitrogen‐Rich 2D sp2‐Carbon‐Linked Conjugated Polymer Framework as a High‐Performance Cathode for Lithium‐Ion Batteries

A two‐dimensional (2D) sp²‐carbon‐linked conjugated polymer framework (2D CCP‐HATN) has a nitrogen‐doped skeleton, a periodical dual‐pore structure and high chemical stability. The polymer backbone consists of hexaazatrinaphthalene (HATN) and cyanovinylene units linked entirely by carbon–carbon double bonds. Profiting from the shape‐persistent framework of 2D CCP‐HATN integrated with the electrochemical redox‐active HATN and the robust sp² carbon‐carbon linkage, 2D CCP‐HATN hybridized with carbon nanotubes shows a high capacity of 116 mA h g^?1, with high utilization of its redox‐active sites and superb cycling stability (91 % after 1000 cycles) and rate capability (82 %, 1.0 A g^?1 vs. 0.1 A g^?1) as an organic cathode material for lithium‐ion batteries.     

Development and Characterization of Nickel‐NTA‐Polyaniline Modified Electrodes

The engineered addition of hexa‐histidine sequences to biomolecules such as antibody fragments has been found to be an excellent means of purifying these materials. This tagging methodology has also been extended to its use as a tool for immobilization and orientation of antibodies on transducer surfaces. Polyvinyl sulfonate‐doped polyanilne (PANI/PVS) can be used as a mediator in amperometric biosensors. This short communication looks at the effect of nickel chelate materials and nickel chelation on this conducting polymer and evaluates it as a potential surface for the immobilization of his‐tagged biomolecules. N‐nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) was doped into the electropolymerized PANI/PVS at a screen‐printed carbon paste electrode. The resulting NTA‐PANI/PVS film was shown to have comparable electrochemical properties of polymer without the chelating agent. When Ni²⁺ was applied to the electrode, the incorporated NTA was found to efficiently chelate the metal ions at the electrode surface.     

Fabrication of Porous Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Materials as Anodes for High‐Performance Lithium Ion Batteries

The hierarchical porous nitrogen‐doped carbon materials (HNCs) were prepared by using nitrogen containing gelatin as the carbon source and nano‐silica obtained by a simple flame synthesis approach as the template. All of the as‐obtained HNCs show much higher Li storage capacity as compared with commercial graphite. Specifically, HNC‐700 with biggest micropore volume and highest nitrogen content exhibited optimal reversible capacities of 1084 mAh·g^??1 at the current density of 37.2 mA·g^?1 (0.1 C) and 309 mAh·g^?1 even at 3.72 A·g^?1 (10 C). This result suggests that HNCs should be a promising candidate for anode materials in high‐rate lithium ion batteries (LIBs).     

Hollow Nanotubes of N‐Doped Carbon on CoS

Low‐cost, single‐step synthesis of hollow nanotubes of N‐doped carbon deposited on CoS is enabled by the simultaneous use of three functionalities of polyacrylonitrite (PAN) nanofibers: 1) a substrate for loading active materials, 2) a sacrificial template for creating hollow tubular structures, and 3) a precursor for in situ nitrogen doping. The N‐doped carbon in hollow tubes of CoS provides a high‐capacity anode of long cycle life for a rechargeable Li‐ion or Na‐ion battery cell that undergoes the conversion reaction 2 A⁺+2 e^?+CoS →Co+A₂S with A=Li or Na.     

Heteroatom‐Doped Porous Carbon Materials with Unprecedented High Volumetric Capacitive Performance

The design of carbon‐based materials with a high mass density and large porosity has always been a challenging goal, since they fulfill the demands of next‐generation supercapacitors and other electrochemical devices. We report a new class of high‐density heteroatom‐doped porous carbon that can be used as an aqueous‐based supercapacitor material. The material was synthesized by an in situ dehalogenation reaction between a halogenated conjugated diene and nitrogen‐containing nucleophiles. Under the given conditions, pyridinium salts can only continue to perform the dehalogenation if there is residue water remaining from the starting materials. The obtained carbon materials are highly doped by various heteroatoms, leading to high densities, abundant multimodal pores, and an excellent volumetric capacitive performance. Porous carbon tri‐doped with nitrogen, phosphorous, and oxygen exhibits a high packing density (2.13 g cm^?3) and an exceptional volumetric energy density (36.8 Wh L^?1) in alkaline electrolytes, making it competitive to even some Ni‐MH cells.     

Fabrication of Nitrogen‐Doped Mesoporous‐Carbon‐Coated Palladium Nanoparticles: An Intriguing Electrocatalyst for Methanol and Formic Acid Oxidation

Inspired by the attractive catalytic properties of palladium and the inert nature of carbon supports in catalysis, a concise and simple methodology for in situ nitrogen‐doped mesoporous‐carbon‐supported palladium nanoparticles (Pd/N‐C) has been developed by carbonizing a palladium dimethylglyoximate complex. The as‐synthesized Pd/N‐C has been exfoliated as a fuel cell catalyst by studying the electro‐oxidation of methanol and formic acid. The material synthesized at 400 °C,namely, Pd/N‐C‐400,exhibitssuperior mass activity and stability among catalysts synthesized under different carbonization temperaturesbetween300 and 500 °C. The unique 1D porous structure in Pd/N‐C‐400 helps better electron transport at the electrode surface, which eventually leads to about five times better catalytic activity and about two times higher stability than that of commercial Pd/C. Thus, our designed sacrificial metal–organic templatedirected pathway becomes a promising technique for Pd/N‐C synthesis with superior catalytic performances.     

Comparative study on structure and properties of titanium/silicon mono‐ and co‐doped amorphous carbon films deposited by mid‐frequency magnetron sputtering

The titanium/silicon mono‐ and co‐doped amorphous carbon films were deposited by mid‐frequency magnetron sputtering Ti target, Si target, and Ti80S20 alloy target, respectively. The effects of doped elements on the composition, surface morphology, microstructure, and mechanical and tribological properties of the films were investigated. The results reveal that the ratio of sp³ and sp² carbon bonds of the films is regulated between 0.28 and 0.62 by a combination of Ti and Si dopant. The addition of small amounts of silicon leads to an increase in sp³ bonds and disorder degree of the sp² carbon. The co‐doped film exhibits significantly superior friction performance than the mono‐doped films. The ultra‐low friction (μ < 0.01) was achieved under a load of 2 N in ambient air with 40% RH. By comparing to the mono‐and co‐doped films, it is thought that the sp³/sp² ratio of the films may play a key role for the superlow friction. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Selenium‐Doped Carbon Quantum Dots for Free‐Radical Scavenging

Heteroatom doping is an effective way to adjust the fluorescent properties of carbon quantum dots. However, selenium‐doped carbon dots have rarely been reported, even though selenium has unique chemical properties such as redox‐responsive properties owing to its special electronegativity. Herein, a facile and high‐output strategy to fabricate selenium‐doped carbon quantum dots (Se‐CQDs) with green fluorescence (quantum yield 7.6 %) is developed through the hydrothermal treatment of selenocystine under mild conditions. Selenium heteroatoms endow the Se‐CQDs with redox‐dependent reversible fluorescence. Furthermore, free radicals such as ^.OH can be effectively scavenged by the Se‐CQDs. Once Se‐CQDs are internalized into cells, harmful high levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the cells are decreased. This property makes the Se‐CQDs capable of protecting biosystems from oxidative stress.     

Synthesis of High‐Surface‐Area Nitrogen‐Doped Porous Carbon Microflowers and Their Efficient Carbon Dioxide Capture Performance

Sustainable carbon materials have received particular attention in CO₂ capture and storage owing to their abundant pore structures and controllable pore parameters. Here, we report high‐surface‐area hierarchically porous N‐doped carbon microflowers, which were assembled from porous nanosheets by a three‐step route: soft‐template‐assisted self‐assembly, thermal decomposition, and KOH activation. The hydrazine hydrate used in our experiment serves as not only a nitrogen source, but also a structure‐directing agent. The activation process was carried out under low (KOH/carbon=2), mild (KOH/carbon=4) and severe (KOH/carbon=6) activation conditions. The mild activated N‐doped carbon microflowers (A‐NCF‐4) have a hierarchically porous structure, high specific surface area (2309 m² g^?1), desirable micropore size below 1 nm, and importantly large micropore volume (0.95 cm³ g^?1). The remarkably high CO₂ adsorption capacities of 6.52 and 19.32 mmol g^?1 were achieved with this sample at 0 °C (273 K) and two pressures, 1 bar and 20 bar, respectively. Furthermore, this sample also exhibits excellent stability during cyclic operations and good separation selectivity for CO₂ over N₂.     

One‐Pot Green Synthesis of Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Quantum Dots for Cell Nucleus Labeling and Copper(II) Detection

The doping of nitrogen into carbon quantum dots is vitally important for improved fluorescence performance. However, the synthesis of nitrogen‐doped carbon quantum dots (N‐CQDs) is usually conducted under strong acid and high temperature, which results in environmental pollution and energy consumption. Herein, the N‐CQDs were prepared by a mild one‐pot hydrothermal process. The hydrothermal reaction temperature was adjusted to control the particle size, nitrogen/carbon atomic ratio, and quantum yield. The products were water soluble with a narrow particle size distribution and good dispersion stability over a wide pH range. The N‐CQDs could penetrate into the HeLa cell nucleus without any further functionalization. Moreover, the fluorescence of N‐CQDs could be selectively quenched by Cu²⁺, which suggested applications for the detection of Cu²⁺ in human plasma.     

Podlike N‐Doped Carbon Nanotubes Encapsulating FeNi Alloy Nanoparticles: High‐Performance Counter Electrode Materials for Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cells

Podlike nitrogen‐doped carbon nanotubes encapsulating FeNi alloy nanoparticles (Pod(N)‐FeNi) were prepared by the direct pyrolysis of organometallic precursors. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and Tafel polarization measurements revealed their excellent electrocatalytic activities in the I^?/I₃^? redox reaction of dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). This is suggested to arise from the modification of the surface electronic properties of the carbon by the encapsulated metal alloy nanoparticles (NPs). Sequential scanning with EIS and CV further showed the high electrochemical stability of the Pod(N)‐FeNi composite. DSSCs with Pod(N)‐FeNi as the counter electrode (CE) presented a power conversion efficiency of 8.82 %, which is superior to that of the control device with sputtered Pt as the CE. The Pod(N)‐FeNi composite thus shows promise as an environmentally friendly, low‐cost, and highly efficient CE material for DSSCs.     

Sumanenemonoone Imines Bridged by Redox‐Active π‐Conjugated Unit: Synthesis,Stepwise Coordination to Palladium(II), and Laser‐Induced Formation of Nitrogen‐Doped Graphitic Carbon

Sumanenemonoone imine compounds bridged by a redox‐active π‐conjugated unit on the basis of the conversion between 1,4‐phenylenediamine and 1,4‐benzoquinonediimine were synthesized and characterized. The stepwise coordination of the imino groups to Pd^II in the sumanenemonoone imine compound bridged by 1,4‐benzoquinonediimine was indicated by the titration experiment. Laser irradiation of a film of the metal‐free quionediimine gave nitrogen‐doped graphitic carbon, which was supported by an increase in conductivity and by Raman spectroscopy. The obtained graphitic carbon corresponds to carbonous compounds thermally treated at approximately 700–1000 °C. The ratio of nitrogen and carbon relative to that in the starting compound was nearly completely retained (5.4 % decrease).     

Lithium‐Doped Silica‐Rich MIL‐101(Cr) for Enhanced Hydrogen Uptake

Metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) show promising characteristics for hydrogen storage application. In this direction, modification of under‐utilized large pore cavities of MOFs has been extensively explored as a promising strategy to further enhance the hydrogen storage properties of MOFs. Here, we described a simple methodology to enhance the hydrogen uptake properties of RHA incorporated MIL‐101 (RHA‐MIL‐101, where RHA is rice husk ash—a waste material) by controlled doping of Li⁺ ions. The hydrogen gas uptake of Li‐doped RHA‐MIL‐101 is significantly higher (up to 72 %) compared to the undoped RHA‐MIL‐101, where the content of Li⁺ ions doping greatly influenced the hydrogen uptake properties. We attributed the observed enhancement in the hydrogen gas uptake of Li‐doped RHA‐MIL‐101 to the favorable Li⁺ ion‐to‐H₂ interactions and the cooperative effect of silanol bonds of silica‐rich rice‐husk ash incorporated in MIL‐101.