Two-Dimensional Geometry Control of Graphene Nanoflakes Produced by Thermal Plasma for Catalyst Applications

The control of nanoparticle synthesis using thermal plasmas is difficult and often leads to problems of chemical and structural purity, and poor process robustness in terms of consistency of product from run to run. Good reactor design allowed to overcome these issues and to develop a new material based on graphene with a flake-like structure (labeled graphene nanoflakes, GNF) supporting nitrogen for catalytic applications, for example as platinum replacement in fuel cells. These structures showed not only to be active, but also stable in polymer electrolyte fuel cell operation. Characterization of these structures, in situ fuel cell studies and modeling analysis all indicate that achievement of stability relates on the crystalline two-dimensional graphene structure. This paper first reviews the basic aspects behind the structural objectives, describes the synthesis process design leading to this crystalline structure, and provides a two-dimensional analysis on the graphitic growth based on fundamental theory and CFD calculations. These calculations indicate that an independent control of the graphene structure thickness (number of atomic planes) and sheet lengths is possible in a thermal plasma reactor.     

PDDA修饰的碳纳米管载铂电催化剂的合成及其在碱性条件下的氧气还原反应催化性能

采用长链聚合物聚二烯丙基二甲基氯化铵(PDDA)对多壁碳纳米管(MWCNTs)进行修饰,并将采用胶体法还原出的铂(Pt)纳米粒子通过静电作用担载于PDDA修饰的多壁碳纳米管上,从而制备出Pt/PDDA/MWCNTs复合电催化剂.透射电镜(TEM)与X射线衍射(XRD)测试结果表明, Pt纳米粒子均匀地分布在MWCNTs的表面,其平均粒径约为3.6 nm.热失重分析显示催化剂的实际负载量为36%(w).旋转圆盘电极测试结果表明, Pt/PDDA/MWCNTs催化剂对碱性条件下的氧气还原反应(ORR)具有优异的催化活性.与负载量为40%(w)的商业Pt/C催化剂相比, Pt/PDDA/MWCNTs催化剂的氧气还原反应的起始电位和半波电位均正移约30 mV,其质量比活性更大.动力学研究结果进一步证实Pt/PDDA/MWCNTs催化剂比负载量为40%(w)的商业Pt/C催化剂在碱性条件下对氧气还原反应具有更优异的催化活性.     

微波溶剂热法制备掺氮石墨烯用于碱性氧还原反应

采用微波处理氧化石墨烯（GO）与乙二醇（EG）、乙二胺（ED）混合液的方法制备氮掺杂石墨烯（NG）,使用旋转圆盘电极对NG催化氧还原在碱性溶液中反应进行研究,并考察了不同微波辐射时间、ED与EG之比对反应性能的影响。采用X射线衍射仪（XRD）、透射电子显微镜（TEM）、拉曼光谱（Raman）和傅里叶变换红外光谱（FT-IR）研究了NG催化剂的结构与性质。相比于未掺氮的石墨烯样品,NG表现出更正的起始电位和接近四电子的转移过程。NG中掺杂氮原子的键合方式通过XPS进行表征,结果表明起始电位的高低取决于石墨氮含量。此外,所有表征结果表明总氮含量与氧还原反应性能没有直接关系。     

Pt掺杂氧化石墨烯在酸性介质中催化氧还原反应DFT研究

目前Pt基催化剂被公认为是最高效的氧还原催化剂.我们采用了密度泛函理论研究了Pt掺杂5种不同氧化石墨烯和完美石墨烯在酸性环境中的氧还原反应机理,计算了氧还原反应中间体O₂、O、OOH、OH、H₂O和H₂O₂在不同掺杂石墨烯上的吸附性能、反应步骤与反应相对能量变化.结果表明,氧化石墨烯在O₂的活化、中间体吸附、掺杂难度（缺陷形成能）、能带带隙以及在反应中相对能量的降低都优于完美石墨烯,我们的工作将有助于为将来在实验中选择和合成氧还原催化剂提供一定的理论指导意义.     

微波溶剂热法制备掺氮石墨烯用于碱性氧还原反应

采用微波处理氧化石墨烯(GO)与乙二醇(EG)、乙二胺(ED)混合液的方法制备氮掺杂石墨烯(NG),使用旋转圆盘电极对NG催化氧还原在碱性溶液中反应进行研究,并考察了不同微波辐射时间、ED与EG之比对反应性能的影响。采用X射线衍射仪(XRD)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、拉曼光谱(Raman)和傅里叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR)研究了NG催化剂的结构与性质。相比于未掺氮的石墨烯样品,NG表现出更正的起始电位和接近四电子的转移过程。NG中掺杂氮原子的键合方式通过XPS进行表征,结果表明起始电位的高低取决于石墨氮含量。此外,所有表征结果表明总氮含量与氧还原反应性能没有直接关系。     

Graphene Supported Platinum Nanoparticles as Catalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Graphene supported Pt nanoparticles were fabricated via electrochemical reduction method and the application of them in oxygen reduction reaction was also investigated. The results of field emission scanning electron microscope(SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) and Raman spectroscopy reveal that the interaction between Pt nanoparticles and graphene sheets can prevent graphene from agglomeration and improve the electronic conductivity of the composite. And the graphene supported Pt nanoparticles exhibit excellent electrocatalytic activity toward oxygen reduction reaction.     

Eco-Friendly Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Preparation and Design for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Four N-doped graphene materials with a nitrogen content ranging from 8.34 to 13.1 wt.% are prepared by the ball milling method. This method represents an eco-friendly mechanochemical process that can be easily adapted for industrial-scale productivity and allows both the exfoliation of graphite and the synthesis of large quantities of functionalized graphene. These materials are characterized by transmission and scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry measurements, X-ray powder diffraction, X-ray photoelectron and Raman spectroscopy, and then, are tested towards the oxygen reduction reaction by cyclic voltammetry and rotating disk electrode methods. Their responses towards ORR are analysed in correlation with their properties and use for the best ORR catalyst identification. However, even though the mechanochemical procedure and the characterization techniques are clean and green methods (i.e., water is the only solvent used for these syntheses and investigations), they are time consuming and, generally, a low number of materials can be prepared, characterized and tested. In order to eliminate some of these limitations, the use of regression learner and reverse engineering methods are proposed for facilitating the optimization of the synthesis conditions and the materials’ design. Thus, the machine learning algorithms are applied to data containing the synthesis parameters, the results obtained from different characterization techniques and the materials response towards ORR to quickly provide predictions that allow the best synthesis conditions or the best electrocatalysts’ identification.     

氮掺杂石墨烯的制备及其对氧还原反应的电催化性能

以氧化石墨烯(GO)为原料、丙酮肟(DMKO)为还原剂和氮掺杂剂,采用化学还原法制备了不同氮掺杂含量的石墨烯(NG).利用场发射透射电子显微镜(FETEM)、紫外-可见(UV-Vis)光谱、傅里叶变换红外(FTIR)光谱、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、zeta电位和纳米粒度分析、循环伏安(CV)和旋转圆盘电极(RDE)等手段对材料的形貌、结构、成分和电化学性质进行表征.结果显示:DMKO能有效地还原GO,且通过调节GO与DMKO的质量比,可以得到不同还原效果的NG,其氮含量范围为4.40%-5.89%(原子分数);GO与DMKO的质量比为1:0.7时制备的氮掺杂石墨烯(NG-1)在O2饱和0.1 mol·L-1KOH溶液中对氧还原反应(ORR)的电催化性能最佳,其ORR峰电流为0.93 mA·cm-2,电子转移数为3.6,这归因于其较高含量的吡啶-N增加了材料的ORR活性位点.此外,石墨化-N由于其较高的电子导电性倾向于产生较高的氧还原峰电流,而吡啶-N较低的超电势倾向于产生较正的氧还原峰电位.与商用Pt/C相比,该材料展现出了优异的抗CH3OH"跨界效应"的特性.     

氮掺杂石墨烯的制备及其对氧还原反应的电催化性能

以氧化石墨烯（GO）为原料、丙酮肟（DMKO）为还原剂和氮掺杂剂,采用化学还原法制备了不同氮掺杂含量的石墨烯（NG）. 利用场发射透射电子显微镜（FETEM）、紫外-可见（UV-Vis）光谱、傅里叶变换红外（FTIR）光谱、X射线光电子能谱（XPS）、zeta 电位和纳米粒度分析、循环伏安（CV）和旋转圆盘电极（RDE）等手段对材料的形貌、结构、成分和电化学性质进行表征. 结果显示：DMKO能有效地还原GO,且通过调节GO与DMKO的质量比,可以得到不同还原效果的NG,其氮含量范围为4.40%-5.89%（原子分数）;GO与DMKO的质量比为1：0.7时制备的氮掺杂石墨烯（NG-1）在O₂饱和0.1 mol·L^-1 KOH溶液中对氧还原反应（ORR）的电催化性能最佳,其ORR峰电流为0.93 mA·cm^-2,电子转移数为3.6,这归因于其较高含量的吡啶-N增加了材料的ORR活性位点. 此外,石墨化-N由于其较高的电子导电性倾向于产生较高的氧还原峰电流,而吡啶-N较低的超电势倾向于产生较正的氧还原峰电位. 与商用Pt/C相比,该材料展现出了优异的抗CH₃OH“跨界效应”的特性.     

石墨烯量子点负载银纳米粒子制备及氧还原电催化活性

银基氧还原电催化剂具有较高的电催化活性且价格相对低廉,因而受到广泛关注. 本文采用简单、预先合成的石墨烯量子点作为载体和还原剂,制得了负载于石墨烯量子点、且无保护剂和表面活性剂的表面洁净银纳米粒子（Ag NPs/GQDs）. 电化学研究表明,Ag NPs/GQDs复合电催化剂的氧还原有较高的电催化活性,氧在碱性溶液中可经4电子途径还原为水. 与商业铂碳电极（Pt/C）相比,AgNPs/GQDs电极具有高催化电流密度、良好稳定性和极佳抗甲醇性能. 该银纳米粒子对开发高性能和低成本的非铂氧还原电催化剂有潜在的应用前景.     

还原氧化石墨烯负载球形金属酞菁电催化阴极氧还原反应性能

针对阴极氧还原反应(ORR)动力学缓慢和Pt/C类贵金属催化剂成本高等关键难题,我们设计、合成了醛基取代的球形金属酞菁M2Pc2(TA)4(M=Zn、Co、Fe),采用"π-π组装"技术将其负载到还原氧化石墨烯(rGO)上得到复合催化剂M2Pc2(TA)4/rGO,并对其形貌和结构进行表征.结果 表明:通过"π-π堆积...     

Fe-N/C-TsOH催化剂应用碱性介质催化氧还原的电催化活性

通过溶剂分散热处理方法制备了一种吡咯和对甲苯磺酸(TsOH)共同修饰的碳载非贵金属复合催化剂(Fe-N/C-TsOH),并采用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)和X射线光电子能谱(XPS)对催化剂的形貌和组成成分进行表征. 借助循环伏安法(CV)和旋转圆盘技术研究了TsOH对催化剂在0.1 mol·L^-1 KOH介质中催化氧还原性能的影响. 结果表明：TsOH的存在对催化剂催化氧还原反应(ORR)的活性影响很大. 以其制备的气体扩散电极在碱性电解质溶液中催化氧还原过程时转移的电子数为3.899,远比不含TsOH修饰的催化剂催化氧还原的电子数(3.098)高. 此外,研究发现600 ℃热处理过的Fe-N/C-TsOH催化剂表现出最佳的氧还原催化性能. 相比未经热处理过的Fe-N/C-TsOH催化剂,起峰电位和-1.5 mA·cm^-2电流密度对应的电压分别向正方向移动30 和170 mV. XPS研究结果表明吡咯氮是催化剂主要活性中心,提供氧还原活性位,而TsOH加入形成的C―S_n―C和―SO_n―有利于催化剂催化氧还原活性的提高,从而使该催化剂对氧还原表现出很好的电催化性能和选择性.     

CoPy/C催化剂应用碱性介质氧还原催化的电化学性能

利用碳黑（Vulcan XC-72R）中加入硫酸钴和吡啶（Py）作为催化剂前驱体,经溶剂分散热处理构建了一类新型的高效氧还原CoPy/C复合催化剂.并运用循环伏安法（CV）和旋转圆盘电极（RDE）技术研究了不同Co含量的CoPy/C催化剂在碱性介质中对氧还原的电催化活性.结果表明:Co的存在对氧的催化剂活性位的形成有重要影响,800℃下所制备的10%Co30%Py/C（质量分数）复合催化剂表现出最佳的氧还原催化活性.以其制备的气体扩散电极在3.0 mol·L^-1KOH电解质溶液（O₂气氛）中0.014 V（相对于标准氧电极（RHE））即可产生明显的氧还原电流.同40%Py/C相比,10%Co30%Py/C催化氧还原的起峰电位正移了71 mV,同时表现出明显的极限扩散电流.在-0.16 V时电流密度达到最大值,电流密度为1.0 mA·cm^-2,半波电位在-0.07 V.透射电镜分析表明所制备的碳黑载吡啶钴（10%Co30%Py/C）催化剂平均粒径为20 nm.     

通过铁掺杂和造孔提高氮掺杂石墨烯/碳纳米管复合物电催化氧还原性能的研究（英文）

氧还原反应催化剂的性能直接影响着能源转换和存储器件如燃料电池和金属-空气电池的性能. 开发低成本、高性能的非铂族金属氧还原催化剂对于这类器件的实际应用和商业化十分重要,因此备受关注. 氮掺杂的石墨烯/碳纳米管复合物同时具备碳纳米管的良好导电性能和有利于传质的三维网络结构优点,以及氮掺杂石墨烯的高活性优点,因此有望发展为这类可替代铂族催化剂的氧还原电催化剂之一,但目前其催化性能还需进一步提高. 本文研究发现通过在氮掺杂石墨烯/碳纳米管复合物的过程中引入铁元素可以有效提高催化剂的氧还原活性,并且发现通过在热处理和氮掺杂过程中加入二氧化硅纳米颗粒及随后除去二氧化硅,可以在氮掺杂的石墨烯/碳纳米管复合物材料中有效地形成多孔结构. 这种多孔结构的形成不仅可以在复合物中引入更多的高活性催化位点,而且有利于暴露更多的催化活性位并促进氧还原反应中的传质过程. 结合碳纳米管、石墨烯和多孔结构的三者优点,所制备的多孔氮掺杂碳材料表现出优异的电催化氧还原性能. 进一步的实验表明,这类材料还表现出优异的抗甲醇中毒能力和良好的稳定性,因此在性能改进后有望用于燃料电池等能量转换与存储器件.     

氮掺杂石墨烯的制备及氧还原电催化性能

采用两步热解法, 用尿素掺杂氧化石墨烯(GO)得到N掺杂的还原氧化石墨烯(N-RGO), 通过控制反应温度, 制备了具有不同电催化活性的N掺杂的还原氧化石墨烯. 透射电子显微镜(TEM)和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)结果显示, 制得的氮掺杂石墨烯(nG)表面褶皱和重叠增加. X射线光电子能谱(XPS)证明, 氮元素以吡啶N、 吡咯N和石墨化的N 3种形式掺杂在石墨烯中, 最高摩尔分数为6.6%. 通过循环伏安(CV)和旋转圆盘电极(RDE)测试了nG的电化学性能, 结果表明, 在酸性电解质中对氧还原(ORR)有较高的催化活性, 起始电位在0.1 V左右, 电催化还原氧气时主要为四电子反应, 且相对商用的Pt/C催化剂有更好的电化学稳定性, 其中第一步热解温度为200℃制得的nG催化性能最好.     

Defect‐Rich Graphene Nanomesh Produced by Thermal Exfoliation of Metal–Organic Frameworks for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Although graphene nanomesh is an attractive 2D carbon material, general synthetic routes to produce functional graphene nanomesh in large‐scale are complex and tedious. Herein, we elaborately design a simple two‐step dimensional reduction strategy for exploring nitrogen‐doped graphene nanomesh by thermal exfoliation of crystal‐ and shape‐modified metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs). MOF nanoleaves with 2D rather than 3D crystal structure are used as the precursor, which are further thermally unraveled into nitrogen‐doped graphene nanomesh by using metal chlorides as the exfoliators and etching agent. The nitrogen‐doped graphene nanomesh has a unique ultrathin two‐dimensional morphology, high porosity, rich and accessible nitrogen‐doped active sites, and defective graphene edges, contributing to an unprecedented catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in acid electrolytes. This approach is suitable for scalable production.     

三维氮掺杂石墨烯气凝胶负载钴酞菁作为高效的氧气还原反应催化剂

通过两步溶剂热法制备得到三维氮掺杂石墨烯与吡啶氧基钴酞菁的复合材料(CoTPPc/NGA).该复合材料具有优良的氧气还原性能,在起峰电位和半波上接近商业化的铂碳催化剂(Pt/C),且在稳定性和抗甲醇性能上优于铂碳催化剂,有望代替铂碳催化剂成为碱性直接甲醇燃料电池的阴极催化剂.     

Bifunctional Catalysts for Reversible Oxygen Evolution Reaction and Oxygen Reduction Reaction

Metal-air batteries (MABs) and reversible fuel cells (RFCs) rely on the bifunctional oxygen catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Finding efficient bifunctional oxygen catalysts is the ultimate goal and it has attracted a great deal of attention. The dilemma is that a good ORR catalyst is not necessarily efficient for OER, and vice versa. Thus, the development of a new type of bifunctional oxygen catalysts should ensure that the catalysts exhibit high activity for both OER and ORR. Composites with multicomponents for active centers supported on highly conductive matrices could be able to meet the challenges and offering new opportunities. In this Review, the evolution of bifunctional catalysts is summarized and discussed aiming to deliver high-performance bifunctional catalysts with low overpotentials.