Facile One-Pot, One-Step Synthesis of a Carbon Nanoarchitecture for an Advanced Multifunctonal Electrocatalyst

• Published in: Angewandte Chemie International Edition Vol. 53; no. 25; pp. 6496 - 6500
• Main Authors: Wen, Zhenhai, Ci, Suqin, Hou, Yang, Chen, Junhong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Weinheim WILEY-VCH Verlag 16-06-2014; WILEY‐VCH Verlag; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Edition: International ed. in English
• Subjects: Carbon; Carbon nanotubes; Chemical reactions; Doping; Electrocatalysts; Electrochemistry; Equipment costs; Graphene; hybrid materials; Hybrids; Morphology; Nanoparticles; Nanostructure; Nanotechnology; Nanotubes; Nitrogen; nitrogen doping; Strategy; Surface chemistry; Synthesis; hybrid materials; electrocatalysts; carbon nanotubes; graphene; nitrogen doping
• ISSN: 1433-7851; 1521-3773
• DOI: 10.1002/anie.201402574

A one‐pot/one‐step synthesis strategy was developed for the preparation of a nitrogen‐doped carbon nanoarchitecture with graphene‐nanosheet growth on the inner surface of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The N‐graphene/CNT hybrids exhibit outstanding electrocatalytic activity for several important electrochemical reactions as a result of their unique morphology and defect structures, such as high but uniform nitrogen doping, graphene insertion into CNTs, considerable surface area, and the presence of iron nanoparticles. The high‐yield synthetic process features high efficiency, low‐cost, straightforward operation, and simple equipment.
Not ones to laze about on the lawn, nitrogen‐doped graphene/carbon‐nanotube (CNT) hybrids showed high electrocatalytic activity for a series of important electrochemical reactions as a result of nitrogen doping and their unique structure with the graphene nanosheets entrapped in the inner void of the CNTs. The hybrids were prepared by a facile low‐cost method from solid‐phase sources with high efficiency.