Green synthesis of nitrogen-doped self-assembled porous carbon-metal oxide composite towards energy and environmental applications

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 9; no. 1; p. 5187
• Main Authors: Ghosh, Arpita, Ghosh, Sreetama, Seshadhri, Garapati Meenakshi, Ramaprabhu, Sundara
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 26-03-2019; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 639/4077; 639/925; Carbon; Carbon dioxide; Chemical reduction; Fossil fuels; Humanities and Social Sciences; Hydrogen bonding; Lithium; Metal oxides; multidisciplinary; Nanoparticles; Science; Science (multidisciplinary)
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41700-5

Increasing environmental pollution, shortage of efficient energy conversion and storage devices and the depletion of fossil fuels have triggered the research community to look for advanced multifunctional materials suitable for different energy-related applications. Herein, we have discussed a novel and facile synthesis mechanism of such a carbon-based nanocomposite along with its energy and environmental applications. In this present work, nitrogen-doped carbon self-assembled into ordered mesoporous structure has been synthesized via an economical and environment-friendly route and its pore generating mechanism depending on the hydrogen bonding interaction has been highlighted. Incorporation of metal oxide nanoparticles in the porous carbon network has significantly improved CO
2
adsorption and lithium storage capacity along with an improvement in the catalytic activity towards Oxygen Reduction Reaction (ORR). Thus our present study unveils a multifunctional material that can be used in three different fields without further modifications.