Abstract
The surface morphology and electronic structure of hexagonal graphene onion rings (HGORs), a modified graphene structure, were investigated to confirm the possibility as an efficient catalyst when compared to graphene. After confirming the formation of HGORs with a smaller width (~4.2 μm) from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and optical microscopy images, we compared the catalytic activities of HGORs and graphene by measuring the rate of oxidation of thiophenol using high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy (HRPES). In addition, we also assessed in 4-chlorophenol degradation and the OH radical formation with a benzoic acid to confirm the possibility for photocatalytic activities of HGORs. As a result, we confirmed that HGORs, which has an increased active site due to its three-dimensional structure formed by the reaction of graphene with hydrogen, can act as an effective catalyst. In addition, we could also realize the possibility of optical applicability by observing the 0.13 eV of band gap opening of HGORs.
Highlights
Following the discovery of graphene, there has been a great effort to exploit its unique properties in various applications[1,2,3]
Www.nature.com/scientificreports the possibility of hexagonal graphene onion rings (HGORs) as a photocatalyst, we assessed the photocatalytic activities of the three tested graphene-related materials in other reactions such as 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) degradation and OH radical formation of benzoic acid (BA) in aqueous solutions, which are widely used to compare the photocatalytic properties of catalyst materials[23,24,25,26]
In order to compare the catalytic activities of graphene and HGORs in oxidation reactions, we tested the three materials in the oxidation of TP via high-resolution photoemission spectroscopy (HRPES)
Summary
Following the discovery of graphene, there has been a great effort to exploit its unique properties in various applications[1,2,3] This is because of the unusual optical and electronic properties of graphene that can be influenced by its conformation[4,5]. An enhancement in reactivity is expected near the 3D structure is expected, which could increase the reactivity of the material in different ways including enhanced catalytic activity[18,19,20] To investigate this possibility as a useful catalyst, we fabricated 3D hexagonal graphene structures with shapes resembling onion rings (denoted as “hexagonal graphene onion rings”, HGORs) by in situ growth of graphene. To confirm the possibility of HGORs as a photocatalyst, we assessed the photocatalytic activities of the three tested graphene-related materials in other reactions such as 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) degradation and OH radical formation of benzoic acid (BA) in aqueous solutions, which are widely used to compare the photocatalytic properties of catalyst materials[23,24,25,26]
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