Scalable One-Pot Synthesis of Nitrogen and Boron Co-doped Few Layered Graphene by Submerged Liquid Plasma Exfoliation

Satheeshkumar Elumalai,Masahiro Yoshimura,Chia-Ying Su

doi:10.3389/fmats.2019.00216

Abstract

We report a simple, one-pot solution-processing synthesize of nitrogen (N) and boron (B) co-doped in few-layered graphene by submerged liquid plasma exfoliation (SLPE) was developed. Simultaneous graphite exfoliation and N, and B co-doping in few layered graphene nanosheets (NB-GNs) were produced by micro-plasma discharge at the graphite tip immersed in the acetonitrile (ACN) solvent containing sodium tetraphenylborate. Higher boron contents led to an amorphous nano-carbon, while a few-layered NB-GNs was obtained at low boron content in the ACN reaction mixture. To analyze the structural defect, nanosheets morphology, N and B co-doping in few-layered graphene, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy coupled with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (TEM-EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used. This solution-processing strategy will be useful for the practical option of exploring a large family of two-dimensional (2D) materials.

Highlights

Functionalized graphene-based hybrid materials with specific morphology emerged as an attractive material for the various applications due to the specific surface area of graphene, electrical, thermal, optical properties (Kuila et al, 2012)
It has been reported that B-doped graphene (BG) and N-doped graphene (NG) can be synthesized to exhibit p- and n-type semiconducting electronic properties that can be systematically tuned with the concentration of B and N for the various applications (Panchakarla et al, 2009; Muhammad et al, 2017, 2018; Rafique et al, 2019)
The X-ray diffraction (XRD) peak at around 26.4 (2θ) is due to (002) lattice plane of graphite structure it goes lattice contraction with decreasing intensity of (002) plane as the concentration of boron decreased from 5 to 1 mM in 0.77 mol ACN (Figure 1B spectrum b to d)

Summary

Introduction

Functionalized graphene-based hybrid materials with specific morphology emerged as an attractive material for the various applications due to the specific surface area of graphene, electrical, thermal, optical properties (Kuila et al, 2012). GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT | The graphical representation on in situ, one-pot solution-processing synthesis of nitrogen (N) and boron (B) co-doped in few-layered graphene via submerged liquid plasma exfoliation (SLPE) approach.

Results

Conclusion