Graphene Nanoribbon Sheet Research Articles

In Situ Growth of Co3O4 Nanoparticles on Interconnected Nitrogen‐Doped Graphene Nanoribbons as Efficient Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalyst

AbstractA simple, low cost and nontoxic preparation method to obtain high performance oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts is of great significance in fuel cell fields. Herein, graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) with numerous graphitic edges are chosen as supporting material to hybridize with nitrogen atoms and cobalt oxide (Co3O4) through a simple one‐step hydrothermal reaction. With a high edge‐to‐plane ratio, the GNR sheets could increase the accessibility of N‐atom doping into the graphene edges to form active ORR sites, and be also interconnected with each other to form a conductive network, thus facilitating the fast electron transfer. The intimate contacts between Co3O4 nanoparticles and nitrogen‐doped GNRs (N‐GNRs) along with the porous structure impart the N‐GNR/Co3O4 hybrid with excellent ORR performance, which leads to a comparable onset‐potential to commercial Pt/C catalyst but larger current density, better long‐term stability and superior tolerance to crossover effects.

Nitrogen-Doping Induced Self-Assembly of Graphene Nanoribbon-Based Two-Dimensional and Three-Dimensional Metamaterials.

Narrow graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) constructed by atomically precise bottom-up synthesis from molecular precursors have attracted significant interest as promising materials for nanoelectronics. But there has been little awareness of the potential of GNRs to serve as nanoscale building blocks of novel materials. Here we show that the substitutional doping with nitrogen atoms can trigger the hierarchical self-assembly of GNRs into ordered metamaterials. We use GNRs doped with eight N atoms per unit cell and their undoped analogues, synthesized using both surface-assisted and solution approaches, to study this self-assembly on a support and in an unrestricted three-dimensional (3D) solution environment. On a surface, N-doping mediates the formation of hydrogen-bonded GNR sheets. In solution, sheets of side-by-side coordinated GNRs can in turn assemble via van der Waals and π-stacking interactions into 3D stacks, a process that ultimately produces macroscopic crystalline structures. The optoelectronic properties of these semiconducting GNR crystals are determined entirely by those of the individual nanoscale constituents, which are tunable by varying their width, edge orientation, termination, and so forth. The atomically precise bottom-up synthesis of bulk quantities of basic nanoribbon units and their subsequent self-assembly into crystalline structures suggests that the rapidly developing toolset of organic and polymer chemistry can be harnessed to realize families of novel carbon-based materials with engineered properties.

Optical field terahertz amplitude modulation by graphene nanoribbons.

In this study, first-principles time-dependent density functional theory calculations were used to demonstrate the possibility to modulate the amplitude of the optical electric field (E-field) near a semiconducting graphene nanoribbon. A significant enhancement of the optical E-field was observed 3.34 Å above the graphene nanoribbon sheet, with an amplitude modulation of approximately 100 fs, which corresponds to a frequency of 10 THz. In general, a six-fold E-field enhancement could be obtained, which means that the power of the obtained THz is about 36 times that of incident UV light. We suggest the use of semiconducting graphene nanoribbons for converting visible and UV light into a THz signal.

Nitrogen-Doped Graphene Nanoribbons as Efficient Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction

Nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbon (N-GNR) nanomaterials with different nitrogen contents have been facilely prepared via high temperature pyrolysis of graphene nanoribbons (GNR)/polyaniline (PANI) composites. Here, the GNRs with excellent surface integration were prepared by longitudinally unzipping the multiwalled carbon nanotubes. With a high length-to-width ratio, the GNR sheets are prone to form a conductive network by connecting end-to-end to facilitate the transfer of electrons. Different amounts of PANI acting as a N source were deposited on the surface of GNRs via a layer-by-layer approach, resulting in the formation of N-GNR nanomaterials with different N contents after being pyrolyzed. Electrochemical characterizations reveal that the obtained N8.3-GNR nanomaterial has excellent catalytic activity toward an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in an alkaline electrolyte, including large kinetic-limiting current density and long-term stability as well as a desirable four-electron pathway for the formation of water. These superior properties make the N-GNR nanomaterials a promising kind of cathode catalyst for alkaline fuel cell applications.

One-step synthesis of graphene nanoribbon–MnO2 hybrids and their all-solid-state asymmetric supercapacitors

Three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical hybrid nanomaterials (GNR-MnO₂) of graphene nanoribbons (GNR) and MnO₂ nanoparticles have been prepared via a one-step method. GNR, with unique features such as high aspect ratio and plane integrity, has been obtained by longitudinal unzipping of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs). By tuning the amount of oxidant used, different mass loadings of MnO₂ nanoparticles have been uniformly deposited on the surface of GNRs. Asymmetric supercapacitors have been fabricated with the GNR-MnO₂ hybrid as the positive electrode and GNR sheets as the negative electrode. Due to the desirable porous structure, excellent electrical conductivity, as well as high rate capability and specific capacitances of both the GNR and GNR-MnO₂ hybrid, the optimized GNR//GNR-MnO₂ asymmetric supercapacitor can be cycled reversibly in an enlarged potential window of 0-2.0 V. In addition, the fabricated GNR//GNR-MnO₂ asymmetric supercapacitor exhibits a significantly enhanced maximum energy density of 29.4 W h kg(-1) (at a power density of 12.1 kW kg(-1)), compared with that of the symmetric cells based on GNR-MnO₂ hybrids or GNR sheets. This greatly enhanced energy storage ability and high rate capability can be attributed to the homogeneous dispersion and excellent pseudocapacitive performance of MnO₂ nanoparticles and the high electrical conductivity of the GNRs.