Bifunctional Electrocatalytic Activity of Boron‐Doped Graphene Derived from Boron Carbide

Abstract

A single material that can perform water oxidation and oxygen reduction reactions (ORR), also called bifunctional catalyst, represents a novel concept that emerged from recent materials research and that has led to applications in new‐generation energy‐storage systems, such as regenerative fuel cells. Here, metal/metal‐oxide free, doped graphene derived from rhombohedral boron carbide (B4C) is demonstrated to be an effective bifunctional catalyst for the first time. B4C, one of the hardest materials in nature next to diamond and cubic boron nitride, is converted and separated in bulk to form heteroatom (boron, B) doped graphene (BG, yield ≈7% by weight, after the first cycle). This structural conversion of B4C to graphene is accompanied by in situ boron doping and results in the formation of an electrochemically active material from a non‐electrochemically active material, broadening its potential for application in various energy‐related technologies. The electrocatalytic efficacy of BG is studied using various voltammetric techniques. The results show a four‐electron transfer mechanism as well as a high methanol tolerance and stability towards ORR. The results are comparable to those from commercial 20 wt% Pt/C in terms of performance. Furthermore, the bifunctionality of the BG is also demonstrated by its performance in water oxidation.

Design of Efficient Bifunctional Oxygen Reduction/Evolution Electrocatalyst: Recent Advances and Perspectives

“…[64][65][66][67][68][69][70] Rational design of carbon materials with multicomponent active centers can in principle lead to multifunctional catalysts for the ORR/OER. Typically, metal-free heteroatom (e.g., N)-doped carbon (C-N) and N-and transition metal-"co-doped" carbon (M-N-C, M = Fe or/and Co) are widely investigated.…”

Recent Progress in Defective Carbon‐Based Oxygen Electrode Materials for Rechargeable Zink‐Air Batteries

“…[16] Secondly, vacancy defects (single/multi) and basal holes are intensively reported. [21] Generally, the extrinsic defects are introduced by heteroatom-doping way, including nonmetallic atoms like N, [22] P, [23] B, [25] S [26] and metallic atoms, [26] in which transition metal are increasingly popular due to a bunch of advantages such as low cost and high activity comparable to noble metals. [17] Finally, edges are considering as another type of defects in carbon nanomaterials.…”

Grain structures of nitrogen-doped graphene synthesized by solid source-based chemical vapor deposition

“…Incorporation of foreign atoms in the sp 2 sites of graphene lattice can be an interesting prospect to tune the intrinsic properties of graphene [9,10]. Theoretical studies have revealed that substitutional doping of graphene with a heteroatom like nitrogen, boron, etc., can change the Fermi energy and introduce a band gap [11][12][13][14][15]. The doping with heteroatoms creates charged sites in the graphene lattice, as a result the spin and charge densities are redistributed bringing new functionalities [16].…”