Highly Efficient g‐C₃N₄ Nanorods with Dual Active Sites as an Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Abstract

Finding metal‐free, carbon‐based, highly active, and durable electrocatalyst for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential for the development of electrochemical energy storage and conversion systems. Herein, we report the synthesis of graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C3N4) nanorods using a hydrothermal method. The transformation of bulk g‐C3N4 (denoted as g‐B‐CN) to g‐C3N4 1D nanorods (denoted as g‐CN) endowed the material with abundant active sites, increased electrochemical active surface area, and enhanced charge transfer. g‐CN exhibited high activity and durability in catalyzing the OER. The optimized g‐CN achieved a current density of 10 mA cm−2 at an overpotential of 316 mV vs. RHE in 1 M KOH, with a Tafel slope of 125 mV dec−1. The high catalytic performance of g‐CN is mainly attributed to the abundantly exposed unique active sites originatingfrom the 1D morphology and the presence of an oxidized pyridinic nitrogen; elucidating the important role of elaborate morphology tailoring and co‐doping of heteroatoms in catalyzing the OER.

Investigations of Carbon Nitride-Supported Mn3O4 Oxide Nanoparticles for ORR

“…[29,30]. Similarly, carbon nitrides have been shown to have a Tafel slope around 197 mV/dec in nanorod form, or 210 mV/dec in bulk form [31]. The onset potential and half wave potential for ORR in the kinetically controlled region are very similar for all the samples, with the best performance for the T-MnOx_WI_CN with a value around 0.7 V and 0.58 V, respectively.…”

“…[29,30]. Similarly, carbon nitrides have been shown to have a Tafel slope around 197 mV/dec in nanorod form, or 210 mV/dec in bulk form [31].…”

Carbon-Based Composites as Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction in Alkaline Media

“…One of the materials that has recently attracted significant attention in electrocatalytic applications is graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ), mostly due to its tailorable structure and high nitrogen content (pyridinic and pyrrolic N) in the carbon framework [ 168 , 169 , 170 ]. Nevertheless, the catalytic activity of bulk g-C 3 N 4 suffers from low surface area and insufficient electronic conductivity.…”

Electrochemical Catalysts for Green Hydrogen Energy

“…1D graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C 3 N 4 ) nanorods were synthesized by a hydrothermal reaction. [ 127 ] Altering the bulk g‐C 3 N 4 (g‐B‐CN) to 1D g‐C 3 N 4 (g‐CN) nanorods produced a material with a lot of active sites, increased active surface area, and improved charge transfer. The optimized 1D g‐CN exhibited an overpotential of 316 m V RHE at 10 mA cm −2 in 1 m aq.…”