Metal-free B-doped graphene with efficient electrocatalytic activity for hydrogen evolution reaction

Abstract

We report a facile and inexpensive wet synthetic method to electrocatalytically active, B-substituted graphene (B-SuG) by controlled substitution of the C atoms of graphene with B atoms using BH3-THF. The resulting material is shown to serve as an efficient metal-free electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

An Advanced Nitrogen‐Doped Graphene/Cobalt‐Embedded Porous Carbon Polyhedron Hybrid for Efficient Catalysis of Oxygen Reduction and Water Splitting

“…Notably, for driving a current density of 10 mA cm −2 , the hybrid only required an overpotential of 229 mV, which made N/Co-doped PCP//NRGO among the most active nonprecious HER electrocatalysts in acidic solution (Table S4, Supporting Information), together with cobalt-embedded nitrogen-rich carbon nanotubes, [ 19b ] Fe/N-rich tungsten carbonitride, [ 45 ] Co 0.6 Mo 1.4 N 2 , [ 46 ] and FeCo-alloy into nitrogendoped carbon nanotubes, [ 47 ] N,P-graphene, [ 48 ] and B-doped graphene. [ 49 ] These catalyst systems exhibited overpotentials that range from 200 to 450 mV at cathodic current densities of 10 mA cm −2 . The dramatic enhancement in catalytic activity was even more apparent upon comparison of the slopes of Tafel plots (Figure 5 b) for the N/Co-doped PCP//NRGO (126 mV/decade) and N/Co-doped PCP (170 mV/decade).…”

“…The earlier onset of catalytic activity and a smaller Tafel slope can be attributed to the synergic effect between N/Co-doped PCP and NRGO. Although the hetero-atom-doped carbon materials as active sites for HER has been recognized by numerous experimental and theoretical studies, [ 48,49 ] the exact nature of the active sites in N/ Co-doped PCP remains unknown. Based on above result, coupled with the recent theoretical calculations on metal/nitrogendoped carbon nanomaterials, [ 47 ] we think that introduction of metal and nitrogen dopants can synergistically optimize the electronic structure of the carbon and the adsorption energy of H atoms on carbon, thus promoting the electron transfer from metal/N-dopants to the carbon where HER occurs.…”

Band gap opening in stanene induced by patterned B–N doping

“…one B atom is doped in the 50 atomic unit cell of stanene. The previous report demonstrated that 2% B doping is favourable in graphene 45,61 due to the lower concentration that maintains the symmetry of sub lattice. However, higher doping concentration modifies the structure of graphene.…”

“…However, there is a band gap of 0.17 eV above the Fermi energy, which indicates that the N@stanene is a degenerate semiconductor and the electronic properties of such system, can be tuned by tuning the gate voltage. 61 Similar to B@stanene, the degenerate semiconductor nature of 35 Thus, we predict N@stanene could be a promising material like N@graphene for electronic and other applications. In case of N@stanene, the total density of states is similar at the Fermi level even after the inclusion of SOC effect ( Figure S1(c), Supporting Information).…”

Kohlenstoffbasierte Metallfreie Katalysatoren für die Elektrokatalyse jenseits der ORR

“…[67] Das Dotieren mit B kann außerdem bewirken, dass das Fermi-Niveau der CNTs ins Valenzband verschoben wird [68] und sich die katalytischen Aktivität für die Wasserspaltung erhçht. [69] Dieses B-SuG ist ein effizienter metallfreier Elektrokatalysator mit einer gegenüber der undotierten Spezies deutlich schnelleren HER-Kinetik. [69] Dieses B-SuG ist ein effizienter metallfreier Elektrokatalysator mit einer gegenüber der undotierten Spezies deutlich schnelleren HER-Kinetik.…”