A reliable procedure for the preparation of graphene-boron nitride superlattices as large area (cm x cm) films on arbitrary substrates or powders (gram scale) and unexpected electrocatalytic properties
[EN] Herein, a reliable procedure for the preparation of graphene-boron nitride superlattices, either as films or powders, consisting of the pyrolysis at 900 degrees C of polystyrene embedded pre-formed boron nitride single sheets is reported. The procedure can serve to prepare large area films (cm x cm) of this superlattice on quartz, copper foil and ceramics. Selected area electron diffraction patterns at every location on the films show the occurrence of the graphene-boron nitride superlattice all over the film. The procedure can also be applied to the preparation of powdered samples on a gram scale. Comparison with other materials indicates that the superlattice appears spontaneously as…
111 oriented gold nanoplatelets on multilayer graphene as visible light photocatalyst for overall water splitting
[EN] Development of renewable fuels from solar light appears as one of the main current challenges in energy science. A plethora of photocatalysts have been investigated to obtain hydrogen and oxygen from water and solar light in the last decades. However, the photon-to-hydrogen molecule conversion is still far from allowing real implementation of solar fuels. Here we show that 111 facet-oriented gold nanoplatelets on multilayer graphene films deposited on quartz is a highly active photocatalyst for simulated sunlight overall water splitting into hydrogen and oxygen in the absence of sacrificial electron donors, achieving hydrogen production rate of 1.2 molH2 per gcomposite per h. This phot…
3D defective graphenes with subnanometric porosity obtained by soft-templating following zeolite procedures
[EN] By applying the well-known templating mechanism employed for the synthesis of mesoporous silicas to the structuration of sodium alginate, a novel defective 3D tubular graphene material (graphenolite) with hierarchical macro/meso/micro-porous structure, very high powder specific surface area (1820 m(2) g(-1)) and regular micropore size (0.6 nm) has been obtained. The key feature of the process is the filmogenic property of alginate that is able to replicate the liquid crystal rods formed by the CTAC template in the aqueous phase. The 3D graphene exhibits 2.5 times higher capacitance using Li+ electrolyte compared to K+, indicating that Li+ can ingress to the ultramicropores which, in co…
Uniform nanoporous graphene sponge from natural polysaccharides as a metal-free electrocatalyst for hydrogen generation
[EN] Structuring of graphene as graphene sponges in the submicrometric scale has been achieved by using silica spheres (80 nm diameter) as hard templates and chitosan or alginate as precursor of defective N-doped or undoped graphene, respectively. The resulting defective N-doped graphene sponge exhibits a remarkable activity and stability for hydrogen evolution reaction with onset at 203 mV for a current density of 0.5 mA cm(-2) with a small Tafel plot slope of 69.7 mV dec(-1). In addition, the graphene sponge also exhibits a high double layer capacitance of 11.65 mF cm(-2). Comparison with an analogous N-doped graphene sample shows that this electrochemical properties derive from the spati…
Polystyrene as Graphene Film and 3D Graphene Sponge Precursor
[EN] Polystyrene as a thin film on arbitrary substrates or pellets form defective graphene/graphitic films or powders that can be dispersed in water and organic solvents. The materials were characterized by visible absorption, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron and atomic force microscopy, and electrochemistry. Raman spectra of these materials showed the presence of the expected 2D, G, and D peaks at 2750, 1590, and 1350 cm(-1), respectively. The relative intensity of the G versus the D peak was taken as a quantitative indicator of the density of defects in the G layer.
Superior Electrocatalytic Activity of MoS2-Graphene as Superlattice
[EN] Evidence by selected area diffraction patterns shows the successful preparation of large area (cm x cm) MoS2/graphene heterojunctions in coincidence of the MoS2 and graphene hexagons (superlattice). The electrodes of MoS2/graphene in superlattice configuration show improved catalytic activity for H-2 and O-2 evolution with smaller overpotential of +0.34 V for the overall water splitting when compared with analogous MoS2/graphene heterojunction with random stacking.