Functional Hybrid Materials Containing Polypyrrole and Polyoxometalate Clusters: Searching for High Conductivities and Specific Charges

Metal-functionalized covalent organic frameworks as precursors of supercapacitive porous N-doped graphene

Covalent Organic Frameworks (COFs) based on polyimine with several metal ions (FeIII, CoII and NiII) adsorbed into their cavities have shown the ability to generate N-doped porous graphene from their pyrolysis under controlled conditions. These highly corrugated and porous graphene sheets exhibit high values of specific capacitance, which make them useful as electrode materials for supercapacitors.

Magnetic Nanocomposites Formed by FeNi3 Nanoparticles Embedded in Graphene. Application as Supercapacitors

A general family of magnetic nanocomposites formed by FeNi3 ferromagnetic nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in a graphitized carbon matrix is reported. The soft chemical approach used relies on the catalytic effect of the NPs resulting from the thermal decomposition of the layered double hydroxide precursor, which acts as a multilayered nanoreactor enabling the formation of a range of carbon nanoforms (CNFs). This is followed by acid treatment of the as-prepared nanocomposites to isolate the different CNFs formed. These range from carbon nano-onions to graphene depending on the temperature of the thermal decomposition. This synthetic process paves the way for the rational design of metal–carbon …

Improving the onset potential and Tafel slope determination of earth-abundant water oxidation electrocatalysts

To date, a plethora of electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) have been proposed. For evaluating their electrocatalytic behavior the determination of the onset potential in each studied electrolyte is a key parameter. Nevertheless, this evaluation becomes particularly problematic for first- transition metal catalysts as well as by the use of electroactive collectors ( e.g. Ni foams) whose redox peaks overlap the onset potential. A usual solution to detect the onset potential requires the availabil- ity of in-situ mass spectrometric determination of the generated oxygen. In this work, we present fast and easier available cyclic voltammetry and coulovoltammetric responses to…

A chemical and electrochemical multivalent memory made from FeNi3-graphene nanocomposites

FeNi3-graphene nanocomposites present in acetonitrile solutions a redox couple with an electrochemical hysteresis of 2.4 V between the oxidation and the reduction maxima. In view of the high energy required for the reverse transitions, they are here proposed as chemical multilevel memories: permanent, after drying, or erasable in electrolytes, respectively. Keywords: FeNi3-graphene nanocomposites, Voltammetry, Coulovoltammetry, Redox couple, Redox hysteresis

Enhancing the electrocatalytic activity and stability of Prussian blue analogues by increasing their electroactive sites through the introduction of Au nanoparticles

Prussian blue analogues (PBAs) have been proven as excellent Earth-abundant electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic, neutral and alkaline media. Further improvements can be achieved by increasing their electrical conductivity, but scarce attention has been paid to quantify the electroactive sites of the electrocatalyst when this enhancement occurs. In this work, we have studied how the chemical design influences the specific density of electroactive sites in different Au-PBA nanostructures. Thus, we have first obtained and fully characterized a variety of monodisperse core@shell hybrid nanoparticles of Au@PBA (PBA of NiIIFeII and CoIIFeII) with different shell siz…

Graphene electrochemical responses sense surroundings

Abstract Graphite oxide (GO) paper, obtained by direct filtration of exfoliated GO in water over PTFE membrane filters, was reduced by using hydrazine vapours. The graphene-paper thus obtained was characterized by the combination of different techniques. The electrochemical characterization by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and chronopotentiometry presents a strong influence of the working conditions: temperature, electrolyte concentration and current on the electrochemical responses, indicating a good ability of the material to sense ambient and working conditions. Electrochemical devices based on graphene are expected to work as dual, and simultaneous, sensing-actuators.