Porous heterostructure of graphene/hexagonal boron nitride as an efficient electrocatalyst for hydrogen peroxide generation

Compared with the traditional heteroatom doping,employing heterostructure is a new modulating approach for carbon-based electrocatalysts.Herein,a facile ball milling-assisted route is proposed to synthesize porous carbon materials composed of abundant graphene/hexagonal boron nitride(G/h-BN)heterostructures.Metal Ni powder and nanoscale h-BN sheets are used as a catalytic substrate/hard template and“nucleation seed”for the formation of the heterostructure,respectively.As-prepared G/h-BN heterostructures exhibit enhanced electrocatalytic activity toward H_(2)O_(2) generation with 86%-95%selectivity at the range of 0.45-0.75 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode(RHE)and a positive onset potential of 0.79 versus RHE(defined at a ring current density of 0.3 mA cm^(-2))in the alkaline solution.In a flow cell,G/h-BN heterostructured electrocatalyst has a H_(2)O_(2) production rate of up to 762 mmol g_(catalyst)^(-1) h^(-1) and Faradaic efficiency of over 75%during 12 h testing,superior to the reported carbon-based electrocatalysts.The density functional theory simulation suggests that the B atoms at the interface of the G/h-BN heterostructure are the key active sites.This research provides a new route to activate carbon catalysts toward highly active and selective O_(2)-to-H_(2)O_(2) conversion.

Synthesis and Characterization of Hydroxypropyl Cellulose from Bacterial Cellulose

Bacterial cellulose produced by Acetobacter xylinum has been reacted with propyleneoxide to synthesize hydroxypropyl cellulose （HPC） under different reaction conditions while diluted by toluene. The effects of mass ratio of bacterial cellulose to propyleneoxide, dilutability of toluene, reaction temperature （T） and time （t） were investigated by series of experiments. The degree of substitution （DS）, hydroxypropyl content （A） and yield （η） were compared. The optimized product exhibited cold-water solubility and hot-water gelatinization in aqueous medium. Further study was carried out with FTIR, TGA, XRD, SEM and 13C-NMR for characterization. The water/air contact angle measurement reveals that it is a good hydrophobic material with good mechanical properties.

The modulating effect of N coordination on single-atom catalysts researched by Pt-N_(x)-C model through both experimental study and DFT simulation

N-doped carbon-based single-atom catalysts(NC-SACs) are widely researched in various electrochemical reactions due to high metal atom utilization and catalytic activity.The catalytic activity of NC-SACs originates from the coordinating structure between single metal site(M) and the doped nitrogen(N) in carbon matrix by forming M-N_(x)-C structure(1≤x≤4).The M-N4-C structure is widely considered to be the most stable and effective catalytic site.However,there is no in-depth research for the "x" modulation in Pt-Nx-C structure and the corresponding catalytic properties.Herein,atomically dispersed Pt on N-doped carbon(Pt-NC) with Pt-Nx-C structure(1≤x≤4),as a research model,is fabricated by a ZIF-8 template and applied to catalytic oxygen reduction.Different carbonization temperatures are used to control N loss,and then modulate the N coordination of Pt-Nx-C structure.The Pt-NC has the predictable low half-wave potential(E_(1/2)) of 0.72 V vs RHE compared to the Pt/C 20% of 0.81 V due to low Pt content.Remarkably,the Pt-NC shows a high onset potential(1.10 V vs RHE,determined for j=-0.1 mA cm^(2)) and a high current density of 5.2 mA cm^(-2),more positive and higher than that of Pt/C 20%(0.96 V) and 4.9 mA cm^(-2),respectively.As the structural characterization and DFT simulation confirmed,the reducing PtN coordination number induces low valence of Pt atoms and low free energy of oxygen reduction,which is responsible for the improved catalytic activity.Furthermore,the Pt-NC shows high mass activity(172 times higher than that of Pt/C 20%),better stability and methanol crossover resistance.