Formation of Graphene Oxide Nanocomposites from Carbon Dioxide Using Ammonia Borane

To efficiently recycle CO(2) to economically viable products such as liquid fuels and carbon nanomaterials, the reactivity of CO(2) is required to be fully understood. We have investigated the reaction of CO(2) with ammonia borane (AB), both molecules being able to function as either an acid or a base, to obtain more insights into the amphoteric activity of CO(2). In the present work, we demonstrate that CO(2) can be converted to graphene oxide (GO) using AB at moderate conditions. The conversion consists of two consecutive steps: CO(2) fixation (CO(2) pressure < 3 MPa and temperature < 100 °C) and graphenization (600-750 °C under 0.1 MPa of N(2)). The first step generates a solid compound that contains methoxy (OCH(3)), formate (HCOO) and aliphatic groups while the second graphenization is the pyrolysis of the solid compound to produce graphene oxide-boron oxide nanocomposites, which have been confirmed by micro-Raman spectroscopy, solid state (13)C and (11)B magic angle spinning-nuclear magnetic resonance (MAS-NMR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Our observations also show that the mass of solid product in CO(2) fixation process and raw graphene oxide nanocomposites is twice and 1.2 times that of AB initially charged, respectively. The formation of aliphatic groups without using metal-containing compounds at mild conditions is of great interest to the synthesis of various organic products starting from CO(2.).