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Updated: Apr 23, 2026
Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles Supported on Carbon Nanotube with Doped Co and N Atoms and its Catalytic Applications in Hydrogen Production
Published on: December 6, 2021
Boron- and nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots/graphene hybrid nanoplatelets as efficient electrocatalysts for
Huilong Fei1, Ruquan Ye, Gonglan Ye
1Department of Chemistry, ‡Smalley Institute for Nanoscale Science and Technology, §Department of Materials Science and NanoEngineering, Rice University , 6100 Main Street, Houston, Texas 77005, United States.
Abstract:
The scarcity and high cost of platinum-based electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) has limited the commercial and scalable use of fuel cells. Heteroatom-doped nanocarbon materials have been demonstrated to be efficient alternative catalysts for ORR. Here, graphene quantum dots, synthesized from inexpensive and earth-abundant anthracite coal, were self-assembled on graphene by hydrothermal treatment to form hybrid nanoplatelets that were then codoped with nitrogen and boron by high-temperature annealing. This hybrid material combined the advantages of both components, such as abundant edges and doping sites, high electrical conductivity, and high surface area, which makes the resulting materials excellent oxygen reduction electrocatalysts with activity even higher than that of commercial Pt/C in alkaline media.
