title: Direct nitrogen fixation at the edges of graphene nanoplatelets as efficient electrocatalysts for energy conversion.
abstract: Nitrogen fixation is essential for the synthesis of many important chemicals (e.g., fertilizers, explosives) and basic building blocks for all forms of life (e.g., nucleotides for DNA and RNA, amino acids for proteins). However, direct nitrogen fixation is challenging as nitrogen (N₂) does not easily react with other chemicals. By dry ball-milling graphite with N₂, we have discovered a simple, but versatile, scalable and eco-friendly, approach to direct fixation of N₂ at the edges of graphene nanoplatelets (GnPs). The mechanochemical cracking of graphitic C--C bonds generated active carbon species that react directly with N₂ to form five- and six-membered aromatic rings at the broken edges, leading to solution-processable edge-nitrogenated graphene nanoplatelets (NGnPs) with superb catalytic performance in both dye-sensitized solar cells and fuel cells to replace conventional Pt-based catalysts for energy conversion.
authors.affiliation: Interdisciplinary School of Green Energy/Low-Dimensional Carbon Materials Center, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology-UNIST, Ulsan 689-897, South Korea.
authors.forename: In-Yup
authors.initials: IY
authors.lastname: Jeon
authors.forename: Hyun-Jung
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Myung Jong
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ju
authors.forename: In Taek
authors.initials: IT
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Kimin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Jaejung
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ko
authors.forename: Hwan Kyu
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae Cheon
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae-Joon
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Dongbin
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Sun-Min
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Jung
authors.forename: Jeong-Min
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Seo
authors.forename: Min-Jung
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Noejung
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Liming
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Jong-Beom
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Baek
mesh_terms: D001674:Bioelectric Energy Sources; D004563:Electrochemistry; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D009586:Nitrogen Fixation; D056951:Photoelectron Spectroscopy
chemical_list: D006108:Graphite