title: Boron- and nitrogen-doped graphene quantum dots/graphene hybrid nanoplatelets as efficient electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction.
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.
authors.affiliation: Department 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.
authors.forename: Huilong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fei
authors.forename: Ruquan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Gonglan
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Ye
authors.forename: Yongji
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.forename: Zhiwei
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Xiujun
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Fan
authors.forename: Errol L G
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Samuel
authors.forename: Pulickel M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Ajayan
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Tour
keywords: boron nitrogen doping; coal; electrocatalyst; graphene quantum dots; oxygen reduction reaction