Boron-Doped Polygonal Carbon Nano-Onions: Synthesis and Applications in Electrochemical Energy Storage.
Doping of carbon nanostructures with heteroatoms, such as boron or nitrogen, is one of the most effective ways to change their properties to make them suitable for various applications. Carbon nano-onions (CNOs) doped with boron (B-CNOs) were prepared by annealing (1650 °C) nanodiamond particles (NDs) under an inert He atmosphere in the presence of B. Their physicochemical properties were measured using transmission (TEM) and scanning (SEM) electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS),10B and11B solid-state magic-angle spinning (MAS) NMR spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, porosimetry, and differential-thermogravimetric analyses (TGA-DTG). These properties were systematically discussed for the undoped and B-doped CNO samples. The amount of substitutional B in the CNO samples varied from 0.76 to 3.21 at. %. The TEM, XRD, and Raman analyses revealed that the increased amount of B doping resulted in decreased interlayer spacing and polygonization of the structures, which in turn led to their unusual physicochemical properties. All synthesized materials were tested as electrodes for electrochemical capacitors. The B-CNOs with low concentration of doping agent exhibited higher reversible capacitances, mainly owing to the formation of hydrophilic polygonal nanostructures and higher porosity.
Institute of Chemistry, University of Bialystok, Ciolkowskiego 1 K, 15-245, Bialystok, Poland.
Olena
O
Mykhailiv
Institute of Chemistry, University of Bialystok, Ciolkowskiego 1 K, 15-245, Bialystok, Poland.
Krzysztof
K
Brzezinski
Jerzy Haber Institute of Catalysis and Surface Chemistry, Polish Academy of Sciences, Niezapominajek 8, 30-239, Cracow, Poland.
Bogdan
B
Sulikowski
Institute of Nuclear Physics, Polish Academy of Sciences, Radzikowskiego 152, 31-342, Cracow, Poland.
Zbigniew
Z
Olejniczak
Poznan University of Technology, Institute of Chemistry and Technical Electrochemistry, Berdychowo 4, 60-965, Poznan, Poland.
Malgorzata
M
Gras
Poznan University of Technology, Institute of Chemistry and Technical Electrochemistry, Berdychowo 4, 60-965, Poznan, Poland.
Grzegorz
G
Lota
IMDEA Nanoscience, C/Faraday, 9 Ciudad Universitaria de Cantoblanco, 28049, Madrid, Spain.
Agustin
A
Molina-Ontoria
Faculty of Chemistry, Warsaw University of Technology, Noakowskiego 3, 00-664, Warsaw, Poland.
Michal
M
Jakubczyk
Department of Chemistry, University of Texas at El Paso, 500 W. University Ave., El Paso, TX, 79968, USA.
Luis
L
Echegoyen
Institute of Chemistry, University of Bialystok, Ciolkowskiego 1 K, 15-245, Bialystok, Poland.
Marta E
ME
Plonska-Brzezinska
boron; carbon nano-onion; doping; electrochemistry; supercapacitors