345927 Atmospheric-Pressure Controllable Synthesis of Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Nanotubes

Wei-Hung Chiang1,2, Ta-Jen Li3 and Kuo–Chuan Ho3,4, (1)Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University of Science and Technology, Taipei, Taiwan, (2)Material and Chemical Research Laboratories, Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Hsinchu, Taiwan, (3)Chemical Enginnering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan, (4)Institute of Polymer Science and Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan

Recent theoretical [1] and experimental [2] studies have suggested that heteroatom-doped carbon nanomaterials such as carbon nanotube (CNTs) and graphene as novel materials with exceptional properties for applications including nanoelectronics, energy storage, fuel cells, and electrochemical sensing. However, current synthesis methods of heteroatom-doped carbon nanomaterials usually involve complicated vacuum systems, making it difficult to enable industrial-scale production [1]. Consequently, the development of atmospheric-pressure and controllable synthesis of heteroatom-doped carbon nanomaterials will lead to important advances on both scientific studies and innovation applications. 

Here we demonstrate an atmospheric-pressure carbonthermic method.to produce boron-doped CNTs (BCNTs) with tunable boron atomic concentration ranging from 0.4 to 21.1 atomic percentage (at%).  Systematic X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy characterizations indicated that boron atoms were successfully doped into the sp2graphene lattice of CNTs. Detailed high-resolution transmission electron microscopy electron energy loss spectroscopy (HRTEM-EELS) revealed that boron substitution doping mainly occurred on the CNT surface. Electrochemical characterization suggested that the as-produced BCNTs exhibit superior electrocatalytic activity for dopamine (DA) sensing than the pristine CNTs and conventional glassy carbon electrodes. Extensive electrochemical analysis confirmed a significant enhancement of 25% in the amperometric response for BCNTs with 2.1 at% boron atomic concentration than pristine CNTs, suggesting its potential as efficient catalysts for electrochemical detection of DA. It is also noteworthy from a practical point of view that the developed atmospheric-pressure synthesis method is amenable to industrial-scale production since it avoids the need for a vacuum system.

Reference

  1. P. Ayala et al., Rev. Mod. Phys., 82, 1843 (2010).
  2. L. Yang et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 50, 7132 (2011).

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