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Grooves of Bundled Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes Dramatically Enhance the Activity of the Oxygen Reduction Reaction
Author(s) -
Fujigaya Tsuyohiko,
Morita Junichi,
Nakashima Naotoshi
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemcatchem
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.497
H-Index - 106
eISSN - 1867-3899
pISSN - 1867-3880
DOI - 10.1002/cctc.201402565
Subject(s) - carbon nanotube , catalysis , adsorption , materials science , chemical engineering , scanning electron microscope , oxygen , nanotechnology , carbon fibers , nitrogen , oxygen reduction reaction , composite number , chemistry , composite material , electrochemistry , organic chemistry , electrode , engineering
Nitrogen‐doped graphitic structures (N‐GSs) are promising and cheap catalyst candidates for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this paper, we describe, first, the synthesis of single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) coated by a N‐GS (SWNT/N‐GS) and, second, the dramatic enhancement in the activity of the ORR by using this catalyst relative to that observed for the analogue composite composed of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) coated by a N‐GS (i.e., MWNT/N‐GS). Scanning electron microscopy and gas‐adsorption experiments revealed that the SWNT/N‐GS formed a bundled structure and that superior gas adsorption behavior originated from this groove structure. It is assumed that the grooves of the bundled SWNT/N‐GS dramatically enhance the activity of the ORR owing to superior O 2 adsorption on the grooves.