Premium
BCN: A Graphene Analogue with Remarkable Adsorptive Properties
Author(s) -
Raidongia Kalyan,
Nag Angshuman,
Hembram K. P. S. S.,
Waghmare Umesh V.,
Datta Ranjan,
Rao C. N. R.
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.200902478
Subject(s) - graphene , raman spectroscopy , x ray photoelectron spectroscopy , materials science , analytical chemistry (journal) , binding energy , crystallography , scanning electron microscope , chemistry , nanotechnology , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , physics , engineering , nuclear physics , optics , composite material
A new analogue of graphene containing boron, carbon and nitrogen (BCN) has been obtained by the reaction of high‐surface‐area activated charcoal with a mixture of boric acid and urea at 900 °C. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and electron energy‐loss spectroscopy reveal the composition to be close to BCN. The X‐ray diffraction pattern, high‐resolution electron microscopy images and Raman spectrum indicate the presence of graphite‐type layers with low sheet‐to‐sheet registry. Atomic force microscopy reveals the sample to consist of two to three layers of BCN, as in a few‐layer graphene. BCN exhibits more electrical resistivity than graphene, but weaker magnetic features. BCN exhibits a surface area of 2911 m 2 g −1 , which is the highest value known for a B x C y N z composition. It exhibits high propensity for adsorbing CO 2 (≈100 wt %) at 195 K and a hydrogen uptake of 2.6 wt % at 77 K. A first‐principles pseudopotential‐based DFT study shows the stable structure to consist of BN 3 and NB 3 motifs. The calculations also suggest the strongest CO 2 adsorption to occur with a binding energy of 3.7 kJ mol −1 compared with 2.0 kJ mol −1 on graphene.