02283nas a2200205   4500008004100000022001400041245019700055210006900252260000900321300001200330490000700342520145200349100002501801700002801826700002701854700001901881700002401900700002401924856012901948       2015                        eng d  a1613-681000aNitrogen-induced surface area and conductivity modulation of carbon nanohorn and its function as an efficient metal-free oxygen reduction electrocatalyst for anion-exchange membrane fuel cells0 aNitrogeninduced surface area and conductivity modulation of carb  cJAN   a352-3600 v113 a<p>Nitrogen-doped carbon morphologies have been proven to be better alternatives to Pt in polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. However, efficient modulation of the active sites by the simultaneous escalation of the porosity and nitrogen doping, without affecting the intrinsic electrical conductivity, still remains to be solved. Here, a simple strategy is reported to solve this issue by treating single-walled carbon nanohorn (SWCNH) with urea at 800 degrees C. The resulting nitrogen-doped carbon nanohorn shows a high surface area of 1836 m(2) g(-1) along with an increased electron conductivity, which are the pre-requisites of an electro catalyst. The nitrogen-doped nanohorn annealed at 800 degrees C (N-800) also shows a high oxygen reduction activity (ORR). Because of the high weight percentage of pyridinic nitrogen coordination in N-800, the present catalyst shows a clear 4-electron reduction pathway at only 50 mV overpotential and 16 mV negative shift in the half-wave potential for ORR compared to Pt/C along with a high fuel selectivity and electrochemical stability. More importantly, a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) based on N-800 provides a maximum power density of 30 mW cm(-2) under anion-exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC) testing conditions. Thus, with its remarkable set of physical and electrochemical properties, this material has the potential to perform as an efficient Pt-free electrode for AEMFCs.</p>1 aUnni, SreeKuttan, M.1 aBhange, Siddheshwar, N.1 aIllathvalappil, Rajith1 aMutneja, Nisha1 aPatil, Kasinath, R.1 aKurungot, Sreekumar  uhttp://library.ncl.res.in/content/nitrogen-induced-surface-area-and-conductivity-modulation-carbon-nanohorn-and-its-function02768nas a2200169   4500008004100000022001400041245014000055210006900195260011000264300001400374490000600388520199700394100002802391700002502419700002402444856013002468       2016                        eng d  a2050-748800aNitrogen and sulphur co-doped crumbled graphene for the oxygen reduction reaction with improved activity and stability in acidic medium0 aNitrogen and sulphur codoped crumbled graphene for the oxygen re  aTHOMAS GRAHAM HOUSE, SCIENCE PARK, MILTON RD, CAMBRIDGE CB4 0WF, CAMBS, ENGLANDbROYAL SOC CHEMISTRYcMAR  a6014-60200 v43 a<p>Non-precious dioxygen reduction electrocatalysts have attracted great attention nowadays for the development of stable, cost-effective proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In line with the development of non-precious electrocatalysts, here we report the synthesis of a platinum-free oxygen reduction electrocatalyst based on nitrogen and sulphur co-doped crumbled graphene with trace amounts of iron. The co-doped crumbled graphene structure was obtained by simple oxidative polymerisation of ethylenedioxythiophene in aqueous solution followed by an annealing process under an inert atmosphere. This new electrocatalyst displays improved oxygen reduction activity and electrochemical stability under acidic conditions. The half-cell reaction of the 1000 degrees C annealed polyethylenedioxythiophene (PF-1000) displays only 0.1 V overpotential in both the onset and half-wave potentials compared to state-of-the-art Pt/C in an acidic environment for the ORR. More importantly, the limiting current of PF-1000 clearly surpasses the limiting current displayed by Pt/C, indicating that the crumbled assembly of the graphene flakes helps the system to expose the active sites and the porous network of the material matrix ensures extended accessibility of active sites to the electrolyte and reagent. The dioxygen reduction kinetics of PF-1000 appear similar to those of Pt/C and the system accomplishes the reduction of the dioxygen molecule through the recommended four-electron reduction pathway. The improved activity and electrochemical stability of PF-1000 are mainly attributed to the enriched and well accessible active reaction centres such as graphitic nitrogen, sulphur, and iron coordination and the peculiar morphology of PF-1000. Further, a single cell evaluation of a membrane electrode assembly based on PF-1000 as the cathode catalyst delivered a maximum power density of 193 mW cm(-2) at a cell temperature of 60 degrees C using Nafion as the proton conducting membrane.</p>1 aBhange, Siddheshwar, N.1 aUnni, SreeKuttan, M.1 aKurungot, Sreekumar  uhttp://library.ncl.res.in/content/nitrogen-and-sulphur-co-doped-crumbled-graphene-oxygen-reduction-reaction-improved-activity02138nas a2200253   4500008004100000022001400041245016900055210006900224260000800293300001400301490000600315520119100321653001901512653003001531653002001561653003201581653002801613100002801641700002501669700001801694700002101712700002401733856012701757       2017                        eng d  a2196-021600aNitrogen-doped graphene with a three-dimensional architecture assisted by carbon nitride tetrapods as an efficient metal-free electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution0 aNitrogendoped graphene with a threedimensional architecture assi  cOCT  a2643-26520 v43 aCurrent polymer membrane-based electrolyzers use Pt as a cathode catalyst for efficient reduction of water. The high cost of Pt-based catalysts forces researchers to develop alternative electrocatalysts. Here, a simple strategy has been proposed to synthesize a metal-free electrocatalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by high-temperature annealing of graphene oxide-coated melamine foam. The prepared catalyst possesses both structural and functional advantages with its three-dimensional (3D) interconnected arms of carbon nitride (CNx) backbone wrapped with nitrogen-doped graphene (N-RGO) sheets (CNx@N-RGO). CNx@N-RGO faces only a 193 mV overpotential to achieve a current density of 10mAcm(-2), which is far superior to the previously reported Pt-free systems. Along with the high exchange current density 34.7 x 10(-6)A cm(-2) and low Tafel slope of 54 mV dec(-1), CNx@N-RGO follows a Volmer-Heyrovsky mechanism for the HER. DFT calculations show that the synergy between CNx and N-RGO facilitates good electrical coupling between the two moieties and provides optimal binding to H+ ions on the catalyst that, in turn, results in efficient reduction of hydrogen ions.10acarbon nitride10aDensity functional theory10aelectrocatalyst10ahydrogen evolution reaction10anitrogen doped graphene1 aGangadharan, Pranav, K.1 aUnni, SreeKuttan, M.1 aKumar, Nandha1 aGhosh, Prasenjit1 aKurungot, Sreekumar  uhttp://library.ncl.res.in/content/nitrogen-doped-graphene-three-dimensional-architecture-assisted-carbon-nitride-tetrapods