Eureka Science News A
research team led by group leader Yung-Eun Sung has announced that
they have developed cost-effective technology to synthesize
sulfur-doped and nitrogen-doped graphenes which can be applied as
high performance electrodes for secondary batteries and fuel cells.
Yung-Eun Sung is both a group leader at the Center for Nanoparticle
Research at Institute for Basic Science* (IBS) and a professor at
the Seoul National University.
* Acting
IBS president, Hee-Sup Shin
This
achievement has great significance with regards to the development
of relative simplicity, scalablity, and cost effectiveness processes
that can produce heteroatom (S or N)-doped graphenes. Moreover,
these materials enhance the performance of secondary batteries and
drive down the cost of producing fuel cells.
This
process using common laboratory reagent, sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and
heteroatom-containing organic solvents as precursors. The research
team was able to synthesize sulfur-doped and nitrogen-doped
graphenes by using a simple, single-step solvothermal method.
These
heteroatom-doped graphene exhibited high surface areas and high
contents of heteroatoms.
In
addition, the lithium-ion batteries that had modified graphenes
applied to it, exhibited a higher capacity than the theoretical
capacity of graphite which was previously used in lithium-ion
batteries. It presented high chemical stability which resulted in no
capacity degradation in charge and discharge experiments.
The
heteroatom-doped graphenes suggest the potential to be employed as
an effective, alternative chemical material by demonstrating
performance comparable to that of the expensive platinum catalyst
used for the cathode of fuel cell batteries. Platinum has a high
profile because of its high chemical reactivity and electrocatalytic
activity. However, limited resources and high expense have been
stumbling blocks in its effective commercialization.
The
research outcomes were published online, July 10th, in Nature’s
sister journal, Scientific Reports (Impact Factor of 2.927).
* Title
of Paper: Single Source Precursor-based Solvothermal Synthesis of
Heteroatom-doped Graphene and Its Energy Storage and Conversion
Applications * First
Author: Bo Quan * Corresponding
Author: Yung-Eun Sung (group leader,
the Center for
Nanoparticle Research at IBS), Yuanzhe Piao (professor,
the Seoul National
University)
Group
leader Yung-Eun Sung of the Center for Nanoparticle Research at IBS,
says, “We expect that our synthetic approach will be developed to
produce doped carbon materials based on other elements (e.g.,
florine, boron, phosphorus) which can then increase the method’s
potential applications in fuel cells, lithium secondary batteries,
sensors, and semi-conductors.”
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