Synthesis of single-crystal-like nanoporous carbon membranes and their application in overall water splitting.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 28051082.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/ncomms13592 and PMC identifier 5216123.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Nanoporous graphitic carbon membranes with defined chemical composition and pore architecture are novel nanomaterials that are actively pursued. Compared with easy-to-make porous carbon powders that dominate the porous carbon research and applications in energy generation/conversion and environmental remediation, porous carbon membranes are synthetically more challenging though rather appealing from an application perspective due to their structural integrity, interconnectivity and purity. Here we report a simple bottom-up approach to fabricate large-size, freestanding and porous carbon membranes that feature an unusual single-crystal-like graphitic order and hierarchical pore architecture plus favourable nitrogen doping. When loaded with cobalt nanoparticles, such carbon membranes serve as high-performance carbon-based non-noble metal electrocatalyst for overall water splitting.