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Synthesis of graphene with both high nitrogen content and high surface area by annealing composite of graphene oxide and g-C3N4

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Abstract

In this paper, we propose a facile, catalyst-free thermal annealing approach for synthesis of N-doping graphene (NG) using graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) as the nitrogen source. Graphene with nitrogen content up to 13.9 % (atom %) and Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 419.6 m2/g can be achieved via thermal annealing composite of graphene oxide (GO) and g-C3N4. The transmission electron microscopy indicates that the NG synthesized by annealing GO/g-C3N4 composite is compact and stacked with large sheets. The atomic force microscopy reveals that the NG was less than three single graphene layers nanosheets with an apparent thickness of about 1.0 nm. This improved synthesis method for producing high nitrogen content and high BET surface area can be extended to prepare multi-element (such as B and N) doping graphene nanosheets.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 21273157). We also thank Sichuan University Analytical & Testing Center for TEM, EA, and XRD analyses.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Chemistry, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610064, People’s Republic of China

    Yurong Deng, Kewei Liu, Hongmei Cao, Mingliang Luo & Hongjian Yan

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  1. Yurong Deng
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  2. Kewei Liu
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Correspondence to Hongjian Yan.

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Deng, Y., Liu, K., Cao, H. et al. Synthesis of graphene with both high nitrogen content and high surface area by annealing composite of graphene oxide and g-C3N4 . J IRAN CHEM SOC 12, 807–814 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13738-014-0543-2

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