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Recent progress in 2D or 3D N-doped graphene synthesis and the characterizations, properties, and modulations of N species

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Abstract

Nitrogen (N)-doped graphene (N-substituted or nitrogenated graphene) (NG) has become a new class of graphene material due to its modified properties such as the tunable work function, n-type semiconductivity, increasing biocompatibility, and, in particular, the synergistic function with various functional materials. However, the preparation of NG by a simple and effective method is still lacking. The modification of NG mainly depends on the N species and the N content. Thus, we focus on the recent progress in preparing methods of 2D NG and the respective key modulating parameters to modulate the N species and the N content. Furthermore, many effective charactering techniques are covered to accurately analyze the properties of N species, and the distribution and topography of N atoms. Also, we review the effect of N species on graphene, especially, the optical and electronic properties. Since constructing 3D structure is considered a promising strategy to prevent the restacking of 2D NG, the summary for preparing 3D NG is made on the basis of methodology of 2D NG. In a word, this review provides a reference for preparing 2D or 3D NG, modulating and characterizing N species, which are greatly contributed to the NG application.

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Acknowledgements

This work was funded by “National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51272106, No. 21103092),” Program for NCET-12-0629 and Qing Lan Project, “The Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Nos. 30920130121001, 30920130111003),” and “A Project Funded by the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions (PAPD, China).” The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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  1. Chemicobiology and Functional Materials Institute of Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing, China

    Mengmeng Fan, Zhang-Qi Feng, Chunlin Zhu, Xiao Chen, Chuntao Chen, Jiazhi Yang & Dongping Sun

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Fan, M., Feng, ZQ., Zhu, C. et al. Recent progress in 2D or 3D N-doped graphene synthesis and the characterizations, properties, and modulations of N species. J Mater Sci 51, 10323–10349 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-016-0250-8

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