Abstract
Nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (CN x tubes) with nitrogen content of 7.6 at.% are synthesized on carbon papers. Thermal and chemical stability of the nanotubes are investigated by thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy techniques. The results indicate that the nitrogen can be firmly kept in the nanotubes after annealing at 300 °C in air. Under an argon atmosphere, the nitrogen would not release until 670 °C, and half of the nitrogen incorporated is released after annealing at 700 °C for 30 min. Chemical stability investigation indicates that the nitrogen incorporated in the nanotubes is very stable under the thermal and acid environment comparable to working condition of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Profile of the nitrogen species inside the nanotubes reveals that graphite-like nitrogen releases slower than any other kind of nitrogen in the nanotubes during the chemical stability measurement. These CN x tubes synthesized by this simple chemical vapor deposition method are expected to be suitable for many applications, such as PEM fuel cells that work under both thermal and corrosive conditions and some other mild thermal environments.
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Acknowledgments
This research was supported by Department of National Defense (DND), Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), Canada Research Chair (CRC) Program, Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI), Ontario Research Fund (ORF), Ontario Early Researcher Award (ERA) and the University of Western Ontario. We are in debt to David Tweddell, Fred Pearson, Ronald Smith, Mark Biesinger, Ross Davidson and Todd Simpson for their kind help and fruitful discussions.
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Liu, H., Zhang, Y., Li, R. et al. Thermal and chemical durability of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes. J Nanopart Res 14, 1016 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-012-1016-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11051-012-1016-0