Solvent-induced electrochemistry at an electrically asymmetric carbon Janus particle
Name
s41467-021-23038-7.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
2.52 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
cba2e22bedfe9f69507d79fd74311947
Author(s)
Liu, Albert Tianxiang
Kunai, Yuichiro
Cottrill, Anton L
Kaplan, Amir
Zhang, Ge
Kim, Hyunah
Mollah, Rafid S
Eatmon, Yannick L
Strano, Michael S
Date Issued
2021
Journal
Nature Communications
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Version
Final published version
Abstract
AbstractChemical doping through heteroatom substitution is often used to control the Fermi level of semiconductor materials. Doping also occurs when surface adsorbed molecules modify the Fermi level of low dimensional materials such as carbon nanotubes. A gradient in dopant concentration, and hence the chemical potential, across such a material generates usable electrical current. This opens up the possibility of creating asymmetric catalytic particles capable of generating voltage from a surrounding solvent that imposes such a gradient, enabling electrochemical transformations. In this work, we report that symmetry-broken carbon particles comprised of high surface area single-walled carbon nanotube networks can effectively convert exothermic solvent adsorption into usable electrical potential, turning over electrochemical redox processes in situ with no external power supply. The results from ferrocene oxidation and the selective electro-oxidation of alcohols underscore the potential of solvent powered electrocatalytic particles to extend electrochemical transformation to various environments.
MIT Department
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering
Terms of Use
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23038-7
