Exfoliation of amorphous phthalocyanine conjugated polymers into ultrathin nanosheets for highly efficient oxygen reduction
Author(s)
Liu, Wenping
Wang, Chiming
Zhang, Lijie
Pan, Houhe
Liu, Wenbo
Chen, Jun
Yang, Dongjiang
Xiang, Yanjuan
Wang, Kang
Jiang, Jianzhuang
Yao, Xiangdong
Year published
2019
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
It is a significant challenge to develop a high-efficiency synthetic methodology to access fully conjugated 2D conjugated polymer (CP)/covalent organic framework (COF) nanosheets (NSs) that have great application potential for electronics and energy. Herein, we report the exfoliation of a series of amorphous ethynyl-linked phthalocyanine (Pc) CPs (MPc-CPs, M = Fe, Co, Fe0.5Co0.5) into ultrathin MPc-CP NSs. Random coupling between the four regioisomers (with D4h, D2h, C2v and Cs symmetry) of the two tetra-β-substituted phthalocyanine precursors endows the resulting phthalocyanine conjugated polymers MPc-CPs with intrinsic ...
View more >It is a significant challenge to develop a high-efficiency synthetic methodology to access fully conjugated 2D conjugated polymer (CP)/covalent organic framework (COF) nanosheets (NSs) that have great application potential for electronics and energy. Herein, we report the exfoliation of a series of amorphous ethynyl-linked phthalocyanine (Pc) CPs (MPc-CPs, M = Fe, Co, Fe0.5Co0.5) into ultrathin MPc-CP NSs. Random coupling between the four regioisomers (with D4h, D2h, C2v and Cs symmetry) of the two tetra-β-substituted phthalocyanine precursors endows the resulting phthalocyanine conjugated polymers MPc-CPs with intrinsic structural defects and a disordered framework on individual layers. This in turn induces a diminished interlayer overlapping and a weakened interlayer π–π stacking interaction, facilitating the possible exfoliation of MPc-CPs into ultrathin 2D NSs with a yield of over 50%. The direction observation by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) demonstrates that the ultrathin MPc-CP NSs possess a smooth surface with a uniform thickness of 1–3 nm and a lateral size of hundreds of nanometers. The as-prepared bimetallic Fe0.5Co0.5Pc-CP NSs were further used to fabricate a heterostructure Fe0.5Co0.5Pc-CP NS@G with graphene NSs as an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst, which exhibits an onset potential of 1006 mV and a half-wave potential of 927 mV in 0.1 M KOH, representing one of the best values in an alkaline medium. Moreover, the excellent ORR activity of the exfoliated tetrapyrrole-based conjugated NSs hybridized with graphene has also been demonstrated by a Zn–air battery device, showing an open circuit voltage of 1.34 V and a peak power density of ca. 180 mW cm−2.
View less >
View more >It is a significant challenge to develop a high-efficiency synthetic methodology to access fully conjugated 2D conjugated polymer (CP)/covalent organic framework (COF) nanosheets (NSs) that have great application potential for electronics and energy. Herein, we report the exfoliation of a series of amorphous ethynyl-linked phthalocyanine (Pc) CPs (MPc-CPs, M = Fe, Co, Fe0.5Co0.5) into ultrathin MPc-CP NSs. Random coupling between the four regioisomers (with D4h, D2h, C2v and Cs symmetry) of the two tetra-β-substituted phthalocyanine precursors endows the resulting phthalocyanine conjugated polymers MPc-CPs with intrinsic structural defects and a disordered framework on individual layers. This in turn induces a diminished interlayer overlapping and a weakened interlayer π–π stacking interaction, facilitating the possible exfoliation of MPc-CPs into ultrathin 2D NSs with a yield of over 50%. The direction observation by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) demonstrates that the ultrathin MPc-CP NSs possess a smooth surface with a uniform thickness of 1–3 nm and a lateral size of hundreds of nanometers. The as-prepared bimetallic Fe0.5Co0.5Pc-CP NSs were further used to fabricate a heterostructure Fe0.5Co0.5Pc-CP NS@G with graphene NSs as an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalyst, which exhibits an onset potential of 1006 mV and a half-wave potential of 927 mV in 0.1 M KOH, representing one of the best values in an alkaline medium. Moreover, the excellent ORR activity of the exfoliated tetrapyrrole-based conjugated NSs hybridized with graphene has also been demonstrated by a Zn–air battery device, showing an open circuit voltage of 1.34 V and a peak power density of ca. 180 mW cm−2.
View less >
Journal Title
Journal of Materials Chemistry A
Volume
7
Issue
7
Subject
Macromolecular and materials chemistry
Materials engineering
Science & Technology
Physical Sciences
Technology
Chemistry, Physical
Energy & Fuels