Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) have been amidated by hydrothermal treatment with different aliphatic amines. The amido groups modified on the surface of the SWCNTs were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The electrooxidation of nitric oxide (NO) at the modified electrodes of amidated SWCNTs was investigated. The modified electrodes of amidated SWCNTs exhibited di...

The feasibility of renewable energy technology, hydrogen production by water electrolysis, depends on the design of efficient and durable electrocatalyst composed of earth-abundant elements. Herein, a highly active and stable nonmetallic electrocatalyst, nitrogen doped hexagonal carbon (NHC), was developed for hydrogen production. It exhibited high activity for hydrogen evolution with a low ove...

Herein the problem of colloidal instability on electrochemically detected nanoparticle (NP) collisions with a Hg ultramicroelectrode (UME) by electrocatalytic amplification is addressed. NP tracking analysis (NTA) shows that rapid aggregation occurs in solution after diluting citrate-stabilized Pt NPs with hydrazine/phosphate buffers of net ionic strength greater than 70 mM. Colloidal stability...

In-situ homogeneous dispersion of noble metals in three-dimensional graphene sheets is a key tactic for producing macroscopic architecture, which is desirable for practical applications, such as electromagnetic interference shielding and catalyst. We report a one-step greener approach for developing porous architecture of 3D-graphene/noble metal (Pt and Ag) nanocomposite monoliths. The resultin...

In electrochemical energy conversion and storage, existing catalysts often contain a high percentage of noble metals such as Pt and Pd. In order to develop low-cost electrocatalysts, one of the effective strategies involves alloying noble metals with other transition metals. This strategy promises not only significant reduction of noble metals but also the tunability for enhanced catalytic acti...

A new polyoxometalate(POM)-templated inorganic-organic hybrid compound, [Ag6(trz)6][PMo12O40]2 · 6H2O (1) (trz = 1,2,4-triazole) has been prepared under hydrothermal conditions and characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, elemental analyses, IR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis and cyclic voltammetry. In compound 1, six Ag+ ions are linked by six trz molecules to give a hexanuc...

The micropipet delivery-substrate collection (MD-SC) mode of scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) is demonstrated. This new mode is intended for the study and imaging of electrochemical as well as electrocatalytic reactions of neutral species that cannot be generated electrochemically. The spontaneous transfer of the analyte from an organic solvent across an interface between two immiscib...

Catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are at the heart of key green-energy fuel cell technology. N-doped graphene is a potential metal-free electrode with much better electrocatalytic activity, long-term stability, and tolerance to crossover effect than expensive platinum-based electrocatalysts. Here, we report a feasible direct-synthesis method in preparing N-graphene with manageable N...

The newly proposed mimetic underpotential deposition (MUPD) technique was extended to modify Pd surfaces with Sb through immersing a Pd film electrode or dispersing Pd/C powder in a Sb(III)-containing solution blended with ascorbic acid (AA). The introduction of AA shifts down the open circuit potential of Pd substrate available to achieve suitable Sb modification. The electrocatalytic activity...

Electrocatalytic behavior of TEMPO derivative SAMs on gold has been studied in the presence of benzyl alcohol. The results demonstrate that interfacial activity of the SAMs can be enhanced by diluting the TEMPO moiety with an alkyl passive matrix. The absolute catalytic activity exhibits a maximum for an intermediate value of the surface coverage of catalytic centers. The most significant featu...