Methacrylated gelatin-embedded fabrication of 3D graphene-supported Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles for water splitting

Minghao Zhuang; Zhenjing Liu; Yao Ding; Gui-Liang Xu; Yuhui Li; Abhishek Tyagi; Xiaoyi Zhang; Cheng-Jun Sun; Yang Ren; Xuewu Ou; Hoilun Wong; Yuting Cai; Ruizhe Wu; Irfan Haider Abidi; Qicheng Zhang; Feng Xu; Khalil Amine; Zhengtang Luo

doi:10.1039/c8nr10369k

Methacrylated gelatin-embedded fabrication of 3D graphene-supported Co ₃ O ₄ nanoparticles for water splitting

Minghao Zhuang, Zhenjing Liu, Yao Ding, Gui-Liang Xu, Yuhui Li, Abhishek Tyagi, Xiaoyi Zhang, Cheng-Jun Sun, Yang Ren, Xuewu Ou, Hoilun Wong, Yuting Cai, Ruizhe Wu, Irfan Haider Abidi, Qicheng Zhang, Feng Xu, Khalil Amine, Zhengtang Luo^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

We developed a general platform for the fabrication of transition metal oxide nanoparticles supported by a graphene foam (GF) by first coating it with a methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) hydrogel, which served as a 3D matrix for nanoparticle dispersion. The engineered GelMA/GF matrix was hydrophilic with good mechanical strength and high conductivity, therefore providing a good platform for the dispersion of a variety of metal/oxide precursors. Due to this platform, well-dispersed Co ₃ O ₄ nanoparticles with the smallest size of 3 nm assembled on the nitrogen-doped graphene foam (Co ₃ O ₄ /NGF). The crystalline transformation from a CoCl ₂ [H ₂ O] ₂ precursor to Co ₃ O ₄ was revealed by in operando X-ray diffraction and absorption techniques. After applying Co ₃ O ₄ /NGF as a free-standing electrocatalyst for water splitting, the nanoparticles of size 3 nm exhibited optimal catalytic activity in alkaline media; the corresponding cell could promote water splitting at a current density of 10 mA cm ^-2 with only 1.63 V and exhibited excellent stability in a 25 h long-term operation. Our results demonstrate that the GelMA hydrogel-coated 3D graphene foam can be a promising platform for the design and fabrication of graphene-based multifunctional materials.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	6866-6875
Journal	Nanoscale
Volume	11
Issue number	14
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1039/c8nr10369k
Publication status	Published - 14 Apr 2019
Externally published	Yes

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@article{a52773d77a1549dc9829da18ccc6d066,

title = "Methacrylated gelatin-embedded fabrication of 3D graphene-supported Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles for water splitting",

abstract = "We developed a general platform for the fabrication of transition metal oxide nanoparticles supported by a graphene foam (GF) by first coating it with a methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) hydrogel, which served as a 3D matrix for nanoparticle dispersion. The engineered GelMA/GF matrix was hydrophilic with good mechanical strength and high conductivity, therefore providing a good platform for the dispersion of a variety of metal/oxide precursors. Due to this platform, well-dispersed Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles with the smallest size of 3 nm assembled on the nitrogen-doped graphene foam (Co 3 O 4 /NGF). The crystalline transformation from a CoCl 2 [H 2 O] 2 precursor to Co 3 O 4 was revealed by in operando X-ray diffraction and absorption techniques. After applying Co 3 O 4 /NGF as a free-standing electrocatalyst for water splitting, the nanoparticles of size 3 nm exhibited optimal catalytic activity in alkaline media; the corresponding cell could promote water splitting at a current density of 10 mA cm -2 with only 1.63 V and exhibited excellent stability in a 25 h long-term operation. Our results demonstrate that the GelMA hydrogel-coated 3D graphene foam can be a promising platform for the design and fabrication of graphene-based multifunctional materials.",

author = "Minghao Zhuang and Zhenjing Liu and Yao Ding and Gui-Liang Xu and Yuhui Li and Abhishek Tyagi and Xiaoyi Zhang and Cheng-Jun Sun and Yang Ren and Xuewu Ou and Hoilun Wong and Yuting Cai and Ruizhe Wu and Abidi, {Irfan Haider} and Qicheng Zhang and Feng Xu and Khalil Amine and Zhengtang Luo",

note = "Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].",

year = "2019",

month = apr,

day = "14",

doi = "10.1039/c8nr10369k",

language = "English",

volume = "11",

pages = "6866--6875",

journal = "Nanoscale",

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publisher = "Royal Society of Chemistry",

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TY - JOUR

T1 - Methacrylated gelatin-embedded fabrication of 3D graphene-supported Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles for water splitting

AU - Zhuang, Minghao

AU - Liu, Zhenjing

AU - Ding, Yao

AU - Xu, Gui-Liang

AU - Li, Yuhui

AU - Tyagi, Abhishek

AU - Zhang, Xiaoyi

AU - Sun, Cheng-Jun

AU - Ren, Yang

AU - Ou, Xuewu

AU - Wong, Hoilun

AU - Cai, Yuting

AU - Wu, Ruizhe

AU - Abidi, Irfan Haider

AU - Zhang, Qicheng

AU - Xu, Feng

AU - Amine, Khalil

AU - Luo, Zhengtang

N1 - Publication details (e.g. title, author(s), publication statuses and dates) are captured on an “AS IS” and “AS AVAILABLE” basis at the time of record harvesting from the data source. Suggestions for further amendments or supplementary information can be sent to [email protected].

PY - 2019/4/14

Y1 - 2019/4/14

N2 - We developed a general platform for the fabrication of transition metal oxide nanoparticles supported by a graphene foam (GF) by first coating it with a methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) hydrogel, which served as a 3D matrix for nanoparticle dispersion. The engineered GelMA/GF matrix was hydrophilic with good mechanical strength and high conductivity, therefore providing a good platform for the dispersion of a variety of metal/oxide precursors. Due to this platform, well-dispersed Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles with the smallest size of 3 nm assembled on the nitrogen-doped graphene foam (Co 3 O 4 /NGF). The crystalline transformation from a CoCl 2 [H 2 O] 2 precursor to Co 3 O 4 was revealed by in operando X-ray diffraction and absorption techniques. After applying Co 3 O 4 /NGF as a free-standing electrocatalyst for water splitting, the nanoparticles of size 3 nm exhibited optimal catalytic activity in alkaline media; the corresponding cell could promote water splitting at a current density of 10 mA cm -2 with only 1.63 V and exhibited excellent stability in a 25 h long-term operation. Our results demonstrate that the GelMA hydrogel-coated 3D graphene foam can be a promising platform for the design and fabrication of graphene-based multifunctional materials.

AB - We developed a general platform for the fabrication of transition metal oxide nanoparticles supported by a graphene foam (GF) by first coating it with a methacrylated gelatin (GelMA) hydrogel, which served as a 3D matrix for nanoparticle dispersion. The engineered GelMA/GF matrix was hydrophilic with good mechanical strength and high conductivity, therefore providing a good platform for the dispersion of a variety of metal/oxide precursors. Due to this platform, well-dispersed Co 3 O 4 nanoparticles with the smallest size of 3 nm assembled on the nitrogen-doped graphene foam (Co 3 O 4 /NGF). The crystalline transformation from a CoCl 2 [H 2 O] 2 precursor to Co 3 O 4 was revealed by in operando X-ray diffraction and absorption techniques. After applying Co 3 O 4 /NGF as a free-standing electrocatalyst for water splitting, the nanoparticles of size 3 nm exhibited optimal catalytic activity in alkaline media; the corresponding cell could promote water splitting at a current density of 10 mA cm -2 with only 1.63 V and exhibited excellent stability in a 25 h long-term operation. Our results demonstrate that the GelMA hydrogel-coated 3D graphene foam can be a promising platform for the design and fabrication of graphene-based multifunctional materials.

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U2 - 10.1039/c8nr10369k

DO - 10.1039/c8nr10369k

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

C2 - 30912771

SN - 2040-3364

VL - 11

SP - 6866

EP - 6875

JO - Nanoscale

JF - Nanoscale

IS - 14

ER -