Non-noble
metal and nitrogen codoped carbon catalysts are considered
as the alternative options for Pt-based materials for the cathodic
oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Atom transfer radical polymerization
(ATRP) has been frequently adopted to synthesize functional polymers.
However, the catalysts of ATRP could form a side product after the
reaction, and the catalysts are difficult to separate from the products.
In this article, a novel method to synthesize copper–nitrogen–carbon
(Cu–N–C) by recycling the catalyst of ATRP is reported.
Polyacrylonitrile (PAN), obtained by ATRP, is used as a precursor
of the carbon substrate. Cu-2,2′-dipyridyl (Cu-bpy), the catalyst
of ATRP, is reserved as the Cu–N active site for the ORR. Owing
to the reserved Cu–N source, Cu–N–C exhibits
a greater ORR catalytic effect compared to N–C, with a 70 mV
improvement of E
1/2. Benefiting from the
hard template of SiO2, Cu–N–C has a limiting
current density of 5.3 mA cm–2. This finding offers
a new strategy for the synthesis of ORR catalysts and also a new idea
to recycle the ATRP catalyst, which is usually considered as a side
product.
Herein, a series of polymers containing the photosensitive 2‐dinitro‐benzenemethanol carbonate (DNBC) was developed by click polymerization. Due to the unique photochemical cleavage recombination behavior of DNBC, these polymers were used as negative photoresists to create micropatterns. Furthermore, the photochemical behaviors of DNBC were studied by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). According the results, we speculated that the photochemical reaction of DNBC involved an initial chemical bond‐breaking process and a subsequent recombination process. Importantly, by extending the aldehyde to a branched‐chain structure, reactive patterns were developed by film preparation. Clickable amine functional molecules could be grafted upon the substrates by surface modification. Surface modification of reactive patterns with fluorescent amines gave a multifunctional pattern with tunable properties confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and confocal fluorescence microscopy.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.