Fabrication and Characterization of Prussian Blue-Derived Iron Carbide-Iron Oxide Hybrid on Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanosheets

Abstract

This work demonstrates the fabrication of a nanoporous iron carbide-iron oxide/reduced graphene oxide (IC-IO/ rGO) hybrid via a controlled one-step thermal treatment of Prussian blue (PB)/GO hybrid at 450 °C under N 2 flow. The PB/GO hybrid is initially prepared through the in-situ deposition of PB nanoparticles on the GO sheets through electrostatic interactions. The morphological analysis of the hybrid reveals the uniform coverage of the rGO sheets by IC-IO nanoparticles and the even distribution of carbon (C), oxygen (O), and iron (Fe) on the rGO nanosheets. As a result of the hybrid composition and controlled morphology, the surface area of the obtained IC-IO/rGO hybrid (~40 m 2 /g) is significantly enhanced compared to those of the calcined GO sheets and PB nanoparticles (without GO).

The Effect of an External Magnetic Field on the Electrocatalytic Activity of Heat-Treated Cyanometallate Complexes towards the Oxygen Reduction Reaction in an Alkaline Medium

“…These materials include metal-organic frameworks [19][20][21][22], conductive-polymer-based complexes (pyrolyzed and non-pyrolyzed) [23,24], non-pyrolyzed transition metal macrocycles [25,26], materials based on metal oxides/carbides/nitrides [27,28], and heat-treated and untreated metal-nitrogen-carbon catalysts [29][30][31]. Recently, a curious approach emerged regarding transition metal-nitrogen-carbon electrocatalytic materials derived from the thermal decomposition of hexacyanometallates, where a carbon-nitrogen-based matrix coordinates metal centers [16,[32][33][34][35][36]. Metal hexacyanometallates belong to a class of inorganic polymeric compounds where cyanide groups (-C≡N-) link the same or different transition metals ions.…”