Generation of Electronically Unsaturated Carbon Sites on Carbon Materials and Study of Their Magnetic and Chemical Properties

The presence of defects in carbon materials, such as electronically unsaturated carbon sites, can profoundly affect their magnetic ordering and chemical reactivity. The detailed analysis of these species (edge states, σ free radicals, or carbene), which are pivotal for many applications, remains a significant challenge for carbon bulk materials. Today, the engineering of defective carbon materials often relies on the use of hardly up-scalable physical methods not accessible to synthetic chemists. It is therefore important to develop simple and scalable methods to generate well-defined electronically unsaturated sites in carbon materials. Herein, we followed the transformation and evolution of surface oxygen functional groups of various oxidized carbon materials during thermal treatment under an inert atmosphere using various analytical techniques and ab initio molecular dynamics, with the aim of producing stabilized localized electronic states from condensation reactions. Synchrotron-based in situ XPS analyses show a decrease in the number of carboxylic surface groups with a concomitant increase in the number of defect sites upon defunctionalization, which is expected from condensation reactions. Echo-detected field-swept EPR spectra show the apparition of a signal only upon defunctionalization, particularly for samples showing a high proportion of prismatic surface. The contribution of these electronically unsaturated carbon sites to the catalytic activity for the catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation of indoline is moderate, and the surface oxygen functional groups are the main active sites.

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Publication Details

Journal
The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Published
2025-02-10
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jpcc.4c07975
Citations
3
Primary Topic
Catalysis and Oxidation Reactions
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.17

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article

Generation of Electronically Unsaturated Carbon Sites on Carbon Materials and Study of Their Magnetic and Chemical Properties

Hirotomo Nishihara, Iann C. Gerber, Spyridon Zafeiratos, Fabrice Bournel et al.
3 citations
The Journal of Physical Chemistry C
Catalysis and Oxidation Reactions
1.17
article

Generation of Electronically Unsaturated Carbon Sites on Carbon Materials and Study of Their Magnetic and Chemical Properties

Hirotomo Nishihara, Iann C. Gerber, Spyridon Zafeiratos, Fabrice Bournel, Javier Navarro‐Ruiz, A.K. Boudalis, Guillaume Clet, Pascal Puech, Mathias Barreau, Maryam Sadeghiyan Dehaghani, Nolwenn Le Breton, Thomas Blon, Takeharu Yoshii, Philippe Serp, Keigo Wakabayashi, Mathieu Vidal, J. Volkman
article en
3 citations

Abstract

The presence of defects in carbon materials, such as electronically unsaturated carbon sites, can profoundly affect their magnetic ordering and chemical reactivity. The detailed analysis of these species (edge states, σ free radicals, or carbene), which are pivotal for many applications, remains a significant challenge for carbon bulk materials. Today, the engineering of defective carbon materials often relies on the use of hardly up-scalable physical methods not accessible to synthetic chemists. It is therefore important to develop simple and scalable methods to generate well-defined electronically unsaturated sites in carbon materials. Herein, we followed the transformation and evolution of surface oxygen functional groups of various oxidized carbon materials during thermal treatment under an inert atmosphere using various analytical techniques and ab initio molecular dynamics, with the aim of producing stabilized localized electronic states from condensation reactions. Synchrotron-based in situ XPS analyses show a decrease in the number of carboxylic surface groups with a concomitant increase in the number of defect sites upon defunctionalization, which is expected from condensation reactions. Echo-detected field-swept EPR spectra show the apparition of a signal only upon defunctionalization, particularly for samples showing a high proportion of prismatic surface. The contribution of these electronically unsaturated carbon sites to the catalytic activity for the catalytic oxidative dehydrogenation of indoline is moderate, and the surface oxygen functional groups are the main active sites.

The Journal of Physical Chemistry CVol. 129(7)
Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (FR), Université Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier (FR), Université Fédérale de Toulouse Midi-Pyrénées (FR), Institut Universitaire de France (FR), École Nationale Supérieure d'Ingénieurs de Caen (FR), Tohoku University (JP), Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse (FR), Synchrotron soleil (FR), Sorbonne Université (FR), Advanced Institute of Materials Science (JP), Institut de Chimie de Strasbourg (FR), Laboratoire de Chimie de Coordination (FR), Centre d’Élaboration de Matériaux et d’Études Structurales (FR), Institut de Chimie et Procédés pour l'Energie, l'Environnement et la Santé (FR), Laboratoire de Chimie Physique - Matière et Rayonnement (FR), Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie des Nano-Objets (FR), Institute for Materials Research, Tohoku University, Université de Strasbourg (FR), Université de Caen Normandie (FR)
Agence Nationale de la Recherche, Japan Science and Technology Corporation, Grand Équipement National De Calcul Intensif, Precursory Research for Embryonic Science and Technology
Openalex Percentile: Top 25%
Catalysis and Oxidation Reactions
1.17
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