N-Doped Graphenelike Nanostructures from p-Nitro Aniline-Based Foam: Formation, Structure, and Applications as a Nanofiller

Tiwari, Santosh K.; Chen, Ding; Chen, Yu; Thummavichai, Kunyapat; Ola, Oluwafunmilola; Ma, Zhiyuan; Liu, Guangsheng; Wang, Nannan; Zhu, Yanqiu

Abstract

Production of snake foam based on p-nitro aniline (PNA) was considered fun in old-school chemistry laboratories. Herein, we report the fabrication of a new carbon nanomaterial from PNA-based foam. The resulting material, resembling graphene and consisting of nitrogen heteroatoms, is N-doped graphenelike nanostructures, and their morphology, structure, and stability are comprehensively examined using combined techniques including C-13 NMR spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). An optimized route was also established for their large-scale production. Further experimental validation of them as a nanofiller in polymer [SEBS (20 wt %) and paraffin wax (80 wt %)]-based nanocomposites was carried out, and we found that the thermomechanical properties of the nanocomposites were synchronously improved, which was attributed to the enshrouding effect of the nanofiller to the polymer chains. Owing to their good thermomechanical property and low-cost feature, these new nanomaterials can be further explored as a promising candidate for applications in energy storage, catalysis, and CO2 capture.

Citation

Tiwari, S. K., Chen, D., Chen, Y., Thummavichai, K., Ola, O., Ma, Z., Liu, G., Wang, N., & Zhu, Y. (2022). N-Doped Graphenelike Nanostructures from p-Nitro Aniline-Based Foam: Formation, Structure, and Applications as a Nanofiller. ACS Omega, 7(4), 3230-3239. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.1c05139

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 29, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Jan 19, 2022
• Publication Date: Feb 1, 2022
• Deposit Date: Jan 21, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 21, 2022
• Journal: ACS Omega
• Electronic ISSN: 2470-1343
• Publisher: American Chemical Society
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 3230-3239
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acsomega.1c05139
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7282472
• Publisher URL: https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acsomega.1c05139