• DOI:10.1038/s41467-021-23038-7
• Corpus ID: 235370395

Solvent-induced electrochemistry at an electrically asymmetric carbon Janus particle

@article{Liu2021SolventinducedEA,
  title={Solvent-induced electrochemistry at an electrically asymmetric carbon Janus particle},
  author={Albert Tianxiang Liu and Yuichiro Kunai and Anton L. Cottrill and Amir Kaplan and Ge Zhang and Hyunah Kim and Rafid S Mollah and Yannick Eatmon and Michael S. Strano},
  journal={Nature Communications},
  year={2021},
  volume={12}
}

• A. T. Liu, Y. Kunai, +6 authors M. Strano
• Published 7 June 2021
• Materials Science, Chemistry
• Nature Communications

Chemical doping through heteroatom substitution is often used to control the Fermi level of semiconductor materials. Doping also occurs when surface adsorbed molecules modify the Fermi level of low dimensional materials such as carbon nanotubes. A gradient in dopant concentration, and hence the chemical potential, across such a material generates usable electrical current. This opens up the possibility of creating asymmetric catalytic particles capable of generating voltage from a surrounding solvent that imposes such a gradient, enabling electrochemical transformations. In this work, we report that symmetry-broken carbon particles comprised of high surface area single-walled carbon nanotube networks can effectively convert exothermic solvent adsorption into usable electrical potential, turning over electrochemical redox processes in situ with no external power supply. The results from ferrocene oxidation and the selective electro-oxidation of alcohols underscore the potential of solvent powered electrocatalytic particles to extend electrochemical transformation to various environments.