Size dependent electrocatalytic activities of h-BN for oxygen reduction reaction to water.

Electrocatalytic activities for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of Au electrodes modified by as prepared and size selected (0.45-1.0, 0.22-0.45, and 0.1-0.22 µm) h-BN nanosheet (BNNS), which is an insulator, were examined in O2 saturated 0.5M H2SO4 solution. The overpotential was reduced by all the BNNS modifications, and the smaller the size, the smaller the overpotential for ORR, i.e., the larger the ORR activity, in this size range. The overpotential was reduced by as much as ∼330 mV compared to a bare Au electrode by modifying the Au surface by the BNNS of the smallest size range (0.1-0.22 µm). The overpotential at this electrode was only 80 mV more than that at the Pt electrode. Both the rotation disk electrode experiments with Koutecky-Levich analysis and rotating ring disk electrode measurements showed that more than 80% of oxygen is reduced to water via the four-electron process at this electrode. These results strongly suggest and theoretical density functional theory calculations support that the ORR active sites are located at the edges of BNNS islands adsorbed on Au(111). The decrease in size of BNNS islands results in an effective increase in the number of the catalytically active sites and, hence, in the increase in the catalytic activity of the BNNS/Au(111) system for ORR.

Highly Efficient Electrochemical Hydrogen Evolution Reaction at Insulating Boron Nitride Nanosheet on Inert Gold Substrate.

It is demonstrated that electrochemical hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) proceeds very efficiently at Au electrode, an inert substrate for HER, modified with BNNS, an insulator. This combination has been reported to be an efficient electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction. Higher efficiency is achieved by using the size controlled BNNS (<1 µm) for the modification and the highest efficiency is achieved at Au electrode modified with the smallest BNNS (0.1-0.22 µm) used in this study where overpotentials are only 30 mV and 40 mV larger than those at Pt electrode, which is known to be the best electrode for HER, at 5 mAcm(-2) and at 15 mAcm(-2), respectively. Theoretical evaluation suggests that some of edge atoms provide energetically favored sites for adsorbed hydrogen, i.e., the intermediate state of HER. This study opens a new route to develop HER electrocatalysts.

Electrocatalytic activity of various types of h-BN for the oxygen reduction reaction.

The electrocatalytic activities of various types of h-BN, i.e., spin coated BN nanotubes (BNNTs) and BN nanosheets (BNNSs) and sputter deposited BN, on Au electrodes as well as those of BNNS modified glassy carbon (GC) and Pt electrodes for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) were examined in O2 saturated 0.5 M H2SO4 solution based on the theoretical prediction that monolayered BN on a metal substrate may act as an electrocatalyst for ORR even though bulk BN is an insulator with a wide band gap. The overpotential for ORR at Au electrodes was reduced by ca. 100, ca. 270, and ca. 150 mV by spin coating of the dispersion of BNNT and liquid exfoliated BNNS, and sputter deposition of BN, respectively, proving the theoretical prediction. On the other hand, no change in the overpotential was observed at the glassy carbon electrode with BNNS modification and the overpotential even increased at the Pt electrode, suggesting that the interaction between BN and Au plays an important role in BN becoming ORR active.

Boron nitride nanosheet on gold as an electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction: theoretical suggestion and experimental proof.

Boron nitride (BN), which is an insulator with a wide band gap, supported on Au is theoretically suggested and experimentally proved to act as an electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Density-functional theory calculations show that the band gap of a free h-BN monolayer is 4.6 eV but a slight protrusion of the unoccupied BN states toward the Fermi level is observed if BN is supported on Au(111) due to the BN-Au interaction. A theoretically predicted metastable configuration of O2 on h-BN/Au(111), which can serve as precursors for ORR, and free energy diagrams for ORR on h-BN/Au(111) via two- and four-electron pathways show that ORR to H2O2 is possible at this electrode. It is experimentally proved that overpotential for ORR at the gold electrode is significantly reduced by depositing BN nanosheets. No such effect is observed at the glassy carbon electrode, demonstrating the importance of BN-substrate interaction for h-BN to act as the ORR electrocatalyst. A possible role of the edge of the BN islands for ORR is also discussed.