Conversion of Secondary C3-C4 Aliphatic Alcohols on Carbon Nanotubes Consolidated by Spark Plasma Sintering

Composition and Electronic Structure of La2O3/CNFs@C Core-Shell Nanoparticles with Variable Oxygen Content

La2O3 nanoparticles stabilized on carbon nanoflake (CNF) matrix were synthesized and graphitized to produce core-shell structures La2O3/CNFs@C. Further oxidation of these structures by nitric acid vapors for 1, 3 or 6 h was performed, and surface-oxidized particles La2O3/CNFs@C_x (x = 1, 3, 6) were produced. Bulk and surface compositions of La2O3/CNFs@C and La2O3/CNFs@C_x were investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. With increasing the duration of oxidation, the oxygen and La2O3 content in the La2O3/CNFs@C_x samples increased. The electronic structures of samples were assessed by electron paramagnetic resonance. Two paramagnetic centers were associated with unpaired localized and mobile electrons and were registered in all samples. The correlation between bulk and surface compositions of the samples and their electronic structures was investigated for the first time. The impact of the ratio between sp2- and sp3-hybridized C atoms, the number and nature of oxygen-containing groups on the surface and the presence and proportion of coordinated La atoms on the EPR spectra was demonstrated.

Jellyfish-like few-layer graphene nanoflakes: high paramagnetic response alongside increased interlayer interaction

Jellyfish-like graphene nanoflakes (GNF), prepared by hydrocarbon pyrolysis, are studied with electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) method. The results are supported by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) data. Oxidized (GNFox) and N-doped oxidized (N-GNFox) flakes exhibit an extremely high EPR response associated with a large interlayer interaction which is caused by the structure of nanoflakes and layer edges reached by oxygen. The GNFox and N-GNFox provide the localized and mobile paramagnetic centers which are silent in the pristine (GNF p ) and N-doped (N-GNF) samples. The change in the relative intensity of the line corresponding to delocalized electrons is parallel with the number of radicals in the quaternary N-group. The environment of localized and mobile electrons is different. The results can be important in GNF synthesis and for explanation of their features in applications, especially, in devices with high sensitivity to weak electromagnetic field.