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Title: Uncondensed Graphitic Carbon Nitride on Reduced Graphene Oxide for Oxygen Sensing via a Photoredox Mechanism

Journal Article · · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces
 [1];  [2];  [1];  [1]; ORCiD logo [1]
  1. Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)
  2. National Energy Technology Lab. (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, (United States); Univ. of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA (United States)

Melon, a polymeric, uncondensed graphitic carbon nitride with a two-dimensional structure, has been coupled with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to create an oxygen chemiresistor sensor that is active under UV photoactivation. Oxygen gas is an important sensor target in a variety of areas including industrial safety, combustion process monitoring, as well as environmental and biomedical fields. Because of the intimate electrical interface formed between melon and rGO, charge transfer of photoexcited electrons occurs between the two materials when under UV (λ = 365 nm) irradiation. A photoredox mechanism wherein oxygen is reduced on the rGO surface provides the basis for sensing oxygen gas in the concentration range 300–100,000 ppm. The sensor response was found to be logarithmically proportional to oxygen gas concentration. DFT calculations of a melon-oxidized graphene composite found that slight protonation of melon leads to charge accumulation on the rGO layer and a corresponding charge depletion on the melon layer. As a result, this work provides an example of a metal-free system for solid–gas interface sensing via a photoredox mechanism.

Research Organization:
National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), Pittsburgh, PA, and Morgantown, WV (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
OSTI ID:
1419474
Report Number(s):
NETL-PUB--21171
Journal Information:
ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Journal Name: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces Journal Issue: 32 Vol. 9; ISSN 1944-8244
Publisher:
American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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