From Carbon-Based Nanotubes to Nanocages
Materials Design and Energy Applications
Zheng Hu, Nanjing University
With the availability of high specific surface area (SSA), well-balanced pore distribution, high conductivity, and tunable wettability, carbon-based nanomaterials are highly expected as advanced materials for energy conversion and storage to meet the increasing demands for clean and renewable energies. In this context, attention is usually attracted by the star material of graphene in recent years.
In this talk, I will overview our studies on carbon-based nanotubes to nanocages for energy conversion and storage, including their synthesis, performances, and related mechanisms. The two carbon nanostructures have the common features of interior cavity, high conductivity, and easy doping but much different SSAs and pore distributions, leading to different performances. We demonstrated a six-membered-ring-based growth mechanism of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) based on the structural similarity of the benzene ring to the building unit of CNTs. In addition, we developed an in situ MgO template method to prepare the novel 3D hierarchical carbon-based nanocages, which featured coexisting micro−meso− macropores and much larger SSA than the nanotubes. Accordingly, a series of unique C-based nanotubes and nanocages have been designed and obtained, which provides us great opportunities for further explorations. These new C-based nanomaterials present excellent performance either as new metal-free catalysts and catalyst supports for advanced energy conversion or as new electrode materials for advanced energy storage. These progresses could be significant to promote the exciting field of carbon-based nanomaterials especially for energy conversion and storage*.
*Wu, Q; Yang, L.; Wang, X.; Hu, Z. From Carbon-Based Nanotubes to Nanocages for Advanced Energy Conversion and Storage. Accounts of Chemistry Research 50 (2017) 435-444.
About the Speaker
Zheng Hu received both his B.S. (1985) and Ph.D. (1991) in physics from Nanjing University. After two-year’s postdoctoral research in Department of Chemistry, he became an associate professor (1993), full professor (1999), and Cheung Kong Chair professor (2007) of Nanjing University. He spent two years in Research Center of Karlsruhe, University of Cambridge, and MIT as a postdoctoral fellow and Hua-Ying Scholar, respectively.
Hu is engaged in the research field of physical chemistry and materials chemistry addressing the growth mechanism, materials design, and energy applications of a range of nano- and mesostructured materials, especially the carbon-based materials, group III nitrides, and transition metal oxides.
He has published more than 300 papers in referred journals and book chapters with over 7000 citations. He is the recipient of the NSFC fund for outstanding young scientists of China (2005), the Second Prize of National Natural Science Award (2017) and some other honorable awards.
