Phosphorus- and Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanosheets Constructed with Monolayered Mesoporous Architectures

Two-dimensional (2D) sandwich-structured phosphorus- and nitrogen-doped mesoporous carbon nanosheets have been synthesized by using graphene oxide (GO) as the substrate, triblock copolymer F127 micelles as the soft template, and resin and phytic acid as the organic precursor, for the first time. The carbonization of the pre-prepared GO/F127/resin precursor creates a 2D sandwich-structured nanoarchitecture composed of an inner layer of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and an outer layer of mesoporous nitrogen-doped carbon (rGO@N/C). The products consist of abundant mesopores formed by the assembly of F127/resin micelles as well as the removal of F127 micelles. After activation of rGO@N/C with phytic acid, phosphorus- and nitrogen-doped carbon (rGO@PN/C) nanosheets with well-maintained bimodal pores are obtained. The representative rGO@PN/C has a specific surface area of 1116.7 m2 g–1, a nitrogen-doping of 1.9 at%, and a phosphorus-doping of 0.5 at%. Thanks to the unique structure and synergistic effect between the phosphorus and nitrogen dual dopants, the prepared catalyst exhibits an excellent catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction. This work provides new insights into the design and manufacture of graphene-based materials using polymer-decorated GO sheets as substrates.