(347i) Laser-Irradiated Holey Graphene-Supported Single-Atom Catalyst Towards Hydrogen Evolution and Oxygen Reduction

Single-atom catalysts (SAC) is vital in catalysis due to their ability to boost intrinsic catalytic activity of various chemical reactions, including hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, the challenge remains due to the complex synthesis process, insufficient stability, and massive metal species waste. Herein, we report a sustainable approach to synthesis laser irradiated, mesoporous graphene oxide support (LGO) via Nd:YAG pulse laser irradiation. The porous structure anchor metal-single atoms on nitrogen-doped laser irradiated graphene oxide support (NLG). We utilized nanocarbons ‘dangling bonds’ to extract metal atoms species with NLG support from its bulk counterparts, such as Co or Fe metal foams. The metal atoms can transfer electrons to NLG support via dangling bonds under optimized conditions to form metal-nitrogen bonds and make Co-NLG or Fe-NLG SAC. Our Co-NLG electrocatalyst requires low potentials of 146 mV to convey a current density of 10 mA cm^−2 towards HER versus reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in acidic solution. Similarly, Fe-NLG electrocatalyst offered onset of 0.79 V towards ORR versus reversible hydrogen electrodes (RHE) in acidic solution. In parallel, the mechanistic understanding is established using density functional theory (DFT) calculations by applying the grand canonical potential kinetics (GCP-K) quantum mechanics model.