Nitrogen functionalization of cvd grown three-dimensional graphene foam for hydrogen evolution reactions in alkaline media

Three-dimensional graphene foam (3D-GrFoam) is a highly porous structure and sus-tained lattice formed by graphene layers with sp² and sp³ hybridized carbon. In this work, chemical vapor deposition (CVD)—grown 3D-GrFoam was nitrogen-doped and platinum functionalized using hydrothermal treatment with different reducing agents (i.e., urea, hydrazine, ammonia, and dihydrogen hexachloroplatinate (IV) hydrate, respectively). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) survey showed that the most electrochemically active nitrogen-doped sample (GrFoam3N) contained 1.8 at % of N, and it exhibited a 172 mV dec⁻¹ Tafel plot associated with the Volmer– Heyrovsky hydrogen evolution (HER) mechanism in 0.1 M KOH. By the hydrothermal process, 0.2 at % of platinum was anchored to the graphene foam surface, and the resultant sample of GrFoamPt yielded a value of 80 mV dec⁻¹ Tafel associated with the Volmer–Tafel HER mechanism. Further-more, Raman and infrared spectroscopy analysis, as well as scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were carried out to understand the structure of the samples.