Selective reduction of nitrite to nitrogen by polyaniline-carbon nanotubes composite at neutral pH.

The selective reduction of nitrite (NO2-) to nitrogen by chemical reductant is a desirable strategy to remove NO2- from polluted water and wastewater. However, the residue and reuse of chemical reductant are two main issues to be addressed. Herein, a novel polyaniline-carbon nanotubes composite (PANI-CNTs) was developed by in-situ polymerization to selectively reduce NO2- to nitrogen gas (N2). The used PANI-CNTs could be reused after regeneration with NaBH4. The PANI-CNTs could reduce NO2- with 93.9% N2 selectivity at initial pH of 6.8. The NO2- removal efficiency only decreased by 12.08% after five cycles of reduction/regeneration. The interconversion between imine nitrogen (-N) and amine nitrogen (-NH-) groups induced the chemical reduction of NO2- and regeneration of PANI-CNTs. PANI-CNTs exhibited an excellent performance for the removal of NO2- in the presence of competitive ions and in actual water and wastewater samples. This new PANI-CNTs composite may have great potential for water purification and wastewater denitrification.

Nitrogen and Fluorine-Codoped Porous Carbons as Efficient Metal-Free Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Fuel Cells.

The severe dependence of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells on platinum (Pt)-based catalysts greatly limits the process of their commercialization. Therefore, developing cost-reasonable non-precious-metal catalysts to replace Pt-based catalysts for ORR is an urgent task. Here, we use the composite of inexpensive polyaniline and superfine polytetrafluoroethylene powder as precursor to synthesize a metal-free N,F-codoped porous carbon catalyst (N,F-Carbon). Results indicate that the N,F-Carbon catalyst obtained at the optimized temperature 1000 °C exhibits almost the same onset (0.97 V vs RHE) and half-wave potential (0.84 V vs RHE) and better durability and higher crossover resistance in alkaline medium compared to commercial 20% Pt/C, which is attributed to the good dispersion of fluorine and nitrogen atoms in the carbon matrix, high specific surface area, and the synergistic effects of fluorine and nitrogen on the polarization of adjacent carbon atoms. This work provides a new strategy for in situ synthesis of N,F-codoped porous carbon as highly efficient metal-free electrocatalyst for ORR in fuel cells.