Effects of oxygen functional groups on electrochemical performance of carbon materials for dechlorination of 1,2-dichloroethane to ethylene

Carbon materials have been widely proved to be promising electrocatalysts for 1,2-dichloroethane (DCE) dechlorination reaction (DCEDR), while the significance or precise role of oxygen functional groups (OFGs) on the electrochemical reactivity has yet to be clarified. Herein, based on a sequence of reduced graphene oxide (RGOs) with varying contents of OFGs, we have found that the OFGs shown great effect on the electrochemical performance of carbon-based catalysts for DCEDR. Correlation tests indicated that the electrochemical DCEDR performance shown positive correlation only with the content of C=O, suggesting that C=O was the main real active component for DCEDR to ethylene. Further theoretical calculation results revealed that the C atom neighbored to C=O at armchair edge shown the lowest energy barrier of 0.11 eV for DCEDR, which was consistent with the result of experiment. Therefore, C atom neighbored to C=O at armchair edge was the real active site for DCEDR to ethylene. This work provides a deep understanding of the real nature of OFGs in electrocatalysis, and offers an efficient approach for rational exploitation of advanced carbon materials.

Automated summary

Carbon materials have shown promising electrocatalytic performance for 1,2-dichloroethane dechlorination reaction. Oxygen functional groups have a significant effect on the electrochemical performance, with C=O being the main active component.