Selective nitrogen doping in graphene: Enhanced catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction

The structural and electronic properties of N-doped zigzag graphene ribbons with various ratios of dihydrogenated to monohydrogenated edge carbons are investigated within the density functional theory framework. We find that the stability of graphitic N next to the edge, which is claimed to play important roles in the catalytic activity in our previous work, will be enhanced with increasing the concentration of dihydrogenated carbons. Furthermore, the dihydrogenated edge carbons turn out to be easily converted into monohydrogenated ones in the presence of oxygen molecules at room temperature. Based on our results, we propose a possible way to enhance the oxygen reduction catalytic activity of N-doped graphene by controlling the degrees of hydrogenation of edge carbons. The characteristic features in the x-ray absorption and emission spectra for each specific N site considered here will also be given.