Heteroatom-Doped Nanocarbons Derived from Polyacrylonitrile-Based Structures

This thesis describes using a series of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based architectures as precursors for heteroatom-doped nanocarbons. Chapter 1 is an introduction chapter, focusing on fundamental knowledge and the state-of-the-art of research in the nanocarbon area. Chapters 2-8 demonstrate my research work during my Ph.D. career in Carnegie Mellon University. Among them chapters

2-4 focus on N-doped nanocarbons, while chapters 5-7 introduce co-doped nanocarbon systems, namely N/B, N/S, and N/Fe co-doped nanocarbons. Chapter 2 is a continuation of previous work using poly(n-butyl acrylate)-b-polyacrylonitrile linear block copolymer as carbon precursors. Here, we used supplemental activators and reducing agents (SARA) ATRP to achieve more precisely

controlled polymer precursors and gained deeper insight about the produced porosity in nanocarbons. Chapter 3 introduces using novel PAN-b-PBA bottlebrushes as carbon precursors. Chapter 4 demonstrates a novel core/shell particle-based strategy to produce porous carbon spheres,

and compare its performance with carbon monolith in different applications. Chapter 5 extends the CTNC technique to N/S co-doped nanocarbon by establishing a new PAN stabilization strategy using sulfur. Chapter 6 extends the CTNC technique to N/B co-doped nanocarbon by using a boron-containing monomer. Chapter 7 focuses on using CTNC as a base material and doping it

with Fe for platinum group metal free (PGM-Free) fuel cells. Chapter 8 demonstrates using different PAN-based polymers to wrap carbon nanotubes with controlled polymer thickness. Finally, a summary with outlook on future directions is provided in Chapter 9. Appendices

summarized all published papers during my Ph.D. study.