Facile large-scale synthesis of 3D crumpled N, O co-doped graphene nanosheets and their electrochemical properties

Graphene, as a highly promising electrode material, has garnered significant attentions due to its remarkable properties. Nevertheless, challenges persist in its commercial application in the field of energy storage and conversion, including easy stacking, inert surface and limited yield. Rational regulation of the morphology, structure and composition of graphene is demonstrated as an effective way to conquer these challenges. Herein, we adopt a facile spray pyrolysis method to achieve large-scale synthesis of 3D crumpled N, O co-doped graphene nanosheets (NO-GNs). By comprehensive characterization and analysis, it is witnessed that our prepared NO-GNs possess unique 3D crumpled morphology as well as abundant structure defects, and achieve successful co-doping of N and O atoms. These optimized morphology, structure and composition effectively increase the specific surface area and substantially enhance the hydrophilicity and reactive activity of NO-GNs, thus leading to markedly improved electrochemical performance towards supercapacitor and oxygen reduction reaction. Evidently, the preparation of NO-GNs not only offers a promising material for advanced energy storage and conversion systems, but also presents a novel but versatile strategy for manufacturing high-performance carbon-based electrodes.