Preparation of super thin and defect rich graphene shell and its application for high performance supercapacitor electrode and novel ORR catalyst support

We report for the first time that zinc oxide (ZnO) can not only effectively catalyze the conversion of acetylene into graphene, but also greatly lower the growth temperature to only 400 degrees C. With this method, super thin and defect rich graphene shell (TD-GS) is successfully prepared for the first time using ZnO nanoparticles as both the catalyst and template. The growth of TD-GS is tracked and monitored and its growth mechanism is illustrated. The as-prepared TD-GS exhibits remarkable performance as electrode material for applications in supercapacitors or novel catalyst support for oxygen reduction reaction. We also demonstrate that by simply adjusting the growth conditions or process, new carbon structures, like opened TD-GS, TD-GS aerogel and even graphene tube can be facilely realized.