A few recent research reports have demonstrated that water splitting catalysts such as MoS2 and NiFe supported on multi-walled carbon nanotubes, carbon nanofibers, carbon clothes, and reduced graphene oxide are excellent hydrogen and oxygen evolution catalysts with good stability. It is postulated here that the enhanced catalyst stability could be related to the unique reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenging ability of these carbon-based scaffolds. In this work, a near infrared optical nanoprobe, double-stranded DNA-encased single-walled carbon nanotubes (dsDNA-SWNTs) has been used for determination of scavenging ability of graphene oxide (GO), GO-MoS2 composite, and reduced graphene oxide (RGO). The method is based on the magnitude of spectral recovery of the H2O2-suppressed dsDNA-SWNTs when the aqueous suspension of the selected sample is added. The ROS scavenging potency is measured with vitamin C, trolox, and uric acid as standards. This work shows that graphene-based catalyst scaffolds could be efficient ROS scavengers for enhancing hydrogen and oxygen production in water splitting.

ROS scavenging ability of graphene-based water splitting catalyst scaffolds optically sensed with DNA-encased single-walled carbon nanotubes

251st National Meeting (2016)

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