Tunable metal-reduced graphene oxide hybrid materials for electric field-driven catalytic hydrogenation

Key Points

• The aim is to investigate how electric fields can enhance the hydrogenation activity of various metal catalysts supported on reduced graphene oxide.
• Conducted hydrogenation experiments using 1-octene under applied external electric fields.
• Tested different metal catalysts including Ni, Pd, Cu, and Zn on reduced graphene oxide.
• Performed paired ON/OFF experiments to assess the impact of electric fields on catalyst performance.
• Applied density functional theory (DFT) calculations to study electronic structures.
• Electric fields significantly enhance hydrogenation activity in a catalyst-dependent manner.
• Cu-rGO hybrid showed the highest activity under the electric field conditions.
• Activity trend under electric field differs from traditional thermal hydrogenation methods.
• DFT calculations revealed insights into electronic structures and limitations of static models.