Site-dependent catalytic activity of graphene oxides towards oxidative dehydrogenation of propane.

Graphene oxides (GOs) may offer extraordinary potential in the design of novel catalytic systems due to the presence of various oxygen functional groups and their unique electronic and structural properties. Using first-principles calculations, we explore the plausible mechanisms for the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of propane to propene by GOs and the diffusion of the surface oxygen-containing groups under an external electric field. The present results show that GOs with modified oxygen-containing groups may afford high catalytic activity for the ODH of propane to propene. The presence of hydroxyl groups around the active sites provided by epoxides can remarkably enhance the C-H bond activation of propane and the activity enhancement exhibits strong site dependence. The sites of oxygen functional groups on the GO surface can be easily tuned by the diffusion of these groups under an external electric field, which increases the reactivity of GOs towards ODH of propane. The chemically modified GOs are thus quite promising in the design of metal-free catalysis.