Figure 2: Reaction mechanism for N-dopant-specific unzipping.
From: Dopant-specific unzipping of carbon nanotubes for intact crystalline graphene nanostructures
(a,b) N1s and Fe2p XPS spectra before and after unzipping. Np (a) and Fe (b) completely disappear after unzipping. (c,d) Reaction mechanism for initiation and propagation stages. Fe2+ is extracted from FeN4 site in NCNTs under acidic positive-biased condition, and subsequent acid-catalysed imine hydrolysis undergoes (c). Unzipping propagates along the longitudinal direction through continuous C=C bond breaking with high-energy oxygen species, such as singlet O2 or O3 molecules (d).
