Graphene-Based Metal-Free Catalysis

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the use of doped carbon nanomaterials in catalysis. The availability of carbon nanotubes in the ‘90s and graphene about 10 years later, prompted the development of fundamental research and novel nanotechnologies. We discuss this topic from a point of view that links fundamental surface science to the field of catalysis, in order to present the state of the art. We describe scientific questions that material scientists have faced during these last decades, in particular, we concentrate on the debate over the role that the different nitrogen configurations in the graphene lattice can play in certain catalytic processes.