ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses 1D carbon nanotubes, 2D graphene nanostructures, and 3D carbon nanostructures and briefly introduces the functionalization of carbon-based materials for their applications in catalysis. Oxygen surface groups favor the preparation of carbon-supported catalysts. Moreover, graphene oxide (GO) can act not only as the precursor of graphene, but also as a high-efficiency and multifunctional catalyst itself. In 2010, D. R. Dreyer et al. revealed that GO can catalyze both the oxidation of alcohols and the hydration of alkynes with high yield and high selectivity. Y. Long et al. developed a heat treatment method to prepare N-graphene and studied its catalytic activity in selectively oxidizing benzylic alcohols. Oxygen surface groups favor the preparation of carbon-supported catalysts. The development of carbon-based catalysts may profit significantly from the design and optimization of the active sites, whose architecture is necessary to be studied intensively, with the combination of experimental analysis and theoretical modeling.
