Iron pentacarbonyl

All reactants used were commercially available: hexadecylamine (HDA) 98% purity, oleic acid (OA) 99% purity, iron pentacarbonyl, dibenzyl ether 98% purity, ethyl acetate (99.5% purity), tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAH) solution in water (25% wt), and benzyl ether (98% purity) were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich Saint Louis, MO, USA and were used as received. Absolute ethanol and n-hexane 99% reagent grade were supplied by Scharlau, Cham Germany.

A uniform 0.5 mL drop of iron pentacarbonyl (Sigma-Aldrich, Saint Louis, MO, USA) on the bare SS316 plate was placed by pipet. The iron pentacarbonyl serves as the catalyst for CNT synthesis. Thermal pyrolysis chemical vapor deposition (TPCVD) was then employed to deposit CNT on the SS316 plate. Prior to the CNT synthesis process, the TPCVD furnace was heated and vacuumed to 750 °C and 50 mTorr, respectively, and followed by purging with nitrogen gas of 10 sccm. Then, the furnace was filled with acetylene gas of 50 sccm and/or argon gas of different flow rate, 100, 500, or 800 sccm, to start the CNT synthesis process. The samples were then naturally cooled to room temperature after the previous CNT synthesis process. A composite CNT/SS316 cathode electrode was completed at this stage. A stirred solution of 0.018 g iron phthalocyanine (FePc) and 1 mL tetrahydrofuran (THF) was then dropped on the composite CNT/SS316 cathode plate and subjected to ultrasonic oscillation for 30 min to form a uniform layer on the composite CNT/SS316 cathode plate. After baking in an oven of 80 °C for 24 h, the composite FePc/CNT/SS316 cathode electrode was completed.

Iron acetylacetonate, oleic acid, oleyl amine, ammonia (28 wt % in water), hydrogen peroxide (30 wt % in water), sodium chloride, sodium molybdate dehydrate, thiourea, ferrous chloride, cobalt acetate, ethylene glycol, zinc acetate, lanthanum oxide, cobalt nitrate, tetraethyl orthosilicate, sodium hydroxide, oxalic acid, strontium carbonate, cobalt oxalates, bismuth nitrate pentahydrate, diboron trioxide, 1-butyl-3-methlyimidazolium hexafluorophosphate (BmimPF₆), silver nitrate, stannous chloride, sulfur powder, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium, copper nitrate, hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide, formaldehyde, mercury oxide, mercury, cyclohexane, isopropanol, iron pentacarbonyl, 1,3-dimethylimidazoline-2-selenone, hydrochloric acid (38 wt % in water), tellurium power, selenium powder, potassium hydroxide, sulfuric acid and sulfide powder were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich. Raw graphene and multiwall carbon nanotubes were obtained from XF-NANO Tech. Co. All chemical reagents are analytical pure reagents and were used without further purification. Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) film was purchased from Shanghai Muke Technol. Co. Deionized water used in all the experiments was purified using a Simplicity C9210 Milli-Q water purification system.

All reactants used were commercially available: Hexadecylamine (HDA) 98% purity, oleic acid (OA) 99% purity, iron pentacarbonyl, dibenzyl ether 98% purity, poly(2-dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate) methyl chloride quaternary salt (PDMAEMA), tetramethylammonium hydroxide (TMAOH) solution 25 wt % in water, and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) 99% hydrolyzed and average M_w (89,000–98,000) g/mol, were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO, USA) and were used as received. Absolute ethanol and n-hexane 99% reagent grade were supplied by Scharlau (Munich, Germany).