SAA SYSTEMATIC STUDY OF GRAPHENE ELECTRODE-BASED OXYGEN REDUCTION REACTION (ORR) WILL BE PERFORMED IN THE EFFORT TO CLARIFY THE DOMINANT FACTORS OF CATALYTIC KINETICS UNDER VARIOUS ENVIRONMENTS AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH PARAMETERS OF FABRICATION PROCESSES. GRAPHENE DERIVATIVES HAVE EXHIBITED EXCELLENT ORR CATALYSIS WITH HIGH STABILITY, AND THUS SHOWED A GREAT PROMISE AS THE ALTERNATIVE TO CONVENTIONAL NOBLE METAL-BASED CATALYSTS, WHICH ARE EXPENSIVE AND SUFFER FROM AGGLOMERATION AND CO DEPOSITION ISSUES. HOWEVER, THE EXACT MECHANISM BEHIND THE EXCELLENT CATALYTIC PERFORMANCE HAS NOT BEEN CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD YET. THROUGH THIS PROJECT, I WILL FIRST STUDY THE IMPACT OF MATERIALS PROPERTIES SUCH AS COMPOSITION OF EACH DOPING TYPE ON THE RESULTING ORR CATALYTIC ACTIVITY AND DURABILITY. THE MATERIAL PROPERTIES WILL BE SYSTEMATICALLY MODIFIED BY CHANGING THE PARAMETERS DURING FABRICATION OF GRAPHENE-BASED ELECTRODES. I WILL USE HYDROTHERMAL REACTION AND CHEMICAL VAPOR DEPOSITION FOR DOPING GRAPHENE STRUCTURES. WITH THESE EXHAUSTIVE STUDIES, WE WILL BETTER UNDERSTAND THE MAJOR FACTORS DETERMINING ORR KINETICS OF GRAPHENE DERIVATIVES, AND PROVIDE GUIDELINES FOR HIGH PERFORMANCE, HIGH DURABILITY GRAPHENE-BASED ELECTRODES FOR FUEL CELLS AND METAL-AIR BATTERIES. FURTHERMORE, WITH THE PARAMETERS FOR 3D STRUCTURING OF DOPED-GRAPHENE, I WILL ALSO STUDY THE CORRELATION AMONG THE RESULTING MORPHOLOGY, SURFACE AREA, CHEMICAL COMPOSITION, AND ORR PERFORMANCE.