The effect of polymer-substrate interaction on the nucleation property: Comparing study of graphene and hexagonal boron nitride Nanosheets

Hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) can work as a more efficient nucleating agent for two polyesters compared to graphene. Studies on the crystallization and dewetting processes of two polyesters, poly(butylene succinate) and poly(butylene adipate), on the two substrate surfaces prove that the interaction between BNNSs and the polyesters is stronger than that between graphene and the polyesters. This strong interaction induces the pre-ordered conformation of molten PBA which has been identified by the in situ FTIR spectra. Thus BNNSs possess higher nucleation property than graphene. Finally, a new polymer-substrate interaction induced nucleation mechanism was proposed to explain the nucleation efficiency difference between graphene and BNNSs.     

Fabrication of Boron Nitride Nanosheets by Exfoliation

Nanomaterials with layered structures, with their intriguing properties, are of great research interest nowadays. As one of the primary two‐dimensional nanomaterials, the hexagonal boron nitride nanosheet (BNNS, also called white graphene), which is an analogue of graphene, possesses various attractive properties, such as high intrinsic thermal conductivity, excellent chemical and thermal stability, and electrical insulation properties. After being discovered, it has been one of the most intensively studied two‐dimensional non‐carbon nanomaterials and has been applied in a wide range of applications. To support the exploration of applications of BNNSs, exfoliation, as one of the most promising approaches to realize large‐scale production of BNNSs, has been intensively investigated. In this review, methods to yield BNNSs by exfoliation will be summarized and compared with other potential fabrication methods of BNNSs. In addition, the future prospects of the exfoliation of h‐BN will also be discussed.     

Thin metal nanostructures: synthesis,properties and applications

Two-dimensional nanomaterials, especially graphene and single- or few-layer transition metal dichalcogenide nanosheets, have attracted great research interest in recent years due to their distinctive physical, chemical and electronic properties as well as their great potentials for a broad range of applications. Recently, great efforts have also been devoted to the controlled synthesis of thin nanostructures of metals, one of the most studied traditional materials, for various applications. In this minireview, we review the recent progress in the synthesis and applications of thin metal nanostructures with a focus on metal nanoplates and nanosheets. First of all, various methods for the synthesis of metal nanoplates and nanosheets are summarized. After a brief introduction of their properties, some applications of metal nanoplates and nanosheets, such as catalysis, surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS), sensing and near-infrared photothermal therapy are described.     

石墨烯基纳米材料在抗菌涂层中的研究进展

抗菌涂料广泛应用于医疗保健、食品保鲜和医院消毒等多个行业领域。石墨烯是目前最受欢迎的纳米材料之一,在抗菌方面细菌表现出低耐药性,同时对哺乳动物细胞有较小的细胞毒性。石墨烯从物理和化学两个层面协同发挥抑菌效果,物理方面其尖锐边缘与细菌细胞膜的直接接触从而对脂质分子进行破坏性提取,而化学方面通过氧化应激所产生的活性氧以及电荷转移破坏细菌细胞膜。此外,石墨烯用于作为分散和稳定各种纳米材料的载体,且得益于材料之间的协同作用,其复合材料具有较高的抗菌效率和良好的生物相容性,目前已在抗菌包装、伤口敷料和器械表面清洁等方面投入使用。本文首先概述了石墨烯的结构、安全性以及抗菌机理,对石墨烯复合涂层所取得的重要成果进行简要总结,最后综述了石墨烯材料在支架表面改性中的研究进展,展望了石墨烯抗菌涂层的未来发展趋势。     

用于高性能锂-硫电池的氮化硼纳米片/碳纤维改性隔膜

通过静电纺丝、热亚胺化和碳化过程,将氮化硼纳米片(BNNSs)负载在碳纤维(CFs)表面,组成用于修饰商业聚丙烯(PP)隔膜的氮化硼纳米片/碳复合纤维(BNNSs/CFs)复合材料。BNNSs和CFs的协同作用为电池提供了额外的导电路径,并将可溶性多硫化锂固定在正极区域。结果表明,采用10BNNSs/CFs-PP隔膜的电池在0.05C下的初始放电容量高达1 295.7 mAh·g^-1,当电流密度增加到1C时,以10BNNSs/CFs-PP为隔膜的电池也具有良好的长期循环稳定性,在400次循环后最终容量高达583.1mAh·g^-1,每次循环容量衰减0.069%。     

One‐Step Exfoliation and Fluorination of Boron Nitride Nanosheets and a Study of Their Magnetic Properties

A novel, simple, and efficient method for the preparation of the fluorinated hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (F‐BNNSs) and the corresponding magnetic properties is presented. A one‐step route is used to exfoliate and fluorinate the BNNSs by ammonium fluoride (NH₄F) from hexagonal boron nitride (h‐BN) powder. Through related instrument characterizations and theoretical calculations, we confirm that large‐area and few‐layer F‐BNNSs were successfully produced by this method, which can be attributed to a fluorination‐assisted exfoliation mechanism from the bulk h‐BN in NH₄F. More intriguingly, we initially verified that the as‐prepared F‐BNNSs exhibit ferromagnetic characteristics, which would have good potential applications in spintronic devices.     

用于高性能锂-硫电池的氮化硼纳米片/碳纤维改性隔膜

通过静电纺丝、热亚胺化和碳化过程,将氮化硼纳米片(BNNSs)负载在碳纤维(CFs)表面,组成用于修饰商业聚丙烯(PP)隔膜的氮化硼纳米片/碳复合纤维(BNNSs/CFs)复合材料。BNNSs和CFs的协同作用为电池提供了额外的导电路径,并将可溶性多硫化锂固定在正极区域。结果表明,采用10BNNSs/CFs-PP隔膜的电池在0.05C下的初始放电容量高达1 295.7 mAh·g^-1,当电流密度增加到1C时,以10BNNSs/CFs-PP为隔膜的电池也具有良好的长期循环稳定性,在400次循环后最终容量高达568.1mAh·g^-1,每次循环容量衰减0.073%。     

用于高性能锂-硫电池的氮化硼纳米片/碳纤维改性隔膜

通过静电纺丝、热亚胺化和碳化过程,将氮化硼纳米片(BNNSs)负载在碳纤维(CFs)表面,组成用于修饰商业聚丙烯(PP)隔膜的氮化硼纳米片/碳复合纤维(BNNSs/CFs)复合材料。BNNSs和CFs的协同作用为电池提供了额外的导电路径,并将可溶性多硫化锂固定在正极区域。结果表明,采用10BNNSs/CFs-PP隔膜的电池在0.05C下的初始放电容量高达1 295.7 mAh·g^-1,当电流密度增加到1C时,以10BNNSs/CFs-PP为隔膜的电池也具有良好的长期循环稳定性,在400次循环后最终容量高达568.1mAh·g^-1,每次循环容量衰减0.073%。     

Polymer/boron nitride nanocomposite materials for superior thermal transport performance

Boron nitride nanosheets were dispersed in polymers to give composite films with excellent thermal transport performances approaching the record values found in polymer/graphene nanocomposites. Similarly high performance at lower BN loadings was achieved by aligning the nanosheets in poly(vinyl alcohol) matrix by simple mechanical stretching (see picture).     

金属卟啉二维纳米晶的制备及其光电性能

金属卟啉是一种重要的金属-有机复合物,在光电转换器件、催化、传感、医学等领域有着广阔的应用前景。对无机二维纳米材料（石墨烯或过渡金属硫属化合物等）的广泛研究促使金属-有机二维纳米材料成为当前的研究热点之一。本文针对金属-有机以及卟啉二维纳米材料的研究现状,在简要回顾金属-有机二维纳米材料发展历史的基础上,详细总结了金属卟啉单分散二维纳米晶和二维薄膜的制备方法,综述了其当前在太阳能电池、光电催化以及光学传感等方面的应用,最后讨论了金属卟啉二维纳米材料当前面临的研究问题及未来可能的发展方向。     

Ab initio study on the noncovalent adsorption of camptothecin anticancer drug onto graphene, defect modified graphene and graphene oxide

The application of graphene and related nanomaterials like boron nitride (BN) nanosheets, BN-graphene hybrid nanomaterials, and graphene oxide (GO) for adsorption of anticancer chemotherapeutic camptothecin (CPT) along with the effect on electronic properties prior to functionalization and after functionalization has been reported using density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The inclusion of dispersion correction to DFT is instrumental in accounting for van der Waals π–π stacking between CPT and the nanomaterial. The adsorption of CPT exhibits significant strain within the nanosheets and noncovalent adsorption of CPT is thermodynamically favoured onto the nanosheets. In case of GO, surface incorporation of functional groups result in significant crumpling along the basal plane and the interaction is basically mediated by H-bonding rather than π–π stacking. Docking studies predict the plausible binding of CPT, CPT functionalized graphene and GO with topoisomerase I (top 1) signifying that CPT interacts through π stacking with AT and GC base pairs of DNA and in presence of nano support, DNA bases preferentially gets bound to the basal plane of graphene and GO rather than the edges. At a theoretical level of understanding, our studies point out the noncovalent interaction of CPT with graphene based nanomaterials and GO for loading and delivery of anticancer chemotherapeutic along with active binding to Top1 protein.     

Fabrication of Hexagonal Boron Nitride Nanosheets by Using a Simple Thermal Exfoliation Process

A simple and inexpensive method to exfoliate boron nitride powder to form boron nitride nanosheets (BNNSs) with few layers was achieved by using a physically thermal process. The obtained BNNSs were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), IR spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. The size distribution of the sheets and average sheet size is in the range of 80–380 nm and 200±62 nm, respectively, and the pure phase h‐BN products were confirmed. XPS result showed the B/N atomic ratio to be 0.99. In addition, the BNNSs can well disperse in aqueous solution to form a cloudy suspension and importantly, can remain suspended for 1 month without precipitate, which would have good potential in a wide range of applications.     

Recent Applications of Carbon Nanomaterials for microRNA Electrochemical Sensing

MicroRNA (miRNA) is an important tumor marker in the human body, and its early detection has a great influence on the survival rate of patients. Although there are many detection methods for miRNA at present such as northern blotting, real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction, microarrays, and others, electrochemical biosensors have the advantages of low detection cost, small instrument size, simple operation, non-invasive detection and low consumption of reagents and solvents, and thus they play an important role in the early detection of cancer. In addition, with the development of nanotechnology, nano-biosensors show great potential. The application of various nanomaterials in the development of electrochemical biosensor has greatly improved the detection sensitivity of electrochemical biosensor. Among them, carbon nanomaterials which have unique electrical, optical, physical and chemical properties have attracted increasing attention. In particular, they have a large surface area, good biocompatibility and conductivity. Therefore, carbon nanomaterials combined with electrochemical methods can be used to detect miRNA quickly, easily and sensitively. In this review, we systematically review recent applications of different carbon nanomaterials (carbon nanotubes, graphene and its derivatives, graphitic carbon nitride, carbon dots, graphene quantum dots and other carbon nanomaterials) for miRNA electrochemical detection. In addition, we demonstrate the future prospects of electrochemical biosensors modified by carbon nanomaterials for the detection of miRNAs, and some suggestions for their development in the near future.     

Preconcentration of U(VI) ions on few-layered graphene oxide nanosheets from aqueous solutions

Graphene oxide nanosheets have attracted multidisciplinary attention due to their unique physicochemical properties. Herein, few-layered graphene oxide nanosheets were synthesized from graphite using a modified Hummers method and were characterized by TEM, AFM, Raman spectroscopy, XPS, FTIR spectroscopy, TG-DTA and acid-base titrations. The prepared few-layered graphene oxide nanosheets were used as adsorbents for the preconcentration of U(VI) ions from large volumes of aqueous solutions as a function of pH, ionic strength and temperature. The sorption of U(VI) ions on the graphene oxide nanosheets was strongly dependent on pH and independent of the ionic strength, indicating that the sorption was mainly dominated by inner-sphere surface complexation rather than by outer-sphere surface complexation or ion exchange. The abundant oxygen-containing functional groups on the surfaces of the graphene oxide nanosheets played an important role in U(VI) sorption. The sorption of U(VI) on graphene oxide nanosheets increased with an increase in temperature and the thermodynamic parameters calculated from the temperature-dependent sorption isotherms suggested that the sorption of U(vi) on graphene oxide nanosheets was an endothermic and spontaneous process. The maximum sorption capacities (Q(max)) of U(VI) at pH 5.0 ± 0.1 and T = 20 °C was 97.5 mg g(-1), which was much higher than any of the currently reported nanomaterials. The graphene oxide nanosheets may be suitable materials for the removal and preconcentration of U(VI) ions from large volumes of aqueous solutions, for example, U(VI) polluted wastewater, if they can be synthesized in a cost-effective manner on a large scale in the future.     

2D Nanosheets and Their Composite Membranes for Water,Gas, and Ion Separation

Two‐dimensional nanosheets have shown great potential for separation applications because of their exceptional molecular transport properties. Nanosheet materials such as graphene oxides, metal–organic frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks display unique, precise, and fast molecular transport through nanopores and/or nanochannels. However, the dimensional instability of nanosheets in harsh environments diminishes the membrane performance and hinders their long‐term operation in various applications such as gas separation, water desalination, and ion separation. Recent progress in nanosheet membranes has included modification by crosslinking and functionalization that has improved the stability of the membranes, their separation functionality, and the scalability of membrane formation while the membranes’ excellent molecular transport properties are retained. These improvements have enhanced the potential of nanosheet membranes in practical applications such as separation processes.     

Hybrid Fibers Made of Molybdenum Disulfide,Reduced Graphene Oxide,and Multi‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Solid‐State,Flexible, Asymmetric Supercapacitors

One of challenges existing in fiber‐based supercapacitors is how to achieve high energy density without compromising their rate stability. Owing to their unique physical, electronic, and electrochemical properties, two‐dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, e.g., molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) and graphene, have attracted increasing research interest and been utilized as electrode materials in energy‐related applications. Herein, by incorporating MoS₂ and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets into a well‐aligned multi‐walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) sheet followed by twisting, MoS₂‐rGO/MWCNT and rGO/MWCNT fibers are fabricated, which can be used as the anode and cathode, respectively, for solid‐state, flexible, asymmetric supercapacitors. This fiber‐based asymmetric supercapacitor can operate in a wide potential window of 1.4 V with high Coulombic efficiency, good rate and cycling stability, and improved energy density.     

2D Nanosheets and Their Composite Membranes for Water,Gas, and Ion Separation

Two‐dimensional nanosheets have shown great potential for separation applications because of their exceptional molecular transport properties. Nanosheet materials such as graphene oxides, metal–organic frameworks, and covalent organic frameworks display unique, precise, and fast molecular transport through nanopores and/or nanochannels. However, the dimensional instability of nanosheets in harsh environments diminishes the membrane performance and hinders their long‐term operation in various applications such as gas separation, water desalination, and ion separation. Recent progress in nanosheet membranes has included modification by crosslinking and functionalization that has improved the stability of the membranes, their separation functionality, and the scalability of membrane formation while the membranes’ excellent molecular transport properties are retained. These improvements have enhanced the potential of nanosheet membranes in practical applications such as separation processes.     

Three-dimensional architectures constructed using two-dimensional nanosheets

Two-dimensional(2D) nanomaterials such as transition metal dichalcogenides(TMDs) and graphene have attracted extensive interest as emergent materials, owing to their excellent properties that favor their future use in electronic devices, catalysis, optics, and biological- or energy-relevant areas. However, 2D nanosheets tend to easily restack and condense, which weakens their performance in many of these applications. Assembling these 2D nanosheets as building blocks for three-dimensional(3D) architectures not only maintains the intrinsic performances of the 2D nanostructures but also synergistically makes use of the advantages of the 3D microstructures to improve the overall material properties. In this critical review, we will highlight recent developments of sundry 2D nanosheet-assembled 3D architectures, including their design, synthesis, and potential applications. Their controllable syntheses, novel structures, and potential applications will be systematically explained, analyzed, and summarized. In the end, we will offer some perspective on the challenges facing future advancement of this field.     

Hybrid Fibers Made of Molybdenum Disulfide,Reduced Graphene Oxide,and Multi‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Solid‐State,Flexible, Asymmetric Supercapacitors

One of challenges existing in fiber‐based supercapacitors is how to achieve high energy density without compromising their rate stability. Owing to their unique physical, electronic, and electrochemical properties, two‐dimensional (2D) nanomaterials, e.g., molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) and graphene, have attracted increasing research interest and been utilized as electrode materials in energy‐related applications. Herein, by incorporating MoS₂ and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanosheets into a well‐aligned multi‐walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) sheet followed by twisting, MoS₂‐rGO/MWCNT and rGO/MWCNT fibers are fabricated, which can be used as the anode and cathode, respectively, for solid‐state, flexible, asymmetric supercapacitors. This fiber‐based asymmetric supercapacitor can operate in a wide potential window of 1.4 V with high Coulombic efficiency, good rate and cycling stability, and improved energy density.     

CuCo/BNNSs纳米催化剂对固态储氢材料氨硼烷水解的催化性能

采用共还原法将CuCo双金属负载到通过聚乙烯吡咯烷酮(PVP)辅助离子插层法制备的少层氮化硼纳米片(BNNSs)上,获得了平均粒径为2.7 nm且高度分散的铜钴/氮化硼纳米片(CuCo/BNNSs)纳米催化剂。通过原子力显微镜(AFM)、X射线衍射(XRD)、傅里叶转换红外光谱(FTIR)、拉曼光谱(Raman)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和高分辨率透射电镜(HRTEM)对载体及催化剂的结构及形貌进行表征,并研究了CuCo/BNNSs的催化性能。研究发现,由于Cu、Co、BNNSs和OH-之间高效的四重效应协同使得Cu0.5Co0.5/BNNSs纳米催化剂在室温、pH=14条件下对氨硼烷(AB,NH3BH3)水解释氢具有极高的催化活性。转化频率(TOF)值达到104.52 molH2·molmetal^-1·min^-1,且CuCo/BNNSs纳米催化剂具有良好的稳定性,6次循环利用后仍保持较高催化活性。