Direct electrolytic exfoliation of graphite with hemin and single-walled carbon nanotube: Creating functional hybrid nanomaterial for hydrogen peroxide detection

We present a new, facile and efficient method to prepare functional graphene (GN) hybrid nanomaterials using direct electrolytic exfoliation of graphite robs in hemin (HN) and single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) solution. During the exfoliation process, HN and SWCNT were simultaneously adsorbed on the surface of GN nanosheets through noncovalent π–π interaction, and then 3D GN–HN–SWCNT hybrid nanomaterials were formed. Due to the synergic effect among GN, HN, and SWCNT, these hybrid nanomaterials possessed excellent electrocatalysis properties and were used to construct novel electrochemical biosensor for H₂O₂ determination. The results displayed a wide linear range of 0.2 μM–0.4 mM and a low detection limit of 0.05 μM. Moreover, the developed sensor was successfully applied for real samples, such as beverages, and showed great promise in routine sensing applications.     

Dielectric,mechanical and electro-stimulus response properties studies of polyurethane dielectric elastomer modified by carbon nanotube-graphene nanosheet hybrid fillers

The typical nano-carbon materials, 1D fiber-like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and 2D platelet-like graphene nanosheets (GRNs), that have attracted tremendous attention in the field of polymer nanocomposites due to their unprecedented properties, are used as conducting filler to induce a considerable improvement in the mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of the resulting graphene/polymer nanocomposites at very low loading contents. This study deals with the preparation and electro-stimulus response properties of polyurethane (PU) dielectric elastomer films with such 1D and 2D nanocarbon fillers embedded in the polymer matrix. The various forms of carbon used in composite preparation include CNT, GRN and CNT-GRN hybrid fillers. Results indicate that the dielectric, mechanical and electromechanical properties depend on the carbon filler type and the carbon filler weight fraction. Here, it has been also established that embedding CNT-GRN hybrid fillers into pristine polyurethane endows somewhat better dispersion of CNTs and GRNs as well as better interfacial adhesion between the carbon fillers and matrix, which results in an improvement in electric-induced strain. Therefore, the nanocomposites seem to be very attractive for microelectromechanical systems applications.     

Dynamic conductivity of ac–dc-driven graphene superlattice

The dynamic conductivity of graphene superlattice in the presence of ac electric field and dc electric field with longitudinal and transversal components with respect to superlattice axis was calculated. In the case of strong transversal component of dc field conductivity of graphene superlattice was shown to be such as if the electrons had got the effective mass. In the case of weak transversal component of dc field conductivity was shown to change its sign if the frequency of ac field was an integer multiple of half of Bloch frequency.     

静电自组装制备交联聚苯乙烯纳米微球/石墨烯杂化填料(PS@rGO)及其在丁苯橡胶中的应用研究

以十六烷基三甲基溴化铵(CTAB)为乳化剂,合成了交联聚苯乙烯纳米微球(PS)阳离子乳液;通过静电自组装以及原位还原制得了交联聚苯乙烯纳米微球/石墨烯杂化填料(PS@rGO);将杂化填料与丁苯橡胶共混,制备了SBR/PS@rGO纳米复合材料.X-射线衍射(XRD)、红外光谱(FTIR)、拉曼光谱(Raman)和热重分析(TGA)证实了PS@rGO中rGO有效地得到还原并与PS存在着很强的π-π相互作用;扫描电子显微镜(SEM)测试结果表明,PS@rGO中PS纳米微球的粒径约为60~70 nm,并均匀地吸附在r GO表面,有效地阻止了r GO堆叠.SBR/PS@rGO纳米复合材料硫化性能研究表明,PS@rGO能大大缩短胶料的正硫化时间,增大交联密度;SEM,RPA和Mooney-Rivlin模拟等证明了,杂化填料在SBR基体中分散均匀,并搭接形成了更完善的填料网络结构,具有较强的界面相互作用,使得复合材料的力学性能和耐磨性能有较大的提高,很好地实现了补强.与添加同等30份的沉淀法SiO_2相比,SBR/PS@rGO纳米复合材料不仅具有更优异的机械性能,而且具有更低的密度,有望在轮胎等橡胶制品中应用,以降低驱动能耗、节省能源.     

耦合氧化石墨烯的N掺杂Bi_2O_2CO_3微球光催化性能增强机制(英文)

光催化作为一种环境友好技术,在解决环境污染和能源匮乏问题方面展现出巨大应用潜力.TiO_2因其化学稳定性、无毒和低成本被广泛应用于能源转换和污染物降解等领域,但其快速的电子-空穴复合与低太阳能利用率等限制了其在光催化中的潜在应用.因此,寻找新的有优越可见光活性的催化剂是一个挑战.最近,(BiO)_2CO_3因其独特的形貌、化学稳定性和较高的催化效率成为有前景的光催化剂.然而,(BiO)_2CO_3较大的带隙限制了对太阳光的利用,快速的电子-空穴复合阻碍了光催化性能的提高.因此,提高(BiO)_2CO_3的光催化效率是当务之急.近期研究表明,通过与氧化石墨烯杂交提高载流子的分离能力,可有效增强光催化性能.基于此,我们设计并合成了一种氮掺杂的(BiO)_2CO_3与氧化石墨烯(GO)耦合的新型光催化剂(N-BOC-GO).首先,通过一步水热法合成了N-BOC-GO微球.N-BOC-GO光催化剂对NO可见光光催化去除性能达到62%.采用X射线衍射(XRD)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、紫外-可见漫反射光谱(UV-Vis)和光致发光光谱(PL)等表征手段研究了N-BOC-GO的光催化性能增强机制.从N-BOC-GO的XRD谱中没有发现GO的衍射峰,说明加入的GO分散度高;N-BOC-GO中的BOC晶格参数没有发生变化,说明GO没有进入BOC晶格,但加入GO增强了N-BOC的结晶度.XPS结果表明,与N-BOC相比,N-BOC-GO的峰位置发生了明显位移,表明N-BOC和GO之间存在强相互作用.此外,FT-IR和拉曼光谱证明了在复合物中存在GO.SEM表明,N-BOC规则地团聚成微球,且微球被固定在有褶皱的GO片上.这说明GO与N-BOC的作用是静电作用或物理作用,在光激发过程中有利于N-BOC微球上的电子转移到GO片上.UV-Vis图谱中,N-BOC-GO表现出明显增强的可见光吸收,说明加入GO会明显提高N-BOC的吸收能力.此外,3D分层结构会通过SSR效应提高光吸收.从PL图可以发现,N-BOC-GO的电子-空穴复合明显下降,说明GO可以转移电子从而提高光催化性能.结合前面的分析,我们提出了N-BOC-GO光催化剂3D分层结构的形成和性能增强机制.在水热过程中,通过分子间相互作用使N-BOC自组装成块,随后在表面能最小化的作用下转化成3D微球.加入GO后,N-BOC和GO通过物理吸附使得N-BOC微球均匀分散在GO上,最后N-BOC-GO的形貌类似于玫瑰花和其叶子的组合.在可见光照射下,N-BOC产生电子-空穴对,电子从N-BOC表面转移到GO表面,表明GO可作为电子的收集者和传递者以有效分离电子-空穴对,延长载流子寿命.N-BOC价带上的空穴可以直接氧化NO或产生?OH氧化NO.此外,由于GO独特的特征,光催化反应发生在N-BOC催化剂表面和GO片上,从而提高了反应空间位点.故引入GO于N-BOC体系中可有效分离光生载流子和提高反应活性位点,从而显著提高可见光催化性能.     

Synthesis and characterization of graphene oxide,reduced graphene oxide and their nanocomposites with polyethylene oxide

This work describes the synthesis of GO, rGO and their nanocomposites with PEO. GO and rGO were prepared by the modified Hummers method and in-situ reduction of GO utilizing green reductant L (+) Ascorbic acid. The nanocomposites were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA), and Universal Testing Machine (UTM). FT-IR and XRD confirmed the synthesis of GO and rGO. FE-SEM confirmed the uniformly exfoliated GO and rGO nanosheets in the polymer matrix. Hydrogen bonding was the main interaction mechanism for GO with PEO while no interaction was detected by FT-IR for rGO. Enhanced thermal stability was observed for both GO/PEO and rGO/PEO nanocomposites. The mechanical analysis showed an increase in Young's modulus, tensile strength, and elongation at break for GO/PEO nanocomposites, which is attributed to the homogeneous dispersion and hydrophilic hydrogen bonding interaction of GO with PEO.     

Pencil sketch graphene films as solid lubricant on steel surface: Observation of transition to grapehene/amorphous carbon

During recent years, graphene as a solid lubrication material have been thoroughly studied under nano or micro scales, but rarely reported at industrial conditions. In present work, graphene films as solid lubricant were prepared on the surface of 201 stainless steel substrates by pencil sketch. And then the friction tests from 5 to 65 N were carried out via a homemade tribo-tester and used GCr15 balls (ø = 5 mm) as friction pairs. Not surprisingly, graphene films cannot bear the loads beyond 5 N, but interestingly, via gradually increasing the loads, graphene films show prominent load performance and steady state of friction coefficients at about 0.12 while the loads varied from 5 to 65 N. Compared with bare steel, the coefficient of graphene films reduced by about 80%, and the wear volume reduced to 1/28 when variable load (from 5 N to 30 N) were applied. Raman spectra shown that the structure of graphene had been changing into diamond-like carbon films with graphene distributed inside, which was confirmed by HRTEM that graphenes were coming with amorphous carbon. Considering the roughness of steel wafers (170 nm), one can speculate that, with graphene films' protection, the steel has no abrasion but plastic deformation instead. It is concluded that the shearing force induced the film densification via sp² to sp³ changing that enforced cross-linking. This cross-linking carbon matrix was responsible for high load bearing and the graphene exfoliated into graphene under shearing force contribute to low steady-state friction. Benefiting from sketch, one can get a lubrication film on any substrates with complex topography, our results shed light on the growth of graphene films for industrial use.     

Simultaneous Detection of Dopamine and Uric Acid on Indium Tin Oxides Modified with Cost‐effective Gas‐phase Synthesized Single Walled Carbon Nanotubes

Cost‐effective gas‐phase synthesized single walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were first employed for the surface modification of indium tin oxides (ITO) via electrostatic coating of poly‐l‐lysine (PLL). Compared with control substrates of bare ITO and SWCNT‐PLL‐slide glasses, SWCNT‐PLL‐ITO, with high catalytic properties associated with large surface areas, showed significant improvement of electro catalytic activity toward the oxidation of dopamine (DA) and uric acid (UA). The cyclic voltammetric (CV) peak separation of oxidation for both DA and UA was estimated to be ∼ 0.13 V, which renders them capable of simultaneously detecting DA and UA in a mixed solution. The differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) technique was further performed to obtain a linear detection range of DA from 1.0 μM to 100 μM, and a detection limit of 1.0 μM was confirmed in the mixed solution. Furthermore, the practical analytical ability of the method was finally confirmed by selective detection of both DA and UA in human urine samples without any preliminary treatment, implying the feasibility of applying bio‐sensors in a low‐cost manner.