Syntheses and properties of fluorinated carbon materials

In this review, the more recent topics in the field of fluorinated carbon materials are given with the emphasis on the research work presented by our group. The direct fluorination and/or oxyfluorination of various carbon materials, especially of new carbon materials, i.e. nanotubes, carbon fibers, and activated carbon fibers have been described. It has been shown that fluorination can be one of the most effective methods to modify and control physico-chemical properties of carbon materials.     

粘胶基碳纤维表面结构的STM研究

本文建立了用具有原子级分辨能力的扫描隧道显微镜 (STM)研究粘胶基碳纤维 (RCF)表面结构的方法。在较大尺度的STM图像上 ,RCF表面显得很粗糙 ,“峰”和“谷”的特征非常明显。增大放大率时 ,发现了约10nm宽的条状结构 ,其排列与纤维轴成一定角度 (45°～ 90°)。首次获得了RCF原子级的STM图像 ,在原子级尺度上 ,其原子排列并不规则 ,相邻原子间距为 0 .14 2nm ,最近六元环中心的距离是 0 .2 5 3nm。与高定向降解石墨 (HOPG)的对比研究进一步表明RCF表面的碳网是变形的六元环结构     

沥青基活性炭纤维复合活化工艺的研究

以沥青基炭纤维为原料，研究了用铵盐作为化学活化剂对其进行浸渍预处理，然后采用（H2O＋CO2）活化的方法制备活性炭纤维，讨论了工艺条件对活性炭纤维性能的影响并通过光电子能谱XPS探讨了活化过程中炭纤维表面官能团的变化。结果表明：采用这种物理和化学复合活化工艺，可以在较高得率下提高活性炭纤维比表面积。同时浸渍处理、H2O流量、活化温度和活化时间等工艺参数显著影响活性炭纤维的比表面积和得率，优化的工艺为：经铵盐浸渍6h，炭纤维在水蒸气与CO2流量比3：1的混合气氛中900℃活化30min。XPS研究表明，活化后炭纤维表面的含氧官能团C－O明显减少，铵盐浸渍未能增加活性炭纤维表面的含氮基团。     

Carbonization of electrospun poly(acrylonitrile) nanofibers containing multiwalled carbon nanotubes observed by transmission electron microscope with in situ heating

Composite nanofibers with 5% w/w multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in polyacrylonitrile (PAN) were fabricated using the electrospinning technique. Morphological development during the carbonization process was characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) with in situ heating. It was found that the orientation of graphitic layers increases with temperature and does not change significantly with time during our TEM measurement, except the 750 °C. In the heating stage at 750 °C noticeable enhancement of orientation with time was observed. The presence of embedded CNTs enhances the order of the formed graphitic structures even when the CNTs are irregular or entangled. The results indicate that embedded MWCNTs in the PAN nanofibers nucleate the growth of carbon crystals during PAN carbonization. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys, 2010     

Influence of an oxidation of the carbon fiber surface by boiling nitric acid on the adhesion strength in carbon fiber‐acrylate composites cured by electron beam

A time‐dependent oxidation of carbon fibers in boiling nitric acid was used to investigate the influence of a modification of the fiber surface properties on the adhesion strength with an acrylate resin cured by electron beam (EB). For each time of treatment, a characterization of the surface topography and the surface chemistry was done (topography at a micrometric and nanometric scale, specific surface area, temperature programmed desorption, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis). The oxidation of the fiber surface in boiling nitric acid created a rough surface, which significantly increased the specific surface area, and also generated a high density of hydroxyl groups, carboxylic acids and lactones in comparison to untreated fibers. The adhesion strength with the acrylate resin cured by EB was measured by a pull‐out test. For comparison, an isothermal ultraviolet curing of the matrix was also investigated. The value of the interfacial shear strength, determined by the Greszczuk's model, was increased by the oxidation of the carbon fiber surface for both curing processes, but lower values were systemically obtained with EB curing. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cytotoxicity of carbon nanotubes

With large-scale production and application at large scale, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) may cause ad-verse response to the environment and human health. Thus, study on bio-effects and safety of CNTs has attracted great attention from scientists and governments worldwide. This report briefly summa-rizes the main results from the in vitro toxicity study of CNTs. The emphasis is placed on the descrip-tion of a variety of factors affecting CNTs cytotoxicity, including species of CNTs, impurities contained, lengths of CNTs, aspect ratios, chemical modification, and assaying methods of cytotoxicity. However, experimental information obtained thus far on CNTs' cytotoxicity is lacking in comparability, and some-times there is controversy about it. In order to assess more accurately the potential risks of CNTs to human health, we suggest that care should be taken for issues such as chemical modification and quantitative characterization of CNTs in cytotoxicity assessment. More importantly, studies on physical and chemical mechanisms of CNTs' cytotoxicity should be strengthened; assaying methods and evaluating criteria characterized by nanotoxicology should be gradually established.     

Voltammetric determination of antibacterial drug gemifloxacin in solubilized systems at multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified glassy carbon electrode

A sensitive electroanalytical method for determination of gemifloxacin in pharmaceutical formulation has been investigated on the basis of the enhanced electrochemical response at multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified glassy carbon electrode in the presence of CTAB. Solubilized system of different surfactants including SDS, Tween-20 and CTAB were taken for the study of electrochemical behaviour of gemifloxacin at modified electrode. The reduction peak current increases in the presence of CTAB while other surfactants show opposite effect. The modified electrode exhibits catalytic activity, high sensitivity, stability and is applicable over wide range of concentration for the determination of gemifloxacin. The mechanism of electrochemical reduction of gemifloxacin has been proposed on the basis of CV, SWV, DPV and coulometeric techniques. The proposed squarewave voltammetric method shows linearity over the concentration range 2.47-15.5 μg/mL. The achieved limits of detection (LOD) and quantification (LOQ) are 0.90 ng/mL and 3.0 ng/mL respectively.     

Revisiting the reactivity of different carbon bases: A theoretical study

Quantum chemical calculations are performed on different carbon bases to understand the origin of their reactivity. Both carbon(0) and carbon(II) bases may show very high values of second proton affinity as well as bond dissociation energies for gem‐dimetallation. Thus, their distinction becomes blurred when subjected to electrophilic attack. However, unlike carbon(0) bases, carbon(II) bases are ambiphilic in nature owing to the presence of a σ symmetric lone pair and a vacant π orbital concentrated on the central carbon atom. Thus, they may show different reactivity when subjected to nucleophilic attack. This reactivity difference may be considered as another distinction between these two classes of compounds. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Improved interfacial properties of PI composites through graphene oxide and carbon nanotubes on carbon fiber surface

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been identified as excellent nanoreinforcements for carbon fiber (CF)–reinforced polymers regarding a wide range of engineering applications. The outstanding properties of CNTs, such as their large surface area, high mechanical strength, and low manufacturing cost bring them to be distinguished nanoreinforcements for carbon fiber–reinforced polymers to form multifunctional and multiscale composites. Electrophoretic deposition of graphene oxide for CNTs onto the CF surface was conducted. The presence of graphene oxide–CNTs may effectively increase both the roughness and wettability of the CF surface, resulting in an improvement to the interfacial bonding strength between the CF and the polyimide (PI).     

聚苯乙炔/碳纳米管复合材料的导电性能研究

本文以无水A lC l3作催化剂合成聚苯乙炔(PPA),用H2SO4对其进行磺化改性,采用其混法制得了PPA/碳纳米管(CNTs)及磺化PPA/CNTs复合材料,对二者的常温电导率及变温电导率进行了测试。结果表明:磺化PPA的电导率较PPA的提高了3个数量级;随着CMTs含量增加,复合材料的电导率升高;PPA/CNTs导电的阈值是3%,达极限电导率(0.04S/m)所需CNTs含量为25%,而磺化PPA/CNTs导电的阈值是2%,达极限电导率所需CNTs(0.14 s/m)含量为25%。并分析了温度变化对复合材料电阻变化的影响因素。     

Amine-functionalized low-cost industrial grade multi-walled carbon nanotubes for the capture of carbon dioxide

Industrial grade multi-walled carbon nanotubes (IG-MWCNTs) are a low-cost substitute for commercially purified multi-walled carbon nanotubes (P-MWCNTs). In this work, IG-MWCNTs were functionalized with tetraethylenepentamine (TEPA) for CO₂ capture. The TEPA impregnated IG-MWCNTs were characterized with various experimental methods including N₂ adsorption/desorption isotherms, elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Both the adsorption isotherms of IG-MWCNTs-n and the isosteric heats of different adsorption capacities were obtained from experiments. TEPA impregnated IG-MWCNTs were also shown to have high CO₂ adsorption capacity comparable to that of TEPA impregnated P-MWCNTs. The adsorption capacity of IG-MWCNTs based adsorbents was in the range of 2.145 to 3.088 mmol/g, depending on adsorption temperatures. Having the advantages of low-cost and high adsorption capacity, TEPA impregnated IG-MWCNTs seem to be a promising adsorbent for CO₂ capture from flue gas.     

气相生长碳纤维对环氧树脂固化反应的影响及其复合物固化动力学研究

用示差扫描量热方法研究了气相生长碳纤维作为填料对4,4′-二氨基二苯甲烷四缩水甘油环氧树脂(TGDDM)/4,4′-二氨基二苯基砜(DDS)等温固化反应的影响.与纯环氧树脂一样,气相生长碳纤维复合物的固化反应也属于自催化反应类型.气相生长碳纤维对环氧树脂的固化反应动力学影响很小.固化反应的过程可以用一种修正过的自催化动力学模型来描述,在整个固化反应过程中纯TGDDM/DDS环氧树脂及其气相生长碳纤维复合物模型拟合得到的结果和实验数据相当一致.     

Synthesis of BN coatings on carbon fiber by dip coating

BN coatings were deposited on carbon fibers by dip coating method. The deposited coatings were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier‐transformed infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction. The influence of temperature on composition and structure of the coatings was investigated. Composition and structure examinations revealed that the crystallinity of the coatings increased with the increasing temperature, and the coating is a mixture of little oxides, turbostratic boron nitride and hexagonal boron nitride. Furthermore, experiments were also conducted in order to describe the growth mechanism, thus forming the basis of future growth of BN coating on fibers by dip coating. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Remarkable carbon dioxide catalytic capture (CDCC) leading to solid-form carbon material via a new CVD integrated process (CVD-IP): An alternative route for CO2 sequestration

Through our newly-developed “chemical vapor deposition integrated process (CVD-IP)” using carbon dioxide (CO₂) as the raw material and only carbon source introduced, CO₂ could be catalytically activated and converted to a new solid-form product, i.e., carbon nanotubes (CO₂-derived) at a quite high yield (the single-pass carbon yield in the solid-form carbon-product produced from CO₂ catalytic capture and conversion was more than 30% at a single-pass carbon-base). For comparison, when only pure carbon dioxide was introduced using the conventional CVD method without integrated process, no solid-form carbon-material product could be formed. In the addition of saturated steam at room temperature in the feed for CVD, there were much more end-opening carbon nano-tubes produced, at a slightly higher carbon yield. These inspiring works opened a remarkable and alternative new approach for carbon dioxide catalytic capture to solid-form product, comparing with that of CO₂ sequestration (CCS) or CO₂ mineralization (solidification), etc. As a result, there was much less body volume and almost no greenhouse effect for this solid-form carbon-material than those of primitive carbon dioxide.     

Adsorption of lead(II) and copper(II) on activated carbon by complexation with surface functional groups

The adsorption of lead(II) and copper(II) on an activated carbon (Filtrasorb 300, Chemviron) was characterized assuming that it takes place by formation of complexes with functional groups, present in the activated carbon. Their concentration and conditional adsorption coefficients were determined for each metal by titration of the carbon in suspension in aqueous phase, at constant acidity, with the metal itself. For each titration point, the concentration of the metal in the solution phase after equilibration was determined, and the data were processed by the Ruzic linearization method, to obtain the concentration of the active sites involved in the sorption, and the conditional constant. The effect of the pH was also examined, in the range 4-6, obtaining that the adsorption increases at increasing pH. The protonation and adsorption constants were determined from the conditional adsorption coefficients obtained at the different acidities. The concentration of the active sites is 0.023 and 0.042 mmol g⁻¹, and the protonation constants are 1.0×10⁶ and 4.6×10⁴ M⁻¹ for Pb(II) and Cu(II). The corresponding adsorption constants are respectively 1.4×10⁵ and 6.3×10³ M⁻¹. All the parameters are affected by a large uncertainty, probably due to the heterogeneity of the active groups in the activated carbon. Even if so, these parameters make it possible a good prediction of the adsorption in a wide range of conditions. Other sorption mechanism can be set up at different conditions, in particular at different pH, as it has been demonstrated in the case of copper(II).     

Amperometric detection of indapamide on glassy carbon electrode

This work describes the development of a fast, precise and reliable voltammetric method for the quantification of indapamide, an orally active diuretic sulfonamide used for hypertensive treatment. This compound acts inhibiting sodium reabsorption and increasing the elimination of water. This characteristic was responsible for its banishment by the International Olympic Committee since 1999. The study begins by finding an adequate potential range (−0.20 to 0.30 V) to avoid poisoning the working glassy carbon electrode (GCE) in phosphate buffer 0.10 mol L⁻¹ (pH=12.0). Utilizing flow injection analysis, linear responses between 2.0 × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹ to 2.5 × 10⁻⁵ mol L⁻¹ of indapamide (R²=0.995), and detection limit (LOD) 3.0 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹ were obtained. This method was applied for the quantification of indapamide in tablets and in synthetic urine. The same flow system was used for the analysis of commercial drugs and the response obtained corresponded to 98 % of the concentration indicated on the drug label. These tablets were also analyzed by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), obtaining a recovery of 103 % and LOD 4.0 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹. The velocity of analysis using flow methods compares advantageously to the classical chromatographic methods. For synthetic urine, linear responses were obtained in samples spiked in the region from 5.0 × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹ to 30 × 10⁻⁶ mol L⁻¹ (R²=0.991) and LOD 3.0 × 10⁻⁷ mol L⁻¹.     

Mono-silicon isoelectronic replacement in CAl4: van't hoff/le bel carbon or not?

In cluster studies, the isoelectronic replacement strategy has been successfully used to introduce new elements into a known structure while maintaining the desired topology. The well-known penta-atomic 18 valence electron (ve) species and its Al⁻/Si or Al/Si⁺ isoelectronically replaced clusters CAl₃Si⁻, CAl₂Si₂, , and , all possess the same anti-van't Hoff/Le Bel skeletons, that is, nontraditional planar tetracoordinate carbon (ptC) structure. In this article, however, we found that such isoelectronic replacement between Si and Al does not work for the 16ve-CAl₄ with the traditional van't Hoff/Le Bel tetrahedral carbon (thC) and its isoelectronic derivatives CAl₃X (X = Ga/In/Tl). At the level of CCSD(T)/def2-QZVP//B3LYP/def2-QZVP, none of the global minima of the 16ve mono-Si-containing clusters CAl₂SiX⁺ (X = Al/Ga/In/Tl) maintains thC as the parent CAl₄ does. Instead, X = Al/Ga globally favors an unusual ptC structure that has one long C─X distance yet with significant bond index value, and X = In/Tl prefers the planar tricoordinate carbon. The frustrated formation of thC in these clusters is ascribed to the CSi bonding that prefers a planar fashion. Inclusion of chloride ion would further stabilize the ptC of CAl₂SiAl⁺ and CAl₂SiGa⁺. The unexpectedly disclosed CAl₂SiAl⁺ and CAl₂SiGa⁺ represent the first type of 16ve-cationic ptCs with multiple bonds. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence at bare glassy carbon electrode in basic media

Electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) with three peaks at bare glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was observed as potential scanning between 0 and 2.6 V vs. Ag/AgCl in basic media. The peak potentials were seated at ca. 1.36 V, 1.72 V and 2.34 V in the positive sweeping, denoted as from ECL-I to ECL-III, respectively. Mechanisms of such ECL phenomena were proposed. For ECL-I peaked at 1.36 V, it might attribute to the oxidation of surface functional groups that analogy to alcoholic hydroxyl connected to the skeleton of GCE (S–R–CH₂OH), and the following ECL-II at 1.72 V, to the further oxidation of their products (S–R–CHO) to carbonyl compound (S–R–COO⁻). While for ECL-III at a high positive potential ca. 2.34 V, it was supposed to be related to the formation of singlet O₂ and its further conversion to triplet state.     

Fabrication of carbon fibers with nanoporous morphologies from electrospun polyacrylonitrile/poly(L‐lactide) blends

Porous carbon nanofibers were prepared through electrospinning a blend solution of polyacrylonitrile and poly(L ‐lactide), followed by carbonization at different temperatures and in different atmospheres. Structural features of these porous carbon nanofibers were characterized using scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X‐ray powder diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. Surface area and pore structure were evaluated using the nitrogen adsorption technique. It was found that carbon fibers prepared by this scalable and relatively economical method exhibited a porous surface morphology with high specific surface area and large pore volume. The fiber diameter, surface area, pore volume, bulky crystalline structure, and surface crystalline structure of these carbon nanofibers showed a strong dependence on the polymer precursor composition and carbonization condition. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 493–503, 2009