Recent Advances in the Synthesis and Application of Three-Dimensional Graphene-Based Aerogels

Three-dimensional graphene-based aerogels (3D GAs), combining the intrinsic properties of graphene and 3D porous structure, have attracted increasing research interest in varied fields with potential application. Some related reviews focusing on applications in photoredox catalysis, biomedicine, energy storage, supercapacitor or other single aspect have provided valuable insights into the current status of Gas. However, systematic reviews concentrating on the diverse applications of 3D GAs are still scarce. Herein, we intend to afford a comprehensive summary to the recent progress in the preparation method (template-free and template-directed method) summarized in Preparation Strategies and the application fields (absorbent, anode material, mechanical device, fire-warning material and catalyst) illustrated in Application of 3D GAs with varied morphologies, structures, and properties. Meanwhile, some unsettled issues, existing challenges, and potential opportunities have also been proposed in Future Perspectives to spur further research interest into synthesizing finer 3D GAs and exploring wider and closer practical applications.     

Scalable Template Synthesis of Resorcinol–Formaldehyde/Graphene Oxide Composite Aerogels with Tunable Densities and Mechanical Properties

Resorcinol–formaldehyde (RF) and graphene oxide (GO) aerogels have found a variety of applications owing to their excellent properties and remarkable flexibility. However, the macroscopic and controllable synthesis of their composite gels is still a great challenge. By using GO sheets as template skeletons and metal ions (Co²⁺, Ni²⁺, or Ca²⁺) as catalysts and linkers, the first low‐temperature scalable strategy for the synthesis of a new kind of RF–GO composite gel with tunable densities and mechanical properties was developed. The aerogels can tolerate a strain as high as 80 % and quickly recover their original morphology after the compression has been released. Owing to their high compressibility, the gels might find applications in various areas, for example, as adsorbents for the removal of dye pollutants and in oil‐spill cleanup.     

Superflexible Multifunctional Polyvinylpolydimethylsiloxane‐Based Aerogels as Efficient Absorbents,Thermal Superinsulators,and Strain Sensors

Aerogels are porous materials but show poor mechanical properties and limited functionality, which significantly restrict their practical applications. Preparation of highly bendable and processable aerogels with multifunctionality remains a challenge. Herein we report unprecedented superflexible aerogels based on polyvinylpolydimethylsiloxane (PVPDMS) networks, PVPDMS/polyvinylpolymethylsiloxane (PVPMS) copolymer networks, and PVPDMS/PVPMS/graphene nanocomposites by a facile radical polymerization/hydrolytic polycondensation strategy and ambient pressure drying or freeze drying. The aerogels have a doubly cross‐linked organic–inorganic network structure consisting of flexible polydimethylsiloxanes and hydrocarbon chains with tunable cross‐linking density, tunable pore size and bulk density. They have a high hydrophobicity and superflexibility and combine selective absorption, efficient separation of oil and water, thermal superinsulation, and strain sensing.     

Superflexible Multifunctional Polyvinylpolydimethylsiloxane‐Based Aerogels as Efficient Absorbents,Thermal Superinsulators,and Strain Sensors

Aerogels are porous materials but show poor mechanical properties and limited functionality, which significantly restrict their practical applications. Preparation of highly bendable and processable aerogels with multifunctionality remains a challenge. Herein we report unprecedented superflexible aerogels based on polyvinylpolydimethylsiloxane (PVPDMS) networks, PVPDMS/polyvinylpolymethylsiloxane (PVPMS) copolymer networks, and PVPDMS/PVPMS/graphene nanocomposites by a facile radical polymerization/hydrolytic polycondensation strategy and ambient pressure drying or freeze drying. The aerogels have a doubly cross‐linked organic–inorganic network structure consisting of flexible polydimethylsiloxanes and hydrocarbon chains with tunable cross‐linking density, tunable pore size and bulk density. They have a high hydrophobicity and superflexibility and combine selective absorption, efficient separation of oil and water, thermal superinsulation, and strain sensing.     

Monolithic polyimine vitrimer/graphene aerogel composites

Graphene-polymer composites have attracted great attention as sensing materials due to their tailorable electrical conductivity, physicochemical properties, and sensitivity to geometric and functional changes. Herein, we report the first example of cylindrical monolithic polyimine vitrimer/graphene composites with excellent mechanical, compressive, rehealable and recyclable, and piezoresistive properties via simple infiltration of polymer monomers into the pores of graphene aerogel followed by thermal curing. The composites exhibit excellent durable compressibility (negligible reduction in the compression properties even after 3000 consecutive compression cycles), rapid recovery to the original size upon stress released, high compressive strength (up to 1.2 MPa), and high conductivity (up to 79 S/m). Excellent piezoresistive properties were observed, displaying consistent and reliable change of the electrical resistance with the compression ratio. Furthermore, rehealing with ～100% recovery of the compressive strength and electric conductivity was achieved under mild rehealing conditions, which is highly desired but has rarely been reported for electronic materials. The facile strategy for fabrication of rehealable monolithic polymer/GAs can open new possibilities for the sustainable development of composites with high electrical conductivity for various applications such as sensing, health monitoring, and movement detection.     

Wood‐Derived Ultrathin Carbon Nanofiber Aerogels

Carbon aerogels with 3D networks of interconnected nanometer‐sized particles exhibit fascinating physical properties and show great application potential. Efficient and sustainable methods are required to produce high‐performance carbon aerogels on a large scale to boost their practical applications. An economical and sustainable method is now developed for the synthesis of ultrathin carbon nanofiber (CNF) aerogels from the wood‐based nanofibrillated cellulose (NFC) aerogels via a catalytic pyrolysis process, which guarantees high carbon residual and well maintenance of the nanofibrous morphology during thermal decomposition of the NFC aerogels. The wood‐derived CNF aerogels exhibit excellent electrical conductivity, a large surface area, and potential as a binder‐free electrode material for supercapacitors. The results suggest great promise in developing new families of carbon aerogels based on the controlled pyrolysis of economical and sustainable nanostructured precursors.     

High‐Quality Three‐Dimensional Nanoporous Graphene

We report three‐dimensional (3D) nanoporous graphene with preserved 2D electronic properties, tunable pore sizes, and high electron mobility for electronic applications. The complex 3D network comprised of interconnected graphene retains a 2D coherent electron system of massless Dirac fermions. The transport properties of the nanoporous graphene show a semiconducting behavior and strong pore‐size dependence, together with unique angular independence. The free‐standing, large‐scale nanoporous graphene with 2D electronic properties and high electron mobility holds great promise for practical applications in 3D electronic devices.     

气凝胶微球的制备及应用

气凝胶由于其优异的理化性能和广阔的应用前景,近年来的发展十分迅速。然而传统的气凝胶多为块体材料,一定程度上忽略了特殊应用场景下对尺寸和形状的特定需求。将气凝胶材料制备成微球,一方面能够拓宽气凝胶材料的应用领域,另一方面也丰富了多孔微球材料的内涵。本文从几类主要的气凝胶体系(氧化硅气凝胶、纤维素气凝胶、间苯二酚-甲醛(RF)/碳气凝胶和石墨烯气凝胶)出发,综述了这些气凝胶微球的制备方法及其应用实例,并对气凝胶微球的研究现状及发展趋势做了简要评述。     

Prussian Blue‐Derived Iron Phosphide Nanoparticles in a Porous Graphene Aerogel as Efficient Electrocatalyst for Hydrogen Evolution Reaction

Tailoring of new hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalyst with earth abundant elements is important for large scale water splitting and hydrogen production. In this work, we present a simple synthetic method for incorporating iron phosphide (FeP) particles into three‐dimensional (3D) porous graphene aerogel (GA) structure. The FeP formed in porous 3D GA (FeP/GA) is derived from electroactive Fe hexacyanoferrate (FeHCF). The advantage of incorporating FeP, in the porous 3D graphene network enables high accessibility for HER. As synthesized FeP/GA catalyst shows good electrocatalytic activity for HER in both acidic and alkaline solutions. The developed method can be useful for synthesizing metal hexacyanoferrate derived mono/bimetal phosphide catalyst in porous 3D graphene aerogels.     

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.     

Polydopamine-mediated synthesis of Si@carbon@graphene aerogels for enhanced lithium storage with long cycle life

The application of Si as the anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is still severely hindered by the rapid capacity decay due to the structural damage caused by large volume change (> 300%) during cycling. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) aerogel anode of Si@carbon@graphene (SCG) is rationally constructed via a polydopamine-assisted strategy. Polydopamine is coated on Si nanoparticles to serve as an interface linker to initiate the assembly of Si and graphene oxide, which plays a crucial role in the successful fabrication of SCG aerogels. After annealing the polydopamine is converted into N-doped carbon (N-carbon) coatings to protect Si materials. The dual protection from N-carbon and graphene aerogels synergistically improves the structural stability and electronic conductivity of Si, thereby leading to the significantly improved lithium storage properties. Electrochemical tests show that the SCG with optimized graphene content delivers a high capacity (712 mAh/g at 100 mA/g) and robust cycling stability (402 mAh/g at 1 A/g after 1500 cycles). Furthermore, the full cell using SCG aerogels as anode exhibits a reversible capacity of 187.6 mAh/g after 80 cycles at 0.1 A/g. This work provides a plausible strategy for developing Si anode in LIBs.     

Preparation,Structures and Mechanical Properties of Bamboo Shoot Shell Nanofiber/Konjac Glucomannan Aerogels

With bamboo shoot shell nanofibers(BSN) and konjac glucomannan(KGM) as precursor materials, the BSN/KGM aerogels were prepared in different proportions by sol-gel method. The surface morphology, microstructure, characteristic functional groups and thermal properties of BSN/KGM aerogels were characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), infrared spectroscopy(IR), X-ray diffraction(XRD) and thermogravimetric analysis(TGA). The effect of BSN on the structure and properties of BSN/KGM aerogels was also studied. The results showed that the BSN/KGM aerogels possessed network porous structure with compact and homogeneous porosity, high specific surface area and low density. With the increase of BSN, the sheet structure of aerogels was converted into the 3D porous network structure, which contributes significantly higher thermal stability. In addition, the BSN/KGM aerogels showed excellent mechanical properties. The maximum relative compression rate was 62%, suggesting the addition of BSN can enhance the compression properties of the BSN/KGM aerogels.     

A review on elastic graphene aerogels: Design,preparation, and applications

Graphene aerogels with unique properties, such as ultralow density, super-elasticity, high specific surface area, and excellent thermal stability, have undergone great progress in the past decades. Especially, super-elastic graphene aerogels provide a highly attention-catching platform for developing advanced energy devices, pressure sensors, contaminates adsorbents, and electromagnetic wave shielding and absorption materials, and so forth. In this review, we begin with the introduction and discussion of various fabrication techniques and compare their advantages and disadvantages, focusing on the template-free assembly process and template-assisted assembly process. Then, we summarize the factors influencing the compressibility and elasticity of graphene aerogels, including intrinsic properties of building blocks, constituent materials, and structure design, and their wide applications. At the end, we discuss the current challenges and future prospects of this field.     

Facile synthesis of nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels for electrochemical detection of dopamine

Nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels with three-dimensional network structures are fabricated using hydrothermal method which includes the reduction of graphene oxide by organic amine and self-assembly of reduced graphene oxide. The effect of amine-containing compounds including aniline, 2-aminoethanol, ethylenediamine, melamine and chitosan on the assembly of nitrogen-doped graphene aerogel is investigated. The microstructure and chemical composition of nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels are characterized. The results reveal that nitrogen-doped graphene aerogel prepared using aniline as nitrogen source possesses a large specific surface area, high nitrogen content, good mechanical strength and excellent electrical conductivity. Based on these features, the as-prepared nitrogen-doped graphene aerogel shows high performance in electrochemical detection of dopamine in the presence of uric acid and ascorbic acid. Given the facile and scalable processability of aerogels, the proposed nitrogen-doped graphene aerogels are expected to have potential applications in sensors and other related devices.     

Growth of Fe3O4 Nanorod Arrays on Graphene Sheets for Application in Electromagnetic Absorption Fields

A facial strategy is developed to fabricate a three‐dimensional (3D) Fe₃O₄ nanorod array/graphene architecture, in which Fe₃O₄ nanorods with a length and diameter of about 600 and 100 nm, respectively, are grown on both surfaces of the graphene sheets. The measured electromagnetic parameters show that the 3D architecture exhibits excellent electromagnetic wave‐absorption properties, that is, more than 99 % of electromagnetic wave energy can be attenuated by the 3D architecture if it is added in only 20 wt % of the paraffin matrix, as the thickness of the absorber is in the range from 2.38 to 5.00 mm. The analysis of the electromagnetic (EM) absorption mechanism reveals that the excellent EM absorption properties are related to the special 3D architecture, and therefore, the construction of graphene‐based 3D heteronanostructures is effective in obtaining lightweight EM absorbers with strong absorption properties.     

Porous Nitrogen‐doped Reduced Graphene Oxide Gels as Efficient Supercapacitor Electrodes and Oxygen Reduction Reaction Electrocatalysts

Heteroatom‐doped carbon materials have been widely used in energy storage and conversion such as supercapacitors and electrocatalysts. In this work, L‐asparagine (Asn), an amino acid derivative, has been used as a doping agent to prepare nitrogen‐ doped reduced graphene oxide gels (N‐GAs). The 3D interconnected structure gives rise to the superior electrochemical properties for supercapacitor and electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The N‐GA‐4 (the mass ratio of Asn to graphene oxide (GO) is 4 : 1 by hydrothermal method) electrode shows the capacitance of 291.6 F·g^–1 at 0.5 A·g^–1. Meanwhile, the assembled symmetric supercapacitor achieves a maximum energy density of 23.8 Wh· kg^–1 when the power density is 451.2 W·kg^–1, and demonstrates an ultralong cycling life that the retention of capacitance is 99.3% after 80000 cycles. What's more, the annealed aerogel N‐GA‐4‐900 exhibits an onset potential (E_onset) of 0.95 V, half wave potential (E_1/2) of 0.84 V (vs. RHE) and the oxygen reduction current density of 5.5 mA·cm^–2 at 0.1 V with nearly four‐electron transfer, which are superior to commercial Pt/C. This work offers a new insight into the synthesis and applications of N‐GAs materials towards high performance in supercapacitors and ORR.     

Large‐Area Synthesis of Superclean Graphene via Selective Etching of Amorphous Carbon with Carbon Dioxide

Contamination commonly observed on the graphene surface is detrimental to its excellent properties and strongly hinders its application. It is still a great challenge to produce large‐area clean graphene film in a low‐cost manner. Herein, we demonstrate a facile and scalable chemical vapor deposition approach to synthesize meter‐sized samples of superclean graphene with an average cleanness of 99 %, relying on the weak oxidizing ability of CO₂ to etch away the intrinsic contamination, i.e., amorphous carbon. Remarkably, the elimination of amorphous carbon enables a significant reduction of polymer residues in the transfer of graphene films and the fabrication of graphene‐based devices and promises strongly enhanced electrical and optical properties of graphene. The facile synthesis of large‐area superclean graphene would open the pathway for both fundamental research and industrial applications of graphene, where a clean surface is highly needed.     

石墨烯气凝胶的可控组装

石墨烯气凝胶一般是由石墨烯片层经过湿法化学组装或气相化学生长获得的一种具有连通多孔网络结构的石墨烯三维宏观体材料,表现出极高的比表面积、良好的导电性以及优异的机械性能等,在电化学储能、吸附、催化以及传感等领域有着极为重要的应用。本文从石墨烯气凝胶的结构设计与组装策略出发,综述了近年来石墨烯纳米结构单元在石墨烯气凝胶材料（氧化石墨烯、还原氧化石墨烯、化学气相沉积（CVD）石墨烯、以及复合气凝胶等）中的组装行为,并对石墨烯气凝胶目前的现状及今后发展方向做了简要评述。     

Synthesis of polydopamine‐coated graphene–polymer nanocomposites via RAFT polymerization

Graphene‐polymer nanocomposites have significant potential in many applications such as photovoltaic devices, fuel cells, and sensors. Functionalization of graphene is an essential step in the synthesis of uniformly distributed graphene‐polymer nanocomposites, but often results in structural defects in the graphitic sp² carbon framework. To address this issue, we synthesized graphene oxide (GO) by oxidative exfoliation of graphite and then reduced it into graphene via self‐polymerization of dopamine (DA). The simultaneous reduction of GO into graphene, and polymerization and coating of polydopamine (PDA) on the reduced graphene oxide (RGO) surface were confirmed with XRD, UV–Vis, XPS, Raman, TGA, and FTIR. The degree of reduction of GO increased with increasing DA/GO ratio from 1/4 to 4/1 and/or with increasing temperature from room temperature to 60 °C. A RAFT agent, 2‐(dodecylthiocarbonothioylthio)?2‐methylpropionic acid, was linked onto the surface of the PDA/RGO, with a higher equivalence of RAFT agent in the reaction leading to a higher concentration of RAFT sites on the surface. Graphene‐poly(methyl methacrylate), graphene‐poly(tert‐butyl acrylate), and graphene‐poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) nanocomposites were synthesized via RAFT polymerization, showing their characteristic solubility in several different solvents. This novel synthetic route was found facile and can be readily used for the rational design of graphene‐polymer nanocomposites, promoting their applications. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 3941–3949     

Fiber-reinforced three-dimensional graphene aerogels for electrically conductive epoxy composites with enhanced mechanical properties

To enhance the mechanical properties of three-dimensional graphene aerogels with aramid fibers,graphene/organic fiber aerogels are prepared by chemical reduction of graphene oxide in the presence of organic fibers of poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide)(PPTA) and followed by freeze-drying. Thermal annealing of the composite aerogels at 1300 ° C is adopted not only to restore the conductivity of the reduced graphene oxide component but also to convert the insulating PPTA organic fibers to conductive carbon fibers by the carbonization. The resultant graphene/carbon fiber aerogels(GCFAs) exhibit high electrical conductivities and enhanced compressive properties, which are highly efficient in improving both mechanical and electrical performances of epoxy composites. Compared to those of neat epoxy, the compressive modulus, compressive strength and energy absorption of the electrically conductive GCFA/epoxy composite are significantly increased by 60%, 59% and 131%, respectively.