纳米复合膜在膜分离领域的研究进展

基于纳米材料的独特性质,将其引入高分子膜所制得的纳米复合滤膜有望解决目前制约膜技术发展的“上限平衡”问题。 本文综述了碳纳米管、石墨烯、SiO2、TiO2、分子筛、ZrO2以及纳米银颗粒等纳米复合膜在膜分离领域的研究进展。 这些纳米材料对于提高复合膜的机械稳定性、亲水性、选择性、渗透性及抗污染能力等有显著的效果。 此外,对纳米复合膜的发展与应用做了展望,也对其研究中存在的问题和解决方法进行了阐述。     

Nanocomposite membranes for organic solvent nanofiltration

Organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) is a molecular separation method which offers a sustainable and reliable solution compared to the conventional energy-intensive separation processes. OSN can be successfully applied to several applications, such as food, pharmaceutical, petrochemical and fine-chemical industries. Current research on OSN membranes mainly focuses on polymeric materials due to the ease of processing, controlled formation of pores, lower fabrication costs and higher flexibility as compared with inorganic materials. However, there are some limitations for the polymeric membranes which can be partially surmounted by adding nanoscale fillers into the polymeric matrix to make nanocomposite membranes. This review aims to comprehensively evaluate and report the advances in nanocomposite membranes prepared by using either different nanoscale fillers or various fabrication methods for OSN applications. Nanoparticles that will be discussed include metal-organic framework, graphene oxide, carbon nanotubes, silica, titanium, gold, zeolite and other fillers. The incorporation of these nanoscale fillers into the polymeric membranes can positively influence the mechanical strength, chemical and thermal stability, hydrophilicity, solute selectivity and solvent permeance. This study may provide helpful insights to develop next-generation of OSN membranes for years to come.     

Improving mechanical and electrical properties of poly(vinyl alcohol-<Emphasis Type="Italic">g</Emphasis>-acrylic acid) nanocomposite films by reinforcement of thermally reduced graphene oxide

Graphene has drawn an astounding research interest in recent years, owing to its exceptional properties. The scaled-up and trustworthy production of graphene derivatives, such as graphene oxide (GO) and thermally reduced graphene oxide (TRGO), offer wide variety of possibilities to synthesize graphene-based polymer materials for various applications. In the present work, poly(vinyl alcohol-g-acrylic acid) films were prepared by grafting polyacrylic acid chains onto polyvinyl alcohol backbone employing a free radical polymerization system in the presence of crosslinking agent, N,N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA). The graphene was homogeneously dispersed into the prepared polymer using thermal mechanical agitation technique. The so prepared nanocomposites were undertaken for structural and morphological characterization using FTIR, SEM, XRD, Raman Spectroscopy, DLS, Zetasizer and AFM analysis, respectively. The electrical conductive and mechanical properties of prepared nanocomposite films were also investigated.     

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。     

Graphene materials-based chemiluminescence for sensing

Graphene has attracted considerable attention in multidisciplinary research fields and shown various promising applications due to its unique structure and extraordinary physicochemical properties. This review covers the latest advances in graphene materials-based chemiluminescence (CL) for sensing. Chemiluminescence resonance energy transfer and luminescence quenching of graphene materials are discussed. Graphene materials, such as graphene nanosheets, graphene quantum dots, graphene oxide, and reduced graphene oxide have been employed successfully in CL systems in recent years. Graphene materials can be utilized as catalysts, platforms, and energy acceptors to improve the performance of CL. Possible challenges and future perspective on this topic are also presented.     

Recent advances in the use of graphene-family nanoadsorbents for removal of toxic pollutants from wastewater

Adsorption technology is widely considered as the most promising and robust method of purifying water at low cost and with high-efficiency. Carbon-based materials have been extensively explored for adsorption applications because of their good chemical stability, structural diversity, low density, and suitability for large scale production. Graphene – a single atomic layer of graphite – is the newest member in the family of carbon allotropes and has emerged as the “celeb” material of the 21st century. Since its discovery in 2004 by Novoselov, Geim and co-workers, graphene has attracted increased attention in a wide range of applications due to its unprecedented electrical, mechanical, thermal, optical and transport properties. Graphene's infinitely high surface-to-volume ratio has resulted in a large number of investigations to study its application as a potential adsorbent for water purification. More recently, other graphene related materials such as graphene oxide, reduced graphene oxide, and few-layered graphene oxide sheets, as well as nanocomposites of graphene materials have also emerged as a promising group of adsorbent for the removal of various environmental pollutants from waste effluents. In this review article, we present a synthesis of the current knowledge available on this broad and versatile family of graphene nanomaterials for removal of dyes, potentially toxic elements, phenolic compounds and other organic chemicals from aquatic systems. The challenges involved in the development of these novel nanoadsorbents for decontamination of wastewaters have also been examined to help identify future directions for this emerging field to continue to grow.     

Recent progress in metal–organic framework/graphene-derived materials for energy storage and conversion: design,preparation, and application

Graphene or chemically modified graphene, because of its high specific surface area and abundant functional groups, provides an ideal template for the controllable growth of metal–organic framework (MOF) particles. The nanocomposite assembled from graphene and MOFs can effectively overcome the limitations of low stability and poor conductivity of MOFs, greatly widening their application in the field of electrochemistry. Furthermore, it can also be utilized as a versatile precursor due to the tunable structure and composition for various derivatives with sophisticated structures, showing their unique advantages and great potential in many applications, especially energy storage and conversion. Therefore, the related studies have been becoming a hot research topic and have achieved great progress. This review summarizes comprehensively the latest methods of synthesizing MOFs/graphene and their derivatives, and their application in energy storage and conversion with a detailed analysis of the structure–property relationship. Additionally, the current challenges and opportunities in this field will be discussed with an outlook also provided.

This review summarizes comprehensively the latest methods of synthesizing MOFs/graphene and their derivatives, and their application in energy storage and conversion with a detailed analysis of the structure–property relationship.     

Preparation and investigation of tribological properties of ultra‐high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)/graphene oxide

This article has been devoted to investigation of the tribological properties of ultra‐high molecular polyethylene/graphene oxide nanocomposite. The nanocomposite of ultra‐high molecular polyethylene/graphene oxide was prepared with 0.5, 1.5, and 2.5 wt% of graphene oxide and with a molecular weight of 3.7 × 10⁶ by in‐situ polymerization using Ziegler–Natta catalyst. In this method, graphene oxide was used along with magnesium ethoxide as a novel bi‐support of the Ziegler–Natta catalyst. Analyzing the pin‐on‐disk test, the tribological properties of the nanocomposite, such as wear rate and mean friction coefficient, were investigated under the mentioned contents of graphene oxide. The results showed that an increase in graphene oxide content causes a reduction in both wear rate and mean coefficient friction. For instance, by adding only 5 wt% graphene oxide to the polymeric matrix, the wear rate and mean coefficient friction decreased about 34% and 3.8%, respectively. Also, the morphological properties of the nanocomposite were investigated by using X‐ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. In addition, thermal properties of the nanocomposite were analyzed using differential scanning calorimetry, under various contents of graphene oxide. The results of the morphological test indicated that the graphene oxide was completely exfoliated into the polymeric matrix without any agglomeration. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and characterization of PEGylated iron and graphene oxide magnetic composite for curcumin delivery

Nowadays, nanostructures have been given significant attention in medical and biological fields. Among these nanostructures, graphene oxide (GO) has been widely used in drug delivery systems, because of its unique properties, and the ability to connect to other nanostructures such as magnetic nanoparticles (NPs) as well as polymers by its functional groups. In this research, first, GO was prepared by exfoliating graphite according to the modified Hummer’s method, and then the Fe₃O₄ NPs were synthesized by a simple co-precipitation method on GO nanosheets. In the next step, with the help of the ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide/N-hydroxysuccinimide coupling reagents, the polyethylene glycol (PEG) polymer was bonded to the GO-Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite. Finally, anti-cancer drug, curcumin (Cur) was loaded onto the nanocomposite and the Cur loading ratio was measured at about 8%. The samples were evaluated using Fourier transform-infrared, differential scanning calorimtery, vibrating-sample magnetometry, atomic force microscopy and dynamic light scattering techniques. The results show that the prepared nanocomposite is an appropriate candidate for biomedical applications.     

Graphene‐polymer nanocomposites for biomedical applications

Despite the significant efforts in the synthesis of new polymers, the mechanical properties of polymer matrices can be considered modest in most cases, which limits their application in demanding areas. The isolation of graphene and evaluation of its outstanding properties, such as high thermal conductivity, superior mechanical properties, and high electronic transport, have attracted academic and industrial interest, and opened good perspectives for the integration of graphene as a filler in polymer matrices to form advanced multifunctional composites. Graphene‐based nanomaterials have prompted the development of flexible nanocomposites for emerging applications that require superior mechanical, thermal, electrical, optical, and chemical performance. These multifunctional nanocomposites may be tailored to synergistically combine the characteristics of both components if proper structural and interfacial organization is achieved. The investigations carried out in this aim have combined graphene with different polymers, leading to a variety of graphene‐based nanocomposites. The extensive research on graphene and its functionalization, as well as polymer graphene composites, aiming at applications in the biomedical field, are reviewed in this paper. An overview of the polymer matrices adequate for the biomedical area and the production techniques of graphene composites is presented. Finally, the applications of such nanocomposites in the biomedical field, particularly in drug delivery, wound healing, and biosensing, are discussed.     

微纳米纤维素功能膜在能源与环境领域的应用

探寻绿色清洁的资源与材料以维持高效的社会经济增长是未来数十年人们面临的最大挑战之一. 可持续资源与绿色材料的开发是降低传统化石能源与材料比重的最有前途的方案. 纤维素作为一种可持续发展、 可生物再生、 储量丰富且低成本的天然高分子聚合物, 在众多领域中具有广泛的应用, 并且纤维素可以加工成各种构型, 包括气凝胶、 泡沫、 海绵和薄膜等. 本文介绍了不同形态的纤维素及其衍生物组装而成的功能膜在能源与环境中的应用, 综述了微纳米纤维素及其衍生物在先进功能化储能器件方面的最新进展和制备方案, 以及在用于水处理的膜分离技术中的应用, 其中重点讨论了微纳米纤维素及其衍生物功能膜在电池、 电容器及水处理等领域中的作用, 如隔膜、 柔性电极膜和分离膜等. 此外, 还对纤维素及其衍生物功能膜的未来发展进行了总结和展望.     

Graphene Oxide-Based Stimuli-Responsive Platforms for Biomedical Applications

Graphene is a two-dimensional sp² hybridized carbon material that has attracted tremendous attention for its stimuli-responsive applications, owing to its high surface area and excellent electrical, optical, thermal, and mechanical properties. The physicochemical properties of graphene can be tuned by surface functionalization. The biomedical field pays special attention to stimuli-responsive materials due to their responsive abilities under different conditions. Stimuli-responsive materials exhibit great potential in changing their behavior upon exposure to external or internal factors, such as pH, light, electric field, magnetic field, and temperature. Graphene-based materials, particularly graphene oxide (GO), have been widely used in stimuli-responsive applications due to their superior biocompatibility compared to other forms of graphene. GO has been commonly utilized in tissue engineering, bioimaging, biosensing, cancer therapy, and drug delivery. GO-based stimuli-responsive platforms for wound healing applications have not yet been fully explored. This review describes the effects of different stimuli-responsive factors, such as pH, light, temperature, and magnetic and electric fields on GO-based materials and their applications. The wound healing applications of GO-based materials is extensively discussed with cancer therapy and drug delivery.     

A mini review on the generation of crimped ultrathin fibers via electrospinning: Materials,strategies, and applications

Structures modification of fibers has been attracting significant attention in various fields and applications. Among different techniques of fabricating ultrathin fibers, electrospinning is the most commonly adopted method because of the ease of forming fibers with a wide range of properties and its exceptional advantages, such as the ability to spin into different shapes and sizes, as well as the adaptable porosity of electrospun fiber webs. The crimped structure has been attracting the attention of scientific researchers owing to its unique properties (eg, spring‐like behavior, supreme strain, remarkable specific surface area, good piezoelectric properties, excellent biological properties, and so on). Therefore, this study summarizes a review of the strategies and methods, reported so far, of generating electrospun crimped ultrathin fibers of various polymers. The review focuses on the polymer types, formation methods, characterizations, and applications of the electrospun crimped ultrathin fibers. We believe this work can serve as an important reference for the materials, strategies, and applications of crimped fibers.     

Directional Charge Transport in Layered Two‐Dimensional Triazine‐Based Graphitic Carbon Nitride

Triazine‐based graphitic carbon nitride (TGCN) is the most recent addition to the family of graphene‐type, two‐dimensional, and metal‐free materials. Although hailed as a promising low‐band‐gap semiconductor for electronic applications, so far, only its structure and optical properties have been known. Here, we combine direction‐dependent electrical measurements and time‐resolved optical spectroscopy to determine the macroscopic conductivity and microscopic charge‐carrier mobilities in this layered material “beyond graphene”. Electrical conductivity along the basal plane of TGCN is 65 times lower than through the stacked layers, as opposed to graphite. Furthermore, we develop a model for this charge‐transport behavior based on observed carrier dynamics and random‐walk simulations. Our combined methods provide a path towards intrinsic charge transport in a direction‐dependent layered semiconductor for applications in field‐effect transistors (FETs) and sensors.     

Characterization of a Multi-responsive Magnetic Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Hydrogel and Its Application for DOX Delivery

Nanocomposite hydrogels are one of the most important types of biomaterials which can be used in many different applications such as drug delivery and tissue engineering.Incorporation of nanoparticles within a hydrogel matrix can provide unique characteristics like remote stimulate and improved mechanical strength.In this study,the synthesis of graphene oxide and graphene oxide nanocomposite hydrogel has been studied.Nanocomposite hydrogel was synthesized using carboxymethyl cellulose as a natural base,acrylic acid as a comonomer,graphene oxide as a filler,ammonium persulfate as an initiator,and iron nanoparticles as a crosslinking agent.The effect of reaction variables such as the iron nanoparticles,graphene oxide,ammonium persulfate,and acrylic acid were examined to achieve a hydrogel with maximum absorbency.Doxorubicin,an anti-cancer chemotherapy drug,was loaded into this hydrogel and its release behaviors were examined in the phosphate buffer solutions with different pH values.The structure of the graphene oxide and the optimized hydrogel were confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy,Raman spectroscopy,X-ray diffraction,scanning electron microscopy,and atomic force microscopy.     

Flexible Magnetic Nanoparticles–Reduced Graphene Oxide Composite Membranes Formed by Self‐Assembly in Solution

A facile and robust route for the pre‐synthesized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles (NPs) exclusively assembled on both sides of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) sheets with tunable density forming two‐dimensional NPs composite membranes is developed in solution. The assembly is driven by electrostatic attraction, and the nanocomposite sheets display considerable mechanical robustness, such as it can sustain supersonic and solvothermal treatments without NPs falling off, also, can freely float in solution and curl into a tube. The obtained two‐dimensional composite grain membranes exhibit superparamagnetic behavior at room temperature but responds astutely to an external magnetic field. In addition, these magnetic composite membranes show an enhanced absorption capability for microwaves. The grain sheets are attractive for biomedical, sensors, environmental applications and electric‐magnetic devices benefited from large surfaces, high magnetization moment, and superparamagnetic properties. The effective integration of oxide nanocrystals on RGO sheets provides a new way to design semiconductor–carbon nanocomposites for nanodevices or catalytic applications.     

Modification of graphene/graphene oxide with polymer brushes using controlled/living radical polymerization

Graphene nanosheets possess a range of extraordinary physical and electrical properties with enormous potential for applications in microelectronics, photonic devices, and nanocomposite materials. However, single graphene platelets tend to undergo agglomeration due to strong π–π and Van der Waals interactions, which significantly compromises the final material properties. One of the strategies to overcome this problem, and to increase graphene compatibility with a receiving polymer host matrix, is to modify graphene (or graphene oxide (GO)) with polymer brushes. The research to date can be grouped into approaches involving grafting‐from and grafting‐to techniques, and further into approaches relying on covalent or noncovalent attachment of polymer chains to the suitably modified graphene/GO. The present Highlight article describes research efforts to date in this area, focusing on the use of controlled/living radical polymerization techniques. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2012     

Recent development in chitosan nanocomposites for surface‐based biosensor applications

Recent years have witnessed ever expanding use of biosensors in the fields of environmental monitoring, homeland security, pharmaceutical, food and bioprocessing, and agricultural industries. To produce effective and reliable biosensors, good quality immobilization of biological recognition elements is critical. Chitosan and its nanocomposites emerge as an excellent immobilization matrix on biosensor surface. As a natural polysaccharide, chitosan has many useful characteristics, such as high permeability and mechanical strength, biocompatibility and non‐toxicity, availability, and low cost. Due to the presence of amino and hydroxyl groups on chitosan, chitosan can easily crosslink with a variety of nanomaterials. This investigation of chitosan nanocomposite‐based biosensors presents recent development and innovations in the preparation of chitosan nanocomposites in coordination with biosensors for various bio‐detection applications, including chitosan nanocomposites formed with carbon nanomaterials, various inorganic and biological complexes. These chitosan nanocomposite based biosensors have demonstrated good sensitivity selectivity and stability for the detection of different types of targets ranging from glucose, proteins, DNAs, small biomolecules to bacteria. It is in our hope that this review will offer guidance for the development of novel biosensors and open up opportunities in the field of biosensor research.     

The electrochemistry of CVD graphene: progress and prospects

The unique electronic properties of graphene, a one atom thick carbon layer, were reported by scientists in 2004. Since this time graphene has subsequently been found to display several more unique and fascinating electrical, optical and mechanical properties. One particular area in which graphene has reportedly made an impact is in the field of electrochemistry, such as in providing enhancements in energy storage/generation and electrochemical sensing applications. Since 2005, when graphene was shown to be fabricated by the so-called 'Scotch tape technique' where multiple layers of graphene are peeled from a slab of Highly Ordered Pyrolytic Graphite using adhesive tape and transferred onto an appropriate substrate, other fabrication methodologies of graphene have emerged. In the majority of cases, graphene is produced and supplied in solution, such that graphene has to be immobilised onto the desired surface. A fabrication process where graphene is grown upon a substrate and is ready for implementation is the Chemical Vapour Deposition (CVD) of graphene. In this perspective article we overview recent developments in the fabrication of CVD graphene and explore its utilisation in electrochemistry, considering its fundamental understanding through to applications in sensing and energy related devices.     

Recent advances in starch–clay nanocomposites

Biological nanocomposites are a valuable addition to the existing nanocomposite materials and eventually can substitute petroleum-based composite materials in numerous applications due to their inherent advantages such as biodegradability, eco-friendliness, low cost, and easy availability to name a few. Recently, polymer–clay nanocomposites have achieved much more attention due to their enhanced properties such as size dispersion and significant enhancement in physicochemical and mechanical properties in comparison to the pure polymer systems. Among various biopolymers, starch is one of the most abundant natural polymers on the earth and is highly valuable due to its chemical and physical properties. Starch polymer has highly increased potential as an alternative to petroleum-based materials. However, starch cannot be used alone and starch–clay nanocomposite has emerged as a new potential green sustainable material. This article focuses on recent progress in starch-based nanocomposites with particular emphasis on starch–clay nanocomposite preparation, properties, and applications.