Realizing the Promise—The Development of Research on Carbon Nanotubes

The present reflection on the development of research on carbon nanotubes (CNTs) stems from the publication of the report “Realizing the Promise of Carbon Nanotubes” by the US National Nanotechnology Initiative in 2015. The report is a critical assessment of the state‐of‐art of CNT research and highlights some unresolved issues related with this field. Starting from the results of this assessment, we carried out an analysis of the publications’ pool in CNTs and related domains, by exploiting bibliometric tools. We focused on the item of competition/collaboration between disciplines and nations, with the purpose of evaluating the position of chemistry (as a discipline) as well as the position of the main European countries and the European Union (EU) as a whole in the context of CNT research. The results of such analysis outline very clearly the interdisciplinary landscape wherein CNT research is situated and show the highly competitive place occupied by EU in the field.     

Nonlinearity of the zigzag graphene nanoribbons with antidots via the f-deformed Dirac oscillator in (2+1)-dimensions

We study the nonlinearity for the zigzag graphene nanoribbons (ZGNRs) with zigzag triangular holes (ZTHs). We show that in the presence of an external uniform magnetic field, a two-dimensional f-deformed Dirac oscillator can be used to describe the dynamics of the electrons in the ZGNRs with ZTHs. It is shown for the first time that the magnetic field direction has effect on the chirality of charge carriers in the ZGNRs punched with triangular holes. We also obtain the Landau-level spectrum in the weak and strong magnetic field regimes. Additionally, we compare Landau-level spectrum of this graphene-based device in the f-deformed scenario and original one. Our results provide a general viewpoint for the development of the zigzag graphene nanoribbons.     

Pseudopeptide‐Based Hydrogels Trapping Methylene Blue and Eosin Y

We present herein the preparation of four different hydrogels based on the pseudopeptide gelator Fmoc‐l ‐Phe‐d ‐Oxd‐OH (Fmoc=fluorenylmethyloxycarbonyl), either by changing the gelator concentration or adding graphene oxide (GO) to the water solution. The hydrogels have been analysed by rheological studies that demonstrated that pure hydrogels are slightly stronger compared to GO‐loaded hydrogels. Then the hydrogels efficiency to trap the cationic methylene blue (MB) and anionic eosin Y (EY) dyes has been analyzed. MB is efficiently trapped by both the pure hydrogel and the GO‐loaded hydrogel through π–π interactions and electrostatic interactions. In contrast, the removal of the anionic EY is achieved in less satisfactory yields, due to the unfavourable electrostatic interactions between the dye, the gelator and GO.     

Autonomously Propelled Motors for Value‐Added Product Synthesis and Purification

A proof‐of‐concept design for autonomous, self‐propelling motors towards value‐added product synthesis and separation is presented. The hybrid motor design consists of two distinct functional blocks. The first, a sodium borohydride (NaBH₄) granule, serves both as a reaction prerequisite for the reduction of vanillin and also as a localized solid‐state fuel in the reaction mixture. The second capping functional block consisting of a graphene–polymer composite serves as a hydrophobic matrix to attract the reaction product vanillyl alcohol (VA), resulting in facile separation of this edible value‐added product. These autonomously propelled motors were fabricated at a length scale down to 400 μm, and once introduced in the reaction environment showed rapid bubble‐propulsion followed by high‐purity separation of the reaction product (VA) by the virtue of the graphene–polymer cap acting as a mesoporous sponge. The concept has excellent potential towards the synthesis/isolation of industrially important compounds, affinity‐based product separation, pollutant remediation (such as heavy metal chelation/adsorption), as well as localized fuel‐gradients as an alternative to external fuel dependency.     

Phosphorus and Halogen Co‐Doped Graphene Materials and their Electrochemistry

Doping of graphene materials with heteroatoms is important as it can change their electronic and electrochemical properties. Here, graphene is co‐doped with n‐type dopants such as phosphorus and halogen (Cl, Br, I). Phosphorus and halogen are introduced through the treatment of graphene oxide with PX₃ gas (PCl₃, PBr₃, and PI₃). Graphene oxides are prepared through chlorate and permanganate routes. Detailed chemical and structural characterization demonstrates that the graphene sheets are covered homogeneously by phosphorus and halogen atoms. It is found that the amount of phosphorus and halogen introduced depends on the graphene oxide preparation method. The electrocatalytic effect of the resulting co‐doped materials is demonstrated for industrially relevant electrochemical reactions such as the hydrogen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions.     

Heterogenized peroxopolyoxotungstate catalyst on the surface of clicked magnetite‐graphene oxide nanocomposite: Magnetically recoverable epoxidation catalyst

A new heterogeneous catalyst for the epoxidation of olefins was prepared by immobilization of peroxophosphotungstate anions on the surface of clicked magnetite‐graphene oxide as magnetically recoverable support. To prepare the heterogeneous catalyst, the clicked magnetite‐graphene oxide support was prepared by thiolene click reaction of thiol functionalized graphene oxide with vinyl modified magnetite nanoparticles. The tailored support was then modified with aminopropyl groups followed by electrostatic interaction with peroxophosphotungstate anions to achieve the desired heterogeneous catalyst. Characterization of the catalyst was performed by various physicochemical methods which confirmed the successful immobilization of peroxopolyoxotungstate species on the surface of clicked magnetite‐graphene oxide. Catalytic activity of the catalyst revealed its high catalytic activity and selectivity in the epoxidation of various olefins in the presence of H₂O₂ as green oxidant. This heterogeneous catalyst can be magnetically reused several times without significant loss of activity and selectivity.     

高比能高功率全石墨烯锂离子电容器

石墨烯由于拥有超高比表面积和超高电导率而被作为电化学电容器材料广泛研究.本文采用树脂为碳源，通过一种方便快捷的树脂交换法制备一种具有高比表面积的多级孔三维石墨烯（3DG）.经过此种方法的催化、造孔、热处理等主要工艺步骤后，可显著增加石墨烯材料的小、介孔数量，从而提高材料的电化学性能.通过BET测试表明，3DG的比表面积可达2400 m²/g，孔体积达到2.0 cm³/g.以3DG作为正负极材料制备高比能量高功率型锂离子电容器（3DG-LIC），可使3DG-LIC的工作电压从传统超级电容器的2.5 V扩展到4.0 V，能量密度也从20 Wh/kg提高到105 Wh/kg.另外，相同的化学和微观结构能很好地平衡正负极的容量及速率，使高比能量高功率的3DG-LIC具有更宽阔的应用领域.