Improved Interfacial Bonding Strength and Reliability of Functionalized Graphene Oxide for Cement Reinforcement Applications

Poor bonding strength between nanomaterials and cement composites inevitably lead to the failure of reinforcement. Herein, a novel functionalization method for the fabrication of functionalized graphene oxide (FGO), which is capable of forming highly reliable covalent bonds with cement hydration products, and therefore, suitable for use as an efficient reinforcing agent for cement composites, is discussed. The bonding strength between cement and aggregates was improved more than 21 times with the reinforcement of FGO. The fabricated FGO also demonstrated many important features, including high reliability in cement pastes, good dispersibility, and efficient structural refinement of cement hydration products. With the incorporation of FGO, cement mortar samples demonstrated up to 40 % increased early and ultimate strength. Such results make the fast demolding and manufacture of light constructions become highly possible, and show strong advantages on improving productivity, saving cost, and reducing CO₂ emissions in practical applications.     

One‐Pot Synthesis of Pomegranate‐Structured Fe3O4/Carbon Nanospheres‐Doped Graphene Aerogel for High‐Rate Lithium Ion Batteries

A unique hierarchically nanostructured composite of iron oxide/carbon (Fe₃O₄/C) nanospheres‐doped three‐dimensional (3D) graphene aerogel has been fabricated by a one‐pot hydrothermal strategy. In this novel nanostructured composite aerogel, uniform Fe₃O₄ nanocrystals (5–10 nm) are individually embedded in carbon nanospheres (ca. 50 nm) forming a pomegranate‐like structure. The carbon matrix suppresses the aggregation of Fe₃O₄ nanocrystals, avoids direct exposure of the encapsulated Fe₃O₄ to the electrolyte, and buffers the volume expansion. Meanwhile, the interconnected 3D graphene aerogel further serves to reinforce the structure of the Fe₃O₄/C nanospheres and enhances the electrical conductivity of the overall electrode. Therefore, the carbon matrix and the interconnected graphene network entrap the Fe₃O₄ nanocrystals such that their electrochemical function is retained even after fracture. This novel hierarchical aerogel structure delivers a long‐term stability of 634 mA h g^?1 over 1000 cycles at a high current density of 6 A g^?1 (7 C), and an excellent rate capability of 413 mA h g^?1 at 10 A g^?1 (11 C), thus exhibiting great potential as an anode composite structure for durable high‐rate lithium‐ion batteries.     

Electric field assisted oxygen removal from the basal plane of the graphitic material

We provide a novel strategy to eliminate the epoxy group from the basal plane of graphene platelets. Given that the current reduction methods are unsatisfactory to clean the epoxides or sometimes cause undesirable structure deformations, the proposed strategy restores the original hexagonal carbon network without creating other new defects. To the best of our knowledge, the electric field mediated graphene oxide (GO) reduction has not yet been systematically investigated. The capability would permit the improvement of existing GO reduction methods and assist in the fabrication of high‐quality graphitic materials. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Formation of homogeneous nanocomposite films at ambient temperature via miniemulsion polymerization using graphene oxide as surfactant

A convenient and industrially scalable method for synthesis of homogeneous nanocomposite films comprising poly(styrene‐stat‐butyl acrylate) and nanodimensional graphene oxide (GO) or reduced GO (rGO) is presented. Importantly, the nanocomposite latex undergoes film formation at ambient temperature, thus alleviating any need for high temperature or high pressure methods such as compression molding. The method entails synthesis of an aqueous nanocomposite latex via miniemulsion copolymerization relying on nanodimensional GO sheets as sole surfactant, followed by ambient temperature film formation resulting in homogeneous film. For comparison, a similar latex obtained by physical mixing of a polymer latex with an aqueous GO dispersion results in severe phase separation, illustrating that the miniemulsion approach using GO as surfactant is key to obtaining homogeneous nanocomposite films. Finally, it is demonstrated that the GO sheets can be readily reduced to rGO in situ by heat treatment of the film. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 2289–2297     

Photodynamic Therapy of Oligoethylene Glycol‐Dendronized Reduction‐Sensitive Porphyrins

Graphene oxide (GO ) and its functionalized derivatives have attracted increasing attention in medical treatment. Herein, a reduction sensitive PEI‐GO ‐SS ‐TPP was synthesized for photodynamic therapy. More than 80% porphyrin release was observed in the presence of 10 mmol•L⁻¹ DTT in one day. The confocal laser scanning microscopy confirmed that the cell uptake efficiency of PEI‐GO‐SS‐TPP was remarkably enhanced as compared to free porphyrin which was significantly dependent on incubation time. For photodynamic therapy, GSH‐OEt could effectively increase the photodynamic therapy efficiency of PEI‐GO ‐SS ‐TPP . Compared with free porphyrin, the toxicity from PEI‐GO ‐SS ‐TPP is much higher with a low IC₅₀ (2.1 µg/mL ) value. All results indicate that the PEI‐GO ‐SS ‐TPP PSs are promising for photodynamic therapy.     

Immobilized polytriazole complexes of copper(I) onto graphene oxide as a recyclable nanocatalyst for synthesis of triazoles

An efficient solid‐supported catalyst for the Huisgen [3 + 2] cycloaddition reaction between azides and alkynes was prepared from copper(I) iodide and 1,2,3‐triazole‐functionalized graphene oxide. This catalyst was then used for the efficient synthesis of β‐hydroxy‐1,2,3‐triazoles giving access to these products in excellent yields. In this protocol, the catalyst was shown to have high activity, air‐stability and recyclability. The formation of copper triazolide is very straightforward and energetically desirable. The catalyst can be isolated from copper‐catalysed azide–alkyne cycloaddition reactions.     

Palladium nanoparticles deposited on a graphene–benzimidazole support as an efficient and recyclable catalyst for aqueous‐phase Suzuki–Miyaura coupling reaction

Graphene oxide was functionalized with benzimidazole for palladium immobilization. The resultant graphene–benzimidazole‐supported palladium composite (G‐BI‐Pd) was characterized using infrared and Raman spectroscopies, transmission electron microscopy and energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy. G‐BI‐Pd showed excellent catalytic activity and fast reaction kinetics in the aqueous‐phase Suzuki–Miyaura reaction of aryl iodides and bromides with phenylboronic acid under relatively mild conditions (5–25 min, 80 °C). The catalyst can be used several times without any significant loss of its catalytic activity.     

Fractional distribution of graphene oxide and its potential as an efficient and reusable solid catalyst for esterification reactions

Graphene oxide (GrO) prepared by the Hummers method was separated into three different fractions (GrO₅₀₀₀, GrO₂₀₀₀, and GrO_res) on the basis of their dispersion stability in the water. Infrared, nuclear magnetic resonance, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and elemental analyses revealed that GrO₅₀₀₀ possesses a high degree of oxygen functionalities including phenolic, carboxylic, and ?OSO₂H groups, compared with the other fractions. The GrO₅₀₀₀ was found to be a highly efficient and reusable solid catalyst for the esterification of various carboxylic acids with a variety of alcohols to furnish corresponding esters in high to excellent yields. The catalytic activity of the GrO₅₀₀₀ was attributed to the ability of highly polar GrO₅₀₀₀ scaffold to adsorb/attract reactants, where the acid functionalities of GrO₅₀₀₀ facilitated the esterification process efficiently. The chemical and structural features of GrO₅₀₀₀ were discussed to understand the improved catalytic activity compared with GrO₂₀₀₀ and conventional solid acid catalysts. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.