Chang Yi Kong

Graphene Oxides for Homogeneous Dispersion of Carbon Nanotubes

Graphene oxides (GOs) in terms of both structure and property are essentially polyelectrolytes in a two-dimensional sheet configuration. As is well-established in the literature, polyelectrolytes are, in general, good dispersion agents for single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs), which are otherwise in bundles because of strong van der Waals interactions. We report here a study in which GOs were used to disperse SWNTs, both as-purified and separated semiconducting SWNTs, for solution-like homogeneous suspensions. As a demonstration for their potentials, the optically transparent dispersions were used in a more accurate determination of the absorptivities for the band-gap transitions in semiconducting SWNTs. Results on exploration of the use of the GO-dispersed SWNTs in the development of unique carbon nanocomposite materials are also presented and discussed.

Flexible Graphene–Graphene Composites of Superior Thermal and Electrical Transport Properties

Graphene is known for high thermal and electrical conductivities. In the preparation of neat carbon materials based on graphene, a common approach has been the use of well-exfoliated graphene oxides (GOs) as the precursor, followed by conversion to reduced GOs (rGOs). However, rGOs are more suitable for the targeted high electrical conductivity achievable through percolation but considerably less effective in terms of efficient thermal transport dictated by phonon progression. In this work, neat carbon films were fabricated directly from few-layer graphene sheets, avoiding rGOs completely. These essentially graphene-graphene composites were of a metal-like appearance and mechanically flexible, exhibiting superior thermal and electrical transport properties. The observed thermal and electrical conductivities are higher than 220 W/m · K and 85000 S/m, respectively. Some issues in the further development of these mechanically flexible graphene-graphene nanocomposite materials are discussed and so are the associated opportunities.

Binary diffusion coefficients, partition ratios and partial molar volumes at infinite dilution for β-carotene and α-tocopherol in supercritical carbon dioxide

Abstract Binary diffusion coefficients D 12 and partition ratios k at infinite dilution for β-carotene and α-tocopherol in supercritical carbon dioxide were measured at temperatures from 308.15 to 333.15 K and pressures from 9 to 30 MPa by a tracer response technique with a poly(ethylene glycol) coated capillary column. Both parameters, simultaneously determined by fitting the calculated response curve to that measured experimentally, were well represented with the correlations: the D 12 / T values were correlated with CO 2 viscosity, and the k values were expressed with a function of temperature and CO 2 density. However, the partial molar volumes obtained from the k values were not well consistent with those estimated using equation of states having the interaction parameters k ij reported in the literature.

Polymer/carbon nanocomposites for enhanced thermal transport properties - carbon nanotubes versus graphene sheets as nanoscale fillers

Light-weight composite materials of superior thermal transport properties are important to thermal management and other applications. Carbon nanomaterials with their high thermal conductivities have been widely pursued for such a purpose. Specifically, carbon nanotubes have been shown both theoretically and experimentally to possess extraordinarily high thermal conductivities at the individual nanotube level, and thus are logically considered as ideal fillers for highly thermally conductive polymeric nanocomposites. However, the predicted dramatically enhanced thermal transport in polymers upon the incorporation of carbon nanotubes has not yet materialized. Recently, graphene research has brought new opportunities to the development of polymer/carbon nanocomposites of high thermal conductivities, with already some successful uses of exfoliated graphite sheets as nanoscale fillers. In this work poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) was selected as the polymer matrix for the dispersion of single-walled carbon nanotubes (seamlessly with PVA functionalization and solubilization) vs. few-layer graphene sheets as nanoscale carbon fillers for a more direct comparison on the thermal transport performance in the resulting nanocomposites. The effect of aligning the nanotubes embedded in the nanocomposite films via mechanical stretching was also evaluated. Implications of the comparison between the nanotubes and nanosheets with respect to their potentials in thermally conductive polymeric nanocomposites are discussed.

Infinite-Dilution Binary Diffusion Coefficients of 2-Propanone, 2-Butanone, 2-Pentanone, and 3-Pentanone in CO2 by the Taylor Dispersion Technique from 308.15 to 328.15 K in the Pressure Range from 8 to 35 MPa

Infinite-dilution binary diffusion coefficients of 2-propanone, 2-butanone, 2-pentanone, and 3-pentanone in carbon dioxide were measured by the Taylor dispersion method at temperatures from 308.15 to 328.15 K and pressures from 7.60 to 34.57 MPa. The D12 values were obtained from the response curves by the method of fitting in the time domain. The accuracy in the fitting error was examined for each measurement. The measured D12 data were found to be well correlated by the Schmidt number correlation, with AAD%=3.74% for all solutes.

Infinite Dilution Binary Diffusion Coefficients of Benzene in Carbon Dioxide by the Taylor Dispersion Technique at Temperatures from 308.15 to 328.15 K and Pressures from 6 to 30 MPa

Infinite dilution binary diffusion coefficients, D12, of benzene in carbon dioxide were measured by the Taylor dispersion technique at temperatures from 308.15 to 328.15 K and pressures from 6 to 30 MPa. The diffusion coefficients were obtained by the method of fitting in the time domain from the response curves measured with a UV–vis multidetector by scanning from 220 to 280 nm at increments of 1 or 4 nm. The wavelength dependences on the binary diffusion coefficient and the uncertainty were examined. The detector linearity, in terms of the relationship between the absorbance intensity and the product of the peak area of the response curve and CO2 velocity, was found to fail at some characteristic absorption wavelengths such as 243, 248, 253, and 259 nm, even when the maximum absorbance intensities of the response curves were less than 0.5 and the fits were good. Although the D12 values obtained from the response curves measured at 253 nm were almost consistent with some literature data, the D12 values measured at wavelengths showing the detector linearity to be satisfactory, i.e., at 239 nm, were higher than those at 253 nm. The present D12 data at 239 nm were well represented by the Schmidt number correlation, except for those showing the anomalous decrease in a plot of D12 vs density in the density range from 250 to 500 kg·m−3.

Preparation of bulk 13 C-enriched graphene materials

Arc-discharge has been widely used in the bulk production of various carbon nanomaterials, especially for structurally more robust single-walled carbon nanotubes. In this paper, the same bulk-production technique was applied to the synthesis of significantly 13C-enriched graphitic materials, from which graphene oxides similarly enriched with 13C were prepared and characterized. The results demonstrate that arc-discharge is a convenient method to produce bulk quantities of 13C-enriched graphene materials from relatively less expensive precursors (largely amorphous 13C powders).

Applications of the chromatographic impulse response method in supercritical fluid chromatography

The use of chromatographic impulse response (CIR) method with a coated open tubular capillary column has potential advantages in supercritical fluid chromatography. In this review, applications of the CIR method to measuring the thermodynamic properties such as diffusion coefficients, solubilities and partial molar volumes are presented. This survey gives the theoretical backgrounds for the CIR method with linear adsorption and nonlinear adsorption models. Furthermore, the brief theoretical backgrounds for using retention factors to determine solubilities and partial molar volumes are also provided. In addition, the data sources for the diffusion coefficients with an emphasis on the results published after 2004 and for the partial molar volumes in supercritical carbon dioxide are presented.

Diffusion coefficients of phenylbutazone in supercritical CO2 and in ethanol

The diffusion coefficients D(12) of phenylbutazone at infinite dilution in supercritical CO(2) were measured by the chromatographic impulse response (CIR) method. The measurements were carried out over the temperature range from 308.2 to 343.2 K at pressures up to 40.0 MPa. In addition, the D(12) data of phenylbutazone at infinite dilution in ethanol were also measured by the Taylor dispersion method at 298.2-333.2K and at atmospheric pressure. The D(12) value of phenylbutazone increased from 4.45×10(-10) m(2) s(-1) at 298.2 K and 0.1 MPa in ethanol to about 1.43×10(-8) m(2) s(-1) at 343.2 K and 14.0 MPa in supercritical CO(2). It was found that all diffusion data of phenylbutazone measured in this study in supercritical CO(2) and in ethanol can be satisfactorily represented by the hydrodynamic equation over a wide range of fluid viscosity from supercritical state to liquid state with average absolute relative deviation of 5.4% for 112 data points.

Infinite dilution partial molar volumes of platinum(II) 2,4-pentanedionate in supercritical carbon dioxide

The effects of temperature and density on retention of platinum(II) 2,4-pentanedionate in supercritical fluid chromatography were investigated at temperatures of 308.15-343.15K and pressure range from 8 to 40MPa by the chromatographic impulse response method with curve fitting. The retention factors were utilized to derive the infinite dilution partial molar volumes of platinum(II) 2,4-pentanedionate in supercritical carbon dioxide. The determined partial molar volumes were small and positive at high pressures but exhibited very large and negative values in the highly compressible near critical region of carbon dioxide.