Chengzhi Luo

Preparation of porous micro–nano-structure NiO/ZnO heterojunction and its photocatalytic property

This paper introduced a novel physical route which combined pulse electrodeposition with thermal oxidation to obtain a porous micro–nano-structure NiO/ZnO heterostructural composite. Because ZnO nanoneedle directly grew from the porous Ni foam or NiO surface, and was accompanied with a short-range atom interdiffusion at the interface between ZnO and NiO, a heterojunction was formed and exhibited a high interfacial adhesion strength and high density. The experimental results revealed this composite had excellent photocatalytic performance, 2.5 times higher than that of pure ZnO. The reason was that the NiO/ZnO heterojunction improved the separation rate of photogenerated electrons and holes, and therefore enhanced photocatalytic efficiency.

Highly porous graphitic biomass carbon as advanced electrode materials for supercapacitors

In this work, we established a one-step strategy to synthesize three-dimensional porous graphitic biomass carbon (PGBC) from bamboo char (BC), and studied its electrochemical performance as electrode materials for supercapacitors. Using potassium ferrate (K2FeO4) to fulfil the synchronous carbonization and graphitization of bamboo carbon, this method is less time-demanding, highly efficient and pollution-free, when compared with a conventional two-step strategy. The as-prepared PGBC sample possessed a porous structure with a large specific surface area (1732 m2 g−1) and abundant micropores, as well as a high graphitization degree demonstrated by XRD and Raman. Further electrochemical measurements revealed that the PGBC electrode exhibited a high specific capacitance of 222.0 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1, and the solid-state symmetric supercapacitor in an aqueous electrolyte (KOH/PVA) presented considerable synergetic energy–power output properties with an energy density of 6.68 W h kg−1 at a power density of 100.2 W kg−1, and 3.33 W h kg−1 at 10 kW kg−1. Moreover, the coin-type symmetric supercapacitor in an ionic liquid electrolyte (EMIM TFSI) delivered a higher energy density of 20.6 W h kg−1 at a power density of 12 kW kg−1. This approach holds great promise to achieve low-cost, green and industrial-grade production of renewable biomass-derived carbon materials for advanced energy storage applications in the future.

Facile Synthesis of Carbon Nanosphere/NiCo2O4 Core-shell Sub-microspheres for High Performance Supercapacitor.

This paper introduced a process to prepare the carbon nanosphere (CNS)/NiCo2O4 core-shell sub-microspheres. That is: 1) CNSs were firstly prepared via a simple hydrothermal method; 2) a layer of NiCo2O4 precursor was coated on the CNS surface; 3) finally the composite was annealed at 350 °C for 2 hours in the air, and the CNS/NiCo2O4 core-shell sub-microspheres were obtained. This core-shell sub-microsphere was prepared with a simple, economical and environmental-friendly hydrothermal method, and was suitable for large-scale production, which expects a promising electrode candidate for high performance energy storage applications. Electrochemical experiments revealed that the composite exhibited remarkable electrochemical performances with high capacitance and desirable cycle life at high rates, such as: 1) the maximum specific capacitance was up to 1420 F/g at 1 A/g; 2) about 98.5% of the capacitance retained after 3000 charge-discharge cycles; 3) the capacitance retention was about 72% as the current density increase from 1 A/g to 10 A/g.

Highly Sensitive, Durable, and Multifunctional Sensor Inspired by a Spider

Sensitivity, durability, and multifunction are the essential requirements for a high-performance wearable sensor. Here, we report a novel multifunctional sensor with high sensitivity and durability by using a buckled spider silk-like single-walled carbon nanotubes (SSL-SWNTs) film as the conducting network and a crack-shaped Au film as the sensitive transducer. Its high sensitivity is inspired by the crack-shaped structure of the spiders slit organs, while the high durability is inspired by the mechanical robustness of the spider silk. Similar to the spiders slit organs that can detect slight vibrations, our sensor also exhibits a high sensitivity especially to tiny strain. The proposed quantum tunneling model is consistent with experimental data. In addition, this sensor also responds sensitively to temperature with the sensitivity of 1.2%/°C. Because of the hierarchical structure like spider silk, this sensor possesses combined superiority of fast response (<60 ms) and high durability (>10 000 cycles). We also fabricate a wearable device for monitoring various human physiological signals. It is expect that this high-performance sensor will have wide potential applications in intelligent devices, fatigue detection, body monitoring, and human-machine interfacing.

Strong magnetic field-assisted growth of carbon nanofibers and its microstructural transformation mechanism

It is well-known that electric and magnetic fields can control the growth direction, morphology and microstructure of one-dimensional carbon nanomaterials (1-DCNMs), which plays a key role for its potential applications in micro-nano-electrics and devices. In this paper, we introduce a novel process for controlling growth of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) with assistance of a strong magnetic field (up to 0.5 T in the center) in a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) system. The results reveal that: 1) The CNFs get bundled when grown in the presence of a strong magnetic field and slightly get aligned parallel to the direction of the magnetic field; 2) The CNFs diameter become narrowed and homogenized with increase of the magnetic field; 3) With the increase of the magnetic field, the microstructure of CNFs is gradually changed, i.e., the strong magnetic field makes the disordered “solid-cored” CNFs transform into a kind of bamboo-liked carbon nanotubes; 4) We propose a mechanism that the reason for these variations and transformation is due to diamagnetic property of carbon atoms, so that it has direction selectivity in the precipitation process.

Preparation of Au nanoparticle-decorated ZnO/NiO heterostructure via nonsolvent method for high-performance photocatalysis

In this paper, we present a novel physical (or nonsolvent) route to fabricate a kind of Au/ZnO/NiO heterostructure photocatalytic composite. That is, a Zn layer upon Ni foam substrate is prepared by pulse electrodeposition, then the ZnO nanoneedle/NiO heterostructural composite is obtained via thermal oxidation, and at last, the composite is modified with the dispersively deposited Au nanoparticles (Au NPs) by ion sputtering. The surface plasmon resonance effect of the Au NPs significantly enhances the light absorption. Meanwhile, the Au NPs form a Schottky barrier with ZnO nanoneedles and further inhibit the recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs. In addition, due to the nonsolvent conditions, the introduction of impurities is avoided, and thus it shows strong photocatalytic stability. The experimental results reveal that, the optimized Au/ZnO/NiO composite exhibits up to two times photocatalytic performance on RB degradation and higher stability than that of regular ZnO/NiO composite. The present experimental strategy can also be used for other noble metals, and it is expected to have important application prospects in the fields of environmental purification, solar cells, hydrogen generation, etc.

Present Perspectives of Advanced Characterization Techniques in TiO2-Based Photocatalysts

TiO2 is the most investigated photocatalyst because of its nontoxicity, low cost, chemical stability, and strong photooxidative ability. Because of the morphology- and structure-dependent photocatalytic properties of TiO2, accurate characterization of the crystal and electronic structures of TiO2-based materials and their performance during the photocatalytic process is crucial not only for understanding the photocatalytic mechanism but also for providing experimental guidelines as well as a theoretical framework for the synthesis of high performance photocatalysts. In this review, we focused on the advanced characterization techniques that are utilized in the studies on the TiO2 structures and photocatalytic performance of TiO2 and TiO2-based materials. It is therefore anticipated that this review can provide a novel perspective to understand the fundamental aspects of photocatalysis and inspire the development of new photocatalysts with superior performances.

Strain induced chemical potential difference between monolayer graphene sheets

Monolayer graphene sheets were deposited on a transparent and flexible polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrate, and a tensile strain was loaded by stretching the substrate in one direction. It was found that an electric potential difference between stretched and static monolayer graphene sheets reached 8 mV when the strain was 5%. Theoretical calculations for the band structure and total energy revealed an alternative way to experimentally tune the band gap of monolayer graphene, and induce the generation of electricity.

Hydrothermal synthesis of the novel rutile-mixed anatase TiO2 nanosheets with dominant {001} facets for high photocatalytic activity

In this paper, we introduce a process to synthesize a novel photocatalyst called rutile-mixed anatase nanosheets with dominant {001} facets from a hydrothermal route by using a solution mixed with Ti(OC4H9)4, HF, NH4F and H2O. The crystal structure, micrographs, chemical compositions, and photocatalytic property are characterized and evaluated by using an X-ray diffractometer (XRD), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), UV-vis spectrophotometer, and fluorescence spectrophotometer. The experimental results reveal that (1) the addition of NH4F played a crucial role, because it not only changes the chemical environment but also make the phase transformation from anatase to rutile. (2) Compared with the regular anatase TiO2 nanosheets with dominant {001} facets, the present novel photocatalyst exhibits a greatly enhanced photocatalyst activity, i.e., its highest level of photocatalytic activity was about four times higher than that of commercial P25 and the regular anatase TiO2 nanosheets with dominant {001} facets. The mechanism is because the formation of the rutile/anatase heterostructure enhances the separation of the photo-generated electrons and holes. It is expected that this novel photocatalyst will provide wide applications in areas of solar cells, hydrogen generation, photocatalytic environmental pollution treatment, etc.

Functionalized Graphene for Mechanical Property Enhancement of Polymer Composites

Because of its high strength and high toughness, graphene has been widely used in mechanical reinforced composites. In general, the mechanical enhancement depends mainly on the properties of graphene itself and the number of surface chemical functional groups attached on it. In this paper, we report a method to improve the mechanical performance of polymer by using a kind of functionalized reduced graphene oxide (F-RGO), i.e., the F-RGO is prepared by chemical treatment, and then the F-RGO/polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) composite films are obtained by spin coating. Because the chemical treatment can increase the number of functional groups on the surface and edge of F-RGO, these functional groups make the F-RGO sheets strongly coupled with PVDF molecules, so as to achieve the purpose of mechanical enhancement. The experimental results reveal that the mechanical properties of the F-RGO/PVDF composite films are improved for 42% times, when comparing with regular RGO/PVDF composite films.