Kwang Su Kim

Single-step solvothermal synthesis of mesoporous Ag–TiO2–reduced graphene oxide ternary composites with enhanced photocatalytic activity

With growing interest in the photocatalytic performance of TiO2-graphene composite systems, the ternary phase of TiO2, graphene, and Ag is expected to exhibit improved photocatalytic characteristics because of the improved recombination rate of photogenerated charge carriers and potential contribution of the generation of localized surface plasmon resonance at Ag sites on a surface of the TiO2-graphene binary matrix. In this work, Ag-TiO2-reduced graphene oxide ternary nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by a simple solvothermal process. In a single-step synthetic procedure, the reduction of AgNO3 and graphene oxide and the hydrolysis of titanium tetraisopropoxide were spontaneously performed in a mixed solvent system of ethylene glycol, N,N-dimethylformamide and a stoichiometric amount of water without resorting to the use of typical reducing agents. The nanocomposites were characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, along with different microscopic and spectroscopic techniques, enabling us to confirm the successful reduction of AgNO3 and graphite oxide to metallic Ag and reduced graphene oxide, respectively. Due to the highly facilitated electron transport of well distributed Ag nanoparticles, the synthesized ternary nanocomposite showed enhanced photocatalytic activity for degradation of rhodamine B dye under visible light irradiation.

Dramatically Enhanced Mechanosensitivity and Signal-to-Noise Ratio of Nanoscale Crack-Based Sensors: Effect of Crack Depth

The sensitivity of a nanoscale crack-based sensor is enhanced markedly by modulating the crack depth. The crack-depth-propagated sensor exhibits ≈16 000 gauge factor at 2% strain and a superior signal-to-noise ratio of ≈35, which facilitates detection of target signals for voice-pattern recognition.

Highly Sensitive Reduced Graphene Oxide Impedance Sensor Harnessing π‑Stacking Interaction Mediated Direct Deposition of Protein Probes

Graphene-based electrochemical impedance sensors have recently received much attention due to their outstanding sensing capability and economic viability. In this study, we present a novel means of constructing an impedance sensing platform via harnessing intrinsic π-stacking interactions between probe protein molecules and reduced graphene oxide (RGO) substrate, obviating the need for introducing external chemical groups often required for covalent anchoring of the probes. To achieve this goal, protein molecules used as a probe were denatured to render their hydrophobic residues exposed in order to facilitate their direct π-stacking interactions with the surface of RGO nanosheets. The protein molecules in denatured form, which would otherwise have difficulty in undergoing π-stacking interactions with the RGO surface, were found to uniformly cover the RGO nanosheets at high density, conducive to providing a graphene-based impedance sensing platform capable of detecting a probe-specific analyte at high sensitivity. The proof-of-concept performance of thus-constructed RGO-based impedance sensors was demonstrated via selective detection of biological binding events of antigen-antibody reaction at a femtomolar range. Notably, since the π-stacking interaction can occur on the entire RGO surface, it can desirably exclude a backfill process indispensable for the conventional biosensors to suppress background noise signals. Since the procedure of π-stacking mediated direct deposition of on-purpose denatured protein probes onto the RGO surface is facile and straightforward, the proposed strategy is anticipated to extend its applicability for fabrication of high performance graphene-based bio or chemical sensors.

Si–Mn/Reduced Graphene Oxide Nanocomposite Anodes with Enhanced Capacity and Stability for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Although Si is a promising high-capacity anode material for Li-ion batteries (LIB), it suffers from capacity fading due to excessively large volumetric changes upon Li insertion. Nanocarbon materials have been used to enhance the cyclic stability of LIB anodes, but they have an inherently low specific capacity. To address these issues, we present a novel ternary nanocomposite of Si, Mn, and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for LIB anodes, in which the Si-Mn alloy offers high capacity characteristics and embedded rGO nanosheets confer structural stability. Si-Mn/rGO ternary nanocomposites were synthesized by mechanical complexation and subsequent thermal reduction of mixtures of Si nanoparticles, MnO2 nanorods, and rGO nanosheets. Resulting ternary nanocomposite anodes displayed a specific capacity of 600 mAh/g with ∼90% capacity retention after 50 cycles at a current density of 100 mA/g. The enhanced performance is attributed to facilitated Li-ion reactions with the MnSi alloy phase and the formation of a structurally reinforced electroconductive matrix of rGO nanosheets. The ternary nanocomposite design paradigm presented in this study can be exploited for the development of high-capacity and long-life anode materials for versatile LIB applications.

Highly durable and unidirectionally stooped polymeric nanohairs for gecko-like dry adhesive

Gecko-like dry adhesive using high aspect ratio polymeric nanohairs has insuperable limitations, although it has huge potential in many applications. Repeated harsh contacts on a target substrate lead to physical collapse of nanohairs and significant degradation of the adhesion property, because the polymeric nanohairs are quite fragile due to poor mechanical robustness. Herein, we demonstrate a highly robust gecko-like dry adhesive with unidirectionally stooped polymeric nanohairs (diameter 100 nm) with a high aspect ratio (∼9) using an ultrathin metal coating. 100 cycles of repeated adhesion tests with 1 N preloading force did not significantly degrade adhesion or cause collapse of nanohairs. We believe that this approach allows gecko-like dry adhesive to be utilized in many related applications and diverse industry interests.