Zifeng Yan

Graphene oxide membranes with tunable permeability due to embedded carbon dots

In this communication, we fabricated graphene oxide membranes with tunable permeation by embedding carbon nanodots of controllable sizes.

Formation of an ink-bottle-like pore structure in SBA-15 by MOCVD.

Metallorganic chemical vapor deposition is used as a simple pore-modifying method to fine tune the pore-opening size of SBA-15 materials without significant loss in pore volume and surface area.

Stabilization of mesoporous nanocrystalline zirconia with Laponite

The mesoporous nanocrystalline zircoina was synthesized via solid state reaction—structure directing method in the presence of Laponite. The introduction of Laponite renders the higher thermal stability and lamellar track to the zirconia. Laponite acts as inhibitor for crystal growth and also hard template for the mesostructure. The role of Laponite is attributed to the interaction between the zirconia precursors and the nano-platelets of Laponite via the bridge of hydrophilic segments of surfactant. It results in the formation of Zr-O-Mg-O-Si frameworks in the direction of Laponite layer with the condensation of frameworks during the calcination process, which contributes the higher stability and lamellar structure to the nano-sized zirconia samples.

Fabrication of Copper Nanowire Encapsulated in SBA-15 Nanocomposite by Metal Organic Chemical Vapor Deposition

Copper nanowires encapsulated in mesoporous SBA-15 have been synthesized by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) at a low temperature in this study. Hydrogen has been found to be critically important in the chemical reduction of organometallic precursor (copper (II) acetylacetonate) which enhances the mass transfer in the interior of the SBA-15 porous substrate. Such copper nanostructures are of great potential in the semiconductor research area due to their unusual optical, magnetic and electronic properties. Our preparation methodology only requires a mild working condition compared to existing technologies. In addition, the dimensions of the encapsulated metal nanowire can be tailored by using different pore-sized substrates. This is the first time to synthesize tuned copper nanowires at a mild reaction condition which can be used as a foundation for the synthesis of copper nanowires encapsulated in small tubes.