Zongbin Zhao

Ultralight and Highly Compressible Graphene Aerogels

Chemically converted graphene aerogels with ultralight density and high compressibility are prepared by diamine-mediated functionalization and assembly, followed by microwave irradiation. The resulting graphene aerogels with density as low as 3 mg cm(-3) show excellent resilience and can completely recover after more than 90% compression. The ultralight graphene aerogels possessing high elasticity are promising as compliant and energy-absorbing materials.

Enhancing lithium–sulphur battery performance by strongly binding the discharge products on amino-functionalized reduced graphene oxide

Lithium-sulphur batteries are one very appealing power source with high energy density. But their practical use is still hindered by several issues including short lifespan, low efficiency and safety concern from the lithium anode. Polysulphide dissolution and insulating nature of sulphur are generally considered responsible for the capacity degradation. However, the detachment of discharge products, that is, highly polar lithium sulphides, from nonpolar carbon matrix (for example, graphene) has been rarely studied as one critical factor. Here we report the strongly covalent stabilization of sulphur and its discharge products on amino-functionalized reduced graphene oxide that enables stable capacity retention of 80% for 350 cycles with high capacities and excellent high-rate response up to 4 C. The present study demonstrates a feasible and effective strategy to solve the long-term cycling difficulty for lithium-sulphur batteries and also helps to understand the capacity decay mechanism involved.

Self-Sensing, Ultralight, and Conductive 3D Graphene/Iron Oxide Aerogel Elastomer Deformable in a Magnetic Field

Three-dimensional (3D) graphene aerogels (GA) show promise for applications in supercapacitors, electrode materials, gas sensors, and oil absorption due to their high porosity, mechanical strength, and electrical conductivity. However, the control, actuation, and response properties of graphene aerogels have not been well studied. In this paper, we synthesized 3D graphene aerogels decorated with Fe3O4 nanoparticles (Fe3O4/GA) by self-assembly of graphene with simultaneous decoration by Fe3O4 nanoparticles using a modified hydrothermal reduction process. The aerogels exhibit up to 52% reversible magnetic field-induced strain and strain-dependent electrical resistance that can be used to monitor the degree of compression/stretching of the material. The density of Fe3O4/GA is only about 5.8 mg cm(-3), making it an ultralight magnetic elastomer with potential applications in self-sensing soft actuators, microsensors, microswitches, and environmental remediation.

Low temperature plasma synthesis of mesoporous Fe3O4 nanorods grafted on reduced graphene oxide for high performance lithium storage.

Transition metal oxide coupling with carbon is an effective method for improving electrical conductivity of battery electrodes and avoiding the degradation of their lithium storage capability due to large volume expansion/contraction and severe particle aggregation during the lithium insertion and desertion process. In our present work, we develop an effective approach to fabricate the nanocomposites of porous rod-shaped Fe3O4 anchored on reduced graphene oxide (Fe3O4/rGO) by controlling the in situ nucleation and growth of β-FeOOH onto the graphene oxide (β-FeOOH/GO) and followed by dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) hydrogen plasma treatment. Such well-designed hierarchical nanostructures are beneficial for maximum utilization of electrochemically active matter in lithium ion batteries and display superior Li uptake with high reversible capacity, good rate capability, and excellent stability, maintaining 890 mA h g(-1) capacity over 100 cycles at a current density of 500 mA g(-1).

Dually Fixed SnO2 Nanoparticles on Graphene Nanosheets by Polyaniline Coating for Superior Lithium Storage

Dually fixed SnO2 nanoparticles (DF-SnO2 NPs) on graphene nanosheets by a polyaniline (Pani) coating was successfully fabricated via two facile wet chemistry processes, including anchoring SnO2 NPs onto graphene nanosheets via reducing graphene oxide by Sn(2+) ion, followed by in situ surface sealing with the Pani coating. Such a configuration is very appealing anode materials in LIBs due to several structural merits: (1) it prevents the aggregation of SnO2 NPs, (2) accommodates the structural expanding of SnO2 NPs during lithiation, (3) ensures the stable as-formed solid electrolyte interface films, and (4) effectively enhances the electronic conductivity of the overall electrode. Therefore, the final DF-SnO2 anode exhibits stable cycle performance, such as a high capacity retention of over 90% for 400 cycles at a current density of 200 mA g(-1) and a long cycle life up to 700 times at a higher current density of 1000 mA g(-1).

High-purity single-wall carbon nanotubes synthesized from coal by arc discharge

Dalian Univ Technol, Dept Mat Sci & Chem Engn, Ctr Nano Mat & Sci, Carbon Res Lab, Dalian 116012, Peoples R China. Chinese Acad Sci, Met Res Inst, Shenyang Natl Lab Mat Sci, Shenyang 110016, Peoples R China.;Qiu, JS (reprint author), Dalian Univ Technol, Dept Mat Sci & Chem Engn, Ctr Nano Mat & Sci, Carbon Res Lab, 158 Zhongshan Rd,POB 49, Dalian 116012, Peoples R China

Highly Stretchable and Ultrasensitive Strain Sensor Based on Reduced Graphene Oxide Microtubes-Elastomer Composite.

Strain sensors with excellent flexibility, stretchability, and sensitivity have attracted increasing interests. In this paper, a highly stretchable and ultrasensitive strain sensor based on reduced graphene oxide microtubes-elastomer is fabricated by a template induced assembly and followed a polymer coating process. The sensors can be stretched in excess of 50% of its original length, showing long-term durability and excellent selectivity to a specific strain under various disturbances. The sensitivity of this sensor is as high as 630 of gauge factor under 21.3% applied strain; more importantly, it can be easily modulated to accommodate diverse requirements. Implementation of the device for gauging muscle-induced strain in several biological systems shows reproducibility and different responses in the form of resistance or current change. The developed strain sensors show great application potential in fields of biomechanical systems, communications, and other related areas.

Free-standing, hierarchically porous carbon nanotube film as a binder-free electrode for high-energy Li–O2 batteries

Free-standing, hierarchically porous carbon nanotube film is successfully fabricated by colloidal template-assisted vacuum filtration and post annealing. It can be directly used as a binder-free air electrode in Li–O2 batteries and exhibits excellent electrochemical performance by virtue of the unique bimodal design for porosity.

Furfural-Induced Hydrothermal Synthesis of ZnO@C Gemel Hexagonal Microrods with Enhanced Photocatalytic Activity and Stability

Here we report the synthesis of ZnO@C coaxial gemel hexagonal microrods with a thin hydrothermal carbon (HTC) layer on their surface by a facile one-step hydrothermal method with furfural as the carbon precursor. The furfural has a unique dual role, which not only induces the nucleation of ZnO in the initial stage of hydrothermal process, but also forms a thin HTC layer deposited on the ZnO surface. The thickness of the surface HTC layer increases with the hydrothermal time until 16 h under the conditions adopted in the present study. It has been found that the HTC layer has resulted in a significant improvement in the photocatalytic activities and photostabilities of the ZnO@C microrods for the UV-irradiated photodegradation of methylene blue solution. The mechanism involved in the process is proposed and discussed in terms of the photodegradation scheme and the properties of the ZnO@C microrods.

Nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons for high-performance lithium ion batteries

Nitrogen-doped graphene nanoribbons (N-GNRs) were synthesized through longitudinal unzipping of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes filled with iron nanowires (Fe@CNx-CNTs) by means of nitric acid oxidation. Benefiting from their N doping and edge effect, N-GNRs showed high capacity, excellent cycling performance and rate capability as anode materials in lithium ion batteries (LIBs).