Recently, the millimetre-scale, highly efficient growth of single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) forests from iron (Fe) catalysts has been reported through the annealing of the magnesia (MgO) underlayer. Here, we report the modulation of the CNT yield (height) and average number of CNT walls for a Fe/MgO catalyst system through the collective effects of initial Fe amount and MgO annealing temperature. Our results revealed the existence of a well-defined region for high yield SWCNT forest growth in the domain of deposited Fe thickness and MgO annealing temperature. Through topographic examinations of the catalyst surface using atomic force microscopy, we confirmed that our results stem from the collective effects of increased amounts of surface-bound Fe through the amount of deposition and suppression of Fe subsurface diffusion, together govern the amount of surface-bound catalyst. The combination of these mechanisms determined the final nanoparticle size, density, and stability and could explain the three distinctly defined regions: low yield SWCNT growth, high yield SWCNT growth, and high yield multiwall CNT growth. Furthermore, we explained the observed borders between these three regions.

The upcoming IoT society requires portable energy harvesters including thermoelectric generators around room temperature. Here we show a prototype, lightweight thermoelectric generator based on doped single-walled carbon nanotubes. The generator is fabricated by the standard printing and cut-and-paste techniques. The 12 cm-scale generator with a commercial DC-DC converter exhibits thermoelectric outputs high enough to drive small devices such as a light-emitting diode (LED). We believe such demonstration facilitates the studies not only of further improvements in the thermoelectric properties of carbon nanotube materials but also of the novel design for thermoelectric generators on the basis of thermal engineering.

Equimolar mixtures of graphene and iron oxide nanoparticles were subjected to mechanochemical activation. The phase sequence was investigated using Mӧssbauer spectroscopy as function of ball milling time. For low milling times (2-4 hours) the series with hematite (Fe2O3) nanoparticles was fitted with 2 sextets, corresponding to hematite with carbon introduced in the lattice. At high milling times (8-12 hours) the same series exhibited an additional sextet with hyperfine parameters characteristic to iron carbides and a quadrupole-split doublet, which could be assigned to carbon clusters with small amounts of iron in them. The series with magnetite nanoparticles (Fe3O4) at low milling times was analyzed considering 2 sextets, corresponding to the tetrahedral and octahedral sites of magnetite. At high milling times, the magnetite series also exhibited a broad sextet representing iron carbides and the doublet associated with iron-containing carbon clusters. Supporting information was obtained by determinations of the recoilless fraction. The results were compared with those obtained by ball milling graphite with hematite and magnetite nanoparticles.

Perfect absorbers have many application in different fields including photovoltaic, antireflective coatings, defence, energy harvesting and emissivity control. Here, we have designed and fabricated a near perfect optical broadband absorber, having absorption capacity of more than 99% from 300 to 2000 nm wavelength range. Textured Silicon wafer is used as base layer to fabricate multilayered optically graded assembly, while carbon nano tubes layer is used as a top layer for impedance matching. Subsequent layers are selected as per increasing refractive index values and varying micro/nano features for efficient light trapping. Moreover, multilayered assembly shows contact angle of more than 160° with roll-off angle of less than 5° which shows that it is not only a near perfect absorber but also a self-cleaning superhydrophobic surface. Conclusively, the properties of multilayered optically graded assembly imparts attractive applications of this superabsorber in the field of photovoltaic.

In this work, we report evidences of the improvement of X-ray attenuation efficiency by the addition of a very small amount of Graphene Oxide (GO) in polymer-based nanocomposite. Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) homopolymer and barium sulfate (BaSO4) nanoparticles were mixed. PVDF/BaSO4 nanocomposite was found to attenuate 9.14% of a 20 kV X-ray beam. The addition of only 4.0 wt % of GO nanosheets to the nanocomposite improved this X-Ray attenuation efficiency to 24.56%. The respective linear attenuation coefficients (μ) were 39.9 cm-1 and 54.4 cm-1, respectively. The X-ray attenuation gradually decreases until 6.71% and 17.62%, respectively, for the X-ray beam with higher energy (100 kV). Fourier transform infrared data revealed that, due to the lack of the bending vibration modes of CF2 molecule at 656 cm-1, 688 cm-1, 723 cm-1, 776 cm-1and 796 cm-1, characteristics of the γ-crystalline phase of PVDF, the nanocomposites casted from solution are mostly in the β-ferroelectric phase of PVDF, besides the γ-paraelectric phase. SEM micrographs were used to evaluate the dispersion state of graphene sheets and the BaSO4 nanoparticles into the polymeric matrix. UV-Vis spectrometry and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) were also performed in order to complement the structural analysis. The results confirm that the addition of graphene sheets in PVDF polymer-based nanocomposites enhances the X-ray shielding efficiency. The phenomenon is discussed in terms of the reported anomalous negative thermal expansion coefficient of graphene sheets

We have demonstrated the high yield (∼900 μm) and highly single-wall selective (>95%) growth of carbon nanotube (CNT) forest using aluminium nitride (AlN) as a catalyst underlayer. Such high efficiency and single-wall selectivity have not been previously reported using this underlayer system. Evaluation with transmission electron microscopy showed that the average diameter of the grown carbon nanotubes was ∼3.0 nm, which is similar to those grown on alumina underlayers. In addition, characterization of the catalyst/underlayer system using atomic force microscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy suggests that neither Ostwald ripening along the surface nor catalyst subsurface diffusion into the AlN underlayer are severely occurring at the growth temperature, leading to the creation of the stable and dense small nanoparticle array to achieve an efficient growth of single-wall CNTs.

This manuscript describes low-voltage epoxy-carbon nanotube composites with highly nonlinear resistances. Carbon nanotube paste was deposited on interdigitated electrodes and I-V characteristics were obtained over different voltage ranges and at different sweep speeds. In most cases, the injection process into the electrode-composite interface region was dominant, with exponential voltage dependence of the current.

Recently, a new class of carbon allotrope called protomene was proposed. This new structure is composed of sp2 and sp3 carbon-bonds. Topologically, protomene can be considered as an sp3 carbon structure (∼80% of this bond type) doped by sp2 carbons. First-principles simulations have shown that protomene presents an electronic bandgap of ∼3.4 eV. However, up to now, its mechanical properties have not been investigated. In this work, we have investigated protomene mechanical behavior under tensile strain through fully atomistic reactive molecular dynamics simulations using the ReaxFF force field, as available in the LAMMPS code. At room temperature, our results show that the protomene is very stable and the obtained ultimate strength and ultimate stress indicates an anisotropic behavior. The highest ultimate strength was obtained for the x-direction, with a value of ∼110 GPa. As for the ultimate strain, the highest one was for the z-direction (∼25% of strain) before protomene mechanical fracture.

Catalytic growth of substantial amounts of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) to lengths greater than 1 – 2 cm is currently limited by several factors, including especially the deactivation of the catalyst particles due to erosion of catalyst atoms from the catalyst particles at elevated CNT growth temperatures. Inclusion of refractory metals in the CNT growth catalyst has recently been proposed as a method to prevent this catalytic particle erosion and deactivation, allowing the CNT to grow for greater times and reach substantially greater lengths. Here are presented results of recent investigations into this method. The system investigated employs Molybdenum as the erosion inhibitor and Iron as the CNT growth catalyst. Results show that inclusion of Mo leads to substantially longer catalyst particle lifetimes.

Our preliminary investigation of the absorption and the photoluminescence response of selectively separated graphene quantum dots using centrifugation indicate that the photoluminescence is more sensitive to the size of the quantum dot than the absorption. We observed ∼143nm blueshift from 623nm to 480nm in the visible region of the photoluminescence with increasing successive centrifugation (decreasing size) and not in the corresponding absorption spectra in the visible region. However, for the first time, we observed a blueshift in the absorption spectra in the UV regions that is tentatively attributed to quantum confinement. Further detailed work is underway to confirm the blueshift in the absorption and correlate with deep UV photoluminescence and morphological quantification of the quantum dots size distribution using high resolution transmission electron microscope.

Either boron or nitrogen doped multilayered graphene was prepared by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Obtained heteroatom doped graphene was examined by Raman scattering, x-ray photo electron spectroscopy (XPS) and temperature dependence of sheet resistance. From the Raman scattering, obvious increase of ID/IG ratio could not be detected by boron doping, while it increased by ∼0.2 or more for nitrogen doped sample. From XPS, doping rates of boron and nitrogen were estimated to be in the range of 5∼12 at% and 1∼2 at%, respectively. XPS also showed that the boron and nitrogen atoms would locate at the doping sites of both graphitic and neighborhood of atomic defect. Magnitude of sheet resistance was decreased by either doping of boron or nitrogen.

The magnetorheological (MR) performance of suspensions based on the Fe3O4-deposited carbon nanotubes (CNTs) was investigated by using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) and a rotational rheometer. The Fe3O4-deposited CNTs were synthesized by the reduction process in which nano-Fe3O4 nanoparticles were generated and adsorbed on the surface of CNTs. All tested suspensions displayed excellent MR behaviors with high yield strengths. The morphology was observed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscope (TEM). It was revealed that Fe3O4 particles adsorbed on the surface of CNT particles led to make the surface topology bumpy and rough which decreased the particle sedimentation velocity. Finally, Turbiscan apparatus was used to test the sedimentation properties of Fe3O4-deposited CNTs suspensions. The suspensions showed excellent stability against sedimentation, much better than bare Fe3O4 particle suspension due to the inherent low density of CNT and its inside pore which can reduce the density mismatch between the nanoparticles and the carrier medium as well as the surface topology change due to the adsorption of Fe3O4.

We demonstrated that single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) grew from Ir catalysts by an alcohol catalytic chemical vapor deposition (ACCVD) method using a gas source-type CVD system. At an ethanol pressure of 1×10−1 Pa at 800°C, vertically aligned SWCNTs (VA-SWCNTs) were grown on SiO2/Si substrates. As the growth time became longer, the VA-SWCNT became thicker, and it reached almost 5 μm for a growth time of 180 min. The Raman spectroscopy results showed that the diameters of the grown SWCNTs were mainly distributed below 1.1 nm, indicating that the SWCNTs grown from Ir catalysts had small diameters compared with those from other metal catalysts.

Phosphonated graphene oxide (pGO) has been incorporated to sulfonated poly(styrene-isobutylene-styrene) (SO3H SIBS) to prepare polymer nanocomposite membranes (PNMs) for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) and chemical and biological protective clothing (CBPC) applications. The performance of the membranes was evaluated per SIBS sulfonation level (i.e. 38, 61, and 90 mole %), filler type (i.e. GO and pGO) and filler loading (i.e. 0.1, 0.5 and 1.0 wt.%). The transport properties (i.e. proton conductivity and methanol and vapor permeability) were determined to assess the performance of the PNMs per each application. The ionic interactions between the phosphonic and sulfonic groups (i.e. PO3H2 and SO3H, respectively) altered the pathways of SO3H SIBS, influencing the transport of permeants through the membranes. SIBS 61 pGO 0.1 presented the highest separation efficiency and a DMFC performance comparable to the state-of-the-art Nafion®, indicating that this membrane could potentially be implemented as protective fabric as well as functioning for fuel cell applications.

Prior research into the liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite to produce few-layer graphene has focused primarily on the surface energy matching between graphite and solvent; however, the effect of other solvent properties, such as liquid viscosity, have not been systematically explored. In principle, a higher viscosity solvent should enable the production of graphene and other graphitic nanomaterials by liquid-phase exfoliation at lower shear rates than traditionally used organic solvents of low viscosity, such as N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP). Thus, at a given shear rate, more material should be exfoliated in the higher viscosity solvent. Hence, graphite suspensions in NMP, benzyl benzoate, and propylene glycol were exfoliated at various shear rates in a rheometer. Exfoliant concentrations were measured by ultraviolet- visual (UV-vis) spectroscopy and quality characterization was performed by Raman spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Graphite exfoliation in the more viscous propylene glycol solvent resulted in a higher exfoliant concentration than in the less viscous NMP and benzyl benzoate solvents across all shear rates. Benzyl benzoate lowered exfoliant levels, likely due to a poor surface energy match, resulting in particle attraction and aggregation. Characterization showed that at least some of our material is few-layer graphene.

We presented a green and simple method to synthesize carbon nanodots (C-dots) from millets using hydrothermal synthesis route for the first time. The obtained C-dots have average diameter ranging from 6 to 10 nm. Optical measurements showed the insight into the formation of functional groups on the particle surfaces, resulting in their good water solubility and bioconjugation. After treatment with C-dots, small subpopulation of the human cervical tumor cells became bright and exhibited multicolor fluorescence under different excitation wavelength. The achievement demonstrated potential applications of fluorescent C-dots in the field of biomedical application.

It has been demonstrated that the introduction of NaCl can significantly improve the quality of monolayer WS2 at the growth temperatures ranging from 700°C to 850°C by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) without the assistant of hydrogen. Here, the influence of NaCl on the nucleation and growth of WS2 has been thoroughly investigated. The morphology and quality of WS2 grown with different temperatures are discussed by optical microscope, Raman and Photoluminescence (PL) spectra. It was found that amount of NaCl can efficiently influence the morphology and quality of WS2 crystals. PL intensity of WS2 crystal increases around three times from the center region to the edge of an individual domain, which may be attributed to the appearance of small triangle hollows formed during the growth at the edge of single crystal WS2.