Liming Dai,*,†,‡ Yuhua Xue,†,‡ Liangti Qu,* Hyun-Jung Choi, and Jong-Beom Baek* †Center of Advanced Science and Engineering for Carbon (Case4Carbon), Department of Macromolecular Science and Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, 10900 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, Ohio 44106, United States Key Laboratory of Cluster Science, Ministry of Education of China, Beijing Key Laboratory of Photoelectronic/Electrophotonic Conversion Materials, Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, People’s Republic of China School of Energy and Chemical Engineering/Center for Dimension-Controllable Covalent Organic Frameworks, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), 100 Banyeon, Ulsan, 689-798, South Korea

Metal-free catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction.

https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/113789/1/Production_carbon_Sevilla.pdf

The production of carbon materials by hydrothermal carbonization of cellulose

Recently, polymer nanocomposites reinforced with lower volume fraction of nanoceramics and carbon nanotubes have attracted steadily growing interest due to their peculiar and fascinating properties as well as their unique applications in commercial sectors. The incorporation of nanoceramics such as layered silicate clays, calcium carbonate or silica nanoparticles arranged on the nanometer scale with a high aspect ratio and/or an extremely large surface area into polymers improves their mechanical performances significantly. The properties of nanocomposites depend greatly on the chemistry of polymer matrices, nature of nanofillers, and the way in which they are prepared. The uniform dispersion of nanofillers in the polymer matrices is a general prerequisite for achieving desired mechanical and physical characteristics. In this review article, current development on the processing, structure, and mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites reinforced with respective layered silicates, ceramic nanoparticles and carbon nanotubes will be addressed. Particular attention is paid on the structure–property relationship of such novel high-performance polymer nanocomposites.

Structural and mechanical properties of polymer nanocomposites

Despite the recent developments in graphene oxide due to its importance as a host precursor of graphene, the detailed electronic structure and its evolution during the thermal reduction remain largely unknown, hindering its potential applications. We show that a combination of high-resolution in situ X-ray photoemission and X-ray absorption spectroscopies offer a powerful approach to monitor the deoxygenation process and comprehensively evaluate the electronic structure of graphene oxide thin films at different stages of the thermal reduction process. It is established that the edge plane carboxyl groups are highly unstable, whereas carbonyl groups are more difficult to remove. The results consistently support the formation of phenol groups through reaction of basal plane epoxide groups with adjacent hydroxyl groups at moderate degrees of thermal activation (∼400 °C). The phenol groups are predominant over carbonyl groups and survive even at a temperature of 1000 °C. For the first time, a drastic increase...

Probing the Thermal Deoxygenation of Graphene Oxide Using High-Resolution In Situ X-ray-Based Spectroscopies

Carbon-rich-quick scheme: A carbon-rich solid product made up of uniform micrometer-sized spheres of tunable diameter has been synthesized by the hydrothermal carbonization of saccharides. These microspheres possess a core-shell chemical structure based on the different nature of the oxygen functionalities between the core and the outer layer (see figure).A carbon-rich solid product, here denoted as hydrochar, has been synthesized by the hydrothermal carbonization of three different saccharides (glucose, sucrose, and starch) at temperatures ranging from 170 to 240 degrees C. This material is made up of uniform spherical micrometer-sized particles that have a diameter in the 0.4-6 mum range, which can be modulated by modifying the synthesis conditions (i.e., the concentration of the aqueous saccharide solution, the temperature of the hydrothermal treatment, the reaction time, and type of saccharide). The formation of the carbon-rich solid through the hydrothermal carbonization of saccharides is the consequence of dehydration, condensation, or polymerization and aromatization reactions. The microspheres thus obtained possess, from a chemical point of view, a core-shell structure consisting of a highly aromatic nucleus (hydrophobic) and a hydrophilic shell containing a high concentration of reactive oxygen functional groups (i.e., hydroxyl/phenolic, carbonyl, or carboxylic).

Chemical and Structural Properties of Carbonaceous Products Obtained by Hydrothermal Carbonization of Saccharides

High resolution XPS characterization of chemical functionalised MWCNTs and SWCNTs

We present changes in the first and second order Raman spectra of multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) functionalized with oxygenated groups. The oxygen groups were introduced onto the nanotube surface through two strong acid purification routes: (1) reflux in concentrated (70%) HNO3 acid for 4h at 80°C and (2) ultrasonification in 3 HNO3 (70%):1H2SO4 (98%) for 8.5h. Raman spectroscopy, using two laser excitation wavelengths (514.5 and 632.8nm), x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and thermal gravimetric analysis were employed to study the evolution of the products. All the techniques revealed a higher degree of functionalization for scheme 2 compared to scheme 1. Charge transfer phenomena were manifested by a shift of the C1s core level towards higher binding energies. We found that the intensity of both the D and G energy Raman modes if normalized to the second order mode D* mode follows similar trends upon acid treatments. We interpret this result together with the observed dispersion of G mode as an ind...

/pdf/raman-study-of-multiwalled-carbon-nanotubes-functionalized-2sg878qok7.pdf

T.I.T. Okpalugo

Papers

High resolution XPS characterization of chemical functionalised MWCNTs and SWCNTs

Raman study of multiwalled carbon nanotubes functionalized with oxygen groups

Mechanical stability, corrosion performance and bioresponse of amorphous diamond-like carbon for medical stents and guidewires

Oxidative functionalization of carbon nanotubes in atmospheric pressure filamentary dielectric barrier discharge (APDBD)

Platelet adhesion on silicon modified hydrogenated amorphous carbon films