There is intense interest in graphene in fields such as physics, chemistry, and materials science, among others. Interest in graphene's exceptional physical properties, chemical tunability, and potential for applications has generated thousands of publications and an accelerating pace of research, making review of such research timely. Here is an overview of the synthesis, properties, and applications of graphene and related materials (primarily, graphite oxide and its colloidal suspensions and materials made from them), from a materials science perspective.

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Graphene and Graphene Oxide: Synthesis, Properties, and Applications

[Liu, Chang; Li, Feng; Ma, Lai-Peng; Cheng, Hui-Ming] Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Met Res, Shenyang Natl Lab Mat Sci, Shenyang 110016, Peoples R China.;Cheng, HM (reprint author), Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Met Res, Shenyang Natl Lab Mat Sci, 72 Wenhua Rd, Shenyang 110016, Peoples R China;cheng@imr.ac.cn

Advanced Materials for Energy Storage

Since the discovery of mechanically exfoliated graphene in 2004, research on ultrathin two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials has grown exponentially in the fields of condensed matter physics, material science, chemistry, and nanotechnology. Highlighting their compelling physical, chemical, electronic, and optical properties, as well as their various potential applications, in this Review, we summarize the state-of-art progress on the ultrathin 2D nanomaterials with a particular emphasis on their recent advances. First, we introduce the unique advances on ultrathin 2D nanomaterials, followed by the description of their composition and crystal structures. The assortments of their synthetic methods are then summarized, including insights on their advantages and limitations, alongside some recommendations on suitable characterization techniques. We also discuss in detail the utilization of these ultrathin 2D nanomaterials for wide ranges of potential applications among the electronics/optoelectronics, electrocat...

Recent Advances in Ultrathin Two-Dimensional Nanomaterials

Approaches, Derivatives and Applications Vasilios Georgakilas,† Michal Otyepka,‡ Athanasios B. Bourlinos,‡ Vimlesh Chandra, Namdong Kim, K. Christian Kemp, Pavel Hobza,‡,§,⊥ Radek Zboril,*,‡ and Kwang S. Kim* †Institute of Materials Science, NCSR “Demokritos”, Ag. Paraskevi Attikis, 15310 Athens, Greece ‡Regional Centre of Advanced Technologies and Materials, Department of Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Palacky University Olomouc, 17. listopadu 12, 771 46 Olomouc, Czech Republic Center for Superfunctional Materials, Department of Chemistry, Pohang University of Science and Technology, San 31, Hyojadong, Namgu, Pohang 790-784, Korea Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, v.v.i., Flemingovo naḿ. 2, 166 10 Prague 6, Czech Republic

Functionalization of Graphene: Covalent and Non-Covalent Approaches, Derivatives and Applications

Graphene based materials: Past, present and future

Bismuth oxyiodide-graphene nanocomposites with high visible light photocatalytic activity.

Graphene and carbon nanotubes are intriguing alternative anode materials for lithium ion batteries. The prevention of graphene restacking and facilitation of lithium diffusion into CNTs with large aspect ratio are highly desirable for the performance enhancements including capacity, cycliability and rate capability. In this work, we demonstrated that a multilayered graphene-CNT hybrid nanostructure was able to hold such merits. GNS were separated and stabilized by CNTs grown in situ on GNS surface. The length of CNTs was found to be a key factor to the electrochemical performances. The GNS-CNT composite with the shortest CNT decoration displayed highly reversible capacities of 573 mAh g−1 at a small current of 0.2C and 520 mAh g−1 at a large current of 2C. The growth and lithium storage mechanism for graphene-CNT composite was also proposed.

Carbon nanotubes grown in situ on graphene nanosheets as superior anodes for Li-ion batteries.

Nearly monosized Sn nanoparticles were produced by an in situ prepared single-source molecular precursor approach. The experimental conditions in the NaBH 4 reduction of (phen)SnCl 4 (phen = 1, 10 phenanthroline) in water were carefully controlled to produce two different particle size ranges, 2-5 nm (mean: 3.5 nm, standard deviation: 0.8 nm) and 7-13 nm (mean: 10.0 nm, standard deviation: 1.7 nm). The Sn nanoparticles were subsequently dispersed in graphite (KS6) and the application of the resulting nanocomposites as an active anode material for Li-ion batteries was explored. The graphite-Sn nanocomposites showed significant improvement in the cyclability of Sn over previously reported results. The cyclability improvement is believed to be due to the smallness of the Sn particles and their uniform distribution in a soft matrix (graphite) which, in addition to being a capable Li + host, could also effectively buffer the specific volume changes in Sn-based Li storage compounds during charging (Li + insertion) and discharging (Li + extraction) reactions.

Tin Nanoparticle Loaded Graphite Anodes for Li-Ion Battery Applications

Yolk–shell structures with a unique three-dimensional (3D) open architecture offer great advantages for constructing advanced photocatalysts. However, metal sulfides with yolk–shell nanostructures were rarely reported. In this work, unique yolk–shell CdS microcubes are synthesized from Cd–Fe Prussian blue analogues (Cd–Fe-PBA) through a facile microwave-assisted hydrothermal process. Their formation mechanism is also proposed based on the anion exchange and Kirkendall effect process. Benefitting from structural merits, including a 3D open structure, small size of primary nanoparticles, high specific surface area, and good structural robustness, the obtained yolk–shell CdS microcubes manifest excellent performances for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution from H2O under visible-light irradiation. The photocatalytic H2 evolution rate is 3051.4 μmol h−1 g−1 (with an apparent quantum efficiency of 4.9% at 420 nm), which is ∼2.43 times higher than that of conventional CdS nanoparticles. Furthermore, the yolk–shell CdS microcubes exhibit remarkable photocatalytic stability. This work demonstrates that MOF-derived yolk–shell structured materials hold great promise for application in the field of energy conversion.

MOF-derived yolk–shell CdS microcubes with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity and stability for hydrogen evolution

This paper reports CuO-graphene layer-by-layer hybrid nanostructures by a fast microwave irradiation method. The CuO nanosheets or fusiform morphologies were obtained by varying the reaction temperature of microwave heating. These CuO nanostructures were uniformly dispersed on graphene nanosheets (GNS), forming layer-by-layer nanostructures after drying and stacking. CuO nanostructures were designed as the spacer to prevent the reassembly of GNS to graphite sheets so that the unique properties relative to few-layer graphene nanosheets (GNS) could be retained in the practical applications. When evaluated as anode materials for Li-ion batteries, the CuO-GNS composites showed substantially enhanced lithium-storage capacities compared to CuO materials and GNS, which has been attributed to the improvement of structure stability and electrical contact by GNS for a long time upon repetitive cycling.

Yong Wang

Papers

Bismuth oxyiodide-graphene nanocomposites with high visible light photocatalytic activity.

Carbon nanotubes grown in situ on graphene nanosheets as superior anodes for Li-ion batteries.

Tin Nanoparticle Loaded Graphite Anodes for Li-Ion Battery Applications

MOF-derived yolk–shell CdS microcubes with enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity and stability for hydrogen evolution

Sheet-like and fusiform CuO nanostructures grown on graphene by rapid microwave heating for high Li-ion storage capacities