Surface-Pore-Modified N-Doped Amorphous Carbon Nanospheres Tailored with Toluene as Anode Materials for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

The surface modification of amorphous carbon nanospheres (ACNs) through templates has attracted great attention due to its great success in improving the electrochemical properties of lithium storage materials. Herein, a safe methodology with toluene as a soft template is employed to tailor the nanostructure, resulting in ACNs with tunable surface pores. Extensive characterizations through transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms elucidate the impact of surface pore modifications on the external structure, morphology, and surface area.

Exfoliation and stabilization mechanism of graphene in carbon dioxide expanded organic solvents: molecular dynamics simulations.

CO expanded organic solvents possess significant advantages in liquid-phase exfoliation to obtain monolayer/few-layer graphene from graphite. Further insights into the mechanism of graphene exfoliation in such solvents are essential to explore liquid-phase dispersion of graphene as a more potent alternative to chemical vapor deposition. In this study, dynamic processes of exfoliation and stabilization of graphene in CO-N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), CO-N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP), CO-dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), and CO-ethanol (EtOH) were investigated using molecular dynamics simulations.