Hollow Graphene as an Expansion-Inhibiting Electrical Interconnector for Silicon Electrodes in Lithium-Ion Batteries.

Huge volume changes of silicon particles upon alloying and dealloying reactions with lithium are a major reason for the poor cycle performance of silicon-based anodes for lithium-ion batteries. To suppress dimensional changes of silicon is a key strategy in attempts to improve the electrochemical performance of silicon-based anodes. Here, we demonstrate that a conductive agent can be exploited to offset the mechanical strain imposed on silicon electrodes caused by volume expansion of silicon associated with lithiation.

KTiO Nanoparticle-Loaded Porous rGO Crumples for Supercapacitors.

One-dimensional alkali metal titanates containing potassium, sodium, and lithium are of great concern owing to their high ion mobility and high specific surface area. When those titanates are combined with conductive materials such as graphene, carbon nanotube, and carbon nanofiber, they are able to be employed as efficient electrode materials for supercapacitors. Potassium hexa-titanate (KTiO, KTO), in particular, has shown superior electrochemical properties compared to other alkali metal titanates because of their large lattice parameters induced by the large radius of potassium ions.

Self-Healing Microcapsule-Thickened Oil Barrier Coatings.

Low-viscosity oils could potentially act as self-healing barrier coatings because they can readily flow and reconnect to heal minor damage. For the same reason, however, they typically do not form stable coatings on metal surfaces. Increasing viscosity helps to stabilize the oil coating, but it also slows down the healing process.

High Potential of Aerosol-Made 3D Graphene-Based Composites for Enhanced Energy Storage.

Recently, many researchers have developed advanced energy storage and energy conversion systems to address the increased demand for energy resources. The performance of these electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices depends considerably on the properties of their unique electrode materials. Among electrode materials, graphene (GR) has attracted much attention due to its unique properties of high flexibility, a large specific surface area, and superior electric conductivity rates that are well-suited to energy storage systems.

Stacking-Controlled Assembly of Cabbage-Like Graphene Microsphere for Charge Storage Applications.

Nanostructured graphene electrodes generally have a low density, which can limit the volumetric performance for energy storage devices. The liquid-phase mild reduction process of graphene oxide sheets is combined with the continuous aerosol densification process to produce high-density graphene agglomerates in the form of microspheres. The produced graphene assembly shows the cabbage-like morphology with a high density of 0.

Disassembly-Reassembly Approach to RuO /Graphene Composites for Ultrahigh Volumetric Capacitance Supercapacitor.

A porous, yet compact, RuO /graphene hybrid is successfully prepared by using a disassembly-reassembly strategy, achieving effective and uniform loading of RuO nanoparticles inside compact graphene monolith. The disassembly process ensures the uniform loading of RuO nanoparticles into graphene monolith, while the reassembly process guarantees a high density yet simultaneously unimpeded ion transport channel in the composite. The resulting RuO /graphene hybrid possesses a density of 2.

One-Step Formation of Silicon-Graphene Composites from Silicon Sludge Waste and Graphene Oxide via Aerosol Process for Lithium Ion Batteries.

Over 40% of high-purity silicon (Si) is consumed as sludge waste consisting of Si, silicon carbide (SiC) particles and metal impurities from the fragments of cutting wire mixed in ethylene glycol based cutting fluid during Si wafer slicing in semiconductor fabrication. Recovery of Si from the waste Si sludge has been a great concern because Si particles are promising high-capacity anode materials for Li ion batteries. In this study, we report a novel one-step aerosol process that not only extracts Si particles but also generates Si-graphene (GR) composites from the colloidal mixture of waste Si sludge and graphene oxide (GO) at the same time by ultrasonic atomization-assisted spray pyrolysis.

One-Step Synthesis of Pt/Graphene Composites from Pt Acid Dissolved Ethanol via Microwave Plasma Spray Pyrolysis.

Pt nanoparticles-laden graphene (Pt/GR) composites were synthesized in the gas phase from a mixture of ethanol and Pt precursor by microwave plasma spray pyrolysis. The morphology of Pt/GR composites has the shape of wrinkled sheets of paper, while Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs) that are less than 2.6 nm in the mean diameter are uniformly well deposited on the surface of GR sheets stacked in only three layers.

Hierarchical networks of redox-active reduced crumpled graphene oxide and functionalized few-walled carbon nanotubes for rapid electrochemical energy storage.

Crumpled graphene is known to have a strong aggregation-resistive property due to its unique 3D morphology, providing a promising solution to prevent the restacking issue of graphene based electrode materials. Here, we demonstrate the utilization of redox-active oxygen functional groups on the partially reduced crumpled graphene oxide (r-CGO) for electrochemical energy storage applications. To effectively utilize the surface redox reactions of the functional groups, hierarchical networks of electrodes including r-CGO and functionalized few-walled carbon nanotubes (f-FWNTs) are assembled via a vacuum-filtration process, resulting in a 3D porous structure.

A swelling-suppressed Si/SiOx nanosphere lithium storage material fabricated by graphene envelopment.

A swelling-suppressed, Si nanocrystals-embedded SiOx nanospheres lithium storage material was prepared by graphene envelopment. The free void spaces formed between the graphene envelope and Si/SiOx nanospheres effectively accommodated the volume changes of Si/SiOx nanospheres during cycling, which significantly suppresses the swelling behavior and improves the capacity retention up to 200 cycles.

Self-dispersed crumpled graphene balls in oil for friction and wear reduction.

Ultrafine particles are often used as lubricant additives because they are capable of entering tribological contacts to reduce friction and protect surfaces from wear. They tend to be more stable than molecular additives under high thermal and mechanical stresses during rubbing. It is highly desirable for these particles to remain well dispersed in oil without relying on molecular ligands.

High-Yield Spreading of Water-Miscible Solvents on Water for Langmuir-Blodgett Assembly.

Langmuir-Blodgett (LB) assembly is a classical molecular thin-film processing technique, in which the material is spread onto water surface from a volatile, water-immiscible solvent to create floating monolayers that can be later transferred to solid substrates. LB has also been applied to prepare colloidal thin films with an unparalleled level of microstructural control and thickness, which has enabled the discovery of many exciting collective properties of nanoparticles and the construction of bulk nanostructured materials. To maximize the benefits of LB assembly, the nanoparticles should be well dispersed in both the spreading solvent and on water.

Aerosol-assisted extraction of silicon nanoparticles from wafer slicing waste for lithium ion batteries.

A large amount of silicon debris particles are generated during the slicing of silicon ingots into thin wafers for the fabrication of integrated-circuit chips and solar cells. This results in a significant loss of valuable materials at about 40% of the mass of ingots. In addition, a hazardous silicon sludge waste is produced containing largely debris of silicon, and silicon carbide, which is a common cutting material on the slicing saw.

3D label-free prostate specific antigen (PSA) immunosensor based on graphene-gold composites.

Highly sensitive and label-free detection of the prostate specific antigen (PSA) remains a challenge in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. Here, a novel three-dimensional (3D) electrochemical immunosensor capable of sensitive and label-free detection of PSA is reported. This unique immunosensor is equipped with a highly conductive graphene (GR)-based gold (Au) composite modified electrode.

A novel recovery of silicon nanoparticles from a waste silicon sludge.

As the semiconductor and photovoltaic industry undergo rapid growth, a large amount of silicon sludge is generated from the cutting process of silicon ingots. However, it is not effectively recycled. Recovery of nanometer-sized silicon (Si) particles from the sludge has become an important concern because the silicon sludge contains valuable resources including high purity silicon.

Synthesis and characterization of hollow silica particles from tetraethyl orthosilicate and sodium silicate.

We herein introduce an effective method to synthesize hollow silica particles (HSPs) from tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) and sodium silicate (Na2SiO3) as silica sources using a sacrificial template method with a simple modification. The advantage of the method is that it can be applied to synthesize HSPs from not only TEOS but also Na2SiO3 silica sources without changing the method adopted to obtain the sacrificial polymeric templates. Polystyrene particles are adopted as sacrificial templates to synthesize the HSPs, and a conventional dispersion polymerization method is used to synthesis polystyrene particles in an oil medium.

Effect of sheet morphology on the scalability of graphene-based ultracapacitors.

Graphene is considered a promising ultracapacitor material toward high power and energy density because of its high conductivity and high surface area without pore tortuosity. However, the two-dimensional (2D) sheets tend to aggregate during the electrode fabrication process and align perpendicular to the flow direction of electrons and ions, which can reduce the available surface area and limit the electron and ion transport. This makes it hard to achieve scalable device performance as the loading level of the active material increases.

Crumpled Graphene-Encapsulated Si Nanoparticles for Lithium Ion Battery Anodes.

Submicrometer-sized capsules made of Si nanoparticles wrapped by crumpled graphene shells were made by a rapid, one-step capillary-driven assembly route in aerosol droplets. Aqueous dispersion of micrometer-sized graphene oxide (GO) sheets and Si nanoparticles were nebulized to form aerosol droplets, which were passed through a preheated tube furnace. Evaporation-induced capillary force wrapped graphene (a.

A glucose biosensor based on TiO2-Graphene composite.

A novel glucose biosensor was developed based on the adsorption of glucose oxidase at a TiO(2)-Graphene (GR) nanocomposite electrode. A TiO(2)-GR composite was synthesized from a colloidal mixture of TiO(2) nanoparticles and graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets by an aerosol assisted self-assembly (AASA). The particle morphology of all TiO(2)-GR composites was spherical in shape.

Oil absorbing graphene capsules by capillary molding.

Oil absorbing graphene capsules are synthesized by capillary molding of graphene oxide (GO) sheets against a polystyrene bead template in evaporating aerosol droplets, followed by simultaneous reduction of GO and decomposition of the polymer template during ultrasonic spray pyrolysis.

Aerosol synthesis of cargo-filled graphene nanosacks.

Water microdroplets containing graphene oxide and a second solute are shown to spontaneously segregate into sack-cargo nanostructures upon drying. Analytical modeling and molecular dynamics suggest the sacks form when slow-diffusing graphene oxide preferentially accumulates and adsorbs at the receding air-water interface, followed by capillary collapse. Cargo-filled graphene nanosacks can be nanomanufactured by a simple, continuous, scalable process and are promising for many applications where nanoscale materials should be isolated from the environment or biological tissue.

Compression and aggregation-resistant particles of crumpled soft sheets.

Unlike flat sheets, crumpled paper balls have both high free volume and high compressive strength, and can tightly pack without significantly reducing the area of accessible surface. Such properties would be highly desirable for sheet-like materials such as graphene, since they tend to aggregate in solution and restack in the solid state, making their properties highly dependent on the material processing history. Here we report the synthesis of crumpled graphene balls by capillary compression in rapidly evaporating aerosol droplets.

Preparation of nanoporous SiO2 particles and their application in drug release control.

Nanoporous SiO2 particles which have different pore size and volume were prepared from a colloidal mixture of nano-sized silica particles by a spray heating method. The prepared nanoporous SiO2 particles were employed as a drug carrier to investigate the release behaviors of methylene blue (MB) as a model drug for a selected period of time. The concentration of released MB from the porous particles was measured by a UV-Vis spectroscopy with respect to time.

Preparation and characterization of vanadium-doped ZnO nanoparticles for environmental application.

Vanadium-doped ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO:V) were prepared via flame spray pyrolysis (FSP) from a mixed aqueous solution of zinc hydroxide and vanadyl (IV) acetylacetonate. The morphological, structural and optical properties of the ZnO:V photocatalyst were characterized via transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), and UV-visible diffused reflection spectrum (DRS). The photocatalytic activity of ZnO:V was evaluated via photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB).

Pore size-controlled synthesis and characterization of nanostructured silica particles.

Silica nano-materials with meso- and macroporosity are of great interest due to their variety of potential applications. For the application as a catalytic supporter, nanostructured spherical silica particles having both mesopores and macropores were prepared by using an aerosol templating method with colloidal mixtures of polystyrene latex (PSL) particles and silica nanoparticles. The as-prepared particles showed bimodal size distribution consisting of mesopores ranging 2-20 nm and macropores ranging 60-160 nm.