Rhombohedrally stacked layered transition metal dichalcogenides and their electrocatalytic applications.

Layered transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) are extensively investigated as catalyst materials for a wide range of electrochemical applications due to their high surface area and versatile electronic and chemical properties. Bulk TMDCs are van der Waals solids that possess strong in-plane bonding and weak inter-layer interactions. In the few-layer 2D TMDCs, several polymorphic structures have been reported as each individual layer can either retain octahedral or trigonal prismatic coordination.

Electrostatic co-assembly of FePS nanosheets and surface functionalized BCN heterostructures for hydrogen evolution reaction.

Advances in the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are intricately connected with addressing the current energy crisis and quest for sustainable energy sources. The necessity of catalysts that are efficient and inexpensive to perform the hydrogen evolution reaction is key to this. Following the ground-breaking discovery of graphene, metal thio/seleno phosphates (MPX: M - transition metal, P - phosphorus and X - S/Se), two dimensional (2D) materials, exhibit excellent tunable physicochemical, electronic and optical properties, and are expected to be key to the energy industry for years to come.

Synthesis, characterization, surface properties and energy device characterstics of 2D borocarbonitrides, (BN) C , covalently cross-linked with sheets of other 2D materials.

Covalent cross-linking of 2D structures such as graphene, MoS and CN using coupling reactions affords the generation of novel materials with new or improved properties. These covalently cross-linked structures provide the counter point to the van der Waals heterostructures, with an entirely different set of features and potential applications. In this article, we describe the materials obtained by bonding borocarbonitride (BCN) layers with BCN layers as well as with other layered structures such as MoS and CN.

Covalent cross-linking as a strategy to generate novel materials based on layered (2D) and other low D structures.

Covalent linking of 2D structures such as graphene, MoS and CN by employing coupling reactions provides a strategy to generate a variety of materials with new or improved properties. These materials in a way provide the counter point based on covalent bonds to the van der Waals heterostructures. In this article, we describe materials obtained by linking graphene, MoS and BN with other layered structures and also with one-dimensional nanotubes and zero-dimensional MOFs and MOPs.

Nanocomposites of CN with Layers of MoS and Nitrogenated RGO, Obtained by Covalent Cross-Linking: Synthesis, Characterization, and HER Activity.

Generation of hydrogen by photochemical, electrochemical, and other means is a vital area of research today, and a variety of materials have been explored as catalysts for this purpose. CN, MoS, and nitrogenated RGO (NRGO) are some of the important catalytic materials investigated for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) reaction, but the observed catalytic activities are somewhat marginal. Prompted by preliminary reports that covalent cross-linking of 2D materials to generate heteroassemblies or nanocomposites may have beneficial effect on the catalytic activity, we have synthesized nanocomposites wherein CN is covalently bonded to MoS or NRGO nanosheets.

Nanocomposites of 2D-MoS2 nanosheets with the metal-organic framework, ZIF-8.

The nanocomposites of MoS2 nanosheets with the metal-organic framework, ZIF-8, have been synthesized starting with the layers of 1T-MoS2 generated by Li intercalation of bulk MoS2, followed by exfoliation. The nanocomposites contain the Zn-S bond and exhibit reasonably high surface areas. They exhibit CO2 uptake higher than ZIF-8.

Carbon-Nanohorn-Reinforced Polymer Matrix Composites: Synergetic Benefits in Mechanical Properties.

Mechanical properties of single-walled carbon nanohorns (SWNH) and SWNH plus few-layer graphene (EG)-reinforced poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) matrix composites have been measured using the nanoindentation technique. The elastic modulus (E) and hardness (H) of PVA were found to improve by ∼315% and ∼135%, respectively, upon the addition of just 0.4 wt % SWNH.

Packing behaviors of structurally different polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane-imidazolium surfactants in clay.

This paper reports the packing structures of two types of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS)-imidazolium surfactants with different molecular rigidity in the intergalleries of montmorillonite clay. Wide-angle X-ray scattering (WAXS) and molecular modeling studies suggest that the POSS-imidazolium cations have a bilayer packing structure in clay with the long axes of the molecules largely tilted with respect to the basal plane. Direct evidence for the bilayer structure is provided by transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Characteristics of hydrothermally deposited nanostructured (NiZn) Fe2O4 films.

This work is devoted to the hydrothermal deposition of nanostructured (NiZn) Fe2O4 films on PCB substrates and their structural, morphological and electro-magnetic characterisation. Ferrite films were prepared by the hydrothermal treatment of iron, nickel and zinc nitrate solutions in the presence of reduced iron powder and urea at a temperature of 150 degrees C for 2 hrs. The resulting films with a black appearance are homogeneous without visible pores.

Surface microcracks decoration and disclination defects of wholly aromatic liquid crystalline copolyesters.

An intensive study has been conducted to map the director fields of disclination of nematic liquid crystalline copolyesters. In this study, films of two wholly aromatic main-chain polyesters containing para- (ABA/MH/TFTA) and meta-linkages (ABA/MH/TFIA) (ABA, p-acetoxybenzoic acid; MH, maleic hydrazine; TFTA, tetrafluoroterephthalic acid; TFIA, tetrafluoroisophthalic acid) were synthesized to investigate the effects of kinks on liquid crystallinity, disclination strength (S), and surface microcracks decoration. These two copolyesters were prepared by in-situ thin film polymerization and characterized by polarizing light microscope, wide-angle X-ray diffraction, as well as "rotational isomeric states" (RIS) Metropolis Monte Carlo (RMMC) simulation.

Surfactant free fabrication of polymeric nanoparticles by combined liquid-liquid phase separation and solvent/nonsolvent mixing technology.

It is generally agreed that, in most cases, surfactants are required to obtain stable polymeric nanoparticle dispersions. Here, we report a method which can be used to produce surfactant free yet stable polymeric nanoparticle dispersions. This method is based on explored mechanism of selective solvation of nanoparticles and EPD (electron pair donor)/EPA (electron pair acceptor) complexes formed among solvent and nonsolvent molecules.