Generic Strategy to Synthesize High-Tap Density Anode and Cathode Structures with Stratified Graphene Pliable Pockets via Monomeric Polymerization and Evaporation, and Their Utilization to Enable Ultrahigh Performance in Hybrid Energy Storages.

Hybrid energy storage systems have shown great promise for many applications; however, achieving high energy and power densities with long cycle stability remains a major challenge. Here, a strategy to synthesize high-tap density anode and cathode structures that yield ultrahigh performance in hybrid energy storage is reported. First, vinyl acetate monomers are polymerized into molecular sizes via chain reactions controlled by the surface free radicals of graphene and metals.

Synthesis of Single-Crystalline Hexagonal Graphene Quantum Dots from Solution Chemistry.

Graphene-based carbon nanostructures with nanometer dimensions have been of great interest due to the existence of a bandgap. So far, well-ordered edge structure and uniformly synthesized graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with a hexagonal single-crystalline structure have not been directly observed owing to the limited precision of current synthesis approaches. Herein, we report on a novel approach not just for the synthesis of the size-controlled single-crystalline GQDs with hexagonal shape but also for a new discovery on constructing 2D and 3D graphene single crystal structures from d-glucose via catalytic solution chemistry.

A new method to produce cellulose nanofibrils from microalgae and the measurement of their mechanical strength.

Despite the enormous potential of cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) as a reinforcing filler in various fields, the use of them has been limited by high-energy mechanical treatments that require a lot of energy and time consumption. To reduce the demands of energy and time required for mechanical treatments, microalgae, in particular, Nannochloropsis oceanica, which has small size, rapid growth rate, and high productivity was used as a CNFs source. This study obtains the CNFs by lipid/protein extraction, purification, and TEMPO-mediated oxidation processes under gentle mixing without high-energy mechanical treatments.

Highly stretchable and wearable graphene strain sensors with controllable sensitivity for human motion monitoring.

Because of their outstanding electrical and mechanical properties, graphene strain sensors have attracted extensive attention for electronic applications in virtual reality, robotics, medical diagnostics, and healthcare. Although several strain sensors based on graphene have been reported, the stretchability and sensitivity of these sensors remain limited, and also there is a pressing need to develop a practical fabrication process. This paper reports the fabrication and characterization of new types of graphene strain sensors based on stretchable yarns.