Superhydrophobic foam combined with biomass-derived TENG based on upcycled coconut husk for efficient oil-water separation.

The ocean ecological environments are seriously affected by oil spilling and plastic-debris, preventing and significantly reducing marine pollution using biocomposite production from natural fiber reinforcement is a more friendly way to deal with marine oil pollution. Herein, we upcycled coir-coconut into lignin and coconut shell into spherical TENG by a combination of dip-dry and chemical treatment and used the SiO nanoparticles together with cellulose nanofibrils to prepare serial sugar-templated, anisotropic and hybrid foams. The as-prepared lignin/SiO porous sponge (LSPS) with a hierarchical porous morphology and uniformly dispersed nanoparticles structure benefits from the advantages of biomass-based additives, which presents reversible large-strain deformation (50%) and high compressive strength (11.

A freestanding nitrogen-doped MXene/graphene cathode for high-performance Li-S batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs) take a leading stand in developing next-generation secondary batteries with an exceptionally high theoretical energy density. However, the insulating nature and undesirable shuttle effect still need to be solved to improve the electrochemical performance. Herein, a freestanding graphene supported N-doped TiCT MXene@S cathode is successfully synthesized a straightforward no-slurry method.

Nanofiber-Enhanced "Lucky-Bag" Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Efficient Wave Energy Harvesting by Soft-Contact Structure.

Developing clean and renewable ocean wave energy is a top priority and an effective way to achieve carbon neutrality. Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) have emerged as promising green and clean energy-harvesting devices. To harvest low-frequency wave energy efficiently, much effort has been made on the modification of the contact surface, which leads to a higher fabrication cost.

Mechanically Tunable Spongy Graphene/Cellulose Nanocrystals Hybrid Aerogel by Atmospheric Drying and Its Adsorption Applications.

For expanding applications of spongy graphene aerogels (GAs) cost-effectively, we report a marriage of the two-step hydrothermal reduction and atmospheric drying method to fabricate a spongy CNC-graphene aerogel (CNG) with oil/water selectivity and tunable mechanical strength by a low-cost and straightforward approach. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) with CNC by the ice-templated method can give rise to forming the hierarchical structure of hybrid GAs within the PUS network. Meanwhile, the fractured structure of PUS with a pre-compressive step arouses more versatility and durability, involving its selective and high-volume absorbability (up to 143%).

Three-dimensional ordered macroporous ZIF-8 nanoparticle-derived nitrogen-doped hierarchical porous carbons for high-performance lithium-sulfur batteries.

Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries have attracted considerable attention due to their ultra-high specific capacity and energy density. However, there are still problems to be resolved such as poor conductivity of sulfur cathodes and dissolution of polysulfides in organic electrolytes. Herein, a novel ZIF-8-derived nitrogen-doped connected ordered macro-microporous carbon (COM-MPC) was developed by a dual solvent-assisted crystallization method within a face-centered cubic stacking sphere template, which acts as an advanced sulfur host for enhanced Li-S battery performance.

A self-assembled graphene/polyurethane sponge for excellent electromagnetic interference shielding performance.

With the rapid development of personal computers and portable electronics, people have to get rid of a lot of unwanted electromagnetic pollution. The development of high performance electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials is of critical importance to address ever-increasing military and civilian demand. Owing to its high electrical conductivity and flexible 3D structure, graphene sponge has great potential for excellent EMI shielding performance.

Publisher Correction: Highly reusable and superhydrophobic spongy graphene aerogels for efficient oil/water separation.

A correction to this article has been published and is linked from the HTML version of this paper. The error has been fixed in the paper.

Highly reusable and superhydrophobic spongy graphene aerogels for efficient oil/water separation.

Graphene aerogels (GAs) are three-dimensional (3D) graphene sponges with unique wettability and have demonstrated the potential for reducing contamination from oil spills and chemical accidents. Herein, we report new polyurethane (PU) sponge-reinforced GAs with low surface energy, high sorption capacity and excellent recyclability for use as efficient oil sorbents. Spongy graphene aerogels (SGAs) with a hierarchical porous morphology were produced by simply freeze-casting reduced graphene oxide (rGO) to form compacted macroscale sponges.

A Stretchable Pressure-Sensitive Array Based on Polymer Matrix.

Herein, a flexible 6 × 6 pressure-sensitive array (based on the PDMS (Polydimethylsiloxane) porous substrate) was designed. We have developed a facile method to fabricate the porous substrate, by a single-step operation using the sugar-template method. This strategy effectively diminishes the complexity of the preparation process, as well as the device structure.