Study on the Application of Nitrogen-Doped Holey Graphene in Supercapacitors with Organic Electrolyte.

We present a facile low-cost method to produce nitrogen-doped holey graphene (N-HGE) and its application to supercapacitors. A composite of N-HGE and activated carbon (AC) was used as the electrode active material in organic-electrolyte supercapacitors, and the performances were evaluated. Melamine was mixed into graphite oxide (GO) as the N source, and an ultra-rapid heating method was used to create numerous holes during the reduction process of GO. X-ray photoelectron spectra confirmed the successful doping with 2.9-4.5 at.% of nitrogen on all samples. Scanning electron micrographs and Raman spectra revealed that a higher heating rate resulted in more holes and defects on the reduced graphene sheets. An extra annealing step at 1000 °C for 1 h was carried out to further eliminate residual oxygen functional groups, which are undesirable in the organic electrolyte system. Compared to the low-heating-rate counterpart (N-GE-15), N-HGE boosted the specific capacity of the supercapacitor by 42 and 22% at current densities of 0.5 and 20 A/g, respectively. The effects of annealing time (0.5, 1, and 2 h) at 1000 °C were also studied. Longer annealing time resulted in higher capacitance values at all current densities due to the minimized oxygen content. Volumetric specific capacitances of 49 and 24 F/cm3 were achieved at current densities of 0.5 and 20 A/g, respectively. For the high-power-density operation at 31,000 W/kg (or 10,000 W/L), an energy density as high as 11 Wh/kg (or 3.5 Wh/L) was achieved. The results indicated that N-HGE not only improved the conductivity of the composite supercapacitors but also accelerated ion transport by way of shortened diffusion paths through the numerous holes all over the graphene sheets.

Using Graphene-Based Composite Materials to Boost Anti-Corrosion and Infrared-Stealth Performance of Epoxy Coatings.

Corrosion prevention and infrared (IR) stealth are conflicting goals. While graphene nanosheets (GN) provide an excellent physical barrier against corrosive agent diffusion, thus lowering the permeability of anti-corrosion coatings, they have the side-effect of decreasing IR stealth. In this work, the anti-corrosion properties of 100-µm-thick composite epoxy coatings with various concentrations (0.01-1 wt.%) of GN fillers thermally reduced at different temperatures (300 °C, 700 °C, 1100 °C) are first compared. The performance was characterized by potentiodynamic polarization scanning, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, water contact angle and salt spray tests. The corrosion resistance for coatings was found to be optimum at a very low filler concentration (0.05 wt.%). The corrosion current density was 4.57 × 10-11 A/cm2 for GN reduced at 1100 °C, showing no degradation after 500 h of salt-spray testing: a significant improvement over the anti-corrosion behavior of epoxy coatings. Further, to suppress the high IR thermal signature of GN and epoxy, Al was added to the optimized composite at different concentrations. The increased IR emissivity due to GN was not only eliminated but was in fact reduced relative to the pure epoxy. These optimized coatings of Al-GN-epoxy not only exhibited greatly reduced IR emissivity but also showed no sign of corrosion after 500 h of salt spray test.

A Holey Graphene Additive for Boosting Performance of Electric Double-Layer Supercapacitors.

We demonstrate a facile and effective method, which is low-cost and easy to scale up, to fabricate holey graphene nanosheets (HGNSs) via ultrafast heating during synthesis. Various heating temperatures are used to modify the material properties of HGNSs. First, we use HGNSs as the electrode active materials for electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs). A synthesis temperature of 900 °C seems to be optimal, i.e., the conductivity and adhesion of HGNSs reach a compromise. The gravimetric capacitance of this HGNS sample (namely HGNS-900) is 56 F·g-1. However, the volumetric capacitance is low, which hinders its practical application. Secondly, we incorporate activated carbon (AC) into HGNS-900 to make a composite EDLC material. The effect of the AC:HGNS-900 ratio on the capacitance, high-rate performance, and cycling stability are systematically investigated. With a proper amount of HGNS-900, both the electrode gravimetric and volumetric capacitances at high rate charging/discharging are clearly higher than those of plain AC electrodes. The AC/HGNS-900 composite is a promising electrode material for nonaqueous EDLC applications.

Helical-Cathode Bulb-Shaped Field Emission Lamps Using Carbon Nanocoil Electron Emitters.

Bulb-shaped field emission lamps (FELs) with a helical cathode filament were simulated and fabricated in this research. The light bulbs comprised a helical stainless steel filament cathode grown with carbon nano-coils (CNCs) and an Al anode deposited on the bottom hemisphere of a 60-mm-diameter glass bulb. White light was generated when the field-emitted electrons bombarded a layer of three-color phosphor coated on the anode. A numerical simulation model for the helical-cathode FELs was constructed, and the field emission (FE) performance was carefully studied. Due to the screening effect, the electric field strength as well as the FE current density on the inner side of the helix dramatically decreased with decreasing helical pitch. Real FELs using cathodes with various helical radii and pitches were fabricated and their FE currents were measured. The theoretical and experimental results were in good agreement. A maximum total FE current was found at a pitch of 16 mm (helical radius = 2 mm), where the optimum trade-off between a large total surface area and a small screening effect was obtained. The optimized FEL showed a total luminous flux of about 220 lm at an applied voltage of 8 kV and a color rendering index of 94. Compared to a straight filament cathode, a helical cathode offered a higher total FE current or, alternatively, a lower current density and a longer cathode life, if we fix the total current by using a lower voltage.

Investigation of the Optoelectronic Properties of Ti-doped Indium Tin Oxide Thin Film.

: In this study, direct-current magnetron sputtering was used to fabricate Ti-doped indium tin oxide (ITO) thin films. The sputtering power during the 350-nm-thick thin-film production process was fixed at 100 W with substrate temperatures increasing from room temperature to 500 °C. The Ti-doped ITO thin films exhibited superior thin-film resistivity (1.5 × 10-4 Ω/cm), carrier concentration (4.1 × 1021 cm-³), carrier mobility (10 cm²/Vs), and mean visible-light transmittance (90%) at wavelengths of 400-800 nm at a deposition temperature of 400 °C. The superior carrier concentration of the Ti-doped ITO alloys (>1021 cm-³) with a high figure of merit (81.1 × 10-³ Ω-¹) demonstrate the pronounced contribution of Ti doping, indicating their high suitability for application in optoelectronic devices.

Graphene-supported platinum nanoparticles prepared by a self-regulated reduction method.

Graphene-supported Pt nanoparticles were prepared by a self-regulated reduction method without using any extra reductive agent. Unassisted reduction of Pt ions by the oxygen-containing functional groups on graphene was demonstrated. X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed a (200) peak of face-centered cubic Pt crystals and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) further confirmed the presence of Pt. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) depicted good dispersion of the Pt nanoparticles on graphene. The particle sizes estimated by TEM and XRD ranged from 2 to 6 nm. In comparison, the Pt nanoparticles reduced using ethylene glycol as an extra reducing agent exhibited larger sizes, a wider spread of size distribution, and less uniform dispersion on graphene. The electrocatalytic activity of Pt on graphene was verified by cyclic voltammetry. In addition, Raman scattering spectroscopy showed an increase in D- to G-peak ratio and an effect of surface-enhanced Raman scattering for the graphene decorated with Pt nanoparticles.

Bulb-shaped field emission lamps using carbon nano-coil cathodes.

Bulb-shaped field emission lamps (FELs) using carbon nano-coil (CNC) cathodes were fabricated and their performances were characterized. A straight steel wire grown with CNCs was placed on the symmetry axis in the bulb as the cathode. The anode was defined by a Ni film deposited on the bottom hemisphere of a 60-mm-diameter glass bulb. And a phosphor layer was coated on the Ni film for light generation via cathodoluminescence. A numerical simulation model for this geometry also was constructed. The simulated current-voltage curves agree well with the experimental results and reproduce the trends observed in the experiment. The effects of varying the length and diameter of the cathode were studied. Both experiment and simulation showed that the total field emission current increases with the cathode length and decreases with the cathode diameter. Although the design is simple and inherently low-cost, good uniformity of light emission over the entire anode was demonstrated.

Preparation and characterization of polypropylene-graft-thermally reduced graphite oxide with an improved compatibility with polypropylene-based nanocomposite.

Polypropylene was successfully covalently grafted onto the surface of thermally reduced graphite oxide (PP-g-TRGO) by taking advantage of the "residual oxygen-containing functional groups" and the "grafting to" method. The PP-g-TRGO obtained showed an improved compatibility, and interfacial interaction, with an isotactic PP (iPP) matrix. The iPP/PP-g-TRGO nanocomposite exhibited a dramatically improved thermal stability compared to that of neat iPP even at low loadings.

Preparation of covalently functionalized graphene using residual oxygen-containing functional groups.

When fabricated by thermal exfoliation, graphene can be covalently functionalized more easily by applying a direct ring-opening reaction between the residual epoxide functional groups on the graphene and the amine-bearing molecules. Investigation by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Raman spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) all confirm that these molecules were covalently grafted to the surface of graphene. The resulting dispersion in an organic solvent demonstrated a long-term homogeneous stability of the products. Furthermore, comparison with traditional free radical functionalization shows the extent of the defects characterized by TEM and Raman spectroscopy and reveals that direct functionalization enables graphene to be covalently functionalized on the surface without causing any further damage to the surface structure. Thermogravmetric analysis (TGA) shows that the nondestroyed graphene structure provides greater thermal stability not only for the grafted molecules but also, more importantly, for the graphene itself, compared to the free-radical grafting method.

Study of surface and bulk acoustic phonon excitations in superlattices using picosecond ultrasonics.

We have performed picosecond ultrasonic studies on the surface and bulk acoustic phonons in amorphous Mo/Si superlattices. Localized surface modes within the first, second, and sixth frequency gaps of the zone-folded phonons are observed. A selection rule derived from symmetry considerations provides new understanding of why certain modes are seen and not the others. The excitation strengths and detailed spectral features of these lines are studied, and the results are well explained by an elastic-continuum theory. It is found that the line shapes are significantly modified by the presence of bulk modes near the zone center.