3D Graphene‐Infused Polyimide with Enhanced Electrothermal Performance for Long‐Term Flexible Space Applications

Polyimides (PIs) have been praised for their high thermal stability, high modulus of elasticity and tensile strength, ease of fabrication, and moldability. They are currently the standard choice for both substrates for flexible electronics and space shielding, as they render high temperature and UV stability and toughness. However, their poor thermal conductivity and completely electrically insulating characteristics have caused other limitations, such as thermal management challenges for flexible high‐power electronics and spacecraft electrostatic charging. In order to target these issues, a hybrid of PI with 3D‐graphene (3D‐C), 3D‐C/PI, is developed here. This composite renders extraordinary enhancements of thermal conductivity (one order of magnitude) and electrical conductivity (10 orders of magnitude). It withstands and keeps a stable performance throughout various bending and thermal cycles, as well as the oxidative and aggressive environment of ground‐based, simulated space environments. This makes this new hybrid film a suitable material for flexible space applications.     

High‐Performance Materials for 3D Printing in Chemical Synthesis Applications

3D printing has emerged as an enabling technology for miniaturization. High‐precision printing techniques such as stereolithography are capable of printing microreactors and lab‐on‐a‐chip devices for efficient parallelization of biological and biochemical reactions under reduced uptake of reactants. In the world of chemistry, however, up until now, miniaturization has played a minor role. The chemical and thermal stability of regular 3D printing resins is insufficient for sustaining the harsh conditions of chemical reactions. Novel material formulations that produce highly stable 3D‐printed chips are highly sought for bringing chemistry up‐to‐date on the development of miniaturization. In this work, a brief review of recent developments in highly stable materials for 3D printing is given. This work focuses on three highly stable 3D‐printable material systems: transparent silicate glasses, ceramics, and fluorinated polymers. It is further demonstrated that 3D printing is also a versatile technique for surface structuring of polymers to enhance their wetting performance. Such micro/nanostructuring is key to selectively wetting surface patterns that are versatile for chemical arrays and droplet synthesis.     

Recent Advances on 3D Printing Technique for Thermal‐Related Applications

Advances in ink formulation and printing techniques make producing material systems with new and versatile characteristics and functionalities possible. Additive manufacturing or 3D printing enables fabricating complex structures at a faster production rate using different types of materials for various applications. Recently, 3D printing methods are being studied for thermal‐related applications. In this paper, the authors review recent progress of materials and printing techniques for thermal application devices using composite materials.

     

Progress in 3D Printing of Carbon Materials for Energy‐Related Applications

The additive‐manufacturing (AM) technique, known as three‐dimensional (3D) printing, has attracted much attention in industry and academia in recent years. 3D printing has been developed for a variety of applications. Printable inks are the most important component for 3D printing, and are related to the materials, the printing method, and the structures of the final 3D‐printed products. Carbon materials, due to their good chemical stability and versatile nanostructure, have been widely used in 3D printing for different applications. Good inks are mainly based on volatile solutions having carbon materials as fillers such as graphene oxide (GO), carbon nanotubes (CNT), carbon blacks, and solvent, as well as polymers and other additives. Studies of carbon materials in 3D printing, especially GO‐based materials, have been extensively reported for energy‐related applications. In these circumstances, understanding the very recent developments of 3D‐printed carbon materials and their extended applications to address energy‐related challenges and bring new concepts for material designs are becoming urgent and important. Here, recent developments in 3D printing of emerging devices for energy‐related applications are reviewed, including energy‐storage applications, electronic circuits, and thermal‐energy applications at high temperature. To close, a conclusion and outlook are provided, pointing out future designs and developments of 3D‐printing technology based on carbon materials for energy‐related applications and beyond.     

Recent Progress in Graphene‐Based Noble‐Metal Nanocomposites for Electrocatalytic Applications

The fast industrialization process has led to global challenges in the energy crisis and environmental pollution, which might be solved with clean and renewable energy. Highly efficient electrochemical systems for clean‐energy collection require high‐performance electrocatalysts, including Au, Pt, Pd, Ru, etc. Graphene, a single‐layer 2D carbon nanosheet, possesses many intriguing properties, and has attracted tremendous research attention. Specifically, graphene and graphene derivatives have been utilized as templates for the synthesis of various noble‐metal nanocomposites, showing excellent performance in electrocatalytic‐energy‐conversion applications, such as the hydrogen evolution reaction and CO₂ reduction. Herein, the recent progress in graphene‐based noble‐metal nanocomposites is summarized, focusing on their synthetic methods and electrocatalytic applications. Furthermore, some personal insights on the challenges and possible future work in this research field are proposed.     

聚酰亚胺基纳米复合材料的研究进展

聚合物基纳米复合材料具有许多不同于常规复合材料的特性,如同步增韧增强、高强度、高模量、光电转换、高效催化等特性,因此是纳米复合材料研究领域的一个重要方面。主要介绍了聚酰亚胺(PI)基无机纳米复合材料的研究现状,阐述了不同纳米增强物质,如碳纳米管、氧化铝(Al2O3)、氧化镁(MgO)、二氧化钛(TiO2)和二氧化硅(SiO2)等5种无机纳米粒子自身的表面改性方法和他们对PI的改性机理。同时,综述了聚酰亚胺基纳米复合材料的有关性质及应用。     

Prospects of Supercritical Fluids in Realizing Graphene‐Based Functional Materials

Supercritical‐fluids science and technology predate all the approaches that are currently established for graphene production by several decades in advanced materials design. However, it has only recently been proposed as a plausible approach for graphene processing. Since then, supercritical fluids have emerged into contention as an alternative to existing technologies because of their scalability and versatility in processing graphene materials, which include composites, aerogels, and foams. Here, an overview is presented of such materials prepared through supercritical fluids from an advanced materials science standpoint, with a discussion on their fundamental properties and technological applications. The benefits of supercritical‐fluid processing over conventional liquid‐phase processing are presented. The benefits include not only better performances for advanced applications but also environmental issues associated with the synthesis process. Nevertheless, the limitations of supercritical‐fluid processing are also stressed, along with challenges that are still faced toward the achievement of the great expectations from graphene materials.     

Advances in Subcritical Hydro‐/Solvothermal Processing of Graphene Materials

Many promising graphene‐based materials are kept away from mainstream applications due to problems of scalability and environmental concerns in their processing. Hydro‐/solvothermal techniques overwhelmingly satisfy both the aforementioned criteria, and have matured as alternatives to wet‐chemical methods with advances made over the past few decades. The insolubility of graphene in many solvents poses considerable difficulties in their processing. In this context hydro‐/solvothermal techniques present an ideal opportunity for processing of graphenic materials with their versatility in manipulating the physical and thermodynamic properties of the solvent. The flexibility in hydro‐/solvothermal techniques for manipulation of solvent composition, temperature and pressure provides numerous handles to manipulate graphene‐based materials during synthesis. This review provides a comprehensive look at the subcritical hydro‐/solvothermal synthesis of graphene‐based functional materials and their applications. Several key synthetic strategies governing the morphology and properties of the products such as temperature, pressure, and solvent effects are elaborated. Advances in the synthesis, doping, and functionalization of graphene in hydro‐/solvothermal media are highlighted together with our perspectives in the field.     

Bottom‐Up Design of Composite Supraparticles for Powder‐Based Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing promises high flexibility and customized product design. Powder bed fusion processes use a laser to melt a polymer powder at predefined locations and iterate the scheme to build 3D objects. The design of flowable powders is a critical parameter for a successful fabrication process that currently limits the choice of available materials. Here, a bottom‐up process is introduced to fabricate tailored polymer‐ and composite supraparticles for powder‐based additive manufacturing processes by controlled aggregation of colloidal primary particles. These supraparticles exhibit a near‐spherical shape and tailored composition, morphology, and surface roughness. These parameters can be precisely controlled by the mixing and size ratio of the primary particles. Polystyrene/silica composite particles are chosen as a model system to establish structure–property relations connecting shape, morphology, and surface roughness to the adhesion within the powder, which is accessed by tensile strength measurements. The adhesive properties are then connected to powder flowability and it is shown that the resulting powders allow the formation of dense powder films with uniform coverage. Finally, successful powder bed fusion is demonstrated by producing macroscopic single layer specimens with uniform distribution of nanoscale silica additives.     

石墨烯基储能材料的增材制造研究进展

石墨烯是一种具有大比表面积、高电导率和良好的力学性能的二维材料,在高容量和大功率储能器件方面具有广阔的应用前景。然而现有的各种石墨烯电极制造技术无论从技术层面还是在生产率、性能方面都难以满足当前工业应用的需求。石墨烯增材制造(石墨烯3D打印)在复杂三维石墨烯结构的制造方面具有突出的优势和潜力,而且还具有设备简单、成型结构可控性高等优点。关于石墨烯基电极材料的增材制造及应用在近两年内迅速发展。概述了基于增材制造制备石墨烯结构的典型技术——直写成型(DIW)的机理和优点,介绍了基于该技术制备的石墨烯基电极材料在超级电容器和锂离子电池领域的应用,最后对石墨烯基电极材料的增材制造面临的挑战和未来发展趋势进行了展望。     

Extrusion‐Based 3D Printing of Hierarchically Porous Advanced Battery Electrodes

A highly porous 2D nanomaterial, holey graphene oxide (hGO), is synthesized directly from holey graphene powder and employed to create an aqueous 3D printable ink without the use of additives or binders. Stable dispersions of hydrophilic hGO sheets in water (≈100 mg mL^?1) can be readily achieved. The shear‐thinning behavior of the aqueous hGO ink enables extrusion‐based printing of fine filaments into complex 3D architectures, such as stacked mesh structures, on arbitrary substrates. The freestanding 3D printed hGO meshes exhibit trimodal porosity: nanoscale (4–25 nm through‐holes on hGO sheets), microscale (tens of micrometer‐sized pores introduced by lyophilization), and macroscale (<500 µm square pores of the mesh design), which are advantageous for high‐performance energy storage devices that rely on interfacial reactions to promote full active‐site utilization. To elucidate the benefit of (nano)porosity and structurally conscious designs, the additive‐free architectures are demonstrated as the first 3D printed lithium–oxygen (Li–O₂) cathodes and characterized alongside 3D printed GO‐based materials without nanoporosity as well as nanoporous 2D vacuum filtrated films. The results indicate the synergistic effect between 2D nanomaterials, hierarchical porosity, and overall structural design, as well as the promise of a freeform generation of high‐energy‐density battery systems.     

石墨烯类材料在疾病诊断治疗方面的研究进展

石墨烯是处于蜂窝状晶体点阵上的碳原子以sp2杂化链接形成的单原子层二维晶体,因独特的结构及优异的性能而备受关注,并在复合材料、纳米电子器件、能量储存和转换、液晶显示等众多领域具有重要的应用前景.主要介绍石墨烯类材料在疾病诊断和治疗方面的应用研究,包括生物分子检测、生物成像等诊断检测和药物载体、光动力治疗等肿瘤治疗方面的应用,并展望了其在生物医学领域的发展前景.     

Additive Manufacturing of Titanium Alloys for Orthopedic Applications: A Materials Science Viewpoint

Titanium‐based orthopedic implants are increasingly being fabricated using additive manufacturing (AM) processes such as selective laser melting (SLM), direct laser deposition (DLD), and electron beam melting (EBM). These techniques have the potential to not only produce implants with properties comparable to conventionally manufactured implants, but also improve on standard implant models. These models can be customized for individual patients using medical data, and design features, such as latticing, hierarchical scaffolds, or features to complement patient anatomy, can be added using AM to produce highly functional patient‐anatomy‐specific implants. Alloying prospects made possible through AM allow for the production of Ti‐based parts with compositions designed to reduce modulus and stress shielding while improving bone fixation and formation. The design‐to‐process lead time can be drastically shortened using AM and associated post‐processing, making possible the production of tailored implants for individual patients. This review examines the process and product characteristics of the three major metallic AM techniques and assesses the potential for these in the increased global uptake of AM in orthopedic implant fabrication.

     

Recent Advances in Carbon‐Based Metal‐Free Electrocatalysts

Precious noble metals (such as Pt, Ir) and nonprecious transition metals (e.g., Fe, Co), including their compounds (e.g., oxides, nitrides), have been widely investigated as efficient catalysts for energy conversion, energy storage, important chemical productions, and many industrial processes. However, they often suffer from high cost, low selectivity, poor durability, and susceptibility to gas poisoning with adverse environmental issues. As a low‐cost alternative, the first carbon‐based metal‐free catalyst (C‐MFC based on N‐doped carbon nanotubes) was discovered in 2009. Since then, various C‐MFCs have been demonstrated to show similar or even better catalytic performance than their metal‐based counterparts, attractive energy conversion and storage (e.g., fuel cells, metal–air batteries, water splitting), environmental remediation, and chemical production. Enormous progress has been achieved while the number of publications still rapidly increases every year. Herein, a critical overview of the very recent advances in this rapidly developing field during the last couple of years is presented.