Synthesis and plasma treatment of nitrogen-doped graphene fibers for high-performance supercapacitors

Graphene fiber-based supercapacitor has aroused great interest as a flexible power source in future wearable electronics. However, the low electrochemical performance of graphene fibers (GFs) usually causes the serious limitation of use in practical applications due to the material stacking, hydrophobicity and fabrication process complexity. In this work, a facile and effective plasma-assisted strategy is put forward to increase specific surface area, tune hierarchically porous structure and promote wettability of nitrogen-doped graphene fibers (NGFs), resulting in the improvement of electrochemical performance. The supercapacitor assembled from plasma-treated NGFs shows superior capacitance (878 mF/cm² at 0.1 mA/cm² current density) and high energy density (19.5 μW h/cm² at 40 mW/cm² power density), which is 23.7% and 131.4% higher than that of NGFs and GFs, respectively. Additionally, the fiber-based supercapacitor based on plasma-treated NGFs exhibits high rate capability of 59.8% and excellent cyclic performance (95.8% retention over 10,000 cycles). These plasma-treated NGFs can be promising candidates for high-performance and flexible power sources in future wearable electronics.     

A facile approach to fabricate few-layer chemically modified and reduced graphene oxide sheets: Combination of stitching,reduction and functionaliztion

A facile strategy for the preparation of few-layer chemically stitched and reduced graphene oxide (FL-CMRG) in water using various linear diaminoalkanes with the general formula H₂N(CH₂)_nNH₂ (n = 4, 6, 8) is proposed, and the resulting FL-CMRG was characterized by means of AFM, TEM, XPS, UV-vis, TGA and XRD. Interlayer spacing between bridged FL-CMRG sheets can reach 1.038 nm when the size of the intercalant to (n = 6) H₂N (CH₂)₆ NH₂. A mechanism for forming the FL-CMRG via removal of epoxide and hydroxyl groups from GO and stitching of the GO sheets by various linear diaminoalkanes in water solution has been proposed.     

Quantum transport simulations of graphene nanoribbon devices using Dirac equation calibrated with tight-binding π-bond model

We present an efficient approach to study the carrier transport in graphene nanoribbon (GNR) devices using the non-equilibrium Green''s function approach (NEGF) based on the Dirac equation calibrated to the tight-binding π-bond model for graphene. The approach has the advantage of the computational efficiency of the Dirac equation and still captures sufficient quantitative details of the bandstructure from the tight-binding π-bond model for graphene. We demonstrate how the exact self-energies due to the leads can be calculated in the NEGF-Dirac model. We apply our approach to GNR systems of different widths subjecting to different potential profiles to characterize their device physics. Specifically, the validity and accuracy of our approach will be demonstrated by benchmarking the density of states and transmissions characteristics with that of the more expensive transport calculations for the tight-binding π-bond model.     

A coupled mechanical‐charge/dipole molecular dynamics finite element method,with multi‐scale applications to the design of graphene nano‐devices

A new Molecular Dynamics Finite Element Method (MDFEM) with a coupled mechanical‐charge/dipole formulation is proposed. The equilibrium equations of Molecular Dynamics (MD) are embedded exactly within the computationally more favourable Finite Element Method (FEM). This MDFEM can readily implement any force field because the constitutive relations are explicitly uncoupled from the corresponding geometric element topologies. This formal uncoupling allows to differentiate between chemical‐constitutive, geometric and mixed‐mode instabilities. Different force fields, including bond‐order reactive and polarisable fluctuating charge–dipole potentials, are implemented exactly in both explicit and implicit dynamic commercial finite element code. The implicit formulation allows for larger length and time scales and more varied eigenvalue‐based solution strategies. The proposed multi‐physics and multi‐scale compatible MDFEM is shown to be equivalent to MD, as demonstrated by examples of fracture in carbon nanotubes (CNT), and electric charge distribution in graphene, but at a considerably reduced computational cost. The proposed MDFEM is shown to scale linearly, with concurrent continuum FEM multi‐scale couplings allowing for further computational savings. Moreover, novel conformational analyses of pillared graphene structures (PGS) are produced. The proposed model finds potential applications in the parametric topology and numerical design studies of nano‐structures for desired electro‐mechanical properties (e.g. stiffness, toughness and electric field induced vibrational/electron‐emission properties). Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Diazonium functionalization of graphene nanosheets and impact response of aniline modified graphene/bismaleimide nanocomposites

For developing high performance of graphene-based nanocomposites, dispersibility of graphene sheets in matrices and interfacial interaction are challenging due to the strong tendency of agglomeration and surface inertia of graphene. Here we report an efficient way to functionalize graphene nanosheets with aniline groups on their surfaces, to attain the functionalized graphene nanosheets (FGS) by diazonium treatment following reduction of graphene oxide with hydrazine hydrate. Two kinds of nanocomposites based on diallyl bisphenol A modified bismaleimide (BMI-BA) resin which was filled with functionalized graphene and reduced graphene oxide nanosheets were prepared, and the FGS were linked with BMI resin by chemical bonds. The FGS/BMI-BA composite at a loading of 0.3 wt% revealed a 39% increase in impact strength and a slightly improvement in flexural strength, and the resulting composite remains stable at high temperature. This work provides more possibilities for incorporation of graphene into polymer matrices and an efficient method to toughening the BMI resin.     

丝网印刷氧化石墨烯对锂离子电池LiNi1/3Co1/3Mn1/3O2 三元正极的改性及性能影响

通过丝网印刷方法,在由LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O₂、导电添加剂和聚偏氟乙烯制成的电极表面涂覆了一层薄薄的氧化石墨烯。在充电截止电压为4.3 V的条件下进行了循环性能和倍率性能测试。结果表明：未改性电极在恒电流充放电测试中容量下降且极化增加,而包覆改性后电极的容量衰减程度和极化增加速度降低。这是由于氧化石墨烯涂层抑制了LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O₂电极和电解质之间的部分副反应,使得改性电极的循环稳定性和倍率性能显著提高,为提升LiNi_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3O₂电极性能提供了一种环境友好且非常有效的方法。     

氧化石墨烯接枝碳纤维及其树脂涂层在不同载荷下的摩擦学性能

目的 提升碳纤维(CF)在水性聚酰胺酰亚胺(PAI)树脂涂层中的界面性能,从而使PAI复合涂层获得优异的摩擦学性能.方法 以硅烷(KH550)为偶联剂,制备氧化石墨烯(GO)化学接枝CF增强体(CF&GO),研究CF接枝前后的热稳定性和添加CF&GO的PAI复合涂层在不同载荷下的摩擦学行为和磨损机理.利用红外光谱仪(FTIR)、X射线衍射仪(XRD)和扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对样品的官能团、成分和表面形貌进行表征;利用热失重仪(TGA)对接枝前后CF的热稳定进行表征;利用SEM、摩擦磨损试验机和白光干涉仪分别对CF&GO在PAI复合涂层中的分布和摩擦学性能进行表征.结果 GO通过与硅烷改性后的CF形成酰胺键成功接枝,接枝后,CF形成多尺度增强体,且表面形貌粗糙.此外,接枝后,CF的热稳定性降低,热稳定性规律为GO相似文献