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Advances in Multifunctional Carbon-Based Nanocomposites: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications

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A special issue of Nanomaterials (ISSN 2079-4991). This special issue belongs to the section "2D and Carbon Nanomaterials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2021) | Viewed by 19142

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Igor De Rosa

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor

1. UCLA Engineering Institute for Technology Advancement, Los Angeles, USA
2. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA
Interests: multifunctional nanomaterials and nanocomposites; advanced composite materials; metal nanocrystals; carbon nanotubes

Prof. Dr. Fabrizio Sarasini

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

Department of Chemical Engineering Materials Environment, University of Rome La Sapienza, 00184 Roma, Italy
Interests: fibre/matrix interfacial modification and assessment; use of plant fibres in biopolymers (biodegradable or from renewable resources) for designing biocomposites with reduced environmental impact; combination of natural fibres (mineral and vegetal) in hybrid composites for designing sustainable composites for semi-structural applications; valorization of agro-industrial wastes as fillers in thermoplastic matrices (micro- and nanoscale); durability of composite materials based on thermoplastic and thermoset matrices
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Wenbo Xin

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Co-Guest Editor

1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, UCLA, Los Angeles, USA
2. UCLA Engineering Institute for Technology Advancement, Los Angeles, USA
Interests: carbon nanotubes; graphene; gold nanocrystals and nanostructures; SERS; microscopy and microanalysis

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Carbon nanostructures, including graphene and carbon nanotubes (CNT), have attracted significant research interest in the past few decades. These materials present outstanding mechanical, electrical, and thermal properties, as well as a large aspect ratio and high specific surface areas. This class of new-generation materials has shown revolutionary impacts not only in academic communities but in industrial fields as well. Multifunctional carbon-based nanocomposites for a diverse range of applications have been developed, including but not limited to aerospace, energy, electronics, electrochemistry, supercapacitors, and chemical and biosensors. A thorough understanding of carbon-based nanocomposites, including their synthesis, processing, in situ and ex situ characterizations, and applications, is always highly desirable.

This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive collection of the latest advances in the development of synthesis approaches, processing methods, characterizations, and current applications of carbon-based nanocomposites. Novel synthetic methods, new fundamental findings in science and technologies of carbon materials, and innovative techniques to characterize carbon nanostructures and interfaces are of high importance to this Special Issue. In addition, this Special Issue particularly seeks to explore the progress of carbon-based nanocomposites in terms of their multifunctionality and emphasizes high-quality work focusing on their emerging applications in the following diverse areas: chemical and biosensing, electrochemical performance, supercapacitors, catalysis and photocatalysis, hydrogen evolution reaction, and the reinforcement of mechanical and electrical properties. We welcome original research manuscripts related to multifunctional carbon-based nanocomposites to this Special Issue. Review manuscripts closely related to the above aspects are also welcome. Manuscripts exploring interactions between different components of carbon-based nanocomposites are of particular interest.

Below are some of the subtopics to be included in this Special Issue: synthesis and fabrication of CNT yarns, fibers, and sheets; synthesis of novel graphene- and CNT-based nanocomposites; mechanical and electrical properties of CNT assemblies and their composites; graphene- and CNT-templated growth of anisotropic metal nanocrystals; carbon-based nanocomposites for structural and electrochemical applications; carbon-based nanocomposites for chemical and biosensing; and fabrications and applications of graphene-based liquid cells for in-situ TEM.

Dr. Igor De Rosa
Prof. Fabrizio Sarasini
Dr. Wenbo Xin
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Nanomaterials is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

nanocomposites
multifunctional materials
carbon nanotubes
graphene
synthesis
in situ and ex situ characterization
mechanical properties
electrical properties
photocatalytic properties
chemical and bio sensing
aerospace applications

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 3744 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Cold Plasma Preparation of Pd/Graphene Catalyst for Reduction of p-Nitrophenol

by Qian Zhao, Decai Bu, Zhihui Li, Xiuling Zhang and Lanbo Di

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(5), 1341; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11051341 - 20 May 2021

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2236

Abstract

Supported metal nanoparticles with small size and high dispersion can improve the performance of heterogeneous catalysts. To prepare graphene-supported Pd catalysts, graphene and PdCl₂ were used as support and Pd precursors, respectively. Pd/G-P and Pd/G-H catalysts were prepared by cold plasma and conventional thermal reduction, respectively, for the catalytic reduction of p-nitrophenol (4-NP). The reaction followed quasi-first-order kinetics, and the apparent rate constant of Pd/G-P and Pd/G-H was 0.0111 and 0.0042 s⁻¹, respectively. The graphene support was exfoliated by thermal reduction and cold plasma, which benefits the 4-NP adsorption. Pd/G-P presented a higher performance because cold plasma promoted the migration of Pd species to the support outer surface. The Pd/C atomic ratio for Pd/G-P and Pd/G-H was 0.014 and 0.010, respectively. In addition, the Pd nanoparticles in Pd/G-P were smaller than those in Pd/G-H, which was beneficial for the catalytic reduction. The Pd/G-P sample presented abundant oxygen-containing functional groups, which anchored the metal nanoparticles and enhanced the metal-support interaction. This was further confirmed by the shift in the binding energy to a high value for Pd3d in Pd/G-P. The cold plasma method operated under atmospheric pressure is effective for the preparation of Pd/G catalysts with enhanced catalytic activity for 4-NP reduction. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multifunctional Carbon-Based Nanocomposites: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications)

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17 pages, 5095 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Facile Synthesis of Novel Amorphous TiO₂ Nanorods Decorated rGO Hybrid Composites with Wide Band Microwave Absorption

by Hao Zhang, Yongpeng Zhao, Xuan Yang, Guolin Zhao, Dongmei Zhang, Hui Huang, Shuaitao Yang, Ningxuan Wen, Muhammad Javid, Zeng Fan and Lujun Pan

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(11), 2141; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano10112141 - 27 Oct 2020

Cited by 22 | Viewed by 2520

Abstract

Amorphous structures may play important roles in achieving highly efficient microwave absorption performance due to the polarization losses induced by the disorders, vacancies and other functional groups existed in them. Herein, a kind of amorphous TiO₂/rGO composite (a-TiO₂/rGO) was successfully fabricated via a facile one-step solvothermal method. The complex permittivity of the composites can be regulated by adjusting the addition of precursor solution. The minimum reflection loss of a-TiO₂/rGO composites reached −42.8 dB at 8.72 GHz with a thickness of 3.25 mm, and the widest efficient absorption bandwidth (EAB) was up to 6.2 GHz (11.8 to 18 GHz) with a thickness of only 2.15 mm, which achieved the full absorption in Ku band (12 to 18 GHz). Furthermore, the EAB was achieved ranging from 3.97 to 18 GHz by adjusting the thickness of the absorber, covering 87.7% of the whole radar frequency band. It is considered that the well-matched impedance, various polarization processes, capacitor-like structure and conductive networks all contributed to the excellent microwave absorption of a-TiO₂/rGO. This study provides reference on constructing amorphous structures for future microwave absorber researches and the as-prepared a-TiO₂/rGO composites also have great potential owing to its facile synthesis and highly efficient microwave absorption. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multifunctional Carbon-Based Nanocomposites: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications)

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14 pages, 3970 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fabrication and Characterization of Solid Composite Yarns from Carbon Nanotubes and Poly(dicyclopentadiene)

by Wenbo Xin, Joseph Severino, Arie Venkert, Hang Yu, Daniel Knorr, Jenn-Ming Yang, Larry Carlson, Robert Hicks and Igor De Rosa

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(4), 717; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano10040717 - 10 Apr 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3062

Abstract

In this report, networks of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are transformed into composite yarns by infusion, mechanical consolidation and polymerization of dicyclopentadiene (DCPD). The microstructures of the CNT yarn and its composite are characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), and a focused ion beam used for cross-sectioning. Pristine yarns have tensile strength, modulus and elongation at failure of 0.8 GPa, 14 GPa and 14.0%, respectively. In the composite yarn, these values are significantly enhanced to 1.2 GPa, 68 GPa and 3.4%, respectively. Owing to the consolidation and alignment improvement, its electrical conductivity was increased from 1.0 × 10⁵ S/m (raw yarn) to 5.0 × 10⁵ S/m and 5.3 × 10⁵ S/m for twisted yarn and composite yarn, respectively. The strengthening mechanism is attributed to the binding of the DCPD polymer, which acts as a capstan and increases frictional forces within the nanotube bundles, making it more difficult to pull them apart. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multifunctional Carbon-Based Nanocomposites: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications)

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11 pages, 3027 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Porous Carbon Materials Obtained by the Hydrothermal Carbonization of Orange Juice

by Francesco Veltri, Francesca Alessandro, Andrea Scarcello, Amerigo Beneduci, Melvin Arias Polanco, Denia Cid Perez, Cristian Vacacela Gomez, Adalgisa Tavolaro, Girolamo Giordano and Lorenzo S. Caputi

Nanomaterials 2020, 10(4), 655; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano10040655 - 01 Apr 2020

Cited by 31 | Viewed by 4018

Abstract

Porous carbon materials are currently subjected to strong research efforts mainly due to their excellent performances in energy storage devices. A sustainable process to obtain them is hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), in which the decomposition of biomass precursors generates solid products called hydrochars, together with liquid and gaseous products. Hydrochars have a high C content and are rich with oxygen-containing functional groups, which is important for subsequent activation. Orange pomace and orange peels are considered wastes and then have been investigated as possible feedstocks for hydrochars production. On the contrary, orange juice was treated by HTC only to obtain carbon quantum dots. In the present study, pure orange juice was hydrothermally carbonized and the resulting hydrochar was filtered and washed, and graphitized/activated by KOH in nitrogen atmosphere at 800 °C. The resulting material was studied by transmission and scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and nitrogen sorption isotherms. We found porous microspheres with some degree of graphitization and high nitrogen content, a specific surface of 1725 m²/g, and a pore size distribution that make them good candidates for supercapacitor electrodes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multifunctional Carbon-Based Nanocomposites: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications)

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13 pages, 4643 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Facile Method of Preparing the Asymmetric Supercapacitor with Two Electrodes Assembled on a Sheet of Filter Paper

by Shasha Jiao, Tiehu Li, Chuanyin Xiong, Chen Tang, Alei Dang, Hao Li and Tingkai Zhao

Nanomaterials 2019, 9(9), 1338; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano9091338 - 19 Sep 2019

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 3144

Abstract

An asymmetric supercapacitor was prepared on a sheet of filter paper with two modified surfaces acting as electrodes in 1 M potassium hydroxide aqueous solution. By choosing carbon nanotubes and two different kinds of metal oxides (zinc oxide and ferro ferric oxide) as electrode materials, the asymmetric supercapacitor was successfully fabricated. The results showed that this device exhibited a wide potential window of 1.8 V and significantly improved electrochemical performances of its counterparts. Particularly, the one-sheet asymmetric supercapacitor demonstrated high energy density of 116.11 W h/kg and power density 27.48 kW/kg, which was attributed to the combined action and shortened distance between the two electrodes, respectively. Besides, it showed superior electrochemical cycling stability with 87.1% capacitance retention under room temperature. These outstanding results can not only give researchers new insights into compact energy storage systems, but they also provide a good prospect for flexible asymmetric supercapacitors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multifunctional Carbon-Based Nanocomposites: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications)

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Review

Jump to: Research

16 pages, 5053 KiB

Open AccessReview

Graphene-Based Magnetic Nanoparticles for Theranostics: An Overview for Their Potential in Clinical Application

by Teresa Lage, Raquel O. Rodrigues, Susana Catarino, Juan Gallo, Manuel Bañobre-López and Graça Minas

Nanomaterials 2021, 11(5), 1073; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/nano11051073 - 22 Apr 2021

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3339

Abstract

The combination of diagnostics and therapy (theranostic) is one of the most complex, yet promising strategies envisioned for nanoengineered multifunctional systems in nanomedicine. From the various multimodal nanosystems proposed, a number of works have established the potential of Graphene-based Magnetic Nanoparticles (GbMNPs) as theranostic platforms. This magnetic nanosystem combines the excellent magnetic performance of magnetic nanoparticles with the unique properties of graphene-based materials, such as large surface area for functionalization, high charge carrier mobility and high chemical and thermal stability. This hybrid nanosystems aims toward a synergistic theranostic effect. Here, we focus on the most recent developments in GbMNPs for theranostic applications. Particular attention is given to the synergistic effect of these composites, as well as to the limitations and possible future directions towards a potential clinical application. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Multifunctional Carbon-Based Nanocomposites: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications)

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