KJC Korea
Journal Central

Owing to their simplicity and ease of synthesis, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have captivated attention of researchers. Many engineering applications have investigated the new features of nanostructured carbon nanotubes, such as large surface area, stiffness and durability. CNTs have opened up new opportunities for environmental improvement, pollution management and application in a variety of fields. Multiple types of pollution are produced as a result of population growth, urbanization and industrialization. CNTs are used to solve a variety of challenges, including environmental difficulties, water pollution, biomedical applications, and so on. It becomes an unavoidable present and future material. Different applications of CNTs have been presented in this review paper. CNTs are potential material having number of uses, including water purification, drug delivery, preservatives, catalysis, genetic engineering and artificial implants which are reviewed in this review article. This paper is presenting an explicit and systematic progress of CNTs for water treatment, medicinal uses drug delivery, artificial implants and so on, and a multitude of CNT applications in broad disciplines and their purification methods have been covered. The issues related to synthesis technologies, purification technology, bio-medicinal application and catalytic property of CNTs within the framework of different engineering applications and environmental impact are discussed in this study.

Metals had been significantly substituted by synthetic polymers in most of our daily requirements, thus relaxing our life. Out of many applied areas, synthetic polymers especially conducting polymers had shown their marked effect and potential. Batteries, pseudocapacitors, superconductors, etc. are the potential zones where conducting polymers are chiefly employed owing to their appreciable conductivity, cost efficiency, and corrosion inhibition nature. Apart from energy storage devices, these conducting polymers find their potential application in biosensors, lasers, corrosion inhibitors, electrostatic materials, conducting adhesives, electromagnetic interference shielding, and others. These all applications including energy storage are due to astonishing properties like high conductivity, flexibility, tuneability, easy processibility, chemical, thermal and mechanical stability, easy and enhanced charge transportation, lightweight, etc. Conducting polymers are extensively studied for their application in energy storage batteries, for which the material under investigation needs to be electrically conductive. However, the conducting nature of these specific conducting polymers is dependent on numerous factors. This review discussed the effect of certain potential factors such as polymerization techniques temperature, doping, bandgap, extended conjugation, solvent, etc. on the electrical/electrochemical conductivity of these conducting polymers. These all factors with their specific variations are found to have a noticeable consequence on the electrical conductivity of the investigated conducting polymer and hence on the energy storage carried by them. This review could be proved beneficial to the readers, who can judiciously implement the conclusions to their research related to conducting polymers and their composites for generating highly efficient energy storage systems.

The inclusion of conductive carbon materials into lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is essential for constructing an electrical network of electrodes. Considering the demand for cells in electric vehicles (e.g., higher energy density and lower cell cost), the replacement of the currently used carbon black with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) seems inevitable. This review discusses how CNTs can contribute to the development of advanced LIBs for EVs. First, the reason for choosing CNTs as a conducting agent for the cathode is discussed in terms of energy density. Second, the reinforcing effect of CNTs on the anode is described with respect to the choice of silicon as the active material. Third, the development of water-based cathode fabrication as well as dry electrode fabrication with aid of CNTs is discussed. Fourth, three technical hurdles, that is, the price, dispersion issue, and entrapped metal impurities, for widespread use of CNTs in LIBs are discussed.

The preparation and exfoliation of graphite oxide at low temperatures (near room temperature) to produce exfoliated graphite (EG) instead of rapid heating to a high temperature (conventional process) are reviewed. The exfoliation by microwave irradiation, electrochemical exfoliation and surfactant-assisted exfoliation of graphite are also included because these techniques can be applied under ambient atmosphere, although last two techniques were mainly applied for thinning the graphite flakes to obtain “graphene” flakes. The applications of the resultant exfoliated graphite (EG) for oil/water separation, adsorptive removal of the environment pollutants and microwave shielding are shortly reviewed.

Coking coal is an important raw material for coke production. In this study, in an inert atmosphere, two Chinese coking coal samples were, respectively, heated gradually to 1200 °C to release volatile and form char and coke in succession, then cooled naturally to close room temperature to age the coke. The whole heating and cooling process on carbonization were monitored in situ by simultaneous small and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS-WAXS) technique based on a synchrotron radiation platform. The simultaneous structural changes of pore and skeleton in coal during carbonization are revealed for the first time. The two raw coal samples, with similar carbon content and slightly different coalification degree, undergone a carbonization process similar in whole and different in parts. The carbonization presents approximately three stages during heating process and one stage during cooling process. The coal structure changes wavily during heating and monotonously during cooling. The corresponding structural change mechanism is analyzed.

Poor mechanical properties and bacterial infection are the main problems faced by dental restorative resins in clinical use. In this study, graphene quantum dots (GQDs) grafted with imidazole groups and mesoporous silica (MSN) are co-filled in a dental resin to impart excellent antimicrobial activity and mechanical properties to the dental resin. The higher specific surface area of GQDs and MSN results in an increased contact area with the resin matrix, which enhances the strength of the dental composite resin. The introduction of GQDs significantly improves the antimicrobial activity of the resin. The inhibition efficiency of the composite resin against Streptococcus mutans reached 99.9% with the addition of GQDs at only 0.2 wt.%. When MSN and GQDs are co-filled, MSN interferes with the release of GQDs, thus reducing the antimicrobial activity of the dental resin but improving the cyto-compatibility. By reasonably adjusting the amount of GQDs and MSN, the dental composite resin can exhibit excellent antimicrobial properties, mechanical properties and cyto-compatibility at the same time.

Novel ionic liquid-functionalized carbon quantum dots (IL-CDs) were prepared by hydrothermal method, and characterized with FT-IR, TEM and XPS. The IL-CDs exhibited narrower particle size distribution with more uniform dispersion and the surface potential changes from negative to positive due to the function of IL. IL-CDs could be quenched (“turned off”) after adding ascorbic acid (AA), and as an “on–off”, fluorescent probe could be established for direct analysis AA. The linear range of AA was 0.34–30.00 μg/mL and the LOD was 0.11 μg/mL. The method was successfully applied to the determination of AA in real samples with satisfactory results.

This study evaluated how acid treatment affects the ability of customized beads of activated carbon (BAC) to remove formaldehyde from air. Two different acids (hydrofluoric acid and sulfuric acid) were used to modify the surface of BAC prepared from a polymer material. The acid-modified BACs were further subjected to heat treatment. Physical and chemical characteristics of modified and unmodified BACs were investigated using nitrogen adsorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Formaldehyde removal was evaluated under both dry and moist conditions. From the results, acid treatment clearly improved the adsorption performance, especially under the moist condition. Qualitative and quantitative surface analyses were conducted, mainly to examine the amount of O-bonds after acid treatment and the formation of S–O or Cl–O on BAC.

Recently, hollow carbon spheres (HCS) have aroused great interests in the field of energy storage and conversion owing to their unique morphology, structure and other charming properties. Nevertheless, unsatisfactory electrical conductivity and relatively poor volumetric energy density caused by inevitable gaps between discrete carbon spheres greatly impede the practical application of HCS. In this work, for the first time we propose a novel dual-template strategy and successfully fabricate interconnected 3D hollow N-doped carbon network (HNCN) by a facile and scalable pyrolysis process. By systematical characterization and analysis, it can be found that HNCN is assembled by HCS and lots of mesoporous carbon. Compared to the counterparts, the obtained HNCN exhibits unique 3D interconnected architecture, larger specific surface area, hierarchical meso/macropore structure, higher structure defects, higher N doping amount and more optimized N configurations (especially for pyridinic-N and graphitic-N). As a result, these advantageous features endow HNCN with remarkably promoted electrochemical performance for supercapacitor and oxygen reduction reaction. Clearly, our proposed dual-template strategy provides a good guidance on overcoming the intrinsic shortcomings of HCS, which undoubtedly broadens their application in energy storage and conversion.

It is difficult to optimize the process parameters of directly preparing carbonaceous mesophase (CMs) by solvothermal method using coal tar as raw material. To solve this problem, a Decision Tree model for CMs preparation (DTC) was established based on the relationship between the process parameters and the yields of CMs. Then, the importance of variables in the preparation process for CMs was predicted, the relationship between experimental conditions and yields was revealed, and the preparation process conditions were also optimized by the DTC. The prediction results showed that the importance of the variables was raw material type, solvothermal temperature, solvothermal time, solvent amount, and additive type in order. And the optimized reaction conditions were as follows: coal tar was pretreated by decompress distillation and centrifugation, the solvent amount was 50.0 ml, the solvothermal temperature was 230 °C, and the reaction time was 5 h. These prediction results were consistent with the actual experimental results, and the error between the predicted yields and the actual yields was about − 1.1%. Furthermore, the prediction error of DTC method was within the acceptable range when the data sample sets were reduced to 100 sets. These results proved that the established DTC for chemical process optimization can effectively lessen the experimental workload and has high application value.

Carbon nanodots (CNDs) are 0D quasi-spherical nanoparticles that are less than 10 nm in size. CNDs that possess surface functional groups such as hydroxyl, amino, and carboxyl groups have been demonstrated to scavenge free radicals efficiently and effectively, resulting in them being beneficial for cosmetic and cosmeceutical applications. In this study, we successfully prepared novel CNDs, namely black VC, using vitamin C (VC) as a promising precursor. Black VC was prepared by a facile one-step method based on short-time microwave irradiation. The properties of black VC were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), high-resolution X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and UV–vis spectrophotometry. Radical scavenging, cell viability, and anti-pollution activity assays were also conducted to demonstrate the functionalities of black VC. The developed black VC exhibited lower cytotoxicity and better antioxidant, metal chelating ability, and anti-pollution activities than its precursor. These results provide a new approach for developing advanced antioxidants for innovative cosmetic formulations using a simple microwave treatment method. However, black VC retained some problems of its precursor in the form of low stability, which is likely to be a challenge for its cosmeceutical application.

Supercross-linked polymers are widely used as carbon precursor materials due to their abundant carbon sources and low cost. In this paper, a supercross-linked polymer was prepared by the solvothermal method. The supercross-linked polymer as a precursor and the PPyC-800-A was synthesized by activating this with KOH. The microstructure, structure, and electrochemical performances of porous carbon PPyC-800-A were studied at different of temperature and carbon alkali ratio. According to the results, the porous carbon PPyC-800-1:2 is mainly composed of a stack of spherical particles with a high surface area of 1427.03 m2 g−1, an average pore diameter of 2.32 nm, and a high specific capacitance of 217.7 F g−1 at a current density of 1.0 A g−1 in a 6 M KOH electrolyte. It’s retention rate is 97.58% after 5000 constant current charges and discharges. With a specific capacitance decay rate of 21.91 percent, an energy density of 11.96 Wh kg−1, and a power density of 500.0 W kg−1, the current density rises from 1.0 A g−1 to 10.0 A g−1, exhibiting remarkable electrochemical properties, cycling stability, and energy production performance This study contributes experimental ideas to the field of supercross-linked polymer-derived carbon materials and energy storage.

For practical applications of graphene sheets in a variety of fields, mass production of high-quality graphene sheets is necessary. Herein, we reported a cost-effective, green, and simple approach to synthesizing mass production exfoliated graphene (EG) flakes employing electrochemical exfoliation of pencil graphite in neutral aqueous electrolytes. Pencil graphite cores of different grades were applied as anode and cathode electrodes and exposed to the electrolyte solution at a different voltage. Several parameters were examined and optimized, including pencil grade (2,4,6,8 B), applied voltage (10, 15, 20, 30 V), different inorganic electrolytes ((NH4)2SO4, Na2SO4, NaNO3, NaCl, and CH3COONa), and the concentration of electrolytes. The optimal condition was chosen by considering the mass of produced graphene and the conductivity of the graphene solution. The optimal conditions were as follow: pencil grade: 6B; applied voltage: 10 V; electrolyte type: Na2SO4; electrolyte concentration: 0.1 M. Under these conditions, the production yield was > 95% within 3 h and 9 min. The EG was characterized by utilizing FT-IR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, FE-SEM, Cyclic Voltammetry, and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS). Characterization indicates that the synthesized EG had an XRD peak at 2θ = 26.6° and an ID/IG ratio of 0.36. Furthermore, the EG showed good conductivity when tested by cyclic voltammetry and EIS whereas the R2 values were 985.8 and 76.3 Ω for bare GCE and EG/GCE, respectively. In addition, EG effectively removed cadmium (Cd(II)) with an adsorption level of 8.72 mg/g. The results from this study suggest that EG can be scaled up and commercialized in an environmentally friendly and low-cost manner, especially in low-income countries, and using it to rectify metal ions.

Carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized from phloroglucinol (PG) by simple heat treatment at 220–230 °C in the atmosphere without catalysts and solvents. PG-CDs heated at 220–230 °C could be completely dissolved in environmentally friendly water and exhibited a photoluminescence (PL) peak at 485 nm with 85 nm of the full width at half maximum (FWHM). The water-soluble polymer-dot-like PG-CDs were estimated to be 1.6–3.2 nm in size, and exhibited a wide range of PL wavelength at 370–630 nm. Since the PG-CDs are water-soluble materials, PG-CDs could be homogeneously mixed with a polymer such as polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) in water as a solvent, and PG-CDs/PVP films were prepared. The films exhibited PL characteristics that convert ultraviolet light at 350 nm to visible light above 400 nm. Thus, using PG as the raw material which has widely been produced industrially, the water-soluble fluorescent PG-CDs/PVP films could be prepared at a low cost by environmentally friendly methods.

To investigate the effect of the catalyst and metal–support interaction on the methane decomposition behavior and physical properties of the produced carbon, catalytic decomposition of methane (CDM) was studied using Ni/SiO2 catalysts with different metal–support interactions (synthesized based on the presence or absence of urea). During catalyst synthesis, the addition of urea led to uniform and stable precipitation of the Ni metal precursor on the SiO2 support to produce Ni-phyllosilicates that enhanced the metal–support interaction. The resulting catalyst upon reduction showed the formation of uniform Ni0 particles (< 10 nm) that were smaller than those of a catalyst prepared using a conventional impregnation method (~ 80 nm). The growth mechanisms of methane-decomposition-derived carbon nanotubes was base growth or tip growth according to the metal–support interaction of the catalysts synthesized with and without urea, respectively. As a result, the catalyst with Ni-phyllosilicates resulting from the addition of urea induced highly dispersed and strongly interacting Ni0 active sites and produced carbon nanotubes with a small and uniform diameter via the base-growth mechanism. Considering the results, such a Ni-phyllosilicate-based catalyst are expected to be suitable for industrial base grown carbon nanotube production and application since as-synthesized carbon nanotubes can be easily harvested and the catalyst can be regenerated without being consumed during carbon nanotube extraction process.

In this study, graphene oxide (GO) was synthesized by the improved Hummers’ method. The degree of oxidation from graphite (Gi) to GO was determined through interlayer spacing calculated from X–ray diffraction. Besides, the effect of KMnO4:Gi ratios (X1), H2SO4 volume (X2), oxidation temperature (X3), oxidation time of stage 1 (X4), and oxidation time of stage 2 (X5) was screened by the Plackett–Burman model. The simultaneous impact of three factors that influenced the degree of oxidation (X1, X2, and X3) was studied by the Box–Behnken experimental model of response surface methodology to achieve suitable conditions for the GO synthesis process. The characterization of GO product was investigated via the modern analytical methods: X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV–Vis spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy. In addition, the study was also carried out on a pilot scale for orientation in industrial application with the yield of 14 g/batch.

Epoxy resin (EP) is a thermosetting resin with excellent properties, but its application is limited due to its high brittleness and poor flame retardancy. Therefore, to solve this problem, a dispersion system of imidazole-containing ionic liquid ([Dmim]Es) and graphene in epoxy resin is designed based on the π–π stacking effect between imidazole and graphite layers. The study on the thermal and flame-retardant properties of the composites show that the modified [Dmim]Es–graphene nanosheets improved the flame retardancy, smoke suppression and thermal stability of epoxy resin. With the addition of 5wt% [Dmim]Es and 1% Gra, the exothermic rate (HRR) and total exothermic (THR) of the composites decrease by 35% and 30.2% compared with the untreated epoxy cross-linking, respectively. The limiting oxygen index reaches 33.4%, the UL-94 test rating reaches V-0. The characterization of mechanical properties shows that the tensile properties and impact properties increased by 13% and 30%, respectively. Through SEM observation, the addition of [Dmim]Es improves the dispersion of graphene in the EP collective and changes the mechanical fracture behavior. The results show that ionic liquid [Dmim]Es-modified graphene nanosheets are well dispersed in the matrix, which not only improves the mechanical properties of epoxy resin (EP), but also has a synergistic effect on flame retardancy. This work provides novel flame-retardant and graphene dispersion methods that broaden the range of applications of epoxy resins.

Heteroepitaxy is a better method of enlarging SCD wafer size than homoepitaxy. In this work, several aspects of the bias process for heteroepitaxial diamond nucleation are studied experimentally. First, with increasing bias time, the diamond-nucleation pathway is found to transform from “isolated-crystal nucleation” to “typical domain-nucleation” and back to “isolated-crystal nucleation.” An interdependent relationship between bias voltage and bias time is proposed: the higher the bias voltage, the shorter the bias time. Second, a correlation exists between the threshold bias voltage and reactor-chamber pressure: a higher reactor chamber pressure usually requires a higher threshold bias voltage to realize “typical domain nucleation.” Third, diamond bias-enhanced nucleation and growth is observed at a high CH4 content, where the dynamic equilibrium between amorphous-carbon-layer deposition and atomic-hydrogen etching is broken. Finally, epitaxial nucleation is obtained on a substrate with ∅30 mm in a home-made MPCVD setup.

Combination of liquid-phase exfoliation and hydrothermal method has progressed in recent years mainly on production of 2D materials. In this study, graphene was successfully synthesized via combinatorial of liquid-phase exfoliation and hydrothermal method with the aid of various conductive surfactants perylene-3, 4, 9, 10-tetracarboxylate (PTCA), lithium perylene-3, 4, 9, 10-tetracarboxylate (LiPTCA) and sodium perylene-3, 4, 9, 10-tetracarboxylate (NaPTCA). The effect of the lithium (Li+) and sodium (Na+) cations toward the efficiency of the graphene exfoliation process and its electrical properties was thoroughly investigated. Based on the characterization techniques, it is revealed that NaPTCA is the ideal conductive surfactant to exfoliate graphene sheets. X-ray diffraction spectra verified that the Na+ cation certainly can enhance the exfoliation process by expanding the interlayer spacing. The lateral size of the graphene sheets with Na-PTCA surfactant was the smallest (4.17 µm) as observed from SEM micrograph. The maximum concentration of the graphene yield was achieved up to 0.151 mgmL−1 in NaPTCA surfactant alongside with excellent electrical conductivity of 746.27 Sm−1 and relevant specific capacitance of 129 Fg−1.

Biomass carbon materials with high rate capacity have great potential to boost supercapacitors with cost effective, fast charging–discharging performance and high safety requirements, yet currently suffers from a lack of targeted preparation methods. Here we propose a facile FeCl3 assisted hydrothermal carbonization strategy to prepare ultra-high rate biomass carbon from apple residues (ARs). In the preparation process, ARs were first hydrothermally carbonized into a porous precursor which embedded by Fe species, and then synchronously graphitized and activated to form biocarbon with a large special surface area (2159.3 m2 g−1) and high degree of graphitization. The material exhibited a considerable specific capacitance of 297.5 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1 and outstanding capacitance retention of 85.7% at 10 A g−1 in 6 M KOH, and moreover, achieved an energy density of 16.2 Wh kg−1 with the power density of 350.3 W kg−1. After 8000 cycles, an initial capacitance of 95.2% was maintained. Our findings provide a new idea for boosting the rate capacity of carbon-based electrode materials.

Renewed interest in the reinforced carbon graphite composites has intrigued the community in the advanced materials fields. In this work, we present a simple carbon nanofibers reinforced carbon graphite composites synthetic method by incorporating mixture of coal tar pitch, synthetic graphite, pitch coke and the dispersion liquid of carbon nanofibers via liquid-phase mixing process. The impact of carbon nanofiber utilization on the microstructures and mechanical properties of carbon graphite composites are studied systematically. The covalent surface modification of carbon nanofibers effectively improves its microstructure and thereby promotes the carbon graphite composites’ dispersion behavior. We propose that a small amount of carbon nanofibers could promote the carbonization process of carbon graphite composites, facilitating the densification of carbon graphite composites and reducing the undesired open porosity. The amount of 0.7 wt % of carbon nanofiber concentration allows the enhancement of bend and compressive strength of carbon graphite composites up to 36.50 MPa and 60.46 MPa, increased by 167.9% and 146.9% compared with the pure carbon graphite composite, respectively. Our findings can be rationalized due to the improvement in the mechanical strength of carbon graphite composites could be attributed due to pull-out of carbon nanofibers from the matrix and bridging effect across the crack pores within the matrix.

Core–shell ZIFs wrapped CuO hybrid materials (CuO@ZIF-67(Co)) were designed, synthesized, characterized, and employed as peroxymonosulfate (PMS) activators to degrade methylene blue (MB). It demonstrated outstanding catalytic activity on account of the unique structure and the synergistic effect between CuO cores and ZIF-67(Co) shells, resulting in complete degradation of MB (10 mg/L) in 1 min. Reactive oxygen species (ROSs) research showed that both SO4− and OH were responsible for the removal of MB. The synergistic activation mechanisms in the CuO@ZIF-67(Co)/PMS system were investigated, which mainly involved the effective electron transfer of CuO and ZIF-67(Co) for accelerating the cycle of CuII/CuI and CoIII/CoII. This study broadens the application of MOF-derived materials for wastewater treatment.

Laser-induced graphene (LIG) uses a CO2 infrared laser scriber for transforming specific polymer substrates into porous graphene. This technique is simple, scalable, low-cost, free of chemicals, and produces a 3D graphene for applications across many fields. However, the resulting 3D graphene is highly sensitive to the lasing parameters used in their production. Here, we report the effects of power, raster speed, number of lasing passes (with and without spot overlapping) on the resulting LIG structure, morphology, and sheet resistance, using a polyimide (PI) substrate. We find that the number of lasing passes, laser spot overlapping and brand of PI used had a strong influence on the quality of the LIG, measured in terms of the IG/ID and I2D Raman bands and sheet resistance. Increasing number of passes and overlapping of laser spots led to increased LIG pore sizes, larger graphene scales, and reduced sheet resistance. Furthermore, the over-the-counter desktop CO2 laser engraving unit used introduced additional restrictions that limited the quality of the LIG produced, particularly due to inconsistent control of the laser scribing speed and a poor thermal management of the laser unit.

This article reported a simple method for preparing diamond/SiC composites by polymer impregnation and pyrolysis (PIP) process, and the advantages of this method were discussed. Only diamond and SiC were contained in the diamond/SiC composite prepared by PIP process, and the diamond particles remained thermally stable up until the pyrolysis temperature was increased to 1600 °C. The pyrolysis temperature has a significant impact on the thermal conductivity and dielectric properties of composites. The thermal conductivity of the composite reaches a maximum value of 63.9 W/mK when the pyrolysis temperature is 1600 °C, and the minimum values of the real and imaginary part of the complex permittivity are 19.5 and 0.77, respectively. The PIP process is a quick and easy method to prepare diamond/SiC composites without needing expensive equipment, and it is of importance for promoting its application in the field of electric packaging substrate.