A nanocomposite consisting of silica-coated magnetite and phenyl-functionalized graphene oxide for extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon from aqueous matrices

In this study,graphene oxide was covalently immobilized on silica-coated magnetite and then modified with 2-phenylethylamine to give a nanocomposite of type Fe_3O_4@SiO_2@GO-PEA that can be applied to the magnetic solid-phase extraction of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) from water samples.The resulting microspheres(Fe_3O_4@SiO_2@GO-PEA) were characterized by Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy(FT-IR),scanning electron microscopy(SEM),CHNS elemental analysis,and vibrating sample magnetometry(VSM) techniques.The adsorbent possesses the magnetic properties of Fe_3O_4 nanoparticles that allow them easily to be separated by an external magnetic field.They also have the high specific surface area of graphene oxide which improves adsorption capacity.Desorption conditions,extraction time,amount of adsorbent,salt concentration,and pH were investigated and optimized.Following desorption,the PAHs were quantified by gas chromatography with flame ionization detection(GC-FID).The limits of detection(at an S/N ratio of 3) were achieved from 0.005 to0.1 μg/L with regression coefficients(R~2) higher than 0.9954.The relative standard deviations(RSDs) were below 5.8%(intraday) and 6.2%(inter-day),respectively.The method was successfully applied to the analysis of PAHs in environmental water samples where it showed recoveries in the range between 71.7%and 106.7%(with RSDs of 1.6%to 8.4%,for n = 3).The results indicated that the Fe_3O_4@SiO_2@GO-PEA microspheres had a great promise to extraction of PAHs from different water samples.     

Adsorption of Ca2+ on single layer graphene oxide

Graphene oxide(GO) holds great promise for a broad array of applications in many fields,but also poses serious potential risks to human health and the environment.In this study,the adsorptive properties of GO toward Ca~(2+) and Na+were investigated using batch adsorption experiments,zeta potential measurements,and spectroscopic analysis.When pH increased from 4 to 9,Ca~(2+)adsorption by GO and the zeta potential of GO increased significantly.Raman spectra suggest that Ca~(2+)was strongly adsorbed on the GO via –COO Ca~+ formation.On the other hand,Na+was adsorbed into the electrical diffuse layer as an inert counterion to increase the diffuse layer zeta potential.While the GO suspension became unstable with increasing pH from 4 to 10 in the presence of Ca~(2+),it was more stable at higher pH in the NaC l solution.The findings of this research provide insights in the adsorption of Ca~(2+)on GO and fundamental basis for prediction of its effect on the colloidal stability of GO in the environment.     

Hydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic graphene oxide membrane intercalated by TiO2 nanotubes for oil/water separation

GO/TiO₂ membrane was prepared by assembling GO nanosheets and TiO₂ nanotubes. The intercalation of TiO₂ nanotubes enlarged the space of GO interlayers and modified the surface morphology. Hydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic property of GO/TiO₂ membrane was obtained. Water permeability, hydrophilicity, oleophobicity and antifouling ability of GO-based membrane were all enhanced by intercalating TiO₂ nontubes. Membrane technology for oil/water separation has received increasing attention in recent years. In this study, the hydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic membrane with enhanced water permeability and antifouling ability were fabricated by synergistically assembling graphene oxide(GO) nanosheets and titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanotubes for oil/water separation. GO/TiO₂ membrane exhibits hydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic properties with water contact angle of 62° and under water oil contact angle of 162.8°. GO/TiO₂ membrane shows greater water permeability with the water flux up to 531 L/(m²·h·bar), which was more than 5 times that of the pristine GO membrane. Moreover, GO/TiO₂membrane had excellent oil/water separation efficiency and anti-oil-fouling capability, as oil residual in filtrate after separation was below 5 mg/L and flux recovery ratios were over 80%.The results indicate that the intercalation of TiO₂ nanotubes into adjacent GO nanosheets enlarged the channel structure and modified surface topography of the obtained GO/TiO₂ membranes, which improved the hydrophilicity, permeability and anti-oil-fouling ability of the membranes, enlightening the great prospects of GO/TiO₂ membrane in oil-water treatment.     

Adsorption of VOCs on reduced graphene oxide

A modified Hummer's method was adopted for the synthesis of graphene oxide(GO) and reduced graphene oxide(rGO). It was revealed that the modified method is effective for the production of GO and rGO from graphite. Transmission electron microscopy(TEM) images of GO and rGO showed a sheet-like morphology. Because of the presence of oxygenated functional groups on the carbon surface, the interlayer spacing of the prepared GO was higher than that of rGO. The presence of \OH and C_O groups in the Fourier transform infrared spectra(FTIR) spectrum and G-mode and 2D-mode in Raman spectra confirmed the synthesis of GO and rGO. rGO(292.6 m~2/g) showed higher surface area than that of GO(236.4 m~2/g). The prepared rGO was used as an adsorbent for benzene and toluene(model pollutants of volatile organic compounds(VOCs)) under dynamic adsorption/desorption conditions. rGO showed higher adsorption capacity and breakthrough times than GO. The adsorption capacity of rGO for benzene and toluene was 276.4 and 304.4 mg/g, respectively.Desorption experiments showed that the spent rGO can be successfully regenerated by heating at 150.0°C. Its excellent adsorption/desorption performance for benzene and toluene makes rGO a potential adsorbent for VOC adsorption.     

石墨烯复合物在痕量气体分子检测中的应用

综述了石墨烯复合物的种类、性能与制备方法,以及在痕量气体分子检测中的应用。石墨烯具有大的比表面积和独特的电学性质,对一些气体分子有很强的吸附能力,制作的传感器用于气体分子检测时灵敏度较高,但选择性较差。氧化石墨烯巨大的比表面积和表面丰富的官能团赋予的优异的复合性能,可提高传感器的检测灵敏度和选择性。     

Cytotoxicity and autophagy induction by graphene quantum dots with different functional groups

Graphene quantum dots(GQDs) possess great potential in various applications due to their superior physicochemical properties and wide array of available surface modifications.However, the toxicity of GQDs has not been systematically assessed, thus hindered their further development; especially, the risk of surface modifications of GQDs is largely unknown. In this study, we employed a lung carcinoma A549 cells as the model to investigate the cytotoxicity and autophagy induction of three types GQDs, including cGQDs(COOH-GQDs), hGQDs(OH-GQDs), and aGQDs(NH_2-GQDs). The results showed hGQDs was the most toxic, as significant cell death was induced at the concentration of 100 μg/mL,determining by WST-1 assay as well as Annexin-V-FITC/PI apoptosis analysis, whereas cGQDs and aGQDs were non-cytotoxic within the measured concentration. Autophagy detection was performed by TEM examination, LC3 fluorescence tracking, and Westernblot. Both aGQDs and hGQDs induced cellular autophagy to various degrees except for cGQDs. Further analysis on autophagy pathways indicated all GQDs significantly activated p-p38 MAPK; p-ERK1/2 was inhibited by aGQDs and hGQDs but activated by c GQDs. p-JNK was inhibited by aGQDs and c GQDs, while activated by hGQDs. Simultaneously, Akt was activated by hGQDs but inhibited by aGQDs. Inhibition of autophagy by 3-MA significantly increased the cytotoxicity of GQDs, suggesting that autophagy played a protective role against the toxicity of GQDs. In conclusion, c GQDs showed excellent biocompatibility and may be considered for biological applications. Autophagy induction may be included in the health risk assessment of GQDs as it reflects the stress status which may eventually lead to diseases.     

Carbon dioxide adsorption and cycloaddition reaction of epoxides using chitosan–graphene oxide nanocomposite as a catalyst

One of today's major challenges is to provide green materials for a cleaner environment. We have conducted studies on carbon dioxide(CO2) adsorption and conversion to valuable products by an ecofriendly approach based in chitosan/graphene oxide(CSGO) nanocomposite film. Rheological behavior indicates that the CSGO has a better solvation property than the pure chitosan. An adsorption capacity of 1.0152 mmol CO_2/g of CSGO nanocomposite at4.6 bar was observed. The catalytic behavior of the CSGO nanocomposite in the presence of tetra-n-butylammonium iodide(n-Bu4 NI) as co-catalyst was evaluated for the cycloaddition of CO_2 to epoxides, to give cyclic carbonates, in the absence of any solvent. These results strongly suggest that the CSGO nanocomposite may open new vistas towards the development of ecofriendly material for catalytic conversion and adsorption of CO_2 on industrial scale.     

Facile synthesis of graphene-based hyper-cross-linked porous carbon composite with superior adsorption capability for chlorophenols

In this work, we proposed a green and cost-effective method to prepare a graphene-based hyper-cross-linked porous carbon composite (GN/HCPC) by one-pot carbonization of hyper-cross-linked polymer (HCP) and glucose. The composite combined the advantages of graphene (GN) and hyper-cross-linked porous carbon (HCPC), leading to high specific surface area (396.93 m²/g) and large total pore volume (0.413 cm³/g). The resulting GN/HCPC composite was applied as an adsorbent to remove 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) from aqueous solutions. The influence of different solution conditions including pH, ionic strength, contact time, system temperature and concentration of humic acid was determined. The maximum adsorption capacity of GN/HCPC composite (calculated by the Langmuir model) could reach 348.43 mg/g, which represented increases of 43.6% and 13.6% over those of the as-prepared pure GN and HCPC, respectively. The Langmuir model and pseudo-second-order kinetic model were found to fit well with the adsorption process. Thermodynamic experiments suggested that the adsorption proceeded spontaneously and endothermically. In addition, the GN/HCPC composite showed high adsorption performance toward other organic contaminants including tetracycline, bisphenol A and phenol. Measurement of the adsorption capability of GN/HCPC in secondary effluent revealed a slight decrease over that in pure water solution. This study demonstrated that the GN/HCPC composite can be utilized as a practical and efficient adsorbent for the removal of organic contaminants in wastewater.     

石墨烯环氧树脂复合材料的制备和阻燃性能的研究

合成并表征了石墨烯,然后通过溶剂法制备石墨烯/环氧树脂复合材料,研究了石墨烯对环氧树脂复合材料的热稳定性和燃烧性能的影响。热重分析数据显示,石墨烯可以显著提高环氧树脂的热稳定性。锥形量热仪测试结果表明,石墨烯降低了环氧复合材料热和烟气的释放。炭渣的扫描电镜(SEM)图揭示了石墨烯减少了环氧树脂炭层孔洞的生成,提高了炭层的致密度,从而增强了炭层的阻隔作用。     

Unusual thermal properties of graphene origami crease:A molecular dynamics study

Graphene is a two-dimensional material that can be folded into diverse and yet interesting nanostructures like macro-scale paper origami. Folding of graphene not only makes different morphological configurations but also modifies their mechanical and thermal properties. Inspired by paper origami, herein we studied systemically the effects of creases, where sp2 to sp3 bond transformation occurs, on the thermal properties of graphene origami using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Our MD simulation results show that tensile strain reduces (not increases) the interfacial thermal resistance owing to the presence of the crease. This unusual phenomenon is explained by the micro-heat flux migration and stress distribution. Our findings on the graphene origami enable the design of the next-generation thermal management devices and flexible electronics with tuneable properties.