State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composite Materials

The preparation of dispersions of single- and few-sheet 2D materials in various solvents, as well as the characterization methods applied to such dispersions, is critically reviewed. Motivating factors for producing single- and few-sheet dispersions of 2D materials in liquids are briefly discussed. Many practical applications are expected for such materials that do not require high purity formulations and tight control of donor and acceptor concentrations, as required in conventional Fab processing of semiconductor chips. Approaches and challenges encountered in exfoliating 2D materials in liquids are reviewed. Ultrasonication, mechanical shearing, and electrochemical processing approaches are discussed, and their respective limitations and promising features are critiqued. Supercritical and more conventional liquid and solvent processing are then discussed in detail. The effects of various types of stabilizers, including surfactants and other amphiphiles, as well as polymers, including homopolymeric electrolytes, nonionic polymers, and nanolatexes, are discussed. Consideration of apparent successes of stabilizer-free dispersions indicates that extensive exfoliation in the absence of dispersing aids results from processing-induced surface modifications that promote stabilization of 2D material/solvent interactions. Also apparent paradoxes in "pristineness" and optical extinctions in dispersions suggest that there is much we do not yet quantitatively understand about the surface chemistry of these materials. Another paradox, emanating from modeling dilute solvent-only exfoliation by sonication using polar components of solubility parameters and surface tension for pristine graphene with no polar structural component, is addressed. This apparent paradox appears to be resolved by realizing that the reactivity of graphene to addition reactions of solvent radicals produced by sonolysis is accompanied by unintended polar surface modifications that promote attractive interactions with solvent. This hypothesis serves to define important theoretical and experimental studies that are needed. We conclude that the greatest promise for high volume and high concentration processing lies in applying methods that have not yet been extensively reported, particularly wet comminution processing using small grinding media of various types.

This review focuses on methodologies, technologies and innovative design of microencapsulated PCMs with a variety of shells for versatile applications.

2D materials for the electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction, oxygen evolution reaction, hydrogen evolution reaction, and CO₂reduction are critically reviewed.

In recent decades, cellulose has been extensively investigated due to its favourable properties, such as hydrophilicity, low-cost, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and non-toxicity, which makes it a good feedstock for the synthesis of biocompatible hydrogels. The plentiful hydrophilic functional groups (such as hydroxyl, carboxyl, and aldehyde groups) in the backbone of cellulose and its derivatives can be used to prepare hydrogels easily with fascinating structures and properties, leading to burgeoning research interest in biomedical applications. This review focuses on state-of-the-art progress in cellulose-based hydrogels, which covers from their preparation methods (including chemical methods and physical methods) and physicochemical properties (such as stimuli-responsive properties, mechanical properties, and self-healing properties) to their biomedical applications, including drug delivery, tissue engineering, wound dressing, bioimaging, wearable sensors and so on. Moreover, the current challenges and future prospects for cellulose-based hydrogels in regard to their biomedical applications are also discussed at the end.

Carbon-coated Ni nanoparticles supported on N-doped carbon enable efficient electroreduction of CO₂ to CO comparable to single Ni sites.

Mimicking natural structures has been highly pursued in the fabrication of synthetic polymeric materials due to its potential in breaking the bottlenecks in mechanical properties and extending the applications of polymeric materials. Recently, it has been revealed that the energy dissipating mechanisms via sacrificial bonds are among the important factors which account for strong and tough attributes of natural materials. Great progress in synthesis of polymeric materials consisting of sacrificial bonds has been achieved. The present review aims at (1) summarizing progress in the mechanics and chemistry of sacrificial bond bearing polymers, (2) describing the mechanisms of sacrificial bonds in strengthening/toughening polymers based on studies by single-molecule force spectroscopy, chromophore incorporation and constitutive laws, (3) presenting synthesis methods for sacrificial bonding including dual-crosslink, dual/multiple-network, and sacrificial interfaces, (4) discussing the important advances in engineering sacrificial bonding into hydrogels, biomimetic structures and elastomers, and (5) suggesting future works on molecular simulation, viscoelasticity, construction of sacrificial interfaces and sacrificial bonds with high dissociative temperature. It is hoped that this review will provide guidance for further development of sacrificial bonding strategies in polymeric materials.

UiO-66(Zr) functionalized with carboxylic acid or anhydride groups.

Air-dried, high-density graphene hybrid aerogels are fabricated for phase change composites with exceptional thermal conductivity and shape stability.

Black phosphorus quantum dots (BP QDs) are facilely loaded on MXene nanosheets through van der Waals self-assembly. The resulting BP QDs/MXene nanohybrids, as a bifunctional electrocatalyst, exhibit remarkable synergy in both hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions.

Efficient solar anti-icing/deicing polydimethylsiloxane/reduced graphene oxide (HPG) films with superior sunlight harvesting performances and high deicing efficiencies have been reported here.

The capacity of NH₃ in PIL [Bim][NTf₂] was up to 2.69 mol NH₃ per mol IL under ambient conditions.

Gas permeability and selectivity for CO₂/N₂ separation were improved simultaneously in mixed-matrix membranes formed by a nanoporous metal–organic framework with a task-specific ionic liquid in PIM-1.

High-quality graphene aerogels are prepared from highly processable graphene oxide pastes, showing excellent performance in thermally conductive phase change composites.

A facile and reliable molecular-level modification strategy was developed to impart superhydrophobicity to the external surface of porous metal–organic frameworks. The obtained Zr-based MOFs well inherit their original crystalline nature and remain stable under various conditions.

An advanced elastomer was developed by incorporating a dual-dynamic network into <italic>cis</italic>-polyisoprene, which combines excellent mechanical properties with high self-healing capability.

By utilizing the synergistic interaction between CuO and CeO₂, the stabilization of Cu⁺species at a metal–oxide interface is realized. H₂production is considerably suppressed, resulting in enhanced ethylene production with a high FE of 50.0%.

The combination of the high micropore surface area and the controlled mesopore size and mesopore/micropore ratio is responsible for high specific capacitance and excellent rate capability.

Lithium-sulfur batteries are one of the most promising energy storage devices with high energy density, but their practical application is hindered by the serious capacity fading due to the shuttle effect resulting from the migration of polysulifdes during charge-discharge. Using small sulfur molecules (S2-4), in place of conventional cyclo-S8, as cathode materials is an efficient method to fundamentally eradicate the shuttle effect. To satisfy the demands of flexible electronic devices, in this paper, two-dimensional (2D) MXene nanosheets were used as a conductive binder and flexible backbone to combine with the S2-4/carbon composite, fabricating a flexible small-sulfur electrode for lithium-sulfur batteries. The 2D MXene nanosheets with excellent conductivity can not only provide flexibility for the electrode, but also construct a conductive network for fast charge transfer. As a result, the flexible S2-4 electrode exhibits superior electrochemical performance, which has a capacity of 1029.7 mA h g-1 at 0.1 C and maintains 946.7 mA h g-1 after 200 cycles with 91.9% retention. Besides, a capacity of 502.3 mA h g-1 is obtained at 2 C current density. This electrode is promising for flexible lithium-sulfur batteries, and the application of MXene as a conductive binder and flexible backbone in lithium-sulfur batteries offers an effective method to achieve both flexibility and high performance.

IL-induced formation of dynamic complex iodide anions in IL@MOF composites facilitates record iodine adsorption capacities for both iodine vapor and solution.

Nitrogen-doped, hierarchical porous carbons with a high surface area were simply prepared from gelatin using nano-ZnO as both the template and activating agent.