Microstructure optimization strategy of ZnIn2S4/rGO composites toward enhanced and tunable electromagnetic wave absorption properties.

Although microstructure optimization is an effective strategy to improve and regulate electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption properties, preparing microwave absorbents with enhanced EMW absorbing performance and tuned absorption band by a simple method remains challenging. Herein, ZnIn2S4/reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composites with flower-like and cloud-like morphologies were fabricated by a convenient hydrothermal method. The ZnIn2S4/rGO composites with different morphologies realize efficient EMW absorption and tunable absorption bands, covering a wide frequency range. The flower-like structure has an optimal reflection loss (RL) of up to -49.2 dB with a maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 5.7 GHz, and its main absorption peaks are concentrated in the C and Ku bands. The minimal RL of the cloud-like structure can reach -36.3 dB, and the absorption peak shifts to the junction of X and Ku bands. The distinguished EMW absorption capacity originates from the uniquely optimized microstructure, complementary effect of ZnIn2S4 and rGO in dielectric constant, and synergy of various loss mechanisms, such as interfacial polarization, dipole polarization, conductive loss, and multiple reflections. This study proposes a guide for the structural optimization of an ideal EMW absorber to achieve efficient and tunable EMW absorption performance.

Dual-asymmetrically selective interfaces-enhanced poly(lactic acid)-based nanofabric with sweat management and switchable radiative cooling and thermal insulation.

All-weather personal thermal regulation has far been challenged by variable environments especially the regulatory failure caused by highly-dense solar radiation, low environmental radiation and the fluctuated epidermal moisture in different seasons. Herein, from the design of interface selectivity, dual-asymmetrically optical and wetting selective polylactic acid-based (PLA) Janus-type nanofabric is proposed to achieve on-demand radiative cooling and heating as well as sweat transportation. Hollow TiO2 particles are introduced in PLA nanofabric causing high interface scattering (∼99%) and infrared emission (∼91.2%) as well as surface hydrophobicity (CA > 140°). The strictly optical and wetting selectivity help achieve ∼12.8℃ of net cooling effect under > 1500 W/m2 of solar power and ∼5℃ of cooling advantage higher than cotton fabric and sweat resistance simultaneously. Contrarily, the semi-embedded Ag nanowires (AgNWs) with high conductivity (0.245 Ω/sq) endows the nanofabric with visible water permeability and excellent interface reflection for thermal radiation from body (>65%) thus causing ∼7℃ of thermal shielding. Through simple interface flipping, synergistical cooling-sweat reducing and warming-sweat resisting can be achieved to satisfy the thermal regulation in all weather. Compared with conventional fabrics, multi-functional Janus-type passive personal thermal management nanofabrics would be of great significance to achieve the personal health maintenance and energy sustainability.

Controllable preparation of 2D carbon paper modified with flower-like WS2 for efficient microwave absorption.

In the practical application of microwave absorbing materials, traditional powder materials need to be mixed with the matrix to fabricate composite coatings. However, the complex preparation process of composite coatings and the uneven dispersion of powders in the matrix limit their application. To solve these problems, two-dimensional (2D) F-WS2/CP composite films were prepared by using carbon paper (CP) as a dispersion matrix and loading flower-like WS2 on its surface through a simple hydrothermal method. The morphology and microwave absorption (MA) performance of the composite films are easily regulated by adjusting the amount of reaction precursors. The combination of WS2 and CP facilitates impedance matching and improves the electromagnetic wave attenuation performance based on the synergistic effect of different loss mechanisms including multiple reflections and scattering, interfacial polarization, dipolar polarization, and conduction loss. At a low filler content (5 wt%), the maximum reflection loss (RL) of the composite film is up to -50 dB (99.999% energy absorption) at 12.5 GHz with 2.8 mm thickness. Moreover, at a relatively thin 1.8 mm thickness, its maximum RL remains -35 dB (>99.9% energy absorption). The as-prepared composite film shows excellent MA properties at a thinner thickness and lower filling content, providing inspiration for the preparation of light weight and efficient 2D thin-film microwave absorbers in the future.

Ultralight Hierarchically Structured RGO Composite Aerogels Embedded with MnO2/Ti3C2Tx for Efficient Microwave Absorption.

Although intensive efforts have been devoted to fabricating Ti3C2Tx MXene composites for microwave absorption, it remains a great challenge to achieve excellent MA performance at low loading and thin thickness. Herein, a three-dimensional (3D) lightweight hierarchically structured MnO2/Ti3C2Tx/RGO composite aerogel with abundant heterointerfaces was fabricated via a hydrothermal and chemical reduction self-assembly method. The RGO aerogel embedded with laminated MnO2/Ti3C2Tx provides a lot of heterogeneous interfaces, 3D porous interconnected conductive networks, and reasonable combination of various loss materials for rich interfacial polarization, conductivity loss, multiple reflections and scattering, and good impedance matching. Benefiting from the synergy of different loss mechanisms, the maximum reflection loss (RL) is up to -66.5 dB (>99.9999% energy absorption) at only 10 wt % loading and 2.0 mm thickness, and even at only 1.5 mm thickness, the maximum RL value remains at -36 dB (>99.9% energy absorption). The work provides a promising route to construct 3D hierarchically heterogeneous composite aerogels for efficient MA at thin thickness and low loading.

Carbon and phosphorus co-doped carbon nitride hollow tube for improved photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Graphitic carbon nitride, regarded as a charming conjugated polymer, has been a visible light photocatalyst. Bulk carbon nitride endures the limited light absorption ability, few surface active sites and slow separation of photoinduced charge carriers, leading to the poor catalytic activity. Herein, a new carbon (C) and phosphorus (P) co-doped carbon nitride hollow tube with adjustable optical property (CPCN) was developed by applying melamine and polyacrylic amide as the precursors and phosphoric acid as the P source via a hydrothermal-thermal copolymerization way. The effects of polyacrylic amide content on the morphology and photocatalytic performance were intensively investigated. The special hollow tube favors the improvement of active sites and visible light harvesting ability. Meantime, C and P co-doping results in the narrow band gap and rapid charge transfer, thus enabling an enhanced catalytic activity under visible light irradiation. Particularly, CPCN-50 exhibits a remarkable H2 generation rate of 4485.7 µmol h-1 g-1 under λ > 400 nm, which is higher than pure carbon nitride CN (902.3 µmol h-1 g-1), C doped sample CCN-50 (3741.1 µmol h-1 g-1) and P doped sample CNP (2280.0 µmol h-1 g-1). It implies that C, P co-doping exhibits a synergistic effect on boosting photoinduced charge transfer and hindering the recombination. Moreover, CPCN-50 illustrates a higher H2 generation rate (3024.5 µmol h-1 g-1) than CN (400.8 µmol h-1 g-1) under λ > 420 nm irradiation. This way developed in this work might exhibit utility for synthesizing highly effective photocatalysts for the CO2 reduction, H2 evolution and so on.

Self-Assembled 3D Flower-like Composites of Heterobimetallic Phosphides and Carbon for Temperature-Tailored Electromagnetic Wave Absorption.

Bimetallic cobalt-nickel phosphides as a microwave absorber with a well-defined 3D hierarchical flower-like architecture featuring the ultrathin 2D subunits are very unusual and rarely reported. Herein, for the first time, we successfully prepared 3D flower-like CoNi-P/C composites with 2D nanosheet subunits via a one-pot solvothermal self-assembled strategy followed by a one-step carbonization-phosphorization process. Interestingly, the chemical composition and electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption performance of composites are highly influenced by the calcination temperature. As the calcination temperature increases from 300 to 500 °C, the crystal pattern transformed from CoP with nickel ions uniformly intercalating into the lattice to the CoNiP structure. Comparing with CoNi-P/C-400 and CoNi-P/C-500, the CoNi-P/C-300 sample exhibited an optimal reflection loss (RL) value of -65.5 dB at 12.56 GHz with a thickness of 2.1 mm and an ultralow filler loading of 15 wt %. Furthermore, the fundamental EM wave absorption mechanism was proposed. The synergetic effects of dramatical attenuation ability and well-matched impedance endue CoNi-P/C-300 with superior microwave absorption performance. This work may be enlightening in promoting the development of heterobimetallic phosphides in the wave-absorbing field due to their intrinsic magnetism, higher electrical conductivity, as well as eco-friendly traits.

Rational Construction of Ti3C2T x/Co-MOF-Derived Laminated Co/TiO2-C Hybrids for Enhanced Electromagnetic Wave Absorption.

Lightweight and compatible metal-organic framework (MOF)-derived carbon-based composites are widely used in electromagnetic (EM) absorption. Their combination with laminated TiO2-C (derived from Ti3C2T x) is expected to further strengthen the EM attenuation ability. Herein, novel laminated Co/TiO2-C hybrids were derived from Ti3C2T x/Co-MOF using heat treatment. Compared with pristine MOF-derived carbon-based composites, the EM absorption ability of Co/TiO2-C was improved by multiple reflections between multilayered microstructures and the improved polarization loss (due to the heterogeneous interfaces, residual defects, and dipole polarization) and the strengthened conductivity loss caused by the carbon layers. Specifically, for the Co/TiO2-C hybrids at thicknesses of 3.0 and 2.0 mm, the optimal reflection loss (RL) was -41.1 dB at 9.0 GHz and -31.0 dB at 13.9 GHz, with effective bandwidths (RL ≤ -10 dB) of 3.04 and 4.04 GHz, respectively. This study will underline the preparation of carbon-based absorbing materials starting from MXene/MOF hybrids.

Facile one-step synthesis of TiO2/Ag/SnO2 ternary heterostructures with enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity.

Novel TiO2/Ag/SnO2 composites were successfully prepared by a facile one-step reduction approach using stannous chloride as both SnO2 precursor and reducing agent. The Ag nanoparticles with sizes of 2.04-3.94 nm were located on TiO2 matrix and immobilized by the surrounded SnO2. The resulted TiO2/Ag/SnO2 nanocomposites were used as photocatalyst for photodegradation of methylene blue under visible light. The experimental results demonstrated that the visible light photocatalytic activity of the TiO2/Ag/SnO2 was significantly enhanced in comparison with the individual TiO2 or the binary composite (TiO2/Ag or TiO2/SnO2) and the degradation rate was up to about 9.5 times that of commercial TiO2. The photocatalytic activity of the TiO2/Ag/SnO2 composites could be well controlled by simply tuning the dosages of Ag precursor and the optimized activity of the composites was obtained when the dosage of Ag precursor was 2%. Moreover, the TiO2/Ag/SnO2 photocatalyst exhibited high stability for degradation of methylene blue even after four successive cycles.

Bioinspired, direct synthesis of aqueous CdSe quantum dots for high-sensitive copper(II) ion detection.

Luminescent CdSe semiconductor quantum dots (QDs), which are coated with a denatured bovine serum albumin (dBSA) shell, have been directly synthesized via a bioinspired approach. The dBSA coated CdSe QDs are ultrasmall (d < 2.0 nm) with a narrow size distribution and exhibit a strong green fluorescent emission at about 525 nm. They can be stored for months at room temperature and possess excellent stability against ultraviolet irradiation, high salt concentration, and a wide physiological range of pH. Systematic experimental investigations have shown the contribution of dBSA with free cysteine residues for both their effective ion chelating and surface passivating interactions during the formation and stabilization of CdSe QDs. The luminescent QDs are used for copper(II) ion detection due to their highly sensitive and selective fluorescence quenching response to Cu(2+). The concentration dependence of the quenching effect can be best described by the typical Stern-Volmer equation in a linearly proportional concentration of Cu(2+) ranging from 10 nM to 7.5 µM with a detection limit of 5 nM. As confirmed by various characterization results, a possible quenching mechanism is given: Cu(2+) ions are first reduced to Cu(+) by the dBSA shell and then chemical displacement between Cu(+) and Cd(2+) is performed at the surface of the ultrasmall metallic core to impact the fluorescence performance.