Synthesis of Diverse Green Carbon Nanomaterials through Fully Utilizing Biomass Carbon Source Assisted by KOH.

With multiple properties, green carbon nanomaterials with high specific surface area have become extensively attractive as energy storage devices with environmental-friendly features. The primary synthesis attempts were based on alkalis activation, which, however, faced the dilemma of low utilization rate of carbon sources. Herein, the green carbon with ultrahigh surface area (up to 3560 m2/g) was prepared by the KOH-assisted biomass carbonization. Moreover, the redundant K2O steam and CxHy flow were further utilized; as a result, the carbon materials with a wide range of morphological diversity were collected on the Cu foam. Accordingly, we carried out density functional theory simulations to reveal the mechanism of O-adatom-promoted CH4 dissociation over the Cu surface for carbon formation. The electrodes of electrochemical capacitor fabricated by carbon synthesis possess a 170% higher specific capacitance compared with commercial carbon electrodes. As such, this strategy might be promising in developing hierarchical carbons along with sufficient carbon sources for broadening their potential applications.

Research on soot of black smoke from ceramic furnace flue gas: characterization of soot.

In this study, the characterizations of soot from ceramic furnace flue gas were studied using environmental scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, particle size distribution, specific surface area measurements, crystal characterizations and organic pollutant analysis. Soot particles were mainly spherical nanoparticles with diameters less than 100 nm. However, the particles could be aggregated into larger ones with a median diameter of 3.66 µm. Nanometer pores with diameters ranging 2-4 nm were also detected in the soot particles. Because of their large surface areas and pore volumes, other pollutants in the environment can be adsorbed to soot particles potentially making them more hazardous. Several elements, including C, O and Pb, were detected in the soot, but only small amounts of crystalline materials were observed. This is because most of the detected carbon and metals/metal oxides/metal salts were amorphous. Approximately 90 different organic pollutants were detected in the soot, including aromatic compounds and other hydrocarbons. Because of the carcinogenic properties of aromatic compounds and the photochemical effects of hydrocarbons, soot could have serious health and environmental impacts. The results suggest that soot particles are hazardous material and urgently need to be controlled.

Organic light-emitting diodes having carbon nanotube anodes.

Single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) films on flexible PET (polyethyleneterephthalate) substrates are used as transparent, flexible anodes for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). For polymer-based OLEDs having the structure: SWNT/PEDOT-PSS:MeOH/TFB (poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-N-(4-butylphenyl)diphenylamine)) + TPD-Si(2) (4,4'-bis[(p-trichlorosilylpropylphenyl)phenylamino]biphenyl) /BT (poly(9,9-dioctylfluorene-co-benzothiadiazole))/CsF/Al, a maximum light output of 3500 cd/m(2) and a current efficiency of 1.6 cd/A have been achieved. The device operational lifetime is comparable to that of devices with Sn-doped In(2)O(3) (ITO)/PET anodes. The advantages of this novel type of anode over conventional ITO are discussed.