Composites with Carbon Nanomaterials

The design of the laboratory setup proposed below allows the investigations to be made of the peculiarities of hydrogen interaction with carbon nanomaterials and their composites (T = 77 -s- 1273 K). 

The biological and biomedical applications of graphene and its derivatives are currently of great interest and have been reviewed in de-tail. Li and Mezzenga have recently reviewed the interaction of amyloid fibrils with carbon nanomaterials such as graphene, extending the scope of biomedical applications and composite biomaterials, indeed, the supramolecular self-assembly of carbonaceous nanomaterials by biomolecules is now a possibility. ... 

Integration of nanostructured Si with carbon nanomaterials such as carbon paper, CNTs, or graphene in the porous electrodes is a useful approach to improve the electrochemical performance of Si. In this composite structure, the void space accommodates the volume expansion of Si, and the carbon nanomaterials compensate for the low intrinsic electronic conductivity of Si furthermore, the overall electrode structure is allowed to maintain stable SEI layers formed on the carbon surfaces. An example is shown in Figure 8.10 [13]. It is prepared by simple mixing of aqueous dispersions including Si and N-doped carbons. Due to electrostatic interactions between the N-doped sites of graphitic carbons and surface hydroxyl functionalities of Si, this composite can be prepared at room temperature for effective encapsulation by solution mixing. The interaction between N-CNTs and Si particles is very stable. As a result, the composites display superior capacity retention of 79.4% after 200 cycles, and excellent rate capability of 914 mAh/g is observed at a 10 C rate [13]. 

An important role of the catalysts (Ni, Cu, Fe) for the spectral composition, structural state and physical properties of the carbon nanomaterials produced with the electrical wire explosion and spark erosion methods was established. 

Although much progress has been made in both synthesis and purification of carbon nanomaterials, commercial samples still contain nanostrucmres of different size, shape, and composition. As-produced carbon nanomaterials are frequently composed of mixtures of CNTs, fullerenes, carbon onions, amorphous carbon and graphite, which are structurally different and possess different reactivity. Since the oxidation kinetics are closely related to structural features, reaction rates and activation energies are expected to differ for the distinct carbon forms, which is an important issue for oxidation-based purification or surface functionalization. In analogy to graphite [3-6], oxidation of a carbon nanostmcture [7-9] can be described by a first-order reaction, with respect to the carbon component. 

In order to successfully apply oxidation methods to carbon nanomaterials, one has to systematically study their interactions with gases and liquids, monitor changes in structure and composition, and simultaneously follow the reaction kinetics of the different carbon nanostructures. This has been partially achieved for carbon nanotubes [25-27], which have been thoroughly studied, but remains a major challenge for other forms of carbon, including ND or carbon onions. 

In the nanotechnology field, carbon-based materials and associated composites have received special attention both for fundamental and applicative research. In the first kind, carbon compounds may be included, often taking the form of a hollow spheres, ellipsoids, or mbes. Spherical and ellipsoidal carbon nanomaterials are referred to as fullerenes, while cylindrical ones are called nanombes and nanofibers. In the second class, one includes composite materials that combine carbon nanoparticles with other nanoparticles, or nanoparticles with large bulk-type materials. The unique properties of these various types of nanomaterials provide novel electrical, catalytic, magnetic, mechanical, thermal, and other features that are desirable for applications in commercial, medical, military, and enviromnental sectors. This is the case for conducting polymers (CPs) and carbon nanombes (CNTs) [1-5]. 

Carbon nanomaterials themselves also have good electrocatalytic activities, thus their composites with insulating polymers could also be used as counter electrodes of DSSCs. For instance, the CNT/epoxy composite films with CNTs being aligned to be perpendicular and parallel to the film surface have been investigated. However, the performances were lower than bare CNTs. They can also be composited with elastic polymers to be used for stretchable electronic devices. 

Besides the intrinsic conductive polymers, some deformable polymers, such as shape-memory polymers, are usually activated by heating. After incorporating with conductive fillers, such as carbon nanomaterials, they can be simulated by the electricity through Joule heating (Liu et al., 2009 Hu and Chen, 2010 Koerner et al., 2004). This kind of electro thermally active polymer composites can produce expansion/contraction and bending behaviors upon with the electricity. Moreover, these actuators can work durably... 

Carbon-based polymer nano composites represent an interesting type of advanced materials with structural characteristics that allow them to be applied in a variety of fields. Functionalization of carbon nanomaterials provides homogeneous dispersion and strong interfacial interaction when they are incorporated into polymer matrices. These features confer superior properties to the polymer nanocomposites. This chapter focuses on nanodiamonds, carbon nanotubes and graphene due to their importance as reinforcement fillers in polymer nanocomposites. The most common methods of synthesis and functionalization of these carbon nanomaterials are explained and different techniques of nanocomposite preparation are briefly described. The performance achieved in polymers by the introduction of carbon nanofillers in the mechanical and tribological properties is highlighted, and the hardness and scratching behavior of the nanocomposites are also discussed. 

To ground the readers and provide benchmarks for comparisons of the SMPlNCs, Section 2 presents a brief outline of recent advances in shape memory polymer-organic composites, with a focus on carbon nanomaterials such as graphene, carbon nanotubes, and carbon black. 

Several nonprecious metals porphyrins and phthalocyanines were used to prepare graphene composites in order to investigate ORR [88], with Co being the most used metal. Cobalt tetrakis(o-aminophenyl)porphyrin, CoToAPP, was covalently anchored to graphene— besides other carbon nanomaterials—showing excellent electrocatalytic effect and efficient electrocatalytic performance for the ORR [89]. 

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