Graphene-Functionalized Nanofibers

HGURE 4.4 Electrical properties of polymer composites. (A) The electrical conductivity of the PS/graphene composite as a function of graphene volume fraction. (B) The electrical conductivity of directly mixing (DM) CNT/PANI and CNT/ PANI nanofibers with different CNT contents in the directions being parallel and perpendicular to the fiber axis. 

Fan J, Shi Z, Zhang L, Wang J, Yin J. Aramid nanofiber-functionalized graphene nanosheets for polymer reinforcement. Nanoscale 2012 4(22) 7046. 

Inspired by the observation, that binary Pt=Ru nanoparticles supported on CNT showed a promising performance as anode catalysts in PEMFCs, Harris et al. [65] used density functional theory calculations to study the anchoring of the nanoparticles to the nanofibers. They found a strong metal-carbon bond ( 3 eV) with covalent character between the graphene structure and the metal (111) crystal planes, which might be the reason for the higher stability found in these systems. 

UHV Ultrahigh vacuum, MWCNTs multiwalled carbon nanotubes, S-HCNF helical carbon nanofibers functionalized with benzyl mercaptan, WC tungsten carbide, PHCSs porous hollow carbon spheres, HPC honeycomb-like porous carbon, PDDA-MWCNTs Polydiallyldimethylammonium-functionalized MWCNTs, APZ-MWCNTs 2-aminophenoxazin-3-one-functionalized MWCNTs, S-MWCNTs sulfonated MWCNTs, GNS graphene nanosheets... 

The incorporation into PU foams of different types and concentrations of nanosized functional particles, both platelet-like such as nanoclays or graphene, fibrous-like such as carbon nanotubes and nanofibers, or even spherical-like such as nanosilica, has been shown to have a significant effect in the structure and physical properties of the resulting materials, considerably expanding the already wide range of possible applications of these lightweight materials. 

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