Nanotechnology‐based wastewater treatment

Water contamination is a global challenge impacting both the environment and human health with significant economic and social costs. The growing scarcity of usable water resources requires effective treatment of wastewater. In this context, developing cheaper, safer and more efficient wastewater treatment technologies are the need of the hour. One promising approach that several studies have reported success has been the usage of nanomaterials in water and waste water management. The rapid progress of research in nanomaterial sciences has shown their growing potential; however, there has not been a great amount of information available on their implementation. This review focuses on developments in nanotechnology that hold strong potential for wastewater treatment. The review covers key techniques in nanomaterial‐based water treatments including adsorption, filtration and photocatalysis with recent examples showing how to improve their properties and efficiencies according to the need.     

锂-二氧化碳电池阴极催化剂的研究进展

锂-二氧化碳电池通过捕获、转化二氧化碳为储能物质，既可以减少二氧化碳排放量又可以作为创新的储能装置，引起了研究者们的广泛关注。本文简单介绍了锂-二氧化碳电池的工作机理、发展历程和目前研究存在的难题，通过对研究工作的总结、电池性能的对比，将不同类型的催化剂进行了系统的分类和简单的概括，综述了催化剂的设计理念和研究现状，提出了催化剂目前存在的难题与挑战，并展望了催化剂未来的发展方向。本文主要针对锂-二氧化碳电池阴极催化剂的最新研究进展进行了详细的阐述，指出高效的阴极催化剂是促进锂-二氧化碳电池电化学反应动力学、降低充电平台和过电势的关键所在。     

纳米氧化物对水泥基料化学收缩的影响

采用ASTM化学收缩试验方法,研究纳米SiO2、MgO、Al2O3对水泥基材料化学收缩变化的影响,明确纳米材料种类的差异性。结果表明,各实验组水泥基材料化学收缩均经历三阶段:急速变化区、缓慢变化区、平稳区,7d始水泥基材料化学收缩基本稳定。几种纳米材料的最佳掺量对水泥基材料的化学收缩改善作用大小为:SiO2>Al2O3>MgO。研究发现,纳米材料种类和掺量的不同对化学收缩的影响也较大,在选用时,需综合考虑。     

One-step scalable preparation of graphene nanosheets and high-thermal-conductivity flexible graphene films

It is well known that graphene nanosheets (GNSs) have many excellent properties. However, it has been a difficult thing to exfoliate graphite into GNSs in a controllable and scalable manner. In this research, a new strategy named xylitol-assisted ball milling exfoliation (XABME) was developed for the scalable preparation of GNSs. The experimental results characterized by a series of measurements showed that GNSs were successfully exfoliated by the XABME strategy. The structure of the prepared nanosheets was featured by large lateral size and ultra-small thickness. Furthermore, the prepared GNSs easily achieved high production yield (≈54%). Lastly, the as-obtained GNSs and cellulose nanofibers (CNF) were compounded to form some nanomaterial films. The prepared films exhibited excellent flexibility and higher thermal conductivity, with the in-plane thermal conductivity of 90 wt% GNS film (8.0 W/(m·K)) being 11.4 times higher than that of the film without GNSs. This shows that GNSs could effectively enhance the thermal conductivity of the CNF matrix and indicate that these prepared films have great potentials in the thermal management of portable mobile devices.     

用纳米棒ZnO作模板生长无支撑的AlN纳米晶

用金属有机物气相外延在纳米棒ZnO模板上沉积AlN薄膜.SEM测试表明该薄膜形成了一种倾倒纳米棒的表面.而GIXRD测试进一步证实它是纤锌矿结构的AlN,晶粒尺度约为12nm,接近于ZnO纳米棒的直径(30nm).这意味着纳米棒结构的ZnO能限制AlN的横向生长.此外,高温下用H2刻蚀ZnO直接在生长中实现了外延层的剥离.最终得到了无支撑的AlN纳米晶,完整无破损的区域约为1cm×1cm.定义这个生长机制为"生长-刻蚀-合并"过程.     

表面活性剂有序聚集体在纳米材料制备中的应用

介绍了表面活性剂在溶液中形成的各种有序聚集体－胶团（反胶团），微乳液，液晶及囊泡等，综述了它们作为微反应器或作为模板在纳米材料制备中的应用。     

块体纳米材料的结构性能及应用

块体纳米材料是纳米材料的重要组成部分，对纳米材料最终能否在大范围应用可能起着决定性作用。块体纳米材料具有很多比较特殊的结构和性能，这些特点决定了纳米材料的应用范围。文章对块体纳米材料的结构、性能和应用情况作了简要介绍。     

表面科学与工程在纳米技术发展与应用中的直接作用

表面科学与工程在纳米技术的发展与应用中发挥着特殊的作用，尤其在纳米尺度材料的制备和纳米制造等领域。在纳米材料领域，纳米晶块材料的界面问题和纳米尺度的分子自组装的表面与界面问题是极富挑战性的前沿工作。在纳米制造领域，微机械部件的微纳米尺度的操作手设计和运动副表面的微观失效、摩擦磨损和润滑等问题也将开辟表面科学与工程新的研究领域。     

Stimuli-Responsive Nanomaterials for Smart Tumor-Specific Phototherapeutics

Phototherapy, a type of photoresponsive regulation of biological activities, together with additional stimuli-responsive features, offers significant potential for enhancing the precision and efficacy of cancer treatments. To achieve tumor-specific therapeutics, numerous studies have focused on the development of smart phototherapeutic nanomaterials (PNMs) that can respond to endogenous pathological characteristics (e. g., mild acidity, the overproduction of glutathione, the overproduction of hydrogen peroxide, the overexpression of specific surface receptors, etc.) present in the tumor and/or exogenous stimuli. Such responsiveness can effectively improve the physicochemical properties, cellular uptake, tumor-targeting performance, and pharmacokinetic profile of PNMs. Herein, we will systematically discuss recent advances in this field. Moreover, potential challenges and future directions in the development of stimuli-responsive PNMs are also presented to support the development of this emerging cutting-edge research area.     

The use of carbon nanomaterials in membrane distillation membranes: a review

Membrane distillation (MD) is a thermal-based separation technique with the potential to treat a wide range of water types for various applications and industries. Certain challenges remain however, which prevent it from becoming commercially widespread including moderate permeate flux, decline in separation performance over time due to pore wetting and high thermal energy requirements. Nevertheless, its attractive characteristics such as high rejection (ca. 100%) of non-volatile species, its ability to treat highly saline solutions under low operating pressures (typically atmospheric) as well as its ability to operate at low temperatures, enabling waste-heat integration, continue to drive research interests globally. Of particular interest is the class of carbon-based nanomaterials which includes graphene and carbon nanotubes, whose wide range of properties have been exploited in an attempt to overcome the technical challenges that MD faces. These low dimensional materials exhibit properties such as high specific surface area, high strength, tuneable hydrophobicity, enhanced vapour transport, high thermal and electrical conductivity and others. Their use in MD has resulted in improved membrane performance characteristics like increased permeability and reduced fouling propensity. They have also enabled novel membrane capabilities such as in-situ fouling detection and localised heat generation. In this review we provide a brief introduction to MD and describe key membrane characteristics and fabrication methods. We then give an account of the various uses of carbon nanomaterials for MD applications, focussing on polymeric membrane systems. Future research directions based on the findings are also suggested.