Journal of Materials Chemistry Blog

In order to broaden the application fields of poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), a promising approach is introducing nanofillers into the polymer. In this paper from Wei-Hong Zhong and co-workers a facile method for surface modification of nanofillers has been developed in order to improve interfacial interaction and dispersion within PVDF matrix.

Rather than using the more conventional toxic fluorine gas method of treating nanofillers, the team from Beihang University and Washington State University developed a new method of depositing a fluorination coating from decomposition of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) on a carbon nanofiber (CNF) surface. This study confirms that the new surface coating method provides a simpler way for practical modification of nanofillers, i.e. through decompositions of polymers.

Interested in knowing more? Read for free until January 4th 2011.

Fluorination deposition on carbon nanofibers by PTFE decomposition as a facile method to enhance dispersion and interaction in PVDF composites
Li-Li Sun, Zuo-Guang Zhang and Wei-Hong Zhong
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0JM03260C, Paper

The design of new materials for gaseous NOx (NO and NO2) removal at ambient temperature using organic active sites is reported in this paper from a team from the University of California at Berkeley. The materials consist of unfunctionalised silica and silica modified by immobilized aminoxyls and function via cascade reactions consisting of NO oxidation to NO2 and NO2 adsorption.The application of cascade reactions is an emerging research area that spans synthetic and biological catalysts, and has the potential to integrate the unique properties of both types of catalysts within a single process.

Interested in knowing more?  Read for free until January 4^th 2011.

Silica-supported aminoxyls as reactive materials for NO_x removal 
Tatiana Luts, Enrique Iglesia and Alexander Katz
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0JM02826F, Paper

In this Feature Article, Hongtao Liu, Yunqi Liu and Daoben Zhu present a summary of chemical doping of graphene aimed at tuning the electronic properties.  The authors, from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, focus on p-type and n-type doping of graphene and band gap tuning in graphene.

Recently, a lot of effort has been focused on improving the performance and exploring the electric properties of graphene with the aim of designing high performance electronic devices based on chemically doped graphene.

Interested in knowing more? Read for free until 4th January 2011

Chemical doping of graphene
Hongtao Liu, Yunqi Liu and Daoben Zhu
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0JM02922J, Feature Article

This highlight article by Petra Cameron and co-workers at the University of Bath and the University of Liverpool describes recent activity in the area of peptide self-assembly, with a particular focus on tri-peptides, dipeptides and protected amino acids.

Low molecular weight gelators (LMWGs) are small molecules that self-assemble under the right conditions to form fibrous nanostructures, which can further associate into higher order structures. Of particular interest are LMW peptide hydrogelators which are biomimetic and form translucent hydrogels when added to water.  The gels typically contain >99% water and have been suggested for applications in regenerative tissue engineering, 3-D cell culturing, bio-templating, drug delivery, enzyme immobilisation and biosensing.

Interested in knowing more?  Read for free until December 23^rd.

Peptide based low molecular weight gelators
Eleanor K. Johnson, Dave J. Adams and Petra J. Cameron
J. Mater. Chem., 2011, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C0JM03099F, Highlight