Graphene sheets modified by phenylacetylene moieties provide a facile platform for attaching various photoactive functional molecules via"click" chemistry. The produced photoactive graphene materials are well-dispersed in various solvents and show dramatically improved photo-current responses.

Fluorescent carbon dots have attracted great attention, but the application in potocatalysis has not been well explored. Herein we report a facile layer-by-layer method to fabricate uniform C dots/CdS heterojunction films via electrophoretic and sequential chemical bath deposition method. Because no ligands are used, the strategy facilitates the formation of intimate interfacial contact beneficial for charge separation and transfer, which can lead to a high photocurrent density of 2.6 mA•cm -2 . In addition, the electron donor-acceptor heterojunction can expedite charge separation and effectively suppress electron-hole pair recombination, eventually contributing to enhanced photoelectrochemical and/or photocatalytic efficiency of the system. As a proof-of-concept, the hybrid films manifested themselves as efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst when applied for reduction of nitro-benzene derivatives in aqueous phase under low power irradiation. Our findings thus establish a new frontier on the rational design and fabrication of well-controlled hybrid films with built-in heterojunctions for solar light conversion.

The preparation of chemically modified graphene (CMG) generally involves the reduction of graphite oxide (GO) by using various reducing reagents. Herein, we report a free-radical-promoted synthesis of CMG, which does not require any conventional reductant. We demonstrated that the phenyl free radical can efficiently promote the conversion of GO into CMG under mild conditions and produces phenyl-functionalized CMG. This pseudo-"reduction" process is attributed to a free-radical-mediated elimination of the surface-attached oxygen-containing functionalities. This work illustrates a new strategy for preparing CMG that is alternative to the conventional means of chemical reduction. Furthermore, the phenyl-functionalized graphene shows an excellent performance as an electrode material for lithium-battery applications.

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