The key first step in developing bacterial infections related to implants and medical devices is the attachment of planktonic bacterial cells, and subsequent formation of biofilms. Herein, it is reported that graphene, a 2D carbon‐based material, can be effectively used to prevent bacterial attachment. The key parameter for this effect is the orientation of graphene with respect to the coated surface. Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene, deposited horizontally on the surface, exhibits no antibacterial effect. By contrast, an array of graphene flakes grown perpendicularly to the surface by a plasma‐enhanced CVD (PECVD) process prevent biofilm formation. Electron microscopy reveals that the exposed edges of vertically aligned graphene flakes penetrate the bacterial membrane and drain the cytosolic content. Bacteria are not able to develop resistance to this killing mechanism during multiple exposures. By keeping the height of the vertical graphene coating between 60 and 100 nm, the coating is able to effectively kill bacteria, while being completely harmless to mammalian cells.
Strontium chloride (SrCl 2 ) as ammonia (NH 3 ) carriers has been widely exploited due to its high ammonia uptake capacity and low energy penalty for ammonia release. However, the dramatic volume swing during absorption-desorption cycles, from SrCl 2 to Sr(NH 3 ) 8 Cl 2 to SrCl 2 , imposes a challenge to structure SrCl 2 for ammonia storage applications. Herein, a novel porous SrCl 2 structure with SrCl 2 loading up to 96 wt%, scaffolded by reduced graphene oxide (rGO) networks is reported. The optimized porous SrCl 2 -rGO composite with 80 wt% SrCl 2 loading maintains the macro-and micro-structure accommodating the volume swing during ammonia absorption-desorption cycles without disintegration, whereas structured SrCl 2 pellets disintegrates directly after the first cycle of NH 3 absorption. The structured porous 80 wt% SrCl 2 -rGO composite demonstrates rapid absorption-desorption kinetics, 140% faster in absorption and 540% faster in desorption compared with pure SrCl 2 pellet. The enhancement of the surface area and the presence of SrCl 2 particles in the pores of rGO networks result in a robust and stable structure offering rapid ammonia absorption-desorption kinetics while countermining the volume swing by self-adjusting "breathing."
Poly acryl nitrile (PAN) nanofibers were prepared by electrospinning and coated with zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) by a phase conversion growth method and investigated for CO2 capture.
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