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Using ultrasonication we succeed in a controlled incorporation of TiO(2) nanoparticles on the graphene layers homogeneously in a few hours. The average size of the TiO(2) nanoparticles was controlled at around 4-5 nm on the sheets without using any surfactant, which is attributed to the pyrolysis and condensation of the dissolved TiCl(4) into TiO(2) by ultrasonic waves. The photocatalytic activity of the resultant graphene-TiO(2) composites containing 25 wt.% TiO(2) is better than that of commercial pure TiO(2). This is partly due to the extremely small size of the TiO(2) nanoparticles and partly due to the graphene-TiO(2) composite structure consisting of homogeneous dispersion of crystalline TiO(2) nanoparticles on the graphene sheets. As the graphene in the composites has a very good contact with the TiO(2) nanoparticles it enhances the photo-electron conversion of TiO(2) by reducing the recombination of photo-generated electron-hole pairs.

Large-scale, substrate-free graphene, with few-layered sheets, is synthesized by the CVD of methane over cobalt supported on magnesium oxides at 1000 -C in a gas flow of argon. Typically, 50 mg of the few-layered graphene materials over 500 mg of the Co/MgO catalysts are synthesized under our experimental conditions. Randomly aggregated, thin, crumpled graphene sheets stacked closely together are produced. Both carbon (94.6 at.-%) and oxygen (5.4 at.-%) are present in the graphene sheets. The oxygen may originate from air adsorbed on the graphene sheets. Our results indicate the presence of localized sp 3 defects within the sp 2 carbon network and small sp 2 domains in the few-layered graphene particles.

Covalent adaptable networks (CANs) represent a transition material combining favorable features of thermosets and thermoplastics. However, it is still a huge challenge to simultaneously achieve fast reprocessability and high performance for CANs. Here, we designed catechol-based acetal CANs to achieve continuous reprocessing without sacrificing thermal and mechanical properties. A small-molecule model study demonstrated the significantly accelerated acetal exchange by neighboring group participation (NGP) of phenolic hydroxyl. Using this internally catalyzed acetal chemistry, a series of CANs with a broad range of properties were simply prepared from bio-based epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) and tri­(ethylene glycol) divinyl ether (TEGVE) via one-step “click” cross-linking without using catalysts or releasing small-molecule byproducts. The dynamic nature of the CANs was confirmed via stress relaxation and multiple recycling methods including extrusion. While the dense cross-link density and high rigidity of the network provided high solvent resistance and mechanical properties. This work provides a promising and practical method to produce fast-reprocessing dynamic covalent polymer networks with dense cross-link density and superior performance.