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Based on the structural characteristics of the anodes of lithium-ion batteries, an improved Hummers’ method is proposed to recycle the anode materials of spent lithium-ion batteries into graphene. In order to effectively separate the active material from the copper foil, water was selected as an ultrasonic solvent in this experiment. In order to further verify whether lithium ions exist in the active material, carbon powder, it was digested by microwave digestion. ICP-AES was then used to analyse the solution. It was found that lithium ions were almost non-existent in the carbon powder. In order to further increase the added value of the active material, graphene oxide was obtained by an improved Hummers’ method using the carbon powder. The graphene material was also reduced by adding vitamin C as a reducing agent through a chemical reduction method using graphene oxide. Meanwhile, the negative graphite, graphite oxide and graphene samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, FTIR and TEM. The conductivity of the negative graphite, graphite oxide and graphene was tested. The results show that graphene prepared by a redox method has a better layered structure, less impurities and oxygen groups in its molecular structure, wider interlayer spacing and smaller resistivity.

Wastewater treatment is in a dilemma: more energy and efforts have to be put forth to obtain an effluent with better quality, while a significant amount of sludge is generated and the treatment or disposal expenses are high. Even if the sludge is disposed of properly, the components can be released and pollute the environment again. Therefore, conversion and recovery of the contaminants to resources is the way out of the dilemma. An ion exchange membrane (IEM) is a special type of membrane, which allows charged solutes to pass through it while retaining uncharged components. Attributed to this character, IEMs are taking more important roles in separation and conversion processes recently. They act as key elements in many resource recovery systems, such as in separation and concentration, salt valorization, energy conversion, and even in microbial systems. This review summarizes the important processes for waste conversion and resource recovery from wastewaters by using IEMs. Drawbacks and perspectives are summarized in view of the development of the processes and the membranes.

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Monodisperse core−shell-structured SiO 2 @ poly(ionic liquid) (SiO 2 @PIL) particles are prepared by the polymerization of ionic liquid monomer on the surface of methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane-modified SiO 2 particles. The electroresponsive electrorheological (ER) effect of SiO 2 @ PIL particles when dispersed in insulating carrier liquid is investigated and compared with that of pure poly(ionic liquid) (PIL) particles based on temperature-modulated rheology under electric fields. It is demonstrated that hard SiO 2 core not only enhances the ER effect of PIL particles but also improves the temperature dependence of ER effect. By dielectric spectroscopy analysis, the mechanism behind the property enhancement was discussed. It indicates that the hard SiO 2 core can not only increase the interfacial polarization strength of SiO 2 @PIL particles by core−shell architecture but also restrain the segment relaxation or softening of the PIL shell and influence the ion dynamics above the calorimetric glass transition of PILs by the so called "substrate confinement effect", and this should be responsible for the enhanced electroresponsive ER effect and temperature stability of the SiO 2 @PIL particles.

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