Application and Future Challenges of Functional Nanocarbon Hybrids

Abstract

Hybridizing nanocarbons, such as carbon nanotubes (CNTs) or graphene, with an active material is a powerful strategy towards designing next-generation functional materials for environmental and sustainable energy applications. While research on nanocomposites, created by dispersing the nanocarbon into polymer or ceramic matrices, began almost immediately after the popularization of CNTs and graphene in 1991 and 2004, respectively, nanocarbon hybrids are a relatively recent addition to the family of composite materials. In contrast to nanocomposites, which typically combine the intrinsic properties of both compounds, nanocarbon hybrids additionally provide access to both a large surface area required for gas/liquid-solid interactions and an extended interface, through which charge and energy transfer processes create synergistic effects that result in unique properties and superior performance. This progress report looks at the history of research on nanocarbons (fullerenes, CNTs and graphene) and their composites and hybrids, presents the origin of synergistic effects, reviews the most intriguing results on nanocarbon hybrid performance in heterogeneous catalysis, electrocatalysis, photocatalysis, batteries, supercapacitors, photovoltaics and sensors, and discusses remaining challenges and future research directions.

Carbon-catalysed reductive hydrogen atom transfer reactions

“…A prolonged reaction time of 36 h was required to produce a high yield of the desired product when p-isopropylbenzyl alcohol was used as the substrate (entry 9). The C-1 catalyst also exhibits promise for direct coupling of aniline with simple electron-poor heteroaromatic alcohols under similar conditions in moderate yields (entries [10][11][13][14]. p-Methylthiobenzyl alcohol was converted to the respective secondary amine in high yield.…”

“…Carbon materials, including amorphous carbon, ordered mesoporous carbon, graphite/graphene (oxide) and carbon nanotubes, are widely applied in many catalytic transformations in modern organic chemistry [9][10][11] , and good performance has been obtained in the oxidation of an alkane [12][13][14][15] , alcohol [16][17][18] , amine 19 , thiol and sulphide 20,21 . These reactions encompass the oxidative hydrogen atom transfer reactions.…”

Self‐Assembled Graphene‐Based Architectures and Their Applications

“…Because of the strong interactions between assembled components (strong π–π interaction, van der Waals force, large interaction surfaces between sheets, corrugation at atomic scale, and winkled morphology at the sub‐micrometer scale) and the synergic effect of individual nanocarbon components, the hybridization of two or more constituents usually exhibits more advanced properties than a single component. Thus, such nanocarbon/graphene hybrids have attracted increasing interest during the past decades, especially for hybridization with assembled architectures from macroscopic 1D fibers to 3D structures 60, 61…”

Carbonaceous Dye‐Sensitized Solar Cell Photoelectrodes

“…This issue has led to some effort being focused on alternative photoelectrode materials, including those based on carbonaceous materials such as carbon particles, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and, most recently, graphene. Therefore, review articles on carbon nanomaterials for the energy related applications are well documented 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28. It should be noted that since the production of this article, two other reviews of the use of graphene for DSSCs have been published 29, 30.…”