Nanoengineering Microstructure of Hybrid C–S–H/Silicene Gel

Abstract

Two-dimensional (2D) materials have been incorporated into calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H) gel to enhance its mechanical performance for decades, while the modified C–S–H gel exhibits poor toughness, tensile strength, and ductility. In this work, we report a new design strategy and synthesis route to strengthen C–S–H interface by intercalating a silicene sheet of one atom thickness. The hybrid C–S–H/Silicene gel shows superb mechanical properties, with a remarkable enhancement in strength and other functional properties. By using density functional theory (DFT) and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we have demonstrated that Si–O bonds between silicene and C–S–H are stable and covalent, and the interaction energy of this bilayer gel nearly doubles by forming a 3D covalent network with a strong bridging effect. Owing to its better crystallinity enrichment and its induced dislocation dissipation mechanism, the hybrid C–S–H/Silicene gel possesses a higher tensile ductility (∼118% average enhancement and ∼228% in the c direction) and a much smaller elastic stiffness (59.04 GPa for average Young’s modulus). This work offers an ingenuous route in turning brittle C–S–H gel into a soft gel, which provides opportunities for fabricating ultrahigh performance cementitious materials.

Flexible Binder‐Free CuS/Polydopamine‐Coated Carbon Cloth for High Voltage Supercapacitors

“…At various rates, the energy densities ranges from 48.3 to 26.1 Wh kg À 1 with corresponding power densities of 744 to 6919 W kg À 1 . These values are significantly higher and/or comparable to other previously reported ASCs, such as CuS nanoparticles//AC (E = 17.7 Wh kg À 1 , P = 504 W kg À 1 ), [30] CuS microspheres//AC (E = 15.1 Wh kg À 1 at P = 330 W kg À 1 ), [31] SnO 2 //RGO (E = 22.8 Wh kg À 1 at P = 850 W kg À 1 ), [32] CuS/ 3DG//3DG (E = 5 Wh kg À 1 at P = 450 W kg À 1 ), [33] Co 9 S 8 //AC (E = 31.4 Wh kg À 1 at P = 200 W kg À 1 ), [34] and CoS//AC (E = 5.3 Wh kg À 1 at P = 1800 W kg À 1 ). [35]…”

Innovative Flame Retardant and Antibacterial Fabrics Coating Based on Inorganic Nanotubes

“…[19][20][21][22] Recently, PANI has been considered as flame retardant materials for polymers due to it is good charring agent and nitrogen rich char forming ability. [23] Interestingly, design of cost-effective and facilely synthesized, multifunctional flame retardant and antibacterial coating for textile fabrics are much required and economically and industrially appreciated. Hence, for the first time novel flame retardant and antibacterial textile fabrics coating was developed based on biocompatible naturally deposited inorganic nanotubes and PANI and avoiding the use of widely used toxic silver nanoparticles for imparting antibacterial property.…”

Effects of Charge Cutoff Potential on an Electrolyte Additive for LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2–Mesocarbon Microbead Full Cells

“…[30,45] Actually such a high Mn dissolution has also been reported for the NCM523 and NCM622 anodes of full cells after cycling. [30,46] Combined with the cyclic performance in Figure 3a, it can be concluded that 1 wt% TMSPi causes a slight decline in the capacity retention after 100 cycles at 4.45 V due to the Mn dissolution, yet it actually improves the absolute discharge capacity and capacity retention after 300 cycles since the reactive Ni and Co contents decrease in the presence of 1 wt% TMSPi. Thereby, the improved cyclability of cells with 1 wt% TMSPi may be attributed to a reduction of the electrochemically active species (Ni and Co).…”