Black phosphorus-based smart electrorheological fluid with tailored phase transition and exfoliation

Fabrication of Ternary Titanium Dioxide/Polypyrrole/Phosphorene Nanocomposite for Supercapacitor Electrode Applications

In this paper, we report a titanium dioxide/polypyrrole/phosphorene (TiO2/PPy/phosphorene) nanocomposite as an active material for supercapacitor electrodes. Black phosphorus (BP) was fabricated by ball milling to induce a phase transition from red phosphorus, and urea-functionalized phosphorene (urea-FP) was obtained by urea-assisted ball milling of BP, followed by sonication. TiO2/PPy/phosphorene nanocomposites can be prepared via chemical oxidative polymerization, which has the advantage of mass production for a one-pot synthesis. The specific capacitance of the ternary nanocomposite was 502.6 F g-1, which was higher than those of the phosphorene/PPy (286.25 F g-1) and TiO2/PPy (150 F g-1) nanocomposites. The PPy fully wrapped around the urea-FP substrate provides an electron transport pathway, resulting in the enhanced electrical conductivity of phosphorene. Furthermore, the assistance of anatase TiO2 nanoparticles enhanced the structural stability and also improved the specific capacitance of the phosphorene. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the potential of phosphorene hybridized with conducting polymers and metal oxides for practical supercapacitor applications.

Effect of Nano-Sized Poly(Butyl Acrylate) Layer Grafted from Graphene Oxide Sheets on the Compatibility and Beta-Phase Development of Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride) and Their Vibration Sensing Performance

In this work, graphene oxide (GO) particles were modified with a nano-sized poly(butyl acrylate) (PBA) layer to improve the hydrophobicity of the GO and improve compatibility with PVDF. The improved hydrophobicity was elucidated using contact angle investigations, and exhibit nearly 0° for neat GO and 102° for GO-PBA. Then, the neat GO and GO-PBA particles were mixed with PVDF using a twin screw laboratory extruder. It was clearly shown that nano-sized PBA layer acts as plasticizer and shifts glass transition temperature from −38.7 °C for neat PVDF to 45.2 °C for PVDF/GO-PBA. Finally, the sensitivity to the vibrations of various frequencies was performed and the piezoelectric constant in the thickness mode, d33, was calculated and its electrical load independency were confirmed. Received values of the d33 were for neat PVDF 14.7 pC/N, for PVDF/GO 20.6 pC/N and for PVDF/GO-PBA 26.2 pC/N showing significant improvement of the vibration sensing and thus providing very promising systems for structural health monitoring and data harvesting.