Kuibo Yin

Abstract In this work, spongy graphene (SG), a shape‐mouldable and nanoporous material with a high specific surface area used as a versatile and recyclable sorbent material, is proposed and studied. SG shows highly efficient absorption of not only petroleum products and fats, but also toxic solvents such as toluene and chloroform (up to 86 times of its own weight), requiring no further pretreatment, which is tens of times higher than that of conventional absorbers. Moreover, SG can be regenerated (>10 times) by heat treatment, yielding the full release of adsorbates (>99%). The present work suggests SG a widespread potential for applications in industry as well as topics regarding environmental protection.

Polycrystalline BiFeO3 nanoparticles (size 80–120 nm) are prepared by a simple sol–gel technique. Such nanoparticles are very efficient for photocatalytic decomposition of organic contaminants under irradiation from ultraviolet to visible frequencies. The BiFeO3 nanoparticles also demonstrate weak ferromagnetism of about 0.06 μB/Fe at room temperature, in good agreement with theoretical calculations.

Humidity sensors have been extensively used in various fields, and numerous problems are encountered when using humidity sensors, including low sensitivity, long response and recovery times, and narrow humidity detection ranges. Using graphene oxide (G-O) films as humidity sensing materials, we fabricate here a microscale capacitive humidity sensor. Compared with conventional capacitive humidity sensors, the G-O based humidity sensor has a sensitivity of up to 37800% which is more than 10 times higher than that of the best one among conventional sensors at 15%-95% relative humidity. Moreover, our humidity sensor shows a fast response time (less than 1/4 of that of the conventional one) and recovery time (less than 1/2 of that of the conventional one). Therefore, G-O appears to be an ideal material for constructing humidity sensors with ultrahigh sensitivity for widespread applications.

Evolution of growth/dissolution conductive filaments (CFs) in oxide-electrolyte-based resistive switching memories are studied by in situ transmission electron microscopy. Contrary to what is commonly believed, CFs are found to start growing from the anode (Ag or Cu) rather than having to reach the cathode (Pt) and grow backwards. A new mechanism based on local redox reactions inside the oxide-electrolyte is proposed. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.

In the current research project, we have prepared a novel Sb@C nanosphere anode with biomimetic yolk–shell structure for Li/Na-ion batteries via a nanoconfined galvanic replacement route. The yolk–shell microstructure consists of Sb hollow yolk completely protected by a well-conductive carbon thin shell. The substantial void space in the these hollow Sb@C yolk–shell particles allows for the full volume expansion of inner Sb while maintaining the framework of the Sb@C anode and developing a stable SEI film on the outside carbon shell. As for Li-ion battery anode, they displayed a large specific capacity (634 mAh g–1), high rate capability (specific capabilities of 622, 557, 496, 439, and 384 mAh g–1 at 100, 200, 500, 1000, and 2000 mA g–1, respectively) and stable cycling performance (a specific capacity of 405 mAh g–1 after long 300 cycles at 1000 mA g–1). As for Na-ion storage, these yolk–shell Sb@C particles also maintained a reversible capacity of approximate 280 mAh g–1 at 1000 mA g–1 after 200 cycles.