Percolation of carbon nanomaterials for high-k polymer nanocomposites

High-k polymer composite materials are next-generation dielectrics that show amazing applications in diverse electrical and electronic devices. Establishing near-percolated network of conducting filler in an insulating polymer matrix is a promising approach to develop flexible high-k dielectrics. However, challenges still exist today on fine controlling the network morphology to achieve extremely high k values and low losses simultaneously. The relationship between the network morphology and the dielectric properties of polymer composites is raising a number of fundamental questions. Herein, recent progress towards high-k polymer composites based on carbon nanomaterials is reviewed. Particular attention is paid on the influence of the network morphology on the dielectric properties. Some perspectives that warrant further investigation in the future are also addressed.

Printable inorganic nanomaterials for flexible transparent electrodes:from synthesis to application

Printed and flexible electronics are definitely promising cutting-edge electronic technologies of the future. They offer a wide-variety of applications such as flexible circuits, flexible displays, flexible solar cells, skinlike pressure sensors, and radio frequency identification tags in our daily life. As the most-fundamental component of electronics, electrodes are made of conductive materials that play a key role in flexible and printed electronic devices. In this review, various inorganic conductive materials and strategies for obtaining highly conductive and uniform electrodes are demonstrated. Applications of printed electrodes fabricated via these strategies are also described. Nevertheless, there are a number of challenges yet to overcome to optimize the processing and performance of printed electrodes.

Removal of tetracycline from aqueous solution by a Fe_3O_4 incorporated PAN electrospun nanofiber mat

Pollution of antibiotics, a type of emerging contaminant, has become an issue of concern,due to their overuse in human and veterinary application, persistence in environment and great potential risk to human and animal health even at trace level. In this work, a novel adsorbent, Fe3O4 incorporated polyacrylonitrile nanofiber mat（Fe-NFM）, was successfully fabricated via electrospinning and solvothermal method, targeting to remove tetracycline（TC）, a typical class of antibiotics, from aqueous solution. Field emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy were used to characterize the surface morphology and crystal structure of the Fe-NFM, and demonstrated that Fe-NFM was composed of continuous, randomly distributed uniform nanofibers with surface coating of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. A series of adsorption experiments were carried out to evaluate the removal efficiency of TC by the Fe-NFM. The pseudo-second-order kinetics model fitted better with the experimental data. The highest adsorption capacity was observed at initial solution p H 4 while relative high adsorption performance was obtained from initial solution p H 4 to 10. The adsorption of TC on Fe-NFM was a combination effect of both electrostatic interaction and complexation between TC and Fe-NFM. Freundlich isotherm model could better describe the adsorption isotherm. The maximum adsorption capacity calculated from Langmuir isotherm model was 315.31 mg/g. Compared to conventional nanoparticle adsorbents which have difficulties in downstream separation, the novel nanofiber mat can be simply installed as a modular compartment and easily separated from the aqueous medium, promising its huge potential in drinking and wastewater treatment for micro-pollutant removal.