Carbon nanomaterials are viewed as promising building blocks of future nanotechnology because of their superior electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. Carbon nanomaterials can be synthesized by a variety of methods, in which flames offer a potential route in large quantities at a significantly lower cost. Our group has worked on growth of carbon nanomaterials involving carbon nanotubes (CNTs), carbon nanofibers (CNFs) and graphenes in flames for more than 15 years, and almost 100 journal papers have been published. In this paper, we review the advances in synthesis of carbon nanomaterials from flames in detail together with discussion on the major challenges and opportunities for practical applications.

Both synthesis and photocatalytic potential of an innovative catalyst-powder type composite material based on the Zn or/and ZnO dispersed in a matrix of amorphous-carbon have been investigated. Zn/ZnO/amorphous-carbon nanostructured-matrix composite was prepared by partial pyrolysis method based on the Pechini method. The amorphous character of composite was characterized X-ray diffraction, while chemical bond investigated by infrared spectroscopy. The photocatalytic activity directed to the degradation of the phenol red dye of small fraction of commercial ZnO, Zn/C and Zn/ZnO/C composites were evaluated as a function of the degradation reaction of the phenol red dye, in the alkaline medium pH = 9. A mass concentration of 1:10,000 was selected being considered 30 and 150 min of reaction A comparison between photocatalytic activity showed that the degradation rate of phenol red dye is more efficient at both ZnO/Zn/C and Zn/C amorphous composites when compared to the pristine ZnO. The efficiency obeys the following order C/Zn ≥ C/ZnO/Zn > commercial ZnO with conversion equal to 70% for C/Zn and C/ZnO/Zn, while for the ZnO is around 55%. The kinetic of degradation is discussed.

In this paper, hydrothermal method has been employed to synthesize oxygen-modified carbon dots (O-CDs) from citric acid and nitrogen and sulfur modified carbon dots (N,S-CDs) from citric acid and cysteine. Both as-prepared carbon dots achieve naked-eye observable blue-green luminescence. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) are used to exhibit the chemical composition of carbon dots. The structure and size of both carbon dots are similar via transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS), which indicates that the function of size effect can be neglected in this study. Fluorescence properties, UV-vis absorption and solubility are systemically studied to investigate the influence of surface modification. The N,S-CDs show high quantum yield and excitation independent photoluminescence, however, the O-CDs present low quantum yield and excitation dependent photoluminescence, and both carbon dots achieve strong photo-stability. The cytotoxicity of carbon dots is also performed on U87-MG brain tumor cells, which shows that both carbon dots process good biocompatibility and low toxicity in live cell. The bright cellular imaging photos indicate that both carbon dots have great potential to serve as high quality optical imaging probes.

Three different methods are evaluated for the introduction of graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) in hierarchical carbon- or glass fiber reinforced plastics. They involve; (1) direct infusion of GNP filled epoxy resin, (2) spray coating of GNP on fiber preforms and (3) the use of dissolvable thermoplastic interleaf carrier films. Direct infusion of GNP filled resin is the easiest method to deliver GNP into composite laminates but may lead to viscosity and filtration issues. Automated spray coating was set up to manufacture GNP modified carbon- or glass fiber fabrics, while graphene filled phenoxy interleaf films were manufactured by bar coating, both followed by resin infusion using neat epoxy resin to produce GNP modified epoxy laminates, without the disadvantages of GNP filled resins. No substantial difference in interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) for composites manufactured using the different delivery methods is found. However, the electrical conductivity of the GNP modified glass-fiber composites manufactured by spray coating of glass fabrics is two orders of magnitude higher than for laminates made by direct infusion of GNP modified resin.

While graphene has unique electrical and mechanical properties, it is not soluble in most common solvents. Partially reducing graphene oxide (prGO) will remove some of the functional groups while still maintaining solubility, producing an intermediate between graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide. This research investigated the properties of prGO as well as those of prGO sheets incorporated with gold and platinum nanoparticles (Au/Pt-prGO) using FTIR, Raman, TEM and HRTEM.

The present paper has suggested a new non-observational method to calculate electronic structure of carbynes taking into consideration the influence of the spin-orbital coupling. The method is demonstrated by calculations of the structure splitting at the Fermi level in cumulene and polyyne carbynes having semiconductor and metallic electronic structure correspondingly. These couplings result in 2 - 3 meV gaps.

Detection of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from cancerous tumor cells in exhaled human breath allows for early diagnosis of various types of cancers. 3D graphene with a large surface area is considered a suitable material for creating novel sensitive VOCs sensors. In this study, 3D graphene and 3D graphene oxide were synthesized from graphene oxide suspension, hydroquinone and formaldehyde by employing polymerization and reduction. The capability of VOC gas sensing was evaluated by measuring the electrical current response in flowing N2 gas over a range of concentrations of acetone or 1-butanol at room temperature. It was observed that the device current correlated well with the VOC concentration. The adsorption of acetone decreased the current, but the adsorption of 1-butanol increased the current during sensing. 3D graphene oxide device was more sensitive than 3D graphene device because of the high concentration of oxygen-containing functional groups on the surface. These results indicated that 3D graphene and 3D graphene oxide may be the suitable materials for VOCs sensing devices.

Quantum dots have been applied in sensing with success, but their use in environmental applications has been questioned due to their heavy metal content. Carbon dots are fluorescent nanoparticles that offer a promising alternative to quantum dots for sensing, due to their low cost, benign fabrication process and negligible environmental impact. Fluorescence sensors are specially suited for detection of nitroaromatic compounds such as 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT) and 2,4-dinitrotoluene (DNT), since they can quench the emission of excited species. When combined to Molecularly Imprinted Polymers (MIPs), the sensors become specific to the imprinted target molecules. Amino-functionalized carbon dots (CDs) with high photoluminescence were fabricated. The CDs were characterized with respect to their surface charge, surface chemistry, particle size distribution, and photoluminescence properties (PL). A molecularly imprinted polymer with template of DNT was combined with fluorescent carbon dots via a simple covalent reaction. The ability of aqueous DNT to quench amino CDs fluorescence was tested for concentrations in the range of 1mM to 50 mM. It can be concluded that the amino carbon dots can be used in fluorescent-labeled MIP systems and that they provide a feasible method for the detection of DNT, and potentially other nitroaromatic compounds, in environmental water samples.

In this work, 3 simple, fast, labour and energy efficient methodologies were used to prepare carbon quantum dots (C-dots) using a red beetroot (Beta vulgaris subsp. vulgaris var. vulgaris) aqueous extract as the carbon source: alkali-assisted (AA), microwave-assisted (MA) and alkali-microwave-assisted (AMA) synthesis. TEM images shows nanoparticles with a nearly spherical morphology and diameters around 7.0 nm. FTIR spectra show characteristic peaks of C-H, C-O, O-H and C=C bonds for all the samples. The emission spectra show an interesting feature of the as-prepared samples: the emission band position can be tunable by changing the excitation wavelength. Comparing the 3 different methodologies in terms of photoluminescence properties, the one based only on the microwave-assisted heating has showed the most improved emission.

The present report is dedicated to a study of possible ways of increasing the energy density of the supercapacitor and thus, bridging the gap between the supercapacitor and the battery. Chemical functionalization of carbon nanomaterials, such as carbon nanotubes, activated carbon cloth, and activated carbon powder used as supercapacitor electrodes as well as novel aqueous electrolytes with the electrochemical window of up to 2 V are described. The hybrid approaches to energy storage mechanism in electrochemical energy storage devices are discussed. The first experimental results on the discussed hybrid energy storage devices are presented.

The mechanical properties of nanocarbon hybrid films are addressed by means of indentation simulation based on molecular-dynamics. In these films, single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are intercalated parallel to each other between graphene sheets; the SWCNT axes are also parallel to the planes of the sheets. Thus the simulation model is quasi-two-dimensional. The load-deflection curve depends on both the number of the layers and the diameter of SWCNTs. In the range of small forces, the simulation data can be interpolated by a cubic function of the deflection, while in the range of large forces, the data can be expressed in terms of a linear function of the deflection. It is revealed that such a transition corresponds to the structural change of the hybrid film.

Three-roll milling (TRM) has proven to be an effective method to disperse 1D nanofillers like carbon nanotubes in polymer resins. However, until now only limited research has been performed on using this method to exfoliate and disperse 2D nanofillers, such as graphene and graphene nanoplatelets (GNP) with preserved lateral dimension. In the present work, a systematic study of TRM processing parameters on final nanocomposite properties is presented, resulting in improved GNP/epoxy nanocomposite properties after the optimization of TRM parameters such as mode, speed, cycles, gap distance, and resin temperature. Electrical conductivity of the final GNP/epoxy nanocomposites is increased by six orders of magnitude, while at the same time a high mechanical reinforcement is achieved as well.

The paper describes a novel method of exfoliated graphite synthesis. The method includes synthesis of graphite intercalation compound in liquid ammonia medium and subsequent intercalate decomposition with graphite exfoliation. Influence of the experimental parameters on the morphology and structure of the exfoliated graphite is shown. Comparison of the developed exfoliation method to the high-temperature oxidation-reduction method used in industrial scale nowadays is presented. A number of application areas for the synthesized exfoliated graphite are described.