Graphitic carbon nitride based polymers, being metal-free, accessible, environmentally benign and sustainable, have been widely investigated for artificial photosynthesis in recent years for the photocatalytic splitting of water to produce hydrogen fuel. However, the photocatalytic stoichiometric splitting of pure water into H2 and O2 with a molecular ratio of 2 : 1 is far from easy, and is usu...

The results of micro-Raman scattering measurements performed on three different “graphitic” materials: micro-structured disks of highly oriented pyrolytic graphite, graphene multi-layers thermally decomposed from carbon terminated surface of 4H-SiC and an exfoliated graphene monolayer are presented. Despite its multi-layer character, most parts of the surface of the graphitized SiC substrates s...

We predict the existence and dynamical stability of heptagraphene, a new graphitic structure formed of rings of 10 carbon atoms bridged by carbene groups yielding seven-membered rings. Despite the rectangular unit cell, the band structure is topologically equivalent to that of strongly distorted graphene. Density-functional-theory calculations demonstrate that heptagraphene has Dirac cones on s...

A novel lithium ion sulfur battery is formed by coupling an activated ordered mesoporous carbon-sulfur (AOMC-S) cathode and a nanostructured tin-carbon anode. The lithium ion cell has improved reversibility, high energy content and excellent cycle life.

Hollow silica tubes with mesoporous wall structure were synthesized through the sol-gel reactions of tetraethoxysilane and n-octadecyltrimethoxysilane (TEOS/C18-TMS) on the surface of ammonium dl-tartrate crystals. Novel hollow carbon tubes with mesoporous walls and rectangular-shaped channels were fabricated using the silica tubes as templates.

A characterization of the graphitic overlayer that forms on 4H–SiCð000 1Þ substrates heated for ten minutes to temperatures T > 1350 C under vacuum conditions has been performed. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy of the C-face reveals the presence of graphitic carbon with a thickness that increases with growth temperature. Parallel atomic force microscope (AFM) studies find a mesh-like network o...

We demonstrate that graphitic coatings, which consist of multilayer disordered graphene sheets, can be used for the thermal protection of delicate metal nanostructures. We studied cobalt slanted nanopillars grown by glancing angle deposition that were shown to melt at temperatures much lower than the melting point of bulk cobalt. After graphitic coatings were conformally grown over the surfaces...

First-principles calculations based on density functional theory are carried out to investigate the Li storage capability of graphitic carbon nitride nanotubes. The porous nanotubes provide unprecedented opportunity for energy storage due to their uniform size of pores in the wall and doubly bonded nitrogen at the edges of the pore. The calculations predict that the Li atoms can easily access t...

A novel route has been developed to fabricate ordered carbon mesoporous materials with well-dispersed, highly stable Pt nanoparticles of ca. 2-3 nm on the pore walls using platinum acetylacetonate as the co-feeding carbon and Pt precursor.