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• Aerogel developed from CNF anchored with transition metal divalent ions enhanced by CNT. • Efficiently absorb ammonia, trimethylamine, hydrogen sulfide, and methyl mercaptan. • The hybrid aerogel showed steady performance in a wide range of temperatures from 0 °C to 40 °C. • The first aerogel type deodorizer material ever reported in air decontamination. • Aerogel is eco-friendly and economic, suitable for domestic and industrial uses. A novel deodorizer that is capable of selectively eliminating the odorous chemicals, such as ammonia, trimethylamine, hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan, is described. The deodorizer is a nanostructured aerogel by nature, consisting of 2,2-6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) oxidized cellulose nanofibrils (CNF), transition metal divalent cations (M2+), and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) as the constitutive elements. CNF are firstly mixed with M2+ (M2+, in this paper, typifies Ni2+, Co2+ and Cu2+) to form CNF-M2+ complexes, monodispersed CNT is then mixed to prepare CNT/CNF-M2+ waterborne slurries; CNT/CNF-M2+ hybridized aerogels are finally obtained via freezing-drying of the CNT/CNF-M2+ waterborne slurries. The CNT/CNF-M2+ aerogels are a foam-like structure consisting of CNF and CNT as backbones and M2+ as linkers. The aerogels show higher capabilities (in comparison with activated carbon) for selectively adsorbing ammonia, trimethylamine, hydrogen sulfide and methyl mercaptan. Computing simulations suggest a theoretical conclusion that the odorous chemicals are absorbed in a preferring manner of bimolecular absorptions via the M2+ moieties. The CNT/CNF-M2+ hybridized aerogels are lightweight, eco-friendly, and easy to produce in industrial scales. Our new finding, as is described in this paper, demonstrates potential applications of the TEMPO-oxidized CNF to the field of deodorizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electronic interactions between the [Cu(opba)]2− anions (where opba is orthophenylenebis (oxamato)) and single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were investigated by resonance Raman spectroscopy. The opba can form molecular magnets, and the interactions of opba with SWCNTs can produce materials with very different magnetic/electronic properties. It is observed that the electronic interaction shows a dependence on the SWCNT diameter independent of whether they are metallic or semiconducting, although the interaction is stronger for metallic tubes. The interaction also is dependent on the amount of complex that is probably adsorbed on the carbon surface of the SWCNTs. Some charge transfer can be also occurring between the metallic complex and the SWCNTs. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pyrene crystals were grown on carbon nanofibers (CNFs) by dispersing pyrene polycrystals and CNFs in water during ultrasonic irradiation, and they were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffractometry (XRD) and spectroscopy. The XRD measurements indicated that the orientation and size of the pyrene crystals on the CNF aggregates were different from that of the added pyrene polycrystals. Based on the spectroscopic properties of the pyrene crystals on the CNFs, the pyrene crystals on the CNF aggregates and on the individual CNFs were determined to be polycrystals and single crystals, respectively. These results indicate that pyrene crystals are produced on the CNFs by recrystallization of the added pyrene polycrystals and their crystal states depend on the aggregation state of the CNFs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Both the nonlinear optical transmission and reflection characteristics of HiPco-based single wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) thin films are studied by using the Z-scan method with femtosecond laser pulses at a wavelength of 1.46 μm. The nonlinear absorption coefficient and nonlinear refractive index are obtained as (5.4±2.0)×10-7 cm/W and (1.1±0.5)×10-11 cm2/W, respectively, which are considerably greater than those of other optical materials. This large optical nonlinearity is ascribed to (a) homogeneously deposited thin nanotube film on optically transparent barium fluoride, (b) just-resonant excitation condition, and (c) intrinsic saturable absorption feature of SWNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]