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In view of the current high cost of graphene, the corn flour with rich sources was selected as the raw material to prepare nano-graphene by the hydrazine hydrate (Hummers) redox method. The elements, structure, and morphology of the obtained corn graphene (CG) were studied by the organic element analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the carbon content of CG was increased by 37.8% from 57.4% (corn flour) to 95.2% (CG). There was a diffraction peak of graphene on the (002) crystal surface at 23.08°. The D and G peaks of the Raman test were present, and the I D / I G of the peak intensity ratio was 1.19. The lattice distance of the CG sample was larger than that of the commercial graphene (GE), the CG was about three layers with a layer spacing of 1.21 nm, and the CG was thinner than the GE, which proved that the obtained CG was the nano-graphene., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society.)

Natural rubber (NR) nanocomposites were prepared by filling cornmeal graphene (CGE) to improve its mechanical properties and thermal properties, and CGE was modified with coupling agents to improve its dispersion in NR. The mechanical properties, wear resistance, thermal stability, and morphology of CGE/NR nanocomposites were studied. The results showed that when NR was 100 phr (parts per hundred rubbers), the CGE was 0.02 phr, and the coupling agent KH590 was 2 phr, the thermal stability and mechanical properties of the CGE/NR nanocomposites were the best. Compared with NR, the thermal conductivity of the nanocomposites increased by 6.0 mW/g, and the decomposition temperature increased by 37 °C. The mechanical properties and wear resistance of KH590-CGE/NR nanocomposites were the best, and compared with NR, the tensile strength, elongation at break, and wear resistance of KH590-CGE/NR nanocomposites increased by 16, 14, and 17%, respectively. The compatibility and dispersion of KH590-CGE/NR nanocomposites were the best., Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing financial interest., (Copyright © 2020 American Chemical Society.)

The control of liquid transport using hierarchical micro-nanostructured surfaces is of significant interest for a broad range of applications, including thermal management, digital lab-on-chip, self-cleaning surfaces, antifogging, and water harvesting, among others. Although a variety of fabrication techniques can be utilized to produce micro/nanostructured patterns for controlling liquid transport, each sample usually needs to be patterned and developed separately, making the micro/nanofabrication process tedious and expensive. Here, based on scalable template stripping and chemical oxidation techniques, we demonstrate hierarchical micro-nanostructured surfaces for isotropic or anisotropic liquid transport. Furthermore, the overall structure is thin and flexible, making it ideal for applications where geometry and weight are constrained, such as aerospace, flexible, and wearable devices.

Thermal radiation with a narrow-band emission spectrum is of great importance in a variety of applications such as infrared sensing, thermophotovoltaics, radiation cooling, and thermal circuits. Although resonant nanophotonic structures such as metamaterials and nanocavities have been demonstrated to achieve the narrow-band thermal emission, maximizing their radiation power toward perfect emission still remains challenging. Here, based on the recently developed quasi-normal mode theory, we prove that thermal emission from a nanoscale transmission line resonator can always be maximized by tuning the waveguiding loss of the resonator or bending the structure. By use of nanoscale transmission line resonators as basic building blocks, we experimentally demonstrate a new type of macroscopic perfect and tunable thermal emitters. Our experimental demonstration in conjunction with the general theoretical framework from the quasi-normal mode theory lays the foundation for designing tunable narrow-band thermal emitters with applications in thermal infrared light sources, thermal management, and infrared sensing and imaging.