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Electric field-induced reorientation of suspended graphitic (GP) flakes and its relaxation back to the original state in a nematic liquid crystal (NLC) host are of interest not only in academia, but also in industrial applications, such as polarizer-free and optical film-free displays, and electro-optic light modulators. As the phenomenon has been demonstrated by thorough observation, the detailed study of the physical properties of the host NLC (the magnitude of dielectric anisotropy, elastic constants, and rotational viscosity), the size of the GP flakes, and cell thickness, are urgently required to be explored and investigated. Here, we demonstrate that the response time of GP flakes reorientation associated with an NLC host can be effectively enhanced by controlling the physical properties. In a vertical field-on state, higher dielectric anisotropy and higher elasticity of NLC give rise to quicker reorientation of the GP flakes (switching from planar to vertical alignment) due to the field-induced coupling effect of interfacial Maxwell-Wagner polarization and NLC reorientation. In a field off-state, lower rotational viscosity of NLC and lower cell thickness can help to reduce the decay time of GP flakes reoriented from vertical to planar alignment. This is mainly attributed to strong coupling between GP flakes and NLC originating from the strong p-p interaction between benzene rings in the honeycomb-like graphene structure and in NLC molecules. The high-uniformity of reoriented GP flakes exhibits a possibility of new light modulation with a relatively faster response time in the switching process and, thus, it can show potential application in field-induced memory and modulation devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recyclable visible-light photocatalyst Fe3O4@TiO2 with core-shell structure was prepared by a simple synthetic strategy using solvothermal crystallization of titanium precursor on preformed Fe3O4 nanopartiles. The photo-degradation reaction of neutral red aqueous solution was tested to evaluate the visible-light photocatalytic activity of the as prepared Fe3O4@TiO2 nanoparticles, which show excellent photocatalytic activity compared with commercial P25 catalyst. Moreover, the Fe3O4@TiO2 nanocomposites can be easily separated from the reaction mixture, and maintain favorable photocatalytic activity after five cycles. The high visible light absorption of the Fe3O4@TiO2 nanocomposites may originate from the absence of electronic heterojunction, excellently dispersity and the high specific surface area of the as-synthesized Fe3O4@TiO2 samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]