2-D MATERIALS
3-D PRINTING
▸ Nanotube rebar helps
toughen graphene
The carbon-carbon bonds in graphene are
some of the strongest found in nature. But
the overall material is brittle, fracturing
with ease at minor flaws in its structure.
Now, sensitive measurements and simula-
tions reveal that adding carbon nanotubes
helps graphene resist fracture in much the
same way that rebar makes concrete more
resilient (ACS Nano 2018, DOI: 10.1021/
acsnano.8b02311). James M. Tour of Rice
University and colleagues first made the
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graphene-nanotube hybrid in 2014 by
coating a copper surface with carbon nano-
tubes, growing
graphene on top
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using chemical va-
por deposition, and
then peeling off the
nanotube-embed-
ded graphene (ACS
Nano, DOI: 10.1021/
nn501132n). In the
new work, Jun Lou,
also at Rice, and his
group did extensive
Carbon nanotubes mechanical testing
embedded in on the material, and
graphene act like Brown University
rebar to make researchers did mo-
graphene tougher. lecular simulations
C R E D I T: DA N I E LE FO R ESTI , JE N N I FE R A . LEW I S ( CH O CO LAT E ) ; ACS NA N O (G RA P H E N E ); S CI E N CE (I CI CL E )
to get a full picture
of what happens when the material tears.
They found that pristine graphene fractures
in a straight line, whereas rebar-reinforced
graphene fractures in a zigzag manner, with
nanotubes holding the graphene together
until they give way. Rebar graphene has a
fracture toughness of 10.7 megapascals,
more than twice that of pristine graphene.
Although reliability in actual devices still
needs to be shown, the material’s prop-
erties are good news for those looking to
make rugged, flexible electronics from
carbon nanomaterials.—KATHERINE
BOURZAC, special to C&EN
SURFACE CHEMISTRY
▸ TiO2 reveals basis of
key surface property
Titanium dioxide has made a name for it-
self as a catalytic coating that renders glass
self-cleaning. Despite the popularity, the
molecular basis of some of TiO2’s useful
properties puzzles scientists. For example,
Sound waves print single
drops of viscous fluids
Scientists have wielded ultrasonic waves to print droplets of liquids that are
more than 1,000 times as viscous as the inks jetting from standard printers
(Sci. Adv. 2018, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat1659). Dubbed acoustophoretic printing
by Daniele Foresti and Jennifer A. Lewis of Harvard University, Dimos Pou-
likakos of ETH Zu-
rich, and coworkers,
the technique offers Researchers also
access to a broad- used acoustophoretic
er range of sticky printing to place
substances than tiny drops of honey
standard printing on a piece of white
methods. The new chocolate.
method works by
focusing sonic waves
at the liquid-expel-
ling nozzle to create
pressures up to
100 times as great
as those caused by
gravity—strong
enough to pull down
resistant droplets.
Researchers can fine-tune the droplet size (100 µm to 1 mm in diameter)
by adjusting the sonic blasts’ volume, with louder volumes making smaller
droplets. Using its sound system, the team created a pattern of UV-curable
adhesives, deposited bioinks laced with live stem cells into 48-well plates, and
printed liquid-metal electrodes made of a gallium-indium alloy on cloth. The
method prints droplets as fast as ink-jet printers do by volume, the authors
say. Public University of Navarre’s Asier Marzo Perez says the technique is an
impressive application of acoustic radiation forces that provides a simple yet
effective solution for printing bio-materials and liquid metals.—TIEN NGUYEN
researchers know that shining ultraviolet which suggests there are molecules binding
light on TiO2 exposed to air and water to every other Ti atom. A team led by Jan
makes the material’s surface hydrophilic by Balajka and Ulrike Diebold of Technical
oxidizing ambient organic molecules, which University of Vienna and Melissa A. Hines
produces hydroxylated species. It’s unclear of Cornell University has an answer. By
though, why when left in the dark, the sur- controlling the purity of TiO2’s environ-
face gradually switches to hydrophobic, and ment, the team shows that trace levels of
why it develops a so-called 2 x 1 overlayer, acetic and formic acids in air bind to TiO2
and form hydrophobic layers
that repel other air contami-
nants that are far more abun-
dant. The acids, which were
observed in Vienna and Ithaca,
bind in a bidentate fashion,
giving rise to the characteristic
surface pattern (Science 2018,
DOI: 10.1126/science.aat6752).
Curiously, the layers are hydro-
phobic yet highly water soluble,
In a controlled-environment experiment, an icicle of which may play a role in TiO2’s
ultrapure water (left, less than 1 cm) melts and drips self-cleaning properties, the
onto a TiO2 specimen (disc at bottom). team says.—MITCH JACOBY
SEPTEMBER 3, 2018 | CEN.ACS.ORG | C&EN 11