title: Ultra-fast self-assembly and stabilization of reactive nanoparticles in reduced graphene oxide films.
abstract: Nanoparticles hosted in conductive matrices are ubiquitous in electrochemical energy storage, catalysis and energetic devices. However, agglomeration and surface oxidation remain as two major challenges towards their ultimate utility, especially for highly reactive materials. Here we report uniformly distributed nanoparticles with diameters around 10 nm can be self-assembled within a reduced graphene oxide matrix in 10 ms. Microsized particles in reduced graphene oxide are Joule heated to high temperature (∼1,700 K) and rapidly quenched to preserve the resultant nano-architecture. A possible formation mechanism is that microsized particles melt under high temperature, are separated by defects in reduced graphene oxide and self-assemble into nanoparticles on cooling. The ultra-fast manufacturing approach can be applied to a wide range of materials, including aluminium, silicon, tin and so on. One unique application of this technique is the stabilization of aluminium nanoparticles in reduced graphene oxide film, which we demonstrate to have excellent performance as a switchable energetic material.
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, 1208 Engineering Lab Building, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Yanan
authors: Y
authors: Chen
authors: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Garth C
authors: GC
authors: Egan
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, 1208 Engineering Lab Building, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Jiayu
authors: J
authors: Wan
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Shuze
authors: S
authors: Zhu
authors: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Rohit Jiji
authors: RJ
authors: Jacob
authors: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Wenbo
authors: W
authors: Zhou
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, 1208 Engineering Lab Building, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Jiaqi
authors: J
authors: Dai
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, 1208 Engineering Lab Building, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Yanbin
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, 1208 Engineering Lab Building, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Valencia A
authors: VA
authors: Danner
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, 1208 Engineering Lab Building, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Yonggang
authors: Y
authors: Yao
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, 1208 Engineering Lab Building, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Kun
authors: K
authors: Fu
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, 1208 Engineering Lab Building, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Yibo
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, 1208 Engineering Lab Building, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Wenzhong
authors: W
authors: Bao
authors: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Teng
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6252-561X
authors: T
authors: Li
authors: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.|Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Maryland College Park, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Michael R
authors: MR
authors: Zachariah
authors: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland College Park, 1208 Engineering Lab Building, College Park, Maryland 20742, USA.
authors: Liangbing
authors: L
authors: Hu