In this paper, we investigate asteroseismic scaling-relations of evolved stars in star clusters observed by Kepler/K2, aiming to address the issue of whether observed stellar oscillations are influenced by environmental factors, as there are interesting phenomena relating to the stellar pulsations observed in star clusters. Specifically, we compare statistical properties of distributions including Δν, νmax, HGauss, δνenv, and δν02 derived from red giant branch (RGB) and red clump (RC) stars in two pairs of star clusters: NGC 2682 - NGC 6819 and NGC 1817 - NGC 6811. We have found that the slopes of relations between νmax and Δν and between HGauss and νmax associated with RC stars in the more compact star clusters, NGC 2682 and NGC 1817, are in common less steep compared with those for NGC 6819 and NGC 6811. It is also found that the slopes of the relation between δνenv and νmax from RC stars in the more compact star clusters are in common steeper compared with those for the others. For the relation between δν02 and Δν obtained from RGB stars, the slope resulting from NGC 2682 and NGC 6819 is indistinguishable. The Kolmogorov–Smirnov tests conducted on RC stars in the pairs of NGC 2682 and NGC 6819, as well as NGC 1817 and NGC 6811, indicate that all the seismic quantities considered in this paper are drawn from different distributions. We conclude, therefore, that the properties of star clusters should be considered when asteroseismic data obtained from stars within star clusters are interpreted.

Much effort has been carried out to calibrate and revise asteroseismic relations, given their importance of relations in asteroseismology in determining fundamental parameters of stars. In this study, we statistically explore asteroseismic relations with partial correlation coefficients to determine the most fundamental parameters, separately analyzing asteroseismic data based on the evolutionary status of stars from main sequence up to core helium-burning red-clump stars. We have found that regardless of the evolutionary status of the sampled stars the surface gravity and density of stars strongly influence the observed correlations. More importantly, it is found that indirect correlations derived considering the influence of confounding parameters are subject to the evolutionary status. For example, the observed correlation of the large frequency separation Δν with the central frequency νmax is influenced by the stellar mass, radius, and luminosity only for main sequence stars. The observed correlation of the width of the Gaussian envelope δνenv with νmax is influenced by the stellar mass, effective temperature, radius, and luminosity for main-sequence and subgiant stars. The observed relation between Δν and the small frequency separation δν02 is influenced by the stellar mass, radius, and luminosity for main-sequence and subgiant stars. In contrast, effective temperature, metallicity, and age do not seem to significantly affect the observed correlations. Finally, we conclude by discussing implication of our findings.

Copper, silver, and gold-reduced graphene oxide nanocomposite (Cu-rGO, Ag-rGO, and Au-rGO) were fabricated via the hydrothermal method, which shows unique physiochemical properties. Environment friendly electromagnetic radiation was employed to synthesize rGO from GO. The nonlinear optical phenomenon of noble metal decorated rGO is predominantly due to excited state absorption, which arises from surface plasmon resonance and increases in defects at the surface due to Cu, Ag, and Au incorporation. It is found that the third-order nonlinear absorption coefficient was in the order of 10− 10 m/W, with notable enhancements in the third-order properties of Au-rGO compared to other nanocomposites and their respective counterparts. Functionalizing rGO induces defect states ( sp3), increasing NLO response. Cu, Ag, and Au exhibit higher Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) activity due to rGO-induced structural modifications. SERS signals are influenced by dominant signals from Au nanorods. The electronic structures for pure and doped rGO were investigated through Density Functional Theory (DFT). The computed partial density of states (PDOS) confirms the enhancement of the state in Au-doped rGO is due to the charge transference from Au to C 2p orbital. The optical absorption spectra and PDOS reveal the possibility of free carrier absorption enhancement in Au which validates experimentally observed higher two-photon absorption (β) value of Au-doped rGO. The tuning of nonlinear optical and SERS behaviour with variation in the noble metal upon rGO provides an easy way to attain tuneable properties which are exceedingly required in both optoelectronics and photonics applications.

Photocatalytically splitting water into hydrogen upon semiconductors has tremendous potential for alleviating environmental and energy crisis issues. There is increasing attention on improving solar light utilization and engineering photogenerated charge transfer of TiO2 photocatalyst because it has advantages of low cost, non-toxicity, and high chemical stability. Herein, oxygen vacancies and cocatalysts (Cu and MoS2) were simultaneously introduced into TiO2 nanoparticles from protonic titanate by a one-pot solvothermal method. The composition and structure characterization confirmed that the pristine TiO2 nanoparticle was rich in oxygen vacancies. The photocatalytic performances of the composites were evaluated by solar-tohydrogen evolution test. The results revealed that both Cu-TiO2 and MoS2- TiO2 could improve the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution ability. Among them, 0.8% Cu-TiO2 showed the best hydrogen evolution rate of 7245.01 μmol·g−1·h−1, which was 3.57 and 1.34 times of 1.25% MoS2- TiO2 (2726.22 μmol·g−1·h−1) and pristine TiO2 material (2028.46 μmol·g−1·h−1), respectively. These two kinds of composites also had good stability for hydrogen evolution. Combined with the results of photocurrent density and electrochemical impedance spectra, the incorporation of oxygen vacancies and cocatalysts (Cu and MoS2) could not only enhance the light-harvesting of TiO2 but also improve the separation and transfer capabilities of light-induced charge carriers, thus promoting water splitting to hydrogen.

Carbon foam composites containing hollow microspheres, reinforced by carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and montmorillonite (MMT), have been developed as the thermal insulation and EMI shielding layer. The effects of additive amounts of CNTs/ MMT on microstructure and properties of the carbon foam composites were investigated. Results showed that carbon foam composites had hierarchical porous structure, with CNTs and MMT being relatively uniformly dispersed in the composites. The addition of multiscale additives improved the mechanical, electromagnetic shielding effectiveness and thermal insulation properties of carbon foam composites. The composites containing 0.2 wt.% CNTs and 5 wt.% MMT, showed outstanding compressive strength, up to 8.54 MPa, increased by 116% to pure carbon foam. Their electromagnetic shielding effectiveness was as high as 65 dB, increased by 75%. Due to the hierarchical porous structure and MMT’s heat barrier effect, carbon foam composites presented remarkable thermal insulation properties. The minimum thermal conductivity was 0.45 W·m−1·K−1 at 800 °C. Their exceptional thermal protection can also be evidenced by ablation resistance under flame at 1000 °C. Therefore, such multifunctional carbon-based composites are ideal for use in thermal protection.

Moso bamboo, as a kind of renewable functional material, exhibits outstanding development potential. It is promising to prepare activated carbon with good mechanical strength and high specific surface area using moso bamboo as raw material. In this work, we employed a hydraulic extruder to extrude the bamboo charcoal and the adhesive to obtain the moso bamboo activated carbon, and improved the specific surface area of the columnar activated carbon through high-temperature water vapor activation. Through the catalytic role of the water vapor activation process, the formation and expansion of the pores were promoted and the internal pores were greatly increased. The obtained columnar activated carbon shows excellent mechanical strength (93%) and high specific surface area (791.54 m2/ g). Polyacrylamide@asphalt is one of the most effective adhesives in the high-temperature water vapor activation. The average pore size (22.99 nm) and pore volume (0.36 cm3/ g) of the prepared columnar activated carbon showed a high mesoporous ratio (83%). Based on the excellent pore structure brought by the activation process, the adsorption capacity of iodine (1135.75 mg/g), methylene blue (230 mg/g) and carbon tetrachloride (64.03 mg/g) were greatly improved. The resultant moso bamboo columnar activated carbon with high specific surface area, excellent mechanical properties, and outstanding adsorption capacity possesses a wide range of industrial applications and environmental protection potential.

This study comprehensively investigates three types of graphite materials as potential anodes for potassium-ion batteries. Natural graphite, artificial carbon-coated graphite, and mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) are examined for their structural characteristics and electrochemical performances. Structural analyses, including HRTEM, XRD, Raman spectroscopy, and laser particle size measurements, reveal distinct features in each graphite type. XRD spectra confirm that all graphites are composed of pure carbon, with high crystallinity and varying crystal sizes. Raman spectroscopy indicates differences in disorder levels, with artificial carbon-coated graphite exhibiting the highest disorder, attributed to its outer carbon coating. Ex-situ Raman and HRTEM techniques on the electrodes reveal their distinct electrochemical behaviors. MCMB stands out with superior stability and capacity retention during prolonged cycling, attributed to its unique spherical particle structure facilitating potassium-ion diffusion. The study suggests that MCMB holds promise for potassium-ion full batteries. In addition, artificial carbon-coated graphite, despite challenges in hindering potassium-ion diffusion, may find applications in commercial potassium-ion battery anodes with suitable coatings. The research contributes valuable insights into potassiumion battery anode materials, offering a significant extension to the current understanding of graphite-based electrode performance.

We successfully synthesized a porous carbon material with abundant hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) dispersed on a carbon matrix (p-BN-C) as efficient electrocatalysts for two-electron oxygen reduction reaction ( 2e− ORR) to produce hydrogen peroxide ( H2O2). This catalyst was fabricated via ball-milling-assisted h-BN exfoliation and subsequent growth of carbon structure. In alkaline solutions, the h-BN/carbon heterostructure exhibited superior electrocatalytic activity for H2O2 generation measured by a rotating ring-disk electrode (RRDE), with a remarkable selectivity of up to 90–97% in the potential range of 0.3–0.6 V vs reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), superior to most of the reported carbon-based electrocatalysts. Density functional theory (DFT) simulations indicated that the B atoms at the h-BN heterostructure interface were crucial active sites. These results underscore the remarkable catalytic activity of heterostructure and provide a novel approach for tailoring carbon-based catalysts, enhancing the selectivity and activity in the production of H2O2 through heterostructure engineering.

Artificial photosynthesis harnesses clean and sustainable solar power to catalyze the conversion of CO2 and H2O molecules into valuable chemicals and O2. This sustainable approach combines energy conversion with environmental pollution control. Non-oxide photocatalysts with broad visible-light absorption and suitable band structures, hold immense potential for CO2 conversion. Nevertheless, they still face numerous challenges in practical applications, particularly in CO2 conversion with H2O. Surface modification and functionalization play the significant role in improving the activity of non-oxide photocatalysts. Multifarious strategies, such as cocatalyst loading, surface regulation, doping engineering, and heterostructure construction, have been explored to optimize light harvesting, bandgap driving force, electron–hole pairs separation/transfer, CO2 adsorption, activation, and catalysis processes. This review summarizes recent progress in surface modification strategies for non-oxide photocatalysts and discusses their enhancement mechanisms for efficient CO2 conversion. These insights are expected to guide the design of high-performance non-oxide photocatalyst systems.

The thermal conductivity (TC) of graphene-based/metal composites is currently not satisfactory because of the existence of large interfacial thermal resistance between graphene and metal originating from the strong scattering of phonons. In this work, 6063Al-alloy-based reduced graphene oxide (rGO) composite with strong covalent bonds interface was prepared via self-assembly, reduction, and electrophoresis-deposition processes by using 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTS) as a link agent. Structural characterizations confirmed the successful construction of strong Al-O-Si-O-C covalent bonds in the as-prepared 6063Al-Ag-APTS-rGO composite, which can promote the transfer of phonons in the interface. Benefiting from the unique structure, 6063Al-Ag-APTS-rGO (214.1 W/mK) showed obviously higher cross-plane TC than 6063Al (195.6 W/mK). Comparative experiments showed that 6063Al-Ag-APTS-rGO has better cross-plane TC than 6063Al/Ag/ APTS/rGO (196.6 W/mK) prepared via physical mixing of stirring process, evidencing the significance of electrophoresisdeposition (EPD) process on constructing strong covalent bonds for improving the heat dissipation performance. Besides, the effects of different rGO contents and test temperature on the TC of the composites and their corrosion resistance were also discussed. This work demonstrated a feasible strategy for the construction of metal–carbon interface composite with improved thermal performance.

Pyrolysis of methane is a carbon-economic method to obtain valuable carbon materials and COx- free H2, under the carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals. In this work, we propose a methane pyrolysis process to produce graphite and H2 using bubble column reactor containing NiO/Al2O3 and NaCl–KCl (molten salt). The process was optimized by the different amounts of NaCl–KCl, the CH4/ Ar ratio and temperature, indicating that the CH4 conversation rate could reach 92% at 900 °C. Meanwhile, we found that the addition of molten salt could obtain pure carbon materials, even if the conversation rate of CH4 decreases. The analysis of the carbon products revealed that graphite could be obtained.

Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs) have been the subject of extensive research for their potential applications in various fields, including photovoltaics and medicine. In recent years, researchers have focused their attention on CNMs as their high electrical conductivity, low cost, and large surface area are promising in replacing traditional platinum-based counter electrodes in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). In addition to their electrical properties, CNMs have also displayed antibacterial activity, making them an attractive option for medical applications. The combination of CNMs with metal oxides to form composite materials represents a promising approach with significant potential in various fields, including energy and biology. Here, we introduce porous carbon nanospheres (PCNS) derived from Cocos nucifera L. and its ZnO composite (PCNS/ZnO) as an alternative material, which opens up new research insights for platinum-free counter electrodes. Bifacial DSSCs produced using PCNS-based counter electrodes achieved power conversion efficiencies (PCE) of 3.98% and 2.02% for front and rear illumination, respectively. However, with PCNS/ZnO composite-based counter electrodes, the efficiency of the device increased significantly, producing approximately 5.18% and 4.26% for front and rear illumination, respectively. Moreover, these CNMs have shown potential as antibacterial agents. Compared to PCNS, PCNS/ZnO composites exhibited slightly superior antibacterial activity against tested bacterial strains, including gram-positive Bacillus cereus (B. cereus) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), and gram-negative Vibrio harveyi (V. harveyi) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) with MIC values of 125, 250, 125, and 62.5 μg/ml, respectively. It is plausible that the outcomes observed were influenced by the synergistic effects of the composite material.

The raw material selected for this research was Brazil chestnut shells (BCs), which were utilized to gain porous carbon as a positive electrode for lithium–sulfur batteries (LSBs). The effects of N/S co-doped on the electrochemical properties of porous carbon materials were studied using thiourea as nitrogen and sulfur sources. The experimental results indicate that the N/S co-doped carbon materials have a higher mesopore ratio than the undoped porous carbon materials. The porous carbon material NSPC-2 has a lotus-like structure with uniform pore distribution. The N and S doping contents are 2.5% and 5.4%. The prepared N/S co-doped porous carbon materials were combined with S, respectively, and three kinds of sulfur carbon composites were obtained. Among them, the composite NSPC-2/S can achieve the initial specific discharge capacity of 1018.6 mAh g− 1 at 0.2 C rate. At 1 C rate, the initial discharge capacity of the material is 730.6 mAh g− 1, and the coulomb efficiency is 98.6% and the capacity retention rate is 71.5% after 400 charge–discharge cycles.

To reduce production cost and inhibit the aggregation of graphene, graphene oxide and copper nitrate solution were used as raw materials in the paper. Cu particles were introduced to the graphene nanosheets by in-situ chemical reduction method in the hydrazine hydrate and sodium hydroxide solution, and the copper matrix composite reinforced with Cu-doped graphene nanosheets were fabricated by powder metallurgy. The synthesized Cu-doped graphene was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The relative density, hardness, electrical conductivity and tensile strength of the copper matrix composite reinforced with Cudoped graphene were measured as well. The results show that copper ions and graphene oxide can be effectively reduced by hydrazine hydrate simultaneously. Most of oxygen functional groups on the Cu-doped graphene sheets can be removed dramatically, and Cu-doped graphene inhibit the graphene aggregation effectively. Within the experimental range, the copper matrix composites have good comprehensive properties with 0.5 wt% Cu-doped graphene. The tensile strength and hardness are 221 MPa and 81.6 HV, respectively, corresponding to an increase of 23% and 59% compared to that of pure Cu, and the electrical conductivity reaches up to 93.96% IACS. However, excessive addition of Cu-doped graphene is not beneficial for the improvement on the hardness and electrical conductivity of copper matrix composite.

The arrival of the 5G era has made electromagnetic pollution a problem that needs to be addressed, and flexible carbon-based materials have become a good choice. In this study, wet continuous papermaking technology was used to prepare carbon fiber paper (CFP) with a three-dimensional conductive skeleton network; Molybdenum disulfide ( MOS2)/ iron (Fe) @ carbon fiber paper-based shielding material was prepared by impregnating and blending molybdenum disulfide/iron ( MOS2/Fe) phenolic resin MOS2/ Fe@ CFP. The morphology, structure, electrical conductivity, mechanical properties, hydrophobicity, and electromagnetic shielding properties of the composite were characterized. The results show that the three-dimensional network structure based on a short carbon fiber paper-based conductive skeleton and the synergistic effect of the MOS2 dielectric wave absorbing agent and Fe magnetic wave absorbing agent have good electromagnetic shielding performance. Conduct electromagnetic shielding simulation using HFSS software to provide options for the structural design of CFP. The electromagnetic shielding performance of CFP reaches 70 dB, and the tensile strength reaches 34.39 MPa. Based on the mechanical properties, the compactness of carbon fiber paper is ensured. The lightning damage model test using CST software expands the direction for the use of carbon fiber paper. In summary, MOS2/ Fe @CFP with excellent shielding performance has great application prospects in thinner and lighter shielding materials, as well as high sensitivity, defense and military equipment.

Cu2+/polyacrylonitrile composite fibers were prepared by electrospinning, and then Cu/carbon nanofibers (denoted as Cu/ CNF-X; X = Cu content, 0, 3, or 5 wt%) were formed by calcining them. The effects of Cu2+ content and carbonization temperature on the conductivity and electrothermal conversion of Cu/CNF-X were investigated. The results revealed that the conductivity and electrothermal properties of Cu/CNF-X improve with the increase in the Cu2+ content and carbonization temperature. When the carbonization temperature was 800, 900, or 1000 °C, the conductivity of Cu/CNF-5 (0.08, 0.68, or 2.48 S/cm, respectively) increased to 1.6, 1.5, or 1.6 times that of Cu/CNF-0, respectively. The highest instantaneous surface temperatures of Cu/CNF-5 calcined at 800, 900, and 1000 °C (36, 145, and 270.2 °C, respectively) increased by 4, 25.5, and 44.6 °C, respectively, compared with those of the corresponding Cu/CNF-0 samples (32, 120.3, and 225.6 °C, respectively). Thus, the addition of a small amount of Cu2+ effectively improved the conductivity and electrothermal conversion performance of Cu/CNF-X, which has potential application value in industrial products in the future.