This paper presents a comprehensive study to evaluate the influence of graphene oxide (GO) concentration on the physiochemical and mechanical properties of cement mortar composites. Scanning electron micrographs (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) characterizations were performed to understand the correlation between physicochemical and observed axial tension and compression properties of GO–cement mortar composites. The results show considerable concentration dependence, with the optimum concentration of 0.1% GO that increases the tensile and compressive strength of the composite by 37.5% and 77.7%, respectively. These results are explained by the stronger bonding of calcium silicate hydrate (C–S–H) components in the cement matrix in the presence of GO sheets and the dependence of their dispersions and possible aggregation.

Graphene is a material formed from carbon in a honeycomb structure with one-atom thickness. It provides distinctive optical, thermal, electronic and mechanical properties. The material can be manufactured into sheets, flakes and graphene oxide to provide a variety of applications to the field of biomedicine.

A team in China has used graphene microsheets (GMs)—prepared from microcrystalline graphite minerals by an electrochemical & mechanical approach—as a special conductive support for sulfur for the cathode of a lithium-sulfur battery. The graphene microsheets feature excellent conductivity and low-defect, small sheet sizes of <1 μm² and ≤ 6 atomic layers.

Development of inexpensive and robust electrocatalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is crucial for the cost-affordable manufacturing of metal-air batteries and fuel cells. In this article, the authors show that cross-linked CoMoO₄ nanosheets and reduced graphene oxide (CoMoO₄/rGO) can be integrated in a hybrid material under one-pot hydrothermal conditions, yielding a composite material with promising catalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).

Nanoscale heat flow plays a crucial role in many modern electronic and optoelectronic applications, such as thermal management, photodetection, thermoelectrics and data communication. Two-dimensional layered materials could play a role in many of these applications. Perhaps even more promising are so-called van der Waals heterostructures, which consist of different layered two-dimensional materials stacked one on top of the other. These stacks can consist of materials with dramatically different physical properties, while the interfaces between them are ultra-clean and atomically sharp.