Applications of Graphene/Fiber Heterostructures: Portable Quantification of Mercury Ions and Vanadium Redox Flow Battery Electrodes

Graphene has been considered as a wonder material since it was firstly exfoliated in 2004 due to its extraordinary intrinsic properties. Because of graphene’s popularity, various types of graphene have been synthesized, and different types of graphene have their own characteristics. In this dissertation, two kinds of applications are presented using two graphene materials: graphene quantum dots (GQD) and reduced graphene oxide, respectively. The first chapter is an introduction to the whole story. The second and the third chapters introduce two different methods for mercury ion quantification using GQDs: facile optical mercury quantification method using GQD coated filter paper disks and facile mercury ion detection method using GQD coated silica gels, respectively. The fourth chapter represents another graphene application: how can a vanadium redox flow battery’s performance be enhanced using carbon-nano materials including reduced graphene oxide and xc-72 carbon nano-particles. The final chapter is the conclusion of this dissertation.