James M. Tour

Rice University

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Co-Authors

Carter Kittrell

Rice University

Boris I. Yakobson

Rice University

Bing Deng

Tsinghua University

Duy Xuan Luong

Rice University

Errol L. G. Samuel

Baylor College of Medicine

Gedeng Ruan

Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital

Jian Lin

Fujian Normal University

Zheng Yan

University of Missouri

Robert A. Carter

Rice University

Kevin M. Wyss

Rice University

Cooperative Institutions

Rice University

179

Baylor College of Medicine

University of Houston

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Center for Nanoscale Science and Technology

The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

Chinese Academy of Sciences

University of California, Berkeley

Pennsylvania State University

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique

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Rare earth elements from waste

Science Advances (2022)

Bing Deng Xin Wang Duy Xuan Luong Robert A. Carter Zhe Wang

Rare earth elements (REEs) are critical materials in electronics and clean technologies. With the diminishing of easily accessible minerals for mining, the REE recovery from waste is an alternative toward a circular economy. Present methods for REE recovery suffer from lengthy purifications, low extractability, and high wastewater streams. Here, we report an ultrafast electrothermal process (~3000°C, ~1 s) based on flash Joule heating (FJH) for activating wastes to improve REE extractability. FJH thermally degrades or reduces the hard-to-dissolve REE species to components with high thermodynamic solubility, leading to ~2× increase in leachability and high recovery yields using diluted acid (e.g., 0.1 M HCl). The activation strategy is feasible for various wastes including coal fly ash, bauxite residue, and electronic waste. The rapid FJH process is energy-efficient with a low electrical energy consumption of 600 kWh ton −1 . The potential for this route to be rapidly scaled is outlined.

10.1126/sciadv.abm3132

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Citations (97)

Stepwise Quenching of Exciton Fluorescence in Carbon Nanotubes by Single-Molecule Reactions

Science (2007)

Laurent Cognet Dmitri Tsyboulski John-David R. Rocha Condell D. Doyle James M. Tour

Single-molecule chemical reactions with individual single-walled carbon nanotubes were observed through near-infrared photoluminescence microscopy. The emission intensity within distinct submicrometer segments of single nanotubes changes in discrete steps after exposure to acid, base, or diazonium reactants. The steps are uncorrelated in space and time, and reflect the quenching of mobile excitons at localized sites of reversible or irreversible chemical attack. Analysis of step amplitudes reveals an exciton diffusional range of about 90 nanometers, independent of nanotube structure. Each exciton visits approximately 104 atomic sites during its lifetime, providing highly efficient sensing of local chemical and physical perturbations.

Nanometre

10.1126/science.1141316

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Citations (480)

High-surface-area corundum nanoparticles by PDC process

Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) (2022)

Bing Deng Paul A. Advincula Duy Xuan Luong Jingan Zhou Boyu Zhang

Source data for "High-surface-area corundum nanoparticles by resistive hotspot-induced phase transformation".

Corundum

10.5281/zenodo.6850605

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Citations (0)

Quasi-Solid-State Li–O₂ Batteries with Laser-Induced Graphene Cathode Catalysts

ACS Applied Energy Materials (2020)

Muqing Ren Jibo Zhang Chenhao Zhang Michael G. Stanford Yieu Chyan

Li–O2 batteries are attracting considerable interest due to their outstanding theoretical capacities and energy densities. The liquid electrolyte and insulating nature of discharge products hinder further development. We present a practical strategy for durable Li–O2 batteries with high cyclable capacity up to 2 mAh/cm2. A dual polymer gel electrolyte (DPGE) networking strategy is proposed for the quasi-solid electrolyte. Lowering the use of liquid components in the electrolyte would suppress the possible side reaction with superoxide intermediates. The DPGE is further combined with a highly effective Mn-based catalyst that is prepared by direct laser writing on polymers to produce the quasi-solid-state Li–O2 batteries. The DPGE sustains a highly reversible Li plating/stripping process without short-circuiting or an increase in interfacial resistance for over 2000 h. Furthermore, the Li–O2 battery demonstrated stable galvanostatic charge/discharge performance for over 200 cycles (2000 h) with a cutoff capacity of 0.4 mAh/cm2. The battery delivers a high reversible capacity of 2.0 mAh/cm2 at an elevated current density of 0.4 mA/cm2, while the charging potential is maintained at a low value. Studies were performed during discharge and charge process to investigate the underlying mechanism. This work could contribute to a better practical design of Li–O2 batteries.

Quasi-solid

Stripping (fiber)

10.1021/acsaem.9b02182

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Citations (25)

Urban mining by flash Joule heating

Nature Communications (2021)

Bing Deng Duy Xuan Luong Zhe Wang Carter Kittrell Emily A. McHugh

Abstract Precious metal recovery from electronic waste, termed urban mining, is important for a circular economy. Present methods for urban mining, mainly smelting and leaching, suffer from lengthy purification processes and negative environmental impacts. Here, a solvent-free and sustainable process by flash Joule heating is disclosed to recover precious metals and remove hazardous heavy metals in electronic waste within one second. The sample temperature ramps to ~3400 K in milliseconds by the ultrafast electrical thermal process. Such a high temperature enables the evaporative separation of precious metals from the supporting matrices, with the recovery yields >80% for Rh, Pd, Ag, and >60% for Au. The heavy metals in electronic waste, some of which are highly toxic including Cr, As, Cd, Hg, and Pb, are also removed, leaving a final waste with minimal metal content, acceptable even for agriculture soil levels. Urban mining by flash Joule heating would be 80× to 500× less energy consumptive than using traditional smelting furnaces for metal-component recovery and more environmentally friendly.

Joule (programming language)

10.1038/s41467-021-26038-9

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Citations (75)

Conductance of a Molecular Junction

Science (1997)

Mark A. Reed Chongwu Zhou C. J. Muller T. Burgin James M. Tour

Molecules of benzene-1,4-dithiol were self-assembled onto the two facing gold electrodes of a mechanically controllable break junction to form a statically stable gold-sulfur-aryl-sulfur-gold system, allowing for direct observation of charge transport through the molecules. Current-voltage measurements at room temperature demonstrated a highly reproducible apparent gap at about 0.7 volt, and the conductance-voltage curve showed two steps in both bias directions. This study provides a quantative measure of the conductance of a junction containing a single molecule, which is a fundamental step in the emerging area of molecular-scale electronics.

Break junction

Molecular Electronics

Dithiol

10.1126/science.278.5336.252

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Citations (3,347)

The fourth element

Nature (2008)

James M. Tour Tao He

Memristor

Electrical element

Transfinite number

Electronic component

10.1038/453042a

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Citations (477)

Sustainable Synthesis of Bright Green Fluorescent Nitrogen‐Doped Carbon Quantum Dots from Alkali Lignin

ChemSusChem (2019)

Baohua Zhang Yijian Liu Muqing Ren Weitao Li Xiang Zhang

Abstract Sustainable, inexpensive, and environmentally friendly biomass waste can be exploited for large‐scale production of carbon nanomaterials. Here, alkali lignin was employed as a precursor to synthesize carbon quantum dots (CQDs) with bright green fluorescence through a simple one‐pot route. The prepared CQDs had a size of 1.5–3.5 nm, were water‐dispersible, and showed wonderful biocompatibility, in addition to their excellent photoluminescence and electrocatalysis properties. These high‐quality CQDs could be used in a wide range of applications such as metal‐ion detection, cell imaging, and electrocatalysis. The wide range of biomass lignin feedstocks provide a green, low‐cost, and viable strategy for producing high‐quality fluorescent CQDs and enable the conversion of biomass waste into high‐value products that promote sustainable development of the economy and human society.

Carbon fibers

Nanomaterials

Biocompatibility

Environmentally Friendly

10.1002/cssc.201901693

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Citations (119)

Correction: Corrigendum: Coal as an abundant source of graphene quantum dots

Nature Communications (2015)

Ruquan Ye Changsheng Xiang Jian Lin Zhiwei Peng Kewei Huang

Nature Communications 4: Article number: 2943 (2013); Published: 6 December 2013; Updated: 23 April 2015. In this Article, the bituminous coal graphene quantum dots (b-GQD) are described throughout this paper as having a crystalline hexagonal structure. Following further careful study of the high-resolution transmission electron microscopy data, this claim is too rigorous, and the b-GQDs instead should be referred to as crystalline.

10.1038/ncomms8063

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Citations (11)

Graphene as a rational interface for enhanced adsorption of microcystin-LR from water

Journal of Hazardous Materials (2023)

Jesse L. Roberts Sarah Grace Zetterholm Luke Gurtowski PU Ashvin I. Fernando A Evans

Cyanotoxins such as microcystin-LR (MC-LR) represent a global environmental threat to ecosystems and drinking water supplies. The study investigated the direct use of graphene as a rational interface for removal of MC-LR via interactions with the aromatic ring of the ADDA1 chain of MC-LR and the sp2 hybridized carbon network of graphene. Intra-particle diffusion model fit indicated the high mesoporosity of graphene provided significant enhancements to both adsorption capacities and kinetics when benchmarked against microporous granular activated carbon (GAC). Graphene showed superior MC-LR adsorption capacity of 75.4 mg/g (Freundlich model) compared to 0.982 mg/g (Langmuir model) for GAC. Sorption kinetic studies showed graphene adsorbs 99% of MC-LR in 30 min, compared to zero removal for GAC after 24 hr using the same MC-LR concentration. Density functional theory (DFT), calculations showed that postulated π-based interactions align well with the NMR-based experimental work used to probe primary interactions between graphene and MC-LR adduct. This study proved that π-interactions between the aromatic ring on MC-LR and graphene sp2 orbitals are a dominant interaction. With rapid kinetics and adsorption capacities much higher than GAC, it is anticipated that graphene will offer a novel molecular approach for removal of toxins and emerging contaminants with aromatic systems.

Rational design

Interface (matter)

10.1016/j.jhazmat.2023.131737

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Citations (9)