Ultrahigh-temperature ceramics (UHTCs) are a kind of thermal protecting material used in the extreme thermal environment due to their excellent temperature resistance. However, their intrinsic brittleness and poor thermal shock resistance restrict the engineering applications. Graphene as a two-dimensional (2D) nano-material where carbon atoms are arranged in a honeycomb structure has superior mechanical, electrical and thermal properties. It is often used as an additive phase to modify the ceramic matrix, and is considered as an ideal toughening material in ceramic composites to realize the functionalization and structuralization of composites. This review represented recent research work on the preparation process, bionic construction method, microstructure and macro properties of graphene/UHTCs. The toughening effects and mechanism, thermal properties, thermal shock resistance and oxidation resistance of UHTCs doped with graphene were discussed. In addition, some challenges and future development of this field were also put forwarded.

Aiming at the challenge of how oral drug delivery systems protect drug molecules from environmental influences in human body, a pH value-sensitive sodium alginate-montmorillonite composite microsphere (MMT/SA) was synthesized by an emulsification gel method, which was used to load anticancer drug doxorubicin hydrochloride (DOX), and overcome the biochemical barrier of gastrointestinal tract while protecting drug molecules. The effect of raw material (MMT pretreatment and content) on the morphology of microspheres was investigated, and the size of microspheres with a uniform distribution was controlled to be 20 μm. The drug loading rate of DOX/MMT/SA is 14.7%, indicating different drug release effects in simulated gastric juice and artificial intestinal juice. The cumulative release rate of DOX/MMT/SA in simulated gastric juice (i.e., 31.7%) is greater than that in artificial gastric juice (i.e., 15.8%), and it has a killing effect on the cancer cells.

Natural molybdenite has the advantages of low cost and high lithium storage capacity, which can be directly used as an anode material of lithium-ion batteries. In this paper, expanded molybdenite/carbon (EM/C) composites were constructed via expanding molybdenite and surface modification with dopamine. The worm-like structure of expanded molybdenite (EM) has a high specific surface area that is conducive to electrolyte infiltration and diffusion of lithium ions. The amorphous carbon layer effectively increases its electrical conductivity and provides a buffer space for volume enlargement during MoS₂ cycle. The EM/C composites have a long cycle life and a high capacity, with a capacity of 1 213 mA·h/g at 100 mA/g after 200 cycles and a reversible capacity of 623 mA·h/g even at 1 A/g. The strategy of EM/C composite material constructed from molybdenite fine powder has a specific guiding significance to achieve the superior electrochemical performance of lithium-ion battery.

Nanozyme can quickly and sensitively detect biomarkers to prevent the outbreak of diseases. However, the low catalytic activity and poor affinity for substrates restrict the detection performance. Montmorillonite, as a typical 2:1 layered silicate clay mineral, has a good adsorption and cation exchange ability. Thus, Fe³⁺ can be anchored into the layers to prepare Fe doping montmorillonite nanozyme with a peroxidase-like property, enhancing the affinity for H₂O₂ and realizing the colorimetric detection of H₂O₂. The results show that the linear range and detection limit of H₂O₂ are 20-500 μmol/L and 5.8 μmol/L under neutral conditions, respectively. The colorimetric method for silicate clay mineral nanozyme has a good application prospect in the fields of analytical detection and disease diagnosis.

To obtain materials with superior antibacterial properties, Ag-ZnO/Talc ternary composite was prepared by a water-bath heating method with black talc (from Guangfeng, Jiangxi) as a matrix material. The composite was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, respectively. Escherichia coli and staphylococcus aureus were used as the experimental strains. The antibacterial properties of the composite were examined by a plate counting method and a bacteriostatic zone method. The results show that the layered structure of talc sheet promotes the dispersion of nanoparticles and increases the contact area between the composite and bacteria. The Ag-ZnO/Talc composite displays a high antibacterial activity, and the antibacterial rate against escherichia coli and staphylococcus aureus reaches more than 99%.

Bi₂O₃/Bi₂SiO₅ heterojunction was in-situ constructed on exfoliated montmorillonite via an one-pot method. The crystal structure, morphology, and optical features for the as-synthesized Bi₂O₃/Bi₂SiO₅ heterojunction were characterized. In the preparation process, the exfoliated montmorillonite acts as Si source and framework for the in-situ formation of Bi₂O₃/Bi₂SiO₅ p-n heterogeneous junction on montmorillonite interlayer. As a result, Bi₂O₃/Bi₂SiO₅ photocatalyst exhibits a superior photocatalytic performance rather than bare α-Bi₂O₃ for the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) via the simulated solar light irradiation due to the synergetic effects of large specific surface areas and p-n junction between Bi₂SiO₅ and Bi₂O₃. Moreover, a possible photocatalytic mechanism for the as-prepared photocatalysts was proposed. This work provides a new insight into synthesizing the cost-efficient photocatalyst with montmorillonite for the contaminant degradation.

Intercalation is a significant control method to achieve high value of kaolinite. It is important to investigate the intercalation process of kaolinite for the perspective of atomic and molecular scale and energy. This review represented recent work on theoretical calculation of intercalated kaolinite, i.e., the intercalation of inorganic and organic small molecules as well as organic macromolecular. In addition, the future development direction of intercalation of kaolinite was also prospected.

Lithium metal batteries are considered as one of the most promising energy storage batteries due to their high energy density. However, the growth of lithium dendrites in the lithium metal anode can lead to the capacity degradation and even safety problems. In this paper, attapulgite was loaded on fiber membrane for the application of lithium metal anode protection, assembling them into symmetrical cells and lithium iron phosphate full cells for electrochemical testing. The results show that the growth of lithium dendrites can be effectively inhibited due to the addition of attapulgite to the fibrous membrane. The polarization voltage of the symmetric cell is only 83.2 mV at a current density of 2 mA/cm² and deposition capacity of 1 mA·h/cm² for 500 h. The specific capacity of the full cell with attapulgite added to the fibrous membrane remains 84.92 mA·h/g after 1 000 cycles at 1 C. The inhibition of lithium dendrites by attapulgite provides an approach for the protection of lithium metal batteries with negative electrodes.

High thermal conductivity silicon nitride ceramics were prepared via aqueous gel-casting with a slurry of a low viscosity. The effect of MgO sintering aid on the rheological properties of slurry and the thermal conductivity of silicon ceramics was investigated. The results show that MgO sintering aid causes the particles aggregation and increases the slurry viscosity. The slurry viscosity becomes sensitive to the pH value change when the addition amount of MgO increases. A ceramic slurry with a low viscosity is achieved by adjusting pH value and dispersant concentration. The thermal conductivity, bending strength, and fracture toughness of the sample prepared by aqueous gel-casting can reach 83.7 W·m^-1·K^-1, 945 MPa, and 8.4 MPa·m^1/2, respectively. The feasibility of high thermal conductivity silicon nitride ceramics prepared by aqueous gel-casting was verified.

The 99.7K_0.5Na_0.5(Nb_(1-x)Ta_x)O₃-0.3BaBiO₃ lead-free piezoelectric single crystals of tantalum pentoxide and manganese dioxide doped were prepared by a seed-free solid-state crystal growth method, and the effects of mono-doping and co-doping of Ta and Mn on the growth, structure and electrical properties of the crystals were investigated. The result shows that a proper amount of Ta and Mn co-doping is beneficial to the growth of the single crystal. The single crystal surface becomes more regular and compact, and the maximum size of the obtained crystal can reach 30.0 mm×9.2 mm×2.6 mm when 0.9% (mole fraction) Ta and 0.1% Mn are co-doped. When 0.1% Mn doping is fixed and the amount of Ta is changed, the single crystals with a greater amount of tantalum pentoxide doping have higher piezoelectric properties. When the co-doping amounts of Ta and Mn are 0.9% and 0.1%, the crystals have greater remanent polarization (i.e., P_r = 26.96 μC/cm²) and piezoelectric constant (i.e., d₃₃ = 227 pC/N), respectively.