Recent clinical outbreaks of infectious diseases caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as viruses, bacteria, and fungi, along with the emergence of unwanted microorganisms in industrial settings, have significantly reduced efficiency. Graphene has recently attracted significant attention as a potential antimicrobial agent because of its low toxicity, ease of production and functionalization, and high solubility in water. The presence of oxygen functional groups allows the interaction of the compound with bacteria and other biomolecules, making it an interesting candidate for antimicrobial therapy. Moreover, integrating graphene into copper coatings has been shown to enhance their antimicrobial properties. However, the implementation of copper–graphene composite coatings is currently limited by the difficulty of uniformly distributing graphene within the copper matrix. Copper (Cu)-doped graphitic nanoplatelets (CuGnPs), one option to overcome this challenge, are made via a mechanochemical reaction between solid graphite and Cu powder. The configuration of C–Cu bonds within CuGnPs can be identified using a range of analytical techniques, including transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. To evaluate the antibacterial activity of the Cu-GnPs, we employed Escherichia coli or Staphylococcus aureus. Various amounts (250, 500, 750, and 1000 μg/mL) of prepared CuGnP samples were incubated in a bacterial suspension for 3 or 6 h at 150 rpm and 37 °C for a colony-forming unit assay. Three hours and six hours of treatment of the bacteria with CuGnPs led to a significant difference in bacterial survival compared with that of the control. It was observed that CuGnPs, with copper bound to graphene oxide, more effectively inhibited the proliferation of E. coli compared with nanoplatelets containing graphene oxide alone. These findings suggest that the unique properties of CuGnPs, such as C–Cu bonds, high surface area, and the coexistence of micropores and mesopores, are valuable for exerting strong antimicrobial effects making CuGnPs effective at preventing bacterial colonization on industrial surfaces.

Sluggish initial water dissociation (the Volmer step) severely limits alkaline water electrolysis. We report a highly scalable mechanochemical strategy to construct a dual‐site electrocatalyst, Ru _NC @Fe ₁ NC, that spatially decouples water activation and hydrogen recombination. Harnessing the high‐energy impact of iron media and graphite, a solvent‐free mechanochemical process generates a defective carbon matrix anchoring isolated, oxophilic Fe single atoms (Fe ₁ ), followed by the targeted deposition of ruthenium nanoclusters (Ru _NC ). This atomic‐level division of catalytic labor fundamentally accelerates the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction. Ru _NC @Fe ₁ NC requires an overpotential of only 13.8 mV at 10 mA cm ⁻² with an ultralow Ru loading (∼2 wt%). In a practical anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE), this catalyst drives a current density of 1.0 A cm ⁻² at merely 1.66 V and sustains over 1100 h of continuous operation with negligible decay. Mechanistic studies—combining isotopic substitution, in situ Raman spectroscopy, time‐resolved hydrogen accumulation–stripping analysis, and density functional theory—reveal that the Fe ₁ sites readily adsorb water and selectively lower the O–H cleavage barrier, rapidly feeding hydrogen intermediates to the adjacent Ru _NC for efficient hydrogen desorption. This work establishes a robust blueprint for designing synergistic dual‐site architectures to circumvent kinetic bottlenecks in green hydrogen production.

Cyano-functionalized graphitic nanoplatelets (CyGNs) are synthesized by means of a mechanochemical reaction between graphite and acrylonitrile. The resulting CyGNs exhibit excellent mechanical properties and are highly dispersible in various solvents (i.e., THF). Due to their chemical compatibility (specifically, cyano functional groups), the CyGNs serve effectively as a reinforcing filler for acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) resin. Consequently, compared to pure ABS, CyGN&ABS-X demonstrates improved mechanical properties and better thermal stability. Notably, the CyGN&ABS-1 specimen exhibits significant enhancements in the tensile strength (26 ± 1 MPa), Young’s modulus (992 ± 71 MPa), and tensile toughness (22 ± 3 MPa), representing increases of approximately 130.6%, 19.2%, and 59.6%, respectively, over pure ABS. This underscores the ability of a mechanochemical reaction to directly modify the functional groups of graphitic nanoplatelets (GnPs) as fillers, facilitating their strong compatibility with a variety of polymers, including copolymers.