Compressive graphene aerogels were obtained by the one-step reduction and self-assembly of graphene oxide with ethylenediamine and then freeze-drying. The aerogels hold good compressibility, variable electrical resistance and fire-resistance. The high porosity with a hydrophobic nature, allows the aerogels to absorb different organic liquids, and the absorption–squeezing process has been demonstrated for oil collection.

Herein, we demonstrate that reduction of graphene oxide (GO) could be implemented by γ-ray irradiation in alcohol/water in the absence of oxygen. The resultant reduced GO (RGO) appears highly reduced and possesses high purity through UV-Vis, XPS, FT-IR spectra and elemental analysis. We speculate that production of reductive radicals from γ-radiolysis of solvents is the main mechanism for oxygen reducing and graphite restructuring of GO sheets. The control experiments show oxygen absence and alcoholic addition are the essential factors for reduction process, which correlated the production of reductive radicals with GO's reduction. Additionally, the investigation of resultant RGO papers' solution-dispersibility and electrical conductivity indicates this method is favourable to build up graphene-based nanocomposites in solution.

Here we report a nanoadsorbent design, which integrates the high affinity of amidoxime (AO) groups and size effect of nanomaterials in nanofibrous composite mats prepared by a two-nozzle electrospinning process, for the adsorption of uranium in simulated seawater with an uptake capacity of 1.6 mg U g⁻¹ adsorbent in the presence of massive amounts of interference ions.