Miniaturized electrochemical sensors and their point-of-care applications

Most of the current analytical methods depend largely on laboratory-based analytical techniques that require expensive and bullky equipment,potentially incur costly testing,and involve lengthy detection processes.With increasing requirements for point-of-care testing(POCT),more attention has been paid to miniaturized analytical devices.Miniaturized electrochemical(MEC)sensors,including different material-based MEC sensors(such as DNA-,paper-,and screen electrode-based),have been in strong demand in analytical science due to their easy operation,portability,high sensitivity,as well as their short analysis time.They have been applied for the detection of trace amounts of target through measuring changes in electrochemical signal,such as current,voltage,potential,or impedance,due to the oxidation/reduction of chemical/biological molecules with the help of electrodes and electrochemical units.MEC sensors present great potential for the detection of targets including small organic molecules,metal ions,and biomolecules.In recent years,MEC sensors have been broadly applied to POCT in various fields,including health care,food safety,and environmental monitoring,owing to the excellent advantages of electrochemical(EC)technologies.This review summarized the state-of-the-art advancements on various types of MEC sensors and their applications in POCT.Furthermore,the future perspectives,opportunities,and challenges in this field are also discussed.     

Machine Learning towards Screening Solid-state Lithium Ion Conductors

Machine learning is an emerging method to discover new materials with specific characteristics.An unsupervised machine learning research is highlighted to discover new potential lithium ionic conductors by screening and clustering lithium compounds,providing inspirations for the development of solid-state electrolytes and practical batteries.     

Surface defect-rich ceria quantum dots anchored on sulfur-doped carbon nitride nanotubes with enhanced charge separation for solar hydrogen production

Designing defect-engineered semiconductor heterojunctions can effectively promote the charge carrier separation.Herein,novel ceria(CeO2) quantum dots(QDs) decorated sulfur-doped carbon nitride nanotubes(SCN NTs) were synthesized via a thermal polycondensation coupled in situ depositionprecipitation method without use of template or surfactant.The structure and morphology studies indicate that ultrafine CeO2 QDs are well distributed inside and outside of SCN NTs offering highly dispersed active sites and a large contact interface between two components.This leads to the promoted formation of rich Ce³⁺ ion and oxygen vacancies as confirmed by XPS.The photocatalytic performance can be facilely modulated by the content of CeO2 QDs introduced in SCN matrix while bare CeO2 does not show activity of hydrogen production.The optimal catalyst with 10% of CeO2 loading yields a hydrogen evolution rate of 2923.8 μmol h-1 g-1 under visible light,remarkably higher than that of bare SCN and their physical mixtures.Further studies reveal that the abundant surface defects and the created 0 D/1 D junctions play a critical role in improving the separation and transfer of charge carriers,leading to superior solar hydrogen production and good stability.     

Superfast and solvent-free core-shell assembly of sulfur/carbon active particles by hail-inspired nanostorm technology for high-energy-density Li-S batteries

The demand on low-carbon emission fabrication technologies for energy storage materials is increasing dramatically with the global interest on carbon neutrality.As a promising active material for metal-sulfur batteries,sulfur is of great interest due to its high-energy-density and abundance.However,there is a lack of industry-friendly and low-carbon fabrication strategies for high-performance sulfur-based active particles,which,however,is in critical need by their practical success.Herein,based on a hail-inspired sulfur nano-storm(HSN)technology developed in our lab,we report an energy-saving,solvent-free strategy for producing core-shell sulfur/carbon electrode particles(CNT@AC-S)in minutes.The fabrication of the CNT@AC-S electrode particles only involves low-cost sulfur blocks,commercial carbon nanotubes(CNT)and activated carbon(AC)micro-particles with high specific surface area.Based on the above core-shell CNT@AC-S particles,sulfur cathode with a high sulfur-loading of 9.2 mg cm^-2 delivers a stable area capacity of 6.6 mAh cm^-2 over 100 cycles.Furthermore,even for sulfur cathode with a super-high sulfur content(72 wt%over the whole electrode),it still delivers a high area capacity of 9 mAh cm^-2 over50 cycles in a quasi-lean electrolyte condition.In a nutshell,this study brings a green and industryfriendly fabrication strategy for cost-effective production of rationally designed S-rich electrode particles.     

Unraveling the stabilization mechanism of solid electrolyte interface on ZnSe by rGO in sodium ion battery

Transition metal selenides have been widely studied as anode materials of sodium ion batteries(SIBs),however,the investigation of solid-electrolyte-interface(SEI)on these materials,which is critical to the electrochemical performance of SIBs,remains at its infancy.Here in this paper,ZnSe@C nanoparticles were prepared from ZIF-8 and the SEI layers on these electrodes with and without reduced graphene oxide(rGO)layers were examined in details by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies at varied charged/discharged states.It is observed that fast and complicated electrolyte decomposition reactions on ZnSe@C leads to quite thick SEI film and intercalation of solvated sodium ions through such thick SEI film results in slow ion diffusion kinetics and unstable electrode structure.However,the presence of rGO could efficiently suppress the decomposition of electrolyte,thus thin and stable SEI film was formed.ZnSe@C electrodes wrapped by rGO demonstrates enhanced interfacial charge transfer kinetics and high electrochemical performance,a capacity retention of 96.4%,after 1000 cycles at 5 A/g.This study might offer a simple avenue for the designing high performance anode materials through manipulation of SEI film.     

CXN天然沸石的研究2: 吸附性质

采用N~2,NH~3,CO~2,乙烯,丙烯,水,甲醇,乙醇,丙醇等作为吸附剂,研究了由我国CXN天然沸石改性制得的H-STI和Na-STI沸石的吸附性质,H-STI和Na-STI沸石的BET表面积及微孔孔体积约为420m^2/g和0.20m^3/g。根据NH~3和CO~2在H-STI沸石上的吸附等温线计算得到它们的吸附热分别为44.8和26.5kJ/mol。乙烯,丙烯,甲醇,乙醇,丙醇等在Na-STI沸石上的吸附等温线表明该沸石对有机分子的吸附具有链长选择性。在低分压下水相对于甲醇的吸附量表明沸石具有一定的疏水性质。     

常温常湿条件下Au/MeO~x催化剂上CO氧化性能

利用共沉淀法制备了Au/MeO~x催化剂(Me=Al,Co,Cr,Cu,Fe,Mn,Ni,Zn)。在常温常湿条件下,考察了不同氧化物负载的金基催化剂的CO氧化性能。结果表明,氧化物种类对催化剂的活性和稳定性均有较大的影响。Cu,Mn,Cr等氧化物负载的金基催化剂的活性较差,而Zn,Fe,Co,Ni,Al等金属氧化物负载的金基催化剂可将CO完全氧化,又具有一定的稳定性,在相同反应条件下,CO完全转化时的稳定性顺序为Au/ZnO>Au/α-Fe~2O~3>Au/Co~3O~4>Au/γ-Al~2O~3≈Au/NiO。还发现水对Au/MnO~x催化剂的活性和稳定性有负作用,而对180℃焙烧制备的Au/ZnO-180催化剂的活性和稳定性均有明显的湿度增强作用。     

Boost oxygen reduction reaction performance by tuning the active sites in Fe-N-P-C catalysts

Cost-effective atomically dispersed Fe-N-P-C complex catalysts are promising to catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and replace Pt catalysts in fuel cells and metal-air batteries.However,it remains a challenge to increase the number of atomically dispersed active sites on these catalysts.Here we report a highly efficient impregnation-pyrolysis method to prepare effective ORR electrocatalysts with large amount of atomically dispersed Fe active sites from biomass.Two types of active catalyst centers were identified,namely atomically dispersed Fe sites and Fe_xP particles.The ORR rate of the atomically dispersed Fe sites is three orders of magnitude higher than it of Fe_xP particles.A linear correlation between the amount of the atomically dispersed Fe and the ORR activity was obtained,revealing the major contribution of the atomically dispersed Fe to the ORR activity.The number of atomically dispersed Fe increases as the Fe loading increased and reaching the maximum at 1.86 wt%Fe,resulting in the maximum ORR rate.Optimized Fe-N-P-C complex catalyst was used as the cathode catalyst in a homemade Zn-air battery and good performance of an energy density of 771 Wh kgZn^-1,a power density of 92.9 m W cm^-2 at 137 m A cm^-2 and an excellent durability were exhibited.     

Regulation of carbon distribution to construct high-sulfur-content cathode in lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur(Li-S)battery is regarded as one of the most promising next-generation energy storage systems due to the ultra-high theoretical energy density of 2600 Wh kg^-1.To address the insulation nature of sulfur,nanocarbon composition is essential to afford acceptable cycling capacity but inevitably sacrifices the actual energy density under working conditions.Therefore,rational structural design of the carbon/sulfur composite cathode is of great significance to realize satisfactory electrochemical performances with limited carbon content.Herein,the cathode carbon distribution is rationally regulated to construct high-sulfur-content and high-performance Li-S batteries.Concretely,a double-layer carbon(DLC)cathode is prepared by fabricating a surface carbon layer on the carbon/sulfur composite.The surface carbon layer not only provides more electrochemically active surfaces,but also blocks the polysulfide shuttle.Consequently,the DLC configuration with an increased sulfur content by nearly 10 wt%renders an initial areal capacity of 3.40 mAh cm^-2 and capacity retention of 83.8%during 50 cycles,which is about two times than that of the low-sulfur-content cathode.The strategy of carbon distribution regulation affords an effective pathway to construct advanced high-sulfur-content cathodes for practical high-energy-density Li-S batteries.     

Confined Ni-In intermetallic alloy nanocatalyst with excellent coking resistance for methane dry reforming

Carbon dioxide and methane are two main greenhouse gases which are contributed to serious global warming.Fortunately,dry reforming of methane(DRM),a very important reaction developed decades ago,can convert these two major greenhouse gases into value-added syngas or hydrogen.The main problem retarding its industrialization is the seriously coking formation upon the nickel-based catalysts.Herein,a series of confined indium-nickel(In-Ni)intermetallic alloy nanocatalysts(In_xNi@SiO₂)have been prepared and displayed superior coking resistance for DRM reaction.The sample containing 0.5 wt.%of In loading(In_0.5Ni@SiO₂)shows the best balance of carbon deposition resistance and DRM reactivity even after 430 h long term stability test.The boosted carbon resistance can be ascribed to the confinement of core–shell structure and to the transfer of electrons from Indium to Nickel in In-Ni intermetallic alloys due to the smaller electronegativity of In.Both the silica shell and the increase of electron cloud density on metallic Ni can weaken the ability of Ni to activate C–H bond and decrease the deep cracking process of methane.The reaction over the confined InNi intermetallic alloy nanocatalyst was conformed to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood(L-H)mechanism revealed by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy(in-situ DRIFTS).This work provides a guidance to design high performance coking resistance catalysts for methane dry reforming to efficiently utilize these two main greenhouse gases.     

Polymeric complex micelle loaded with axially substituted silicon(Ⅳ) phthalocyanine

A novel axially substituted silicon(Ⅳ)phthalocyanine,namely di-pyridyloxy axially substituted silicon(Ⅳ)phthalocyanine 2 was synthesized and characterized by UV/vis,IR,elemental analysis,MS as well as ~1H NMR spectroscopy.Hydrophobic 2 was encapsulated by amphiphilic triblock copolymer poly[N~ε-(benzyloxycarbonyl-lysine]-poly(ethylene glycol)-poly[N~ε-(benzyl oxycarbonyl) (PLL(Z)-b-PEG-b-PLL(Z))to form hydrophobic 2-loaded polymeric complex micelle(PIC)(2-loaded PIC).Atom force microscopy(AFM)image showe...     

Synthesis of di-μ-OXO-tetra-（α-pentyloxy） tin（Ⅳ） phthalocyanine

Axially substituted tin phthalocyanines, namely dichloride-tetra-（α-pentyloxy） tin （Ⅳ） phthalocyanine 2, dihydroxy-tetra-（α-pentyloxy） tin （Ⅳ） phthalocyanine 3 and its dimmer di-μ-oxo-tetra-（α-pentyloxy） tin（Ⅳ） phthalocyanine 4 were synthesized. The catalytic effect of H2O-free CaCl2 in quinoline was used for condensation of dihydroxy tin phthalocyanine 3 to the cofacially array dimmer 4. Their structures were characterized by UV-vis, IR, elemental analysis, MS, as well as ^1HNMR spectroscopy.     

Synthesis,structural characterization and solubility of 2-(1-substituted-1,11-undecylidene)-5-arylimino-△~3 -1,3,4-thiadiazolines

A series of novel 2-(1-substituted-1,11-undecylidene)-5-arylimino-△~3-1,3,4-thiadiazolines(4) were synthesized and their structure was characterized by ~1H NMR,~(13)C NMR and elemental analysis.Their solubility in both polar and non-polar solvents is significantly improved owing to the introduction of ethyl or methylthio group at cyclododecyl ring as compared with parent compounds[1,2-(1,11-undecylidene)-5-arylimino-△~3-1,3,4-miadiazolines].However,their fungicidal activity against Rhizoctonia solani is ...     

Synthesis of 6-aryl-3-cinchophenyl-1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b]-1,3,4-thiadiazoles

In recent years, fused heterocycles have been found to possess many unique properties in synthesis and pharmacology. Especially, 1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b]-1,3,4-thiadiazoles derivatives have been attracting much attention of chemists and pharmacologists because of their broad-spectrum biological activities such as antibacterial¹, hypotensive and CNS depressant² activities. We have prepared some 3,6-substituted 1,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b]-1,3,4-thiadiazoles and found that these compounds exhibited antimacrobial, insecticidal and promote plant growth.^3-5 Cinchophen had been used widely as medicine in clinic,but has been obsolete in recent years due to its by-effect. In order to seek for other uses of cinchophen, as a continuation of our preceeding studies, we used cinchophen as the starting material to synthesize ten new 6-aryl-3-cinchophenyl-l,2,4-triazolo[3,4-b]-l,3,4-thiadiazoles 5a-j. Compound 1 was prepared by the reaction of cinchophen and ethanol in the presence of sulfuric acid. 1 then reacted with hydrazine hydrate in absolute ethanol to give 2 which yielded 3 on treatment with CS₂ and KOH. On refluxing of 3 with excess hydrazine hydrate, 4 was obtained. 4 reacted with various substituted benzoic acids in the presence of POCl₃ to afifort 5a-j.     

On the thermal behaviour of palladium (II) macrocyclic polycatenars

Polycatenar saturated macrocycles 1,10-bis[3,4,5-tris(4-dodecyloxy)benzoy1]-1,10-diaza-4,7,13,16-tetrathiacyclo-octadecane (3b) and 1,10-bis[3,4-bis(4-dodecyloxy)benzoy1] -1,10-diaza-4,7,13,16-tetrathiacyclo-octadecane (3d) reacted with [Pd(MeCN)₄][BF₄]₂ led to the cationic complexes [4b][BF₄]₂ and [4d][BF₄]₂, respectively. Complexes [4b][BF₄]₂ and [4d][BF₄]₂ showed smectic mesomorphism on heating as confirmed by small angle X-ray diffraction. A concurrent, irreversible structural change of the complex cations was observed and a tentative explanation is suggested.     

Preparation of a discotic 2,4,7,9-tetraaryl-6H-dibenzo[c,e][1,2]thiazine and generation of a persistent Radical 1

6H-Dibenzo[d,e][1,2]thiazine substituted with four 3,4-dioctyloxyphenyl groups forms a room temperature discotic phase with a clearing temperature of 104°C. Oxidation of the thiazine 2b with either metal oxides (PbO₂ or AgO) or SO₂Cl₂ gave a moderately stable radical 1b (a _N = 0.95 mT, g = 2.0045). Full conversion of 2b to 1b was observed with AgO in a toluene/MeCN mixture or with SO₂Cl₂. The radical 1b was isolated in the neat form with the latter oxidant. It shows sensitivity to molecular oxygen, which hampered its purification and subsequent thermal and magnetic studies.     

Comparing Singlet Oxygen Generation of Schiff Base Substituted Novel Silicon Phthalocyanines by Sonophotochemical and Photochemical Applications

Although the sonophotodynamic method has an effective therapeutic outcome for anticancer treatment compared with the photodynamic method, there are not enough related studies in the literature and this study aims to contribute to the development of sonophotodynamic studies. For this purpose, the Schiff base substituted silicon phthalocyanines were designed and synthesized as effective sensitizer candidates and the photophysicochemical and sonophotochemical features of the phthalocyanines were examined to increase singlet oxygen efficiency. The calculated Φ_Δ values indicate that the contribution of substituent groups improved the production of singlet oxygen compared with silicon (IV) phthalocyanine dichloride (SiPcCI₂) and also the sonophotochemical applications increased the singlet oxygen yields. The Φ_Δ values (Φ_Δ = 0.76 for axially bis-{4-[(E)-(pyridin-3-ylimino)methyl]phenol} substituted silicon (IV) phthalocyanine ( 2a ), 0.68 for axially bis-4-[(E)-{[(pyridin-3-yl)methyl]imino}methyl]phenol substituted silicon (IV) phthalocyanine ( 2b ) in photochemical study) reached to Φ_Δ = 0.98 for 2a , 0.94 for 2b in sonophotochemical study. This article will enrich the literature on increasing singlet oxygen yield.     

Two Zinc(Ⅱ) Complexes Based on 7rany-(1R,2R)-cyclohexanediamine: Molecular Structure Analyses and Preparation of Composite Membrane

Two novel complexes Zn2(chda)2(TPA)Cl2(1) and [Zn(chda)2(H2O)2](TPAXH2O)2(2)[chda is a chiral ligand of trans-(1R,2R)-cyclohexanediamine, H2TPA is terephthalic acid] were synthesized at room temperature. The molecular structures of complexes 1 and 2 were identified by single-crystal X-ray diffraction measurement. The results showed that complex 1 had a binuclear structure, each Zn(Ⅱ) ion was four coordinated by two N atoms of chda, one O atom of TPA and one Cl atom, to construct a distorted tetrahedral geometry. For complex 2, the Zn(Ⅱ) ion was six coordinated by two chda molecules and two water molecules to form a ZnN4O2 octahedral geometry. Complexes 1 and 2 further extended into three-dimensional supramolecular frameworks by hydrogen-bonding interactions. Hirshfeld surface analysis and fingerprint plots were used to further analyze the contribution of diflerent intermolecular interactions. Further, a composite membrane [Zn(chda)2(H2O)2](TPA)(H2O)2/CA was prepared by adding 10%(mass fraction) of complex 2 into cellulose acetate using acetone/chloroform( V:V-1:1) as solvent.     

二-吡啶氧基-轴向取代-四-α-(3-戊氧基)锡(IV)酞菁的合成与表征

以3-硝基邻苯二甲腈为起始原料, 与正戊醇反应合成3-戊氧基邻苯二甲腈(1), 然后在高温溶剂1-氯萘中经缩聚反应合成二氯-轴向取代-四-α-(3-戊氧基)锡酞菁(2), 2进一步与2-羟基吡啶在N,N-二甲基甲酰胺中合成二-吡啶氧基-轴向取代-四-α-(3-戊氧基)锡酞菁配合物3, 同时对相关化合物分别进行了元素分析, IR, ¹H NMR, UV/Vis, 荧光和质谱表征.     

Evaluation of carborane-containing nematic liquid crystals for electro-optical applications

Three new structurally similar compounds in series 1[2] and 2 containing 12- and 10-vertex p-carborane units (A and B) were prepared. Their thermal properties were investigated in the pure state and compared to those of their carbocyclic analogues. Using several higher homologues in the series 1[n], clearing temperatures for the unknown 1[4] and 1[10] were predicted. Optical, dielectric and rotational viscosity parameters for carborane derivatives 1[2] and 2 and their cyclohexane analogies were obtained by extrapolation of values measured for 10% solutions in a standard nematic host. The observed trends were rationalised using computed molecular parameters.