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.     

水系锌二次电池MnO2正极的晶体结构、反应机理及其改性策略

水系锌二次电池凭借其安全性高、环境友好、成本低廉、能量密度较高等诸多优势,有望应用于下一代大规模储能系统。电池的发展依赖于电极材料,二氧化锰由于其高丰度、低成本、毒性小等优势,在水系锌二次电池领域得到广泛应用。本文将从二氧化锰的晶体结构、反应机理及电化学性能出发,对其在水系锌二次电池中的研究进展进行系统综述。特别地,针对其容量低、循环稳定性差等问题,本文从储能机理(包括嵌入-脱嵌机制和溶解-沉积机制)角度出发,总结相对应的优化策略,为先进水系锌锰二次电池的设计开发提供参考。     

聚吡咯@二氧化锰/碳纳米管薄膜电极的制备及在高性能锌离子电池中的应用

中性/弱酸性水系锌锰电池因其能量密度高、价格低廉、环境友好等优势受到广泛关注。然而,现有的二氧化锰正极材料存在导电性能差,在充放电过程中易于溶解等问题。这严重影响了电池的倍率性能和循环稳定性,阻碍了中性锌锰电池的应用。为了解决上述问题,本文设计了以碳纳米管(CNT)网络薄膜为导电基底沉积聚吡咯(PPy)包覆二氧化锰(PPy@MnO₂/CNT)的多级结构电极。碳纳米管和聚吡咯组装形成高比表面积的三维交联导电网络,为活性材料提供了快速的电子、离子传输通道;聚吡咯包覆纳米级二氧化锰能够有效地抑制二氧化锰的溶解,进而提升电池的倍率特性和循环稳定性。以PPy@MnO₂/CNT作为正极材料组装的水系锌锰电池在1 A·g^-1的电流密度下,比容量达到210 mAh·g^-1,循环1000圈后,电池依然具有较高的容量保持率(85.7%)。本工作的导电聚合物包覆活性物质的策略可为发展高稳定柔性储能器件提供新思路。     

有机硫化合物在锂硫电池中的应用

锂硫电池具有理论能量密度高、环境友好和成本低等优点,有望成为替代锂离子电池的新一代储能系统。然而,锂硫电池充放电产物的绝缘性、可溶性多硫化锂的穿梭效应、硫正极体积膨胀及锂枝晶的不可控生长,严重影响了锂硫电池的实际容量发挥和循环稳定性。为解决上述问题,采用有机硫化合物来替代单质硫作为正极材料是有前途的策略。调控有机硫化合物的硫链、碳链及其相互作用,可改变其电化学反应过程,提高离子/电子电导,抑制穿梭效应。有机硫化合物作为电解液添加剂,可调控硫正极的反应过程并保护金属锂负极,作为聚合物电解质的改性链段可加速锂离子传导。本综述对有机硫化合物在锂硫电池的正极、电解液添加剂和固态电解质中的应用研究进展进行详细的阐述。将有机硫化合物的结构、反应机理和电化学性质联系起来,为解决锂硫电池存在的问题提供见解。最后,提出高性能有机硫化合物的设计合成和机理研究思路,以期实现可实用化的锂硫电池。     

锂-空气电池的实用化之路：规避二氧化碳负面效应

与其他的锂电池体系相比,锂-空气电池具有最高的理论比能量,被认为有潜力成为终极能量转换和储存装置。目前的锂-空气电池常常使用气体钢瓶提供纯氧气,而非空气中的氧气,这种电池设计极大降低了锂-空气电池的能量密度和实用性。然而,当空气作为锂-空气电池的氧气供给源时,二氧化碳作为杂质会引起严重的副反应,从而降低锂-空气电池的性能。要解决二氧化碳引起的副反应,理解其反应机制至关重要。本文综述了锂-空气电池中有关二氧化碳诱发的化学/电化学反应的研究进展; 总结了可缓解二氧化碳负面效应的有效策略。此外,对二氧化碳选透膜材料和分离技术用于锂-空气电池进行了展望。     

原位透射电镜研究正交相五氧化二铌纳米片的电化学储钠机制

由于正交相五氧化二铌(T-Nb₂O₅)为ReO₃型层状结构,锂、钠离子可以在其(001)平面快速脱嵌,而在[001]方向的传输一般较难。本研究通过原位透射电子显微镜(Transmission Electron Microscope,TEM)方法研究钠在T-Nb₂O₅纳米片(001)面内及[001]方向的钠离子电化学嵌入行为,发现由于纳米片晶体存在大量的位错和畴界,钠离子可通过这些缺陷穿越(001)面扩散,并进而在深层的(001)面内快速扩散。同时,本研究还发现刚合成的T-Nb₂O₅纳米片在[001]方向上存在调制结构,存在交替分布的压应变和张应变区域,而钠离子的嵌入可以调节这些应变分布。     

有机配体表面改性NiCo2O4纳米线用于水全分解

由于水分解在绿色能源领域的重要作用,能够在碱性介质中进行析氢(HER)和析氧(OER)反应的双功能电催化剂具有重要的应用价值。本文报道一种具有丰富缺陷的表面改性NiCo₂O₄纳米线(NWs),在碱性介质中作为一种高效的整体水裂解电催化剂。X射线光电子能谱(XPS)分析表明,Co²⁺/Co³⁺比值的增加是表面修饰NiCo₂O₄纳米线具有优异双功能电催化性能的重要原因。结果表明,在1.0 mol·L^-1 KOH溶液中,通过有机配体主导的表面改性,优化后的NiCo₂O₄纳米线在电流密度达到10 mA·cm^-2时的HER过电位仅为83 mV,OER过电位仅为280 mV。更重要的是,有机配体表面改性后的NiCo₂O₄纳米线表现出了出色的水分解性能,在2.1 V电压下达到了100 mA·cm^-2的电流密度。目前的工作凸显了提高NiCo₂O₄ NWs尖晶石结构中Co²⁺含量对促进整体水裂解的重要性。     

构建NiS2/MoSe2 S型异质结高效光催化产氢

S-scheme heterojunction is a major breakthrough in the field of photocatalysis. In this study, NiS₂ and MoSe₂ were prepared by a typical solvothermal method, and compounded by an in situ growth method to construct an S-scheme heterojunction. The obtained composite showed excellent performance in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution; the hydrogen production rate was approximately 7 mmol·h^-1·g^-1, which was 2.05 times and 2.44 times those of pure NiS₂ and MoSe₂, respectively. Through a series of characterizations, it was found that NiS₂ and MoSe₂ coupling can enhance the light absorption intensity, which is vital for the light reaction system. The efficiency of electron-hole pair separation is also among the important factors restricting photocatalytic reactions. Compared with pure NiS₂ and MoSe₂, NiS₂/MoSe₂ exhibited a higher photocurrent density, lower cathode current, and lower electrochemical impedance, which proves that the NiS₂/MoSe₂ complex can effectively promote photogenerated electron transfer. Simultaneously, the lower emission intensity of fluorescence indicated effective inhibition of electron-hole recombination in the NiS₂/MoSe₂ complex, which is favorable for the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction. Further, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that MoSe₂ is an amorphous sample surrounded by the NiS₂ nanomicrosphere, which greatly increased the contact area between the two, thus increasing the active site of the reaction. Secondly, as a photosensitizer, Eosin Y (EY) effectively enhanced the absorption of light by the catalyst in the photoreaction system. Meanwhile, during sensitization, electrons were provided to the catalyst, which effectively improved the photocatalytic reaction efficiency. The establishment of S-scheme heterojunctions contributed to improving the redox capacity of the reaction system and was the most important link in the photocatalytic hydrogen reduction of aquatic products. It was also the main reason for the improvement of the hydrogen evolution effect in this study. The locations of the conduction band and valence band of NiS₂ and MoSe₂ were determined by Mott-Schottky plots and photon energy curves, and further proved the establishment of the S-scheme heterojunction. This work provides a new reference for studying the S-scheme heterojunction to effectively improve the photocatalytic hydrogen production efficiency.      

卤化物固态电解质研究进展

全固态电池因其高能量密度和高安全性而成为具有发展前景的下一代储能技术。开发具有高室温离子电导率、优异化学/电化学稳定性、良好正/负极兼容性的固态电解质是实现全固态电池实用化的关键。卤化物固态电解质因其优异的电化学窗口、高正极稳定性、可接受的室温锂离子电导率等优势,受到了广泛的关注。本文通过对近年来卤化物电解质的相关研究进行总结,综述了该类电解质的组成、结构、离子传导路径及制备方法,并分析了金属卤化物电解质的电导率、稳定性特点,归纳了近年来该电解质在全固态电池中具有代表性的应用,并基于以上总结和分析,指出了卤化物固态电解质的研究难点及发展方向。     

高镍正极材料中钴元素的替代方案及其合成工艺优化

高镍三元正极材料LiNi_xMn_yCo_1-x-yO₂ (x > 0.8)因其高能量密度而备受瞩目。在高镍三元正极材料中,Co不但有助于增强层状正极材料结构稳定性,而且能够提高正极材料导电性能,因此被认为是一种非常重要的元素。但是由于目前全球范围内钴矿资源紧缺,在一定程度上限制了含钴正极材料在新能源电动汽车领域的发展应用。基于此,本文将不同的过渡金属离子掺杂到高镍层状材料中形成无钴化正极材料,并进行高镍正极材料无钴化的可行性分析。通过实验对比发现,资源存储量丰富并且价格低廉的Zr在一定程度上可以取代Co元素,得到的正极材料LiNi_0.85Mn_0.1Zr_0.05O₂表现出良好的电化学性能,在0.2C倍率以及2.75–4.3 V的截止电压范围内,其放电比容量为179.9 mAh·g^-1,80周容量保持率为96.52%。     

金属单原子催化剂增强硫正极动力学的研究进展

单质硫具有理论能量密度高(2600 Wh·kg-1)、放电比容量高(1672mAh·g-1)、成本低等优势,是锂硫电池的理想正极材料。然而,在充放电过程中硫正极迟缓的反应动力学显著地限制了锂硫电池的性能。金属单原子催化剂(SMACs)具有独特的电子结构、金属含量低、理论上100%的原子利用率、催化活性高等优势,其不仅有效地促进了不同中间相的转化反应,而且可为含硫物质提供丰富的锚定位点,从而显著优化硫正极氧化还原反应动力学、多硫化物的穿梭行为和锂硫电池电化学性能。本文以剖析金属单原子催化剂与硫正极间的相互作用为出发点,结合其催化效应表征技术,重点解析了不同类型单原子催化剂的构筑策略、活性调控及其优化硫正极氧化还原行为的机制,展望了金属单原子催化剂在锂硫电池领域面临的挑战和未来发展方向。