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.     

Variable catalytic behavior of Nb, Mo, Ta, W, and Re halide clusters: Isomerization of alkynes to conjugated dienes under nitrogen and hydrogenation to alkenes under hydrogen

When a tantalum chloride cluster [(Ta₆Cl₁₂)Cl₂(H₂O)₄]·4H₂O (1) was treated in a nitrogen stream at temperatures above 300 °C, a catalytic activity developed for the isomerization of pentynes and hexynes to the corresponding conjugated dienes with smaller amounts of allenes. Niobium and tungsten clusters with the same metal framework also catalyzed the reactions. In a hydrogen stream, niobium, molybdenum, and tungsten clusters, and a trinuclear rhenium cluster catalyzed the partial hydrogenation of alkynes to the corresponding alkenes. The isomerization activity was ascribed to the Brønsted acidity of hydroxo species of the activated cluster complexes, and the hydrogenation activity was attributed to the nature of the metal atoms incorporated in the cluster.     

封装型Pt/SOD分子筛的合成及表征

基于封装型贵金属分子筛的合成,充分利用其择形性和氢溢流特性构建新型加氢催化剂,选定Pt作为活性组分,方钠石作为载体,通过水热合成法直接将金属前驱体Pt(NH_3)_4Cl_2引进SOD合成母液中进行晶化,合成了不同封装量的Pt/SOD分子筛。采用苯加氢反应测试样品的催化活性,并运用XRD、SEM、TEM和H_2-TPD对样品进行表征。结果表明,合成的不同封装量的Pt/SOD样品均具有良好的催化活性,与溢流氢受体HZSM-5间均具有良好的氢溢流效应。其中,当金属前驱体Pt(NH_3)_4Cl_2的用量为(Pt(NH_3)_4Cl_2)∶(Si-Algel)比为0.030 g/g时,所合成的Pt/SOD样品最佳,催化苯加氢反应的苯转化率可达54.38%。     

丙烷脱氢负载型PtSnNa/SUZ-4催化剂中Na+助剂组分的作用

用微型催化反应装置结合X射线衍射(XRD)、H₂化学吸附、NH₃吸附-程序升温脱附(NH₃-TPD)和H₂-程序升温还原等多种物理化学手段研究了丙烷脱氢负载型PtSnNa/SUZ-4催化剂中Na⁺助剂组分的作用。结果表明,Na⁺组分可中和SUZ-4载体表面的强酸中心、提高催化剂的Pt金属分散度、抑制脱氢产物的裂解和积炭的生成,从而提高催化剂的丙烷脱氢选择性和反应稳定性。但是过量Na⁺组分的存在会削弱Sn物种与载体之间的相互作用,使其易被还原,导致催化剂丙烷脱氢活性显著下降。     

铂钌团簇及电荷对甲醇活性的理论研究

采用密度泛函理论(DFT)对钌掺杂的铂团簇阳离子([Pt_nRu_m]⁺, m + n = 3, n ≥ 1)活化甲醇C―H和O―H键反应进行了理论研究;探讨了电荷对[Pt_nRu_m]团簇反应活性的影响。电荷分析表明:(1) [Pt₃]⁺团簇中正电荷在三个Pt原子上均匀分布;掺杂Ru原子后,正电荷主要分布在Ru原子上; (2)首先活化C―H键时[Pt_nRu_m]⁺的反应活性比[Pt_nRu_m]明显提高;首先活化O―H键时只有[Pt₃]⁺比[Pt₃]团簇的反应活性有明显提高。本研究可为金属团簇调控的C―H键和O―H键的活化提供更深入的理解。     

二维TiC 层表面H2的化学吸附与物理吸附

第一性原理计算研究发现由于二维TiC单原子层具有高的比表面积与大量的暴露在表面的Ti原子,其是一种非常有潜力的储氢材料.计算结果显示H2可以在二维TiC单原子层表面进行物理吸附与化学吸附.其中化学吸附能为每个氢分子0.36 eV,物理吸附能是每个氢分子0.09 eV.覆盖度为1和1/4层(ML)时,H2分子在二维TiC单原子层表面的离解势垒分别为1.12和0.33 eV.因此,除了物理吸附与化学吸附,TiC表面还存在H单原子吸附.最大的H2储存率可以达到7.69%(质量分数).其中,离解的H原子、化学吸附的H2、物理吸附的H2的储存率分别为1.54%、3.07%、3.07%.符合Kubas吸附特征的储存率为3.07%.化学吸附能随覆盖度的变化非常小,这有利于H2分子的吸附与释放.     

碳包覆Pd/TiO2光催化产氢协同胺类选择性氧化合成亚胺(英文)

负载型金属纳米催化剂由于其优异的光催化性能,被广泛应用于光催化产氢协同胺类氧化偶联合成高附加值亚胺体系。但在反应过程中,金属表面对H原子和亚胺表现出较强的吸附能力,导致了亚胺易于发生自氢化反应而生成仲胺,显著降低了亚胺的选择性。在本文中,我们证实了在Pd/Ti O₂表面构建超薄碳层(Pd/Ti O₂@C)是一种解决上述问题的有效策略。在Pd/Ti O₂表面构筑的超薄碳层可以有效调控H原子和亚胺在其表面的吸附行为,避免了光催化氧化偶联过程中亚胺的自氢化。因此,Pd/Ti O₂@C光催化剂在光催化产氢协同胺类选择性氧化合成亚胺体系中展现出优异的亚胺选择性。本研究提供了一种便捷有效的策略推动负载型金属纳米催化剂在光催化产氢协同合成高附加值产物体系中的应用。     

Low-temperature hydrogenation of maleic anhydride to succinic anhydride and γ-butyrolactone over pseudo-boehmite derived alumina supported metal(metal = Cu,Co and Ni) catalysts

The pseudo-boehmite derived alumina supported metal(Cu,Co and Ni) catalysts prepared by the impregnation method were investigated in hydrogenation of maleic anhydride(MA) to succinic anhydride(SA) and γ-butyrolactone.The catalysts were characterized by ICP-AES,N_2 adsorptiondesorption,XRD,H_2-TPR,CO-TPD,dissociative N_2O adsorption and TEM and the results showed that the alumina possessed mesoporous feature and the metal species were well dispersed on the support.Compared to Cu/Al_2O_3 and Co/Al_2O_3,Ni/Al_2O_3 exhibited higher catalytic activity in the MA hydrogenation with 92%selectivity to SA and nearly 100%conversion of MA at 140 °C under 0.5 MPa of H_2 with a weighted hourly space velocity of 2 h ~1(MA).The stability of Ni/Al_2O_3 catalyst was also investigated.     

贵金属Pt促进Co基费托合成催化剂的原子尺度结构分析

选取化学惰性的β-SiC为载体, 通过共浸渍法制备了Co-Pt/SiC催化剂; 利用球差校正的电子显微镜(AC-STEM), 结合氢气程序升温还原(H₂-TPR)、 CO化学吸附以及准原位X射线吸收光谱(XAS)等手段, 研究了Co-Pt/SiC催化剂中贵金属Pt对于钴基费托反应的促进作用. 结果表明, Pt助剂从提高分散度和还原度两个方面增加了Co⁰活性相的数量, 从而提升了催化剂的费托反应活性. 通过AC-STEM表征了Pt在催化剂上的微观结构状态, 发现Pt助剂主要以单原子或团簇的形式分散在金属Co上. 这种分散形式的Pt对钴基催化剂的促进作用可能遵循氢气解离和氢溢流机理: 分布在Co上的Pt显著提高了催化剂解离氢气的能力, 这有利于促进钴物种的还原, 提高还原度, 同时也有利于促进费托反应过程中H₂的活化以及CO的氢助解离, 提高了催化剂的反应活性, 以及饱和烷烃的选择性.     

Hydrogen dissociative chemisorption and desorption on saturated subnano palladium clusters (Pdn, n = 2-9)

H(2) sequential dissociative chemisorption on small palladium clusters was studied using density functional theory. The chosen clusters Pd(n) (n = 2-9) are of the lowest energy structures for each n. H(2) dissociative chemisorption and subsequent H atom migration on the bare Pd clusters were found to be nearly barrierless. The dissociative chemisorption energy of H(2) and the desorption energy of H atom in general decrease with the coverage of H atoms and thus the catalytic efficiency decreases as the H loading increases. These energies at full cluster saturation were identified and found to vary in small energy ranges regardless of cluster size. As H loading increases, the clusters gradually change their bonding from metallic character to covalent character. For the selected Pd clusters, the capacity to adsorb H atoms increases almost proportionally with cluster size; however, it was found that the capacity of Pd clusters to adsorb H atoms is, on average, substantially smaller than that of small Pt clusters, suggesting that the catalytic efficiency of Pt nanoparticles is superior to Pd nanoparticles in catalyzing dissociative chemisorption of H(2) molecules.     

锐钛矿型TiO2担载的Pd催化剂用于乙炔选择加氢的催化性能及其表征

Anatase TiO₂ nanospindles containing 89% exposed {101} facets (TiO₂-101) and nanosheets with 77% exposed {001} facets (TiO₂-001) were hydrothermally synthesized and used as supports for Pd catalysts. The effects of the TiO₂ materials on the catalytic performance of Pd/TiO₂-101 and Pd/TiO₂-001 catalysts were investigated in the selective hydrogenation of acetylene to polymer-grade ethylene. The Pd/TiO₂-101 catalyst exhibited enhanced performance in terms of acetylene conversion and ethylene yield. To understand these effects, the catalysts were characterized by H₂ temperature-programmed desorption (H₂-TPD), H₂ temperatureprogrammed reduction (H₂-TPR), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), pulse CO chemisorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The TEM and CO chemisorption results confirmed that Pd nanoparticles (NPs) on the TiO₂-101 support had a smaller average particle size (1.53 nm) and a higher dispersion (15.95%) than those on the TiO₂-001 support (average particle size of 4.36 nm and dispersion of 9.06%). The smaller particle size and higher dispersion of Pd on the Pd/TiO₂-101 catalyst provided more reaction active sites, which contributed to the improved catalytic activity of this supported catalyst.