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.     

等浓度的氯化铵和硫酸铵溶液哪个pH高

有中学化学参考资料题:0.10 mol/L的NH4Cl和(NH4)2SO4溶液哪个pH值高?这似乎是个中学生可做的简单题目,仔细考虑不是如此.如果简单地认为盐酸和硫酸都是强酸,而硫酸是二元酸,硫酸铵溶液中铵盐浓度为0.20 mol/L,那么NH4Cl溶液pH高,那是不妥的.硫酸是二元酸,第一个氢离子能完全电离,第二个氢离子部分电离,如此考虑情况怎么样呢?是不是答案发生变化?这要通过计算来说明.     

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。     

Enhanced efficiency and stability in Sn-based perovskite solar cells with secondary crystallization growth

The conversion efficiencies reported for Tin(Sn)halide-based perovskite solar cells(PSCs)fall a large gap behind those of lead halide-based PSCs,mainly because of poor film quality of the former.Here we report an efficient strategy based on a simple secondary crystallization growth(SCG)technique to improve film quality for tin halide-based PSCs by applying a series of functional amine chlorides on the perovskite surface.They were discovered to enhance the film crystallinity and suppress the oxidation of Sn²⁺remarkably,hence reduce trap state density and non-irradiative recombination in the absorber films.Furthermore,the SCG film holds the band levels matching better with carrier transport layers and herein favoring charge extraction at the device interfaces.Consequently,a champion device efficiency of 8.07% was achieved alo ng with significant enhancements in VOC and JSC,in contrast to 5.35% of the control device value.Moreover,the SCG film-based devices also exhibit superior stability comparing with the control one.This work explicitly paves a novel and general strategy for developing high performance lead-free PSCs.     

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.     

Tunable photoluminescent and cathodoluminescent properties of ZnO and ZnO:Zn phosphors

ZnO and ZnO:Zn powder phosphors were prepared by the polyol-method followed by annealing in air and reducing gas, respectively. The samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and photoluminescence (PL) and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra, respectively. The results indicate that all samples are in agreement with the hexagonal structure of the ZnO phase and the particle sizes are in the range of 1-2 microm. The PL and CL spectra of ZnO powders annealed at 950 degrees C in air consist of a weak ultraviolet emission band (approximately 390 nm) and a broad emission band centered at about 527 nm, exhibiting yellow emission color to the naked eyes. When the sample was reduced at the temperatures from 500 to 1050 degrees C, the yellow emission decreased gradually and disappeared completely at 800 degrees C, whereas the ultraviolet emission band became the strongest. Above this temperature, the green emission ( approximately 500 nm) appeared and increased with increasing of reducing temperatures. According to the EPR results and spectral analysis, the yellow and green emissions may arise from the transitions of photogenerated electron close to the conduction band to the deeply trapped hole in the single negatively charged interstitial oxygen ion (Oi(-)) and the single ionized oxygen vacancy (V.O) centers, respectively.     

Large-scale synthesis of tungsten oxide nanofibers by electrospinning

We show in this communication that large-scale synthesis of orthorhombic WO3 nanofibers can be obtained via a simple electrospinning method. The morphology and the crystal structure are investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), FTIR, X-ray diffraction patterns (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) spectra. SEM and TEM images showed that the diameter of the obtained WO3 nanofibers is between 100 and 500 nm. The structure of the obtained WO3 nanofibers was characterized by FTIR, XRD, and XPS spectra. The photoluminescence of the obtained WO3 nanofibers were also investigated.     

水热法制备具有光滑表面的球形Y2O3∶Eu3+发光材料

The spherical Y₂O₃∶Eu³⁺ luminescent particles with size of 0.5～3 μm and smooth surface were synthesized by hydrothermal method. The resulted Y₂O₃∶Eu³⁺ precursors and the calcined particles were characterized by differential thermal analysis (DTA) and thermogravimetric (TG) analysis, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform IR spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and photoluminescence spectra (PL). FTIR, TG-DTA, XRD measurements show that the precursors are crystal with hydroxyl and carbonate group, and the pure cubic yttria is obtained after annealing above 700 ℃. The SEM images indicate that the Y₂O₃∶Eu³⁺ particles are in spherical shape and with smooth surface. PL analysis shows that the particles present characteristic red emission of Eu³⁺.     

EuPO4:Zn@MCM-41的制备和发光性质

通过微波辅助水热法合成MCM-41介孔材料,经溶胶凝胶组装过程将EuPO4:Zn分散到MCM-41表面上和孔道中,制备成以MCM-41为基质的复合发光材料EuPO4:Zn@MCM-41粉末.通过XRD、FTIR、氮吸附、SEM、HRTEM、EDS对该材料进行了表征,用单因素法探究了原料配比(Eu(NO3)3、Zn(NO3)2的加入量和反应条件(煅烧的温度、时间)对EuPO4:Zn@MCM-41在593 am处发光强度的影响,并研究其影响机理.荧光分析发现,EuPO4:Zn基本不发射荧光,而EuPO4:Zn@MCM-41材料具有蓝光段和红光段的荧光发射,主要发光带以468和593 nm为中心.593 nm处的发射归因于Eu3+的4f组内5D0→7F1跃迁,即Eu3+中心离子所在品格格位对称性决定的磁偶极跃迁.研究表明以MCM-41为载体,能够大大降低颗粒的团聚程度,并使EuPO4:Zn颗粒具有更小的粒径:同时EuPO4:Zn@MCM-41中Eu3+发光巾心具有更大的裂分,MCM-41的纳米孔道使Eu3+的发光中心分离,降低了Eu3+之间电子云之间的重叠,大大减小了荧光的猝灭,因此MCM-41能有效降低Eu3+复合物荧光猝灭.     

EuBO3的低温水热合成及光谱可调性质研究

采用低温水热法合成了稀土硼酸盐EuBO3的纯相样品.利用X射线衍射仪(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X射线光电子能谱仪(XPS)和荧光光谱仪(PL)对样品的结构、形貌、价态及发光性质进行了研究.结果表明,该样品属六方晶系,在不同的矿化剂和碱度下呈现不同的自组装形貌.当以NaOH或NH3.H2O为矿化剂时,该样品分别沿着(100)和(002)晶面生长.因为Eu离子以混合价态形式存在,样品表现出光谱可调性,当激发波长为270～360 nm时,样品荧光由红色转为橙色,经粉紫光变为蓝光.     

Monodisperse and core-shell-structured SiO2@YBO3:Eu3+ spherical particles: synthesis and characterization

Y0.9Eu0.1BO3 phosphor layers were deposited on monodisperse SiO2 particles of different sizes (300, 570, 900, and 1200 nm) via a sol-gel process, resulting in the formation of core-shell-structured SiO2@Y0.9Eu0.1BO3 particles. X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), photoluminescence (PL), and cathodoluminescence (CL) spectra as well as lifetimes were employed to characterize the resulting composite particles. The results of XRD, FE-SEM, and TEM indicate that the 800 degrees C annealed sample consists of crystalline YBO3 shells and amorphous SiO2 cores, in spherical shape with a narrow size distribution. Under UV (240 nm) and VUV (172 nm) light or electron beam (1-6 kV) excitation, these particles show the characteristic 5D0-7F1-4 orange-red emission lines of Eu3+ with a quantum yield ranging from 36% (one-layer Y0.9Eu0.1BO3 on SiO2) to 54% (four-layer Y0.9Eu0.1BO3 on SiO2). The luminescence properties (emission intensity and color coordinates) of Eu3+ ions in the core-shell particles can be tuned by the coating number of Y0.9Eu0.1BO3 layers and SiO2 core particle size to some extent, pointing out the great potential for these particles applied in displaying and lightening fields.     

Structural and optical properties of KTa0.77Nb0.23O3 nanoplates synthesized by hydrothermal method

Two-dimensional KTa(0.77)Nb(0.23)O(3) (KTN) nanoplates with edge sizes of about 100 nm and thickness of about 10 nm have been fabricated by hydrothermal method at 200 degrees C using Ta(2)O(5), Nb(2)O(5), and KOH served as the precursors. Detailed structural studies indicate that the synthesized products are made up of large quantity single crystalline nanoplates with quadrilateral shape, which have a cubic perovskite structure without any other impurity phase and (011) growth direction. The stacking faults may be the key in the formation and growth of the (011) plate. Room temperature photoluminescence spectra excited at different wavelengths exhibit a strong emission band centered at 470 nm (2.63 eV) as well as two weak emission peaking at 423 nm (3.06 eV) and 505 nm (2.46 eV), respectively. The electron-hole recombination of localized excitons should responsible for the light emissions at 423 and 470 nm. Room temperature Raman spectrum of KTN nanoplates reveal that the frequencies of vibration mode are lower slightly than that of KTN bulk materials, and the scattering profile is to be more diffused and enlarged, which may be induced by the crystal structure defects, such as stacking faults.     

Optical properties of ZnO and ZnO:In nanorods assembled by sol-gel method

Self-assembled zinc oxide (ZnO) and indium-doping zinc oxide (ZnO:In) nanorod thin films were synthesized on quartz substrates without catalyst in aqueous solution by sol-gel method. The samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), Raman-scattering spectroscopy, room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectra, and temperature-dependent PL spectra measurements. XRD and Raman spectra illustrated that there were no single In2O3 phase in ZnO lattice after indium doping. The PL spectra of ZnO showed a strong UV emission band located at 394 nm and a very weak visible emission associated with deep-level defects. Indium incorporation induced the shift of optical band gap, quenching of the near-band-edge photoluminescence and enhanced LO mode multiphonon resonant Raman scattering in ZnO crystals at different temperatures. Abnormal temperature dependence of UV emission integrated intensity of ZnO and ZnO:In samples is observed. The local state emission peak of ZnO:In samples at 3.37 eV is observed in low-temperature PL spectra. The near-band-edge emission peak at room temperature was a mixture of excitons and impurity-related transitions for both of two samples.     

在线性壳聚糖膜内原位还原制备银纳米粒子及银单晶体

采用光还原方法，在线性壳聚糖膜内原位还原获得球形银粒子(粒径10～30 nm)和外观呈三角形、六边形的银单晶体(边长200～2000 nm)；采用电化学方法，在壳聚糖膜内制备了球形银纳米粒子，粒径为5～8 nm.用透射电子显微镜(TEM)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、红外光谱(IR)和X射线衍射(XRD)等测试技术对壳聚糖/银复合物进行了表征，对光还原过程中银晶体结构由多晶到单晶的转变原因进行了初步的分析和探讨.     

Synthesis and Photoluminescence of Eu-doped ZnO Nanosheets

Eu-doped ZnO nanosheets were synthesized successfully by means of the hydrothermal method. The X-ray diffraction(XRD) pattern shows that the sample is a single phase with the ZnO-like wurtzite structure. And the X-ray photoelectron spectrum suggests that there are Eu3+ ions in the matrix of the sample. Eu3+-related red emissions resulted from energy transfer were observed for the nanosheets under UV laser excitation. The UV, green and yellow emissions were also seen in the photoluminescence spectra.