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.     

生物光化学

生物光化学研究光在动植物体内所引起的生化现象。例如:经过各种不同波长的光辐照后的生命现象,生长规律,某些生理和病理过程,疾病的产生和治疗机理,细胞的辐射损伤和自然防御,以及光合色素在生物进化中的作用等。本文就光引起的现象:视觉、生物钟(光周期性)、植物的光合作用、辐射损伤及其修复、牛皮癣的治疗、新生儿黄疸病的治疗机理,以及光合色素——藻胆蛋白等七种现象,做了综述性的介绍。     

液体弹珠：制备策略、物理性质及应用探索

Liquid marbles (LMs) are liquid droplets coated with a layer of lyophobic particles at the air-liquid interface. Since the pioneering work by Aussillous et al. in 2001, LMs have attracted significant attention owing to their facile fabrication, flexibility in the choice of the constituent particles and liquids, intriguing properties such as non-wetting and non-adhesive nature, satisfactory elasticity and stability, as well as promising applications in microfluidics, sensors, controlled release, and microreactors. The classical strategy for the preparation of LMs involves rolling a small volume of a droplet on a lyophobic powder bed for complete encapsulation of the liquid by the particles. In addition, various innovative methods, including electrostatic and coalescent approaches, have been developed for preparing special LMs with a complicated structure or morphology. Diverse materials such as water, surfactant solutions, liquid metals, reagents, blood, and even viscous adhesives have been employed as the internal liquid for the fabrication of LMs. Theoretically, any particulates such as lycopodium, polytetrafluoroethylene, Fe₃O₄, SiO₂, and graphite grains can be employed as the outer coating, but they are usually required to be lyophobic with sizes of less than hundreds of microns. The unique structure of the particle-covered droplet and the dual solid-liquid characteristics endow LMs with some unique and interesting properties, especially the non-wetting and non-adhesive nature. As the lyophobic coating particles restrain the internal liquid from contacting the substrate, LMs can move easily across either solid or liquid surfaces, neither wetting the substrate nor contaminating the internal liquid. An equally fascinating property of LMs is their satisfactory stability, which is necessary for most of their applications. The high stability of LMs stems from the protection of the coating powders and is embodied in both good mechanical stability (remaining intact after being released from a certain height or under a certain compression) and long lifetime (greatly suppressing the evaporation of the internal liquid). These extraordinary properties make LMs promising candidates for use in multitudinous fields, especially droplet microfluidics and microreactors. The potential application of LMs in microfluidics is ascribed to their non-wetting, non-adhesive nature and other features such as an ability to float on a liquid surface, coalescence, split, a small force of rolling friction, and response to external forces. Notably, LMs hold great promise for applications in microreactions, because they can create a confined reaction microenvironment, minimize reagent usage, facilitate unhindered gas exchange between the internal liquid medium and the surrounding environment, and allow the entry/exit of the reactants/products. We herein review the recent advances in LMs, such as manufacturing techniques, formation mechanisms, physical properties, and emerging applications. In particular, much attention is paid to the factors affecting the stability of LMs and the potential strategies to increase their stability. Moreover, this review discusses the challenges in the future development of LMs, suggests several possible ways of addressing these challenges, and forecasts the future development directions. We believe that this review can help researchers gain a better understanding of LMs and promote their further advances.     

电感耦合等离子体光谱法(ICP-AES)测定银精矿中铜、铅、锌、砷、镉、钙、镁、锰含量

针对银精矿样品复杂,难消解的特点,研究了不同酸溶法和碱熔法对样品的消解情况,建立了硝酸,盐酸,氢氟酸,高氯酸消解银精矿的方法。根据元素灵敏度和抗干扰性,选定各元素的测定波长。通过酸溶样和碱熔样测定结果比对,验证了方法准确性。建立了四酸消解-电感耦合等离子体光谱法测定银精矿中铜、铅、锌、砷、镉、钙、镁、锰含量的方法,元素的线性相关系数均在0.9999以上。通过共存元素干扰实验,确定了银精矿中高含量元素(铜、铅、锌、铁、锑、铋等)对测定元素结果没有影响。方法检出限：Cu 0.0063 mg/L, Pb 0.0159 mg/L ,Zn 0.0090 mg/L,As 0.0192 mg/L, Cd 0.0093 mg/L ,Ca 0.0084 mg/L, Mg 0.0075 mg/L, Mn 0.0081 mg/L。测定下限：Cu 0.0105mg/L,Pb 0.0265 mg/L, Zn 0.0150 mg/L, As 0.0320 mg/L, Cd 0.0155 mg/L, Ca 0.0140 mg/L, Mg 0.0125 mg/L,Mn 0.0135 mg/L。3个样品的相对标准偏差在0.87%~3.56%之间,加标回收率在95.00%~103.56%之间。方法流程短,操作简单,快速,灵敏度和再现性高,结果准确可靠,可以满足银精矿中铜、铅、锌、砷、镉、钙、镁、锰含量的测定。     

甘油催化氢解制备精细化学品的研究进展

随着生物柴油产业的快速发展,作为副产物的甘油大量过剩,因而有效利用甘油既能促进生物柴油产业的良性发展,又能节约大量石油资源。通过甘油催化氢解的方式来制备高附加值化学品丙二醇、乙二醇和丙醇等是甘油转化研究中最有潜在应用价值的路径之一,甘油氢解反应易于实现连续化生产,且目标产物附加值高、选择性高,因而具有良好的经济效益。本文首先简要介绍了甘油化学,深入探讨了甘油的氢解机理,然后重点综述了甘油氢解制备1, 2-丙二醇、1, 3-丙二醇、乙二醇和丙醇高效催化剂的研究进展,并对甘油氢解未来的研究方向和发展趋势作了进一步展望。     

Effect of solvents on electro-spinnability of polystyrene solutions and morphological appearance of resulting electrospun polystyrene fibers

The effects of solvents and their properties on electro-spinnability of the as-prepared polystyrene (PS) solutions and the morphological appearance of the as-spun PS fibers were investigated qualitatively by means of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The eighteen solvents used were benzene, t-butylacetate, carbontetrachloride, chlorobenzene, chloroform, cyclohexane, decahydronaphthalene (decalin), 1,2-dichloroethane, dimethylformamide (DMF), 1,4-dioxane, ethylacetate, ethylbenzene, hexane, methylethylketone (MEK), nitrobenzene, tetrahydrofuran (THF), 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalene (tetralin), and toluene. The PS solutions in 1,2-dichloroethane, DMF, ethylacetate, MEK, and THF could produce fibers with high enough productivity, while the PS solutions in benzene, cyclohexane, decalin, ethylbenzene, nitrobenzene, and tetralin were not spinnable. Qualitative observation of the results obtained suggested that the important factors determining the electro-spinnability of the as-prepared PS solutions are high enough values of both the dipole moment of the solvent and the conductivity of both the solvent and the resulting solutions, high enough boiling point of the solvent, not-so-high values of both the viscosity and the surface tension of the resulting solutions.     

Polysaccharide-Based Drug Delivery Systems for the Treatment of Periodontitis

Periodontal diseases are worldwide health problems that negatively affect the lifestyle of many people. The long-term effect of the classical treatments, including the mechanical removal of bacterial plaque, is not effective enough, causing the scientific world to find other alternatives. Polymer–drug systems, which have different forms of presentation, chosen depending on the nature of the disease, the mode of administration, the type of polymer used, etc., have become very promising. Hydrogels, for example (in the form of films, micro-/nanoparticles, implants, inserts, etc.), contain the drug included, encapsulated, or adsorbed on the surface. Biologically active compounds can also be associated directly with the polymer chains by covalent or ionic binding (polymer–drug conjugates). Not just any polymer can be used as a support for drug combination due to the constraints imposed by the fact that the system works inside the body. Biopolymers, especially polysaccharides and their derivatives and to a lesser extent proteins, are preferred for this purpose. This paper aims to review in detail the biopolymer–drug systems that have emerged in the last decade as alternatives to the classical treatment of periodontal disease.     

衬底上石墨烯制备及改性研究

大面积高质量石墨烯的制备对石墨烯电子特性及石墨烯基纳器件相关研究有重要意义。本文综述了近几年来衬底上制备石墨烯的相关实验以及衬底与石墨烯相互作用研究的重要进展。目前,采用化学气相沉积、外延生长等方法可在衬底表面上制备出较大面积、高质量的石墨烯材料。衬底与石墨烯相互作用和界面间晶格匹配、原子成键及电荷转移等密切相关,其对吸附石墨烯的几何结构、能带结构及电子特性等产生明显影响。实验与理论计算的结合可望加深衬底与石墨烯作用机理的理解,指导衬底上石墨烯制备及改性的进一步研究。     

The Oxidation of Guaiacol,Serotonin, o-Cresol,p-Cresol,m-Cresol,Homovanillic Acid,and m-Tyrosine by Horseradish Peroxidase and Hydrogen Peroxide

Abstract

A survey of 14 substrates for the fluorometric determination of the oxidative enzyme-horseradish peroxidase was carried out. The compounds which seemed to act well as substrates are serotonin, guaiacol, o-cresol, p-cresol, m-cresol, homovanillic acid and m-tyrosine. L-Epinephrine, equilenin, equilin, β-estradiol, estriol, and estrone were studied and found not to be substrates of the system.

The kinetics of the oxidation reactions were studied. They followed the Michaelis constant rate equation. The Michaelis constant, Km, was determined by a Lineweaver-Burk plot for each substrate.

It would appear that the presence of a group in the ortho, para, or meta position of the phenolic ring decreases the binding of the subtrate to the enzyme's active site, as shown by the km values obtained. It may be concluded that m-tyrosine is the best substrate (lowest km value) when compared to all the substrates which have been studied to date by the authors.     

半导体光催化研究进展与展望

评述了目前半导体光催化在国内外的研究概况,并对存在的问题和未来的发展动向进行简要分析.列举了近30年来关于光催化研究的部分成果,内容涉及光催化剂的制备(包括新催化剂的开发, TiO2、 ZnO、 CdS等光催化剂的各种改性或修饰)、光催化作用机理研究、光催化技术的工程化、光催化技术的各种应用研究和产品开发等等从基础到应用研究的各个方面.总体上来看,半导体光催化基本上是一个没有选择性的化学过程,所以再进行大量的不同反应物的光催化活性的评价研究意义已不是很显著,认为未来的半导体光催化研究应该集中在机理的深刻认识、光响应范围宽和量子效率高的催化剂制备、半导体光催化技术工程化及新型光催化产品开发方面.     

ICP–AES法测定稀土硅铁球化剂和孕育剂中钙、镁、铝、锰、镧、铈

建立了电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法(ICP–AES)测定稀土硅铁球化剂和孕育剂中Ca,Mg,Al,Mn,La,Ce等元素含量的方法。通过基体匹配消除了铁基体的干扰,Ca,Mg,Al,Mn,La,Ce的分析谱线分别为317.933,279.553,394.401,257.610,333.749,456.236 nm。各元素标准曲线的线性相关系数均在0.999以上,检出限在0.000 1%~0.000 4%之间。方法的加标回收率为99.4%~102.8%,测定结果的相对标准偏差均小于3%(n=11)。用该方法测定标准样品,测定结果与认证值相吻合。该法适用于稀土硅铁球化剂和孕育剂中钙、镁、铝、锰、镧、铈的测定。