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.     

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。     

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。     

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.     

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.     

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.     

“高分子物理”及“高分子物理实验”2门精品课程的建设

"高分子物理"(在中国科学技术大学叫"高聚物的结构与性能")和"高分子物理实验"课是该校高分子科学与工程系本科生的必修课。为了讲好和全面建设这两门课,作者倡导并积极开展教学研究,发表39篇教学研究论文,作者把这些研究心得和成果及时引入教学中,先后编写和出版了十几本教材及教学参考书,教学质量不断提高,并逐步形成了有鲜明特色的教学,在国内高校产生了很好的影响。通过多方面的建设,2005年"高聚物的结构与性能"被评为国家级精品课程,2006年"高分子物理实验"被评为安徽省精品课程。     

从“验证模式”到“辩证模式”的转变——进一步增强高校本科生实验创新能力

为了进一步培养高校本科生实验创新能力,实验教学课程按部就班的"验证模式"亟待转变。如何改进和发展本科生实验课程教学模式已成为高校教师实验教学模式探索的一个重要方向。改变实验条件,辩证看待实验问题,更有利于学生观察、了解实验的本质和核心。这种兼看则明的"辨证模式"是一个很好的发展方向。我们将该种模式应用到硫酸亚铁铵的制备及其铁(Ⅲ)的限量分析实验中。通过控制合成条件可观察到三种不同颜色、光泽度、尺寸的晶体,这些实验结果的差异反过来激发了学生的兴趣和对实验条件与结果的深入讨论。实验课堂效果评价表明:这种教学模式有利于促进学生进行自主探究性学习,培养其辩证性的实验思维,进而增强学生的实践创新能力,提高学生的综合素质。同时,这种模式也可以适当地扩展到其他实验教学实践中。     

“高分子材料合成创新实验”线上教学探索与实践

Based on the platform of "QQ share screen + video live broadcast", through the combination of "online theory teaching", "development of home alternative experiment", "game type" experimental operation and "virtual simulation experiment", we carried out the online teaching of polymer material synthesis innovation laboratories, integrating "theory + practice" and "virtual + reality", which is also a good opportunity for labor education. These explorations and practices are expected to provide some references for online teaching of chemical laboratory courses during the COVID-19 epidemic.     

关于为拔尖人才培养开设的"学科前沿"类课程的探讨

With the implementation of the basic discipline of "Top Talent Training Program" (the "East Ever Project"), more and more new reforms and attempts are being made in various universities. In the process of innovation and exploration, a new curriculum is being implemented, that is, the "the frontier aspects of disciplines" course. Through investigation and research, we found that many colleges and universities in China are carrying out or trying to carry out such courses, and the students who participated have different benefits. This paper mainly discusses the current situation of the development of the frontier courses of many universities in China, and gives suggestions based on the two courses of Tang Aoqing Honors Program in Science of chemistry in Jilin University. This paper provides reference for other colleges and universities to open such courses.     

“互联网+教育”助力分析化学课程群建设

在"互联网+教育"和传统课堂教育交融时期,将微课融入传统课堂,逐步向慕课、翻转课程过渡,将专业基础课程和方向课程组建成分析化学课程群新体系,优化教学内容,传授学科思想,提升学生的专业学习兴趣和教学质量。     

以“偏光显微镜观察高聚物的球晶”为例的高分子物理实验项目改革

本文对高分子物理实验教学改革进行了思考,提出实验项目的建设应当成为实验教学改革的核心,而实验项目的改革不应当局限在将最新的科研成果引入到实验教学中。以"偏光显微镜观察聚合物的球晶"这一传统实验为例,更为有效的办法可以是通过系统化的设计扩展实验项目内容,注重实验项目实施过程中多知识点的串联以及实验结果获取过程的思维过程培养,从而将传统的验证性实验项目转化为综合性实验项目,有力提升实验教学的效果。     

基于二维MOFs构建MicroRNA荧光传感器的综合分析化学实验及"赛学结合、三位一体评价"的教学模式设计

本综合性实验将二维金属有机框架(2D MOFs)和MicroRNA (miRNA)分析等前沿研究领域引入化学(材料)本科和研究生实验教学中。主要包括2DMOFs材料的合成及表征、基于2DMOFs的荧光核酸探针构建以及将探针用于miRNA荧光分析等,共10个学时。所需掌握的实验技能包含溶剂热法、离心分散和外标法等基本材料合成和分析化学操作以及荧光、红外、X射线粉末衍射等材料表征和分析方法。我们在实验中实施了一种新型的"赛学结合、三位一体评价"教学模式。在该模式中,学生分组开展团队作业、实验和汇报,不仅要记录实验现象和结果,还需对实验过程录像并总结做成PPT。各组间通过"PPT答辩、实验报告和录像"等进行比赛,三位一体决出成绩。学生在实验中不仅学习了大量实验技能,提高了动手能力,拓展了学术视野;而且通过比赛和教学相结合,激发了你追我赶的学习热情,培养了团队合作精神,调动了学习的主观能动性。该实验和教学模式也适合推广至其他综合化学实验教学中。     

浅谈制药工程专业有机化学实验教学的心得和体会——以三苯甲醇的制备和重结晶实验为例

有机化学实验是制药工程专业的一门必修课,旨在训练学生有机合成基本实验技能。本文以三苯甲醇的制备和重结晶实验为例,讲述了笔者在多年教学中获得的一点感悟和经验:1)将实验步骤分解成片断讲解可以使学生更好地理解和记忆实验过程和操作目的;2)重要的基本操作应反复练习,即"学习、复习、提高",通过三次重复练习来实现巩固和熟练掌握该操作的目的。     

联二炔囊泡的光致聚合、热致变色及应用

物理化学实验为各大高校本科化学教学的主干实验课程之一。虽然各高校的物理化学实验内容已十分丰富,但仍然缺乏将不同章节知识点融会贯通以及与学科前沿密切联系的综合型实验内容。我们根据南开大学郭东升教授课题组发表的一篇有关联二炔程序性响应检测胆碱酯酶的工作设计了“联二炔囊泡的光致聚合、热致变色及应用”的物理化学实验,涉及到联二炔缔合胶体的制备、联二炔的紫外光致聚合反应和聚联二炔的热致变色,进而显示其在防伪领域的潜在应用价值。希望通过此实验,使学生对物理化学中的缔合胶体、光化学、热力学、动力学等章节有更深一步的贯通性掌握,并了解自组装、光聚合、变色材料和防伪等相关研究领域的前沿动态。     

医学基础化学实验教学之课程思政探索与实践

阐述了在医学基础化学实验课程中开展课程思政的意义,并结合课程的特点,挖掘课程所蕴含的思政元素,从教学大纲修订、思政案例设计、教学模式设计、形成性评价增加、线上实验教学平台建设、师德师风建设等多方面入手,培养学生严谨的科学精神、实事求是的科学态度、良好的实验习惯、真诚协作的团队精神、自觉的环保意识,探索了医学基础化学实验教学课程思政的路径,建立了一个相对完备的在高校非思政类课程中全程、全方位开展课程思政的教育教学体系,将社会主义核心价值观教育贯穿于课程始终,润物无声地立德树人。该体系对其他非思政类课程开展思政工作具有参考和借鉴意义。