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。     

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.     

The pseudocapacitance mechanism of graphene/CoAl LDH and its derivatives:Are all the modifications beneficial?

Cobalt-Aluminum layered double hydroxide(CoAl LDH) is a hopeful electrode material due to the advantage of easy modifiability for preparing LDH-based derivatives.However,there is short of modification methods to prepare the Co-based derivatives from CoAl LDH and also short of an intuitive perspective to analyze the pseudocapacitance mechanism of CoAl LDH and its derivatives.Herein,Graphene/CoAl LDH and its derivatives including Graphene/CoS,Graphene/CoS-1,Graphene/CoOOH,Graphene/CoP were prepared by reasonably using alkali etching treatment,sulfofication and phosphorization.The specific capacitance of Graphene/CoAl LDH,Graphene/CoS,Graphene/CoS-1,Graphene/CoOOH,Graphene/CoP at1 A g^-1 are 260.7,371.3,440.8,61.4 and 122.2 F g^-1,especially.The pseudocapacitance mechanism of Graphene/CoAl LDH and its derivatives was analyzed.Due to the positive effect of sulfofication on the electrical conductivity of GO and cobalt sulfide,the Graphene/CoS and Graphene/CoS-1 exhibit the optimal electrochemical performance and superior rate capability.In addition,due to the repulsion effect between Graphene and OH-,the Graphene/CoAl LDH exhibits optimal cycling stability of 224.1% capacitance retention after 20000 cycles.Besides,the reason of terrible specific capacitance of Graphene/CoOOH is that the presence of H bond in interlayer of CoOOH inhibits the interaction between Co3+ and OHspecies.Hence,not all modifications will increase the specific capacitance of the electrode materials.Overall,this work provides us with a detailed analysis of the electrochemical mechanism and correlation of CoAl LDH and its derivatives from the perspective of crystal structure and composition.     

微过氧化物酶-8与Eu3+相互作用的机理

用紫外-可见(UV-Vis)吸收光谱和电化学方法研究Eu3+与微过氧化物酶-8(MP-8)相互作用的机理,发现Eu3+优先与MP-8中血红素基团的2个丙酸基的羧基氧发生强的配位作用,导致MP-8分子中血红素基团的非平面性、暴露程度和电化学可逆性的增加.过剩的Eu3+与MP-8分子中肽链上的含氧基团发生弱的相互作用,对血红素基团结构的影响较小.     

La3＋或Eu3＋与微过氧化物酶-8相互作用强弱的研究

研究了La3＋或Eu3＋与微过氧化酶-8(MP-8)相互作用并比较了它们与MP-8相互作用的强弱. 紫外-可见(UV-Vis)吸收光谱和电化学的结果表明, 不论在不含NaCl或含NaCl的溶液中,一个La3＋或Eu3＋优先与MP-8分子中血红素上两个丙酸基中的羧基氧发生强的键合作用,而过量的La3＋或Eu3＋与肽链上的羰基氧发生弱的相互作用.实验结果还清楚地证明Eu3＋与MP-8的相互作用要强于La3＋与MP-8的相互作用.     

肽链长度对La3＋与微过氧化物酶相互作用的影响

为了了解稀土元素与酶相互作用的化学机理, 用紫外-可见(UV-Vis)吸收光谱技术和电化学方法研究了La^3＋与过氧化物酶(POD)的模型化合物, 微过氧化物酶-8 (MP-8)或微过氧化物酶-11 (MP-11)的相互作用机理. La^3＋优先与MP-8或MP-11分子中血红素卟啉环上的2个丙酸基团的羰基氧发生键合作用, 使它们的聚集程度降低, 卟啉环的非平面性增加. 由于MP-8分子聚集的倾向要小于MP-11, La^3＋使MP-8聚集程度的降低和卟啉环非平面性增加的程度要大于MP-11. 由于MP-11的肽链较长而能形成螺旋状构象, 使肽链上的羰基基团被包埋在肽链的疏水基团中, 因此, La^3＋与MP-11中肽链上的羰基氧基本上不能发生键合作用. 而MP-8的肽链较短, 不能形成螺旋状结构, La^3＋也能与肽链上的羰基氧发生键合作用.     

Eu3+/Tb3+和Eu3+/Pr3+共掺杂P(MMA-co-St)的荧光性能的研究

将不同荧光性能的铽(Tb)、镨(Pr)离子分别与铕(Eu)离子混合，以三异丙氧基稀土的形式掺杂P(MMA-CO-St)共聚物，研究Eu^3 ／Tb^3 和Eu^3 ／pr^3 共掺杂P(MMA-CO-St)的荧光性能的变化情况．结果表明，Eu^3 ／Tb^3 掺杂的P(MMA-CO-St)中，Tb^3 作为能量给予体，Eu^3 作为能量接受体，能量转移的结果使Eu^3 特征荧光显增强；Eu^3 ／pr^3 掺杂的P(MMA-CO-St)中，Eu^3 的能量向pr^3 转移，致使Eu^3 的特征荧光猝灭，pr^3 的荧光略为增强．     

铽-铕共掺杂的硅酸铝钠荧光体的光致发光性能及能量传递

采用温和的固相反应法合成了具有四方相结构的铽一铕共掺杂的硅酸铝钠(NaAlSiO_4:Tb~(3+),Eu~(3+))发光材料.利用粉末X射线衍射(XRD)、荧光光谱(PL)、时间分辨光谱(TRPL)以及荧光寿命等手段对合成的样品进行表征.研究结果表明:通过改变NaAlSiO_4:Tb~(3+),Eu~(3+)中Eu~(3+)离子的掺杂浓度,可实现其绿光及红光发射的调控;由于Tb~(3+),Eu~(3+)离子间的有效能量传递,Tb~(3+)离子的共掺杂可显著增强该基质中Eu~(3+)离子的发光性能;该能量传递现象可由TRPL光谱等手段进行证实,根据荧光寿命的数值计算可知,从Tb3~(3+)向Eu~(3+)离子的能量传递效率高达95%.     

在卵磷脂体系中合成EuF_3纳米线

利用大豆卵磷脂在水中自发形成的囊泡作模板,先制备出含有Eu~(3+)的卵磷脂乳液,Eu~(3+)与卵磷脂亲水头部的磷氧键相结合形成Eu--O--P键,经用NH_4F沉淀后制得前驱体,该前驱体在600℃灼烧,得到EuF_3纳米线,其直径约为10-20 nm.通过对各阶段产物的荧光光谱、傅里叶变换红外(FTIR)光谱、热重-差热分析(TG-DTA)、透射电镜(TEM)等的对比分析,确认形成了Eu--O--P键,所得到的纳米线是多晶相EuF_3.     

铕-铽-钆-六氟乙酰丙酮三元配合物的合成与温敏发光性质

合成了铕-铽-钆-六氟乙酰丙酮(HFA)三元配合物Eu0.4Tb0.4Gd0.2(HFA)3(TPPO)2(TPPO: 三苯基氧化磷), 其组成和结构经元素分析和红外吸收光谱确认; 研究了三元配合物的发光性能, 以及铽、钆离子对铕离子发光性能的影响. 结果表明, 配合物中存在着声子支助的Tb3+→Eu3+的能量转移, 增强了Eu3+离子的室温特征荧光发射, 且样品的发光颜色随温度的改变而变化, 具有温敏特性.     

L型沸石中镍、铕离子还原活性的研究

利用程序升温还原（ＴＰＲ）方法,研究了Ｌ型沸石基质中Ｎｉ~（２＋）、Ｅｕ~（３＋）离子的还原活性。同时,借助Ｘ光电子能谱（ＸＰＳ）技术,对Ｌ型沸石基质中Ｎｉ~（２＋）、Ｅｕ~（３＋）离子还原前后的价态进行了分析,结果表明Ｌ型沸石基质中Ｎｉ~（２＋）、Ｅｕ~（３＋）离子的还原活性较高,可被氢气还原为低价甚至零价。镍离子的存在能促进 Ｅｕ~（３＋）离子的还原,提高了Ｅｕ~（３＋）离子的还原百分比。     

Eu Ions Site-selective Doping and Nonstoichiometric Chemistry of NaTaO_3 in Na-rich Environment

The electronic structure of Eu-doped NaTaO_3 in Na-rich environment is investigated by the first-principles theory. By simulating the two different models of Eu~(3+) ions selectively located in Ta and Na sites, respectively, the band gaps of two Eu-doped NaTaO_3 models were all narrowed, which were assigned to lattice defects and impurity band of the Eu dopent. For the model of Eu~(3+) ions located in the Na+ sites of NaTaO_3, the new impurity band mainly composited of Eu 4f orbital appeared at the top over the valence band, indicating the enhanced oxidative ability. For the model of Eu~(3+) ions located in the Ta5+ sites of NaTaO_3, a midgap state generated was located at the bottom of conduct band and the band potential shifted up, confirming the strong reductive ability in the Na-rich enviornment. The densities of electron states were significantly increased in both the conduction and valence bands in Na-rich model, which resulted in the increased carrier migration rate and thus photocatalytic activity enhancement. It is proposed that Eu~(3+) ions doping at the Ta sites could enhance the reduced photocatalytic performance via controlling the nonstoichiometric Na/Ta molar ratio in the Eu-doped NaTaO_3 system.     

一种新型Eu~(3+)和Zn~(2+)双金属杂核配合物的结构与发光性质

合成了一种新型双金属杂核配合物Eu(TTA)3Zn(Salen).H2O(Salen=双水杨醛缩乙二胺,TTA=2-噻吩甲酰三氟丙酮),并对其进行了结构和荧光性能表征.配合物的晶体属于三斜晶系,Pī空间群.中心Eu(Ⅲ)离子与六个TTA分子的氧原子和Salen分子的两个酚氧原子配位,形成8配位的扭曲四方反棱柱构型.Zn(Ⅱ)离子与Salen分子中的两个酚氧原子和两个氮原子以及一个水分子配位,形成五配位的扭曲的四方锥构型.配合物Eu(TTA)3Zn(Salen).H2O的发光量子效率(18.0%)较配合物Eu(TTA)3.2H2O(12.5%)发光量子效率有明显提高,说明第二配体Zn(Salen).H2O对中心离子有较强的敏化发光作用.