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.     

Ce及N共掺杂改性TiO_2光催化性能及Ce组分的作用

以钛酸正丁酯、硝酸亚铈及氨水为前驱体运用溶胶-凝胶法对TiO2进行Ce及N单一和共掺杂改性,以甲基橙光催化降解为探针考察掺杂组分对催化剂的紫外、可见光活性影响,观察到了Ce及N的单一掺杂及共掺杂催化剂紫外、可见光活性的明显提升。运用X射线衍射(XRD)、低温氮气吸附(BET)、紫外-可见漫反射吸收光谱(DRS)、程序升温氧脱附(TPD)和程序升温氧化(TPO)等表征手段从催化剂的晶体结构及形貌、比表面积、紫外及可见光响应特性、表面吸附氧量及吸附氧循环性能等方面尝试理解掺杂组分的光活性影响机制。实验结果表明掺杂改性催化剂中适量Ce组分的作用在于通过抑制催化剂的晶粒长大、团聚和锐钛结构向金红石结构的相转变,提高催化剂的光相应强度和拓展光响应范围,增加催化剂表面吸附氧容量和促进催化剂的表面氧循环,有效捕获光生载流子,衍生各类高活性自由基物种和增大催化剂比表面积等方面增进催化剂的光催化性能。     

Characterization and mechanism analysis of Mo-N-co-doped TiO2 nano-photocatalyst and its enhanced visible activity

In this study, Mo-N-co-doped TiO(2) nano-photocatalysts have been synthesized through hydrolysis-precipitation method, combined with sonication posttreatment. The resulting materials were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS). XRD showed that co-doping with Mo and N favored the formation of anatase and retarded the growth of crystallite size. XPS revealed that N was incorporated into the lattice of TiO(2) through substituting oxygen atoms and coexisted in the forms of β-N and γ-N in co-doped TiO(2). Meanwhile, Mo was also incorporated into the lattice of TiO(2) through substituting titanium atoms and existed in the form of Mo(6+). DRS indicated that the light absorbance in visible region was improved by co-doping with Mo and N, leading to a narrower band gap and higher visible light photocatalytic activity for the degradation of phenol than that of pure and N-doped TiO(2). The enhanced visible light photocatalytic activity of Mo-N-co-doped TiO(2) nano-photocatalyst was attributed to the small crystallite size, narrow band gap and intense light absorbance in visible region. This study provides a new method to synthesize visible light active TiO(2)-based photocatalyst.     

微量铂掺杂对TiO2粉末结构和性能的影响

采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了铂掺杂的TiO2粉末, 利用透射电子显微镜、X射线光电子能谱、紫外可见光谱和X射线衍射技术对粉末的结构和光吸收性能进行了表征. 结果表明, Pt/TiO2粉末主要含有Ti, O, Pt和C元素, 其中Pt主要以0价态存在. 573～873 K焙烧的Pt/TiO2粉末中, TiO2是锐钛矿结构, 973 K焙烧时, 有6.3%的TiO2转变为金红石结构. Pt/TiO2粉末的晶粒尺寸小, 铂和锐钛矿结构TiO2粒子都是纳米颗粒. 随焙烧温度升高, 粉末中TiO2的晶粒尺寸逐渐增大, 晶格常数a和c发生各向异性的变化, 单胞体积在相变时发生收缩. 与TiO2粉末相比, Pt/TiO2粉末中两种结构TiO2的晶格常数和晶胞体积基本上都增大了, 光谱吸收范围被明显拓展至可见光, 实现了可见光催化的基础.     

溶胶-凝胶和浸渍-水热制备方法对TiO_2/AC光催化剂结构和性能的影响

分别采用溶胶-凝胶法和浸渍-水热法制得负载于活性炭(AC)的TiO2催化剂,并用扫描电镜(SEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)、拉曼光谱和氮气吸附等方法对催化剂进行了表征.结果表明:溶胶-凝胶法制得的TiO2以不规则碎片形式涂附在载体表面,而浸渍-水热法制得的球形TiO2颗粒呈柱形生长均匀覆盖在载体表面;不同温度处理的浸渍-水热法制得的TiO2/AC光催化剂的中孔和微孔比表面积均大于溶胶-凝胶法制得的样品,负载的TiO2粒径则小于溶胶-凝胶法制得的样品.对甲基橙(MO)溶液的光催化降解测试结果表明,600℃煅烧为两种方法的最佳热处理温度,浸渍-水热法制得的催化剂光催化效果明显强于溶胶-凝胶法的.     

球形氧化铝负载锰基双金属氧化物催化剂催化臭氧深度氧化NO

在工业锅炉烟气处理领域,由于锅炉容量低,烟气温度往往无法满足传统选择性催化还原(SCR)所需温度窗口.工业锅炉烟气成分的复杂性也给氮氧化物治理带来了严峻考验.臭氧深度氧化NO结合湿法洗涤同时脱硫脱硝技术具有独特的应用优势.传统臭氧氧化技术中,NO被臭氧氧化为NO2,进而在脱硫塔中实现一体化脱硫脱硝.但由于NO2溶解度相对较低,需要在脱硫浆液中加入添加剂提高脱硝效率,造成运行成本增加.NO经臭氧深度氧化后,NO2进一步转化为溶解度高的N2O5,传统脱硫石膏浆液即可实现高效吸收N2O5,从而有效提高氮氧化物吸收效率.但由于N2O5生成反应速率低,深度氧化存在臭氧投入量大、反应时间长及臭氧残留多的缺点.臭氧耦合催化剂深度氧化NO可有效解决以上问题.首先,本文采用溶胶-凝胶法合成一系列单金属氧化物(Mn,Co,Ce,Fe,Cu,Cr)作为臭氧深度氧化NO的催化剂.结果发现锰氧化物表现出最高的催化活性,在70oC下,O3/NO摩尔比为2.0时经过0.12 s的反应时间催化剂即可实现80%以上的转化效率.但根据N2O5生成的总包反应(2NO+3O3=N2O5+3O2)可以看出,O3/NO摩尔比为1.5时即可实现N2O5的完全转化.由于催化臭氧氧化反应温度较低,中间产物在催化剂表面聚集,占据大量活性位,进而导致无法实现1.5摩尔比的高效转化.通过采用球形氧化铝作为载体,避免粉末状催化剂紧凑型布置,增加换热面积,可有效降低催化剂表面中间产物聚集;同时延长了气体与催化剂的接触时间,提高反应效率.在球形氧化铝载体上负载锰基双金属氧化物(Ce-Mn,Fe-M,Cr-Mn,Cu-Mn和Co-Mn),在初始NO浓度为410 mg/m3,反应温度100oC,O3/NO摩尔比1.5,催化反应时间0.12 s的工况下,催化剂最终实现95%(Fe-Mn)和88%(Ce-Mn)的转化效率,剩余NO和NO2的浓度分别低于20 mg/m3(Fe-Mn)和50 mg/m3(Ce-Mn),臭氧残留浓度低于25 mg/m3.同负载单一锰氧化物(83%转化率)相比,双金属氧化物进一步提高了N2O5生成效率.因此,臭氧耦合催化剂深度氧化NO结合湿法吸收在工业锅炉超低排放(NOx<50 mg/m3)领域具有广泛应用前景.通过XRD、氮气吸附、H2-TPR和XPS等手段研究了催化剂的晶体结构、孔结构参数、氧化还原性能和表面原子价态.催化臭氧深度氧化NO主要与催化剂对臭氧的分解性能和对NO的氧化性能有关.较大的比表面积和孔容有利于催化剂的吸附.氧空位有利于臭氧的吸附和分解.Mn4+和Mn3+的均衡分布既有利于NO的吸附氧化又有利于臭氧的吸附分解,最终提高了N2O5生成效率.     

La2O3助剂对Au/TiO2催化肉桂醛选择性加氢性能的影响

以溶胶-凝胶法制得的TiO2和La2O3-TiO2为载体,采用沉积-沉淀法制备了一系列Au催化剂,用于肉桂醛选择性加氢反应,并运用N2吸附-脱附、X射线衍射、高分辨率透射电镜、程序升温还原和X射线光电子能谱等方法对催化剂进行了表征,系统考察了La2O3含量对Au/TiO2催化剂物化性质和催化性能的影响.结果表明,适量L...     

离子液体-水混合介质中合成N、F共掺杂宽光域响应多孔TiO2光催化剂及性能

以TiCl4为钛源,离子液体-水为混合溶剂,采用液相水解-沉淀法制得浅黄色的N、F共掺杂宽光域响应多孔TiO2光催化剂(TiONF).以苯酚为模型物,考察了TiONF在紫外光区、可见光区及太阳光下催化活性.采用X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、紫外-可见漫反射光谱(DRS)、透射电镜(TEM)、X射线衍射(XRD)、傅里叶变换红外(FTIR)光谱及低温N2吸附-脱附等技术对TiONF的结构进行表征.结果表明,在离子液体-水混合介质中合成适量N、F共掺杂的TiO2在紫外光区、可见光区及太阳光下均表现出较高的活性,且高于纯水介质中合成TiONF的活性.离子液体-水混合介质有利于N、F进入TiO2晶格中;N、F共掺杂后在TiO2表面生成Ti―O―N键,形成新的能级结构,使催化剂的吸收红移至450-530nm,诱发TiO2可见光催化活性;同时,N、F共掺杂提高了TiO2表面羟基数量;还提高了TiO2相转变温度,减缓了相转变速率.另外,在离子液体-水混合介质中合成的TiONF较纯水介质中合成的TiONF粒子小、分散性好、比表面积大.     

Fe掺杂对纳米TiO2薄膜的结构与光催化性能的影响

采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了Fe掺杂的TiO2薄膜,利用X射线光电子能谱、X射线衍射技术、显微共聚焦拉曼光谱、紫外可见光谱和原子力显微镜等对薄膜进行表征,以甲基橙为反应模型对光催化活性进行测试。 结果表明,在300~600 ℃焙烧时,TiO2以锐钛矿结构存在,700 ℃焙烧时出现金红石结构。 随掺铁量和焙烧温度的增加,Fe/TiO2薄膜的表面粗糙度和晶粒尺寸均逐渐增大;随镀膜层数的增加,Fe/TiO2薄膜光谱吸收向可见光方向移动;较低含量的铁掺杂改善了TiO2薄膜的光催化活性,而较高含量的铁掺杂则使TiO2薄膜的光催化活性下降,掺铁量为0.1%时Fe/TiO2薄膜的光催化活性最好。     

Co掺杂对TiO2光催化剂结构与性能的影响

采用溶胶-凝胶法制备了Co掺杂的TiO2粉末, 利用透射电子显微镜、X射线光电子能谱、紫外可见光谱和X射线衍射技术对粉末进行了表征, 并利用环形光催化反应器对其光催化活性进行了测试. 结果表明, 随焙烧温度的增加, Co/TiO2粉末的晶粒尺寸逐渐增大, 升至873 K时, 钴元素以CoTiO3形式从TiO2中析出, 同时TiO2由锐钛矿型向金红石型发生转变, 相转变过程中晶格常数a和c以及晶胞体积发生收缩. 掺杂钴以后, 粉末的光谱吸收范围被拓展至可见光, 但是其光催化活性却明显降低.     

TiO2/YFeO3复合光催化剂的制备、表征及其对气相苯的降解

利用共沉淀法和柠檬酸法制备YFeO3并以其为载体,将TiO2溶胶负载在其表面,制备了复合光催化剂TiO2/YFeO3.在紫外灯的照射下,考察对气相苯的降解效果并利用N2吸附、X射线衍射(XRD)、拉曼光谱、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、透射电子显微镜(TEM)、UV-Vis漫反射光谱等手段对催化剂进行了表征.结果表明,以共沉淀法制备的YFeO2为载体的复合催化剂,180 min内苯的降解率达到44.7%,表现出更好的光催化活性.两种方法制备的YFeO3均为斜方晶相,TiO2分散在载体的表面,并与YFeO3存在一定的相互作用;两种复合催化剂均具有较窄的带隙能.