Modified Electrodes and Electrochemical Systems Switchable by Light Signals

This article is an overview of extensive research efforts in many laboratories in the last two decades in the area of light‐switchable electrochemical systems and modified electrodes. Electrochemical reactions, including electrocatalytic and bioelectrocatalytic processes, have been reversibly activated and inhibited upon irradiation with light at different wavelengths. In order to realize these light activated or inhibited processes, the electrodes or/and reacting molecules were functionalized with photoisomerizable molecules including various derivatives of diarylethene, phenoxynaphthacenequinone, azobenzene and spiropyran/merocyanine. Photochemical reactions of these species resulted in change of their redox activity, conformation and electrical charge. All these changes affected electrode surfaces or (bio)molecules resulting in switching ON‐OFF corresponding (bio)electrochemical processes. Various systems based on different light‐controlled reactions are reviewed and discussed with specific examples and with many illustrating figures. Possible extensions of the research area and future applications are briefly overviewed in the conclusion section. The present comprehensive review is addressed to a broad scientific community, including newcomers to the area.     

Investigation of Methanol Behavior at the Designed Electrochemical Sensor based on Ni(II) Complex and Graphene Nanosheets

In this work, the electrochemical oxidation of methanol was investigated by different electrochemical methods at a carbon paste electrode (CPE) modified with (N‐5‐methoxysalicylaldehyde, N´‐2‐hydroxyacetophenon‐1, 2 phenylenediimino nickel(II) complex (Ni(II)–MHP) and reduced graphene oxide (RGO), which is named Ni(II)‐MHP/RGO/CPE, in an alkaline solution. This modified electrode was found to be efficient for the oxidation of methanol. It was found that methanol was oxidized by the NiOOH groups generated by further electrochemical oxidation of nickel(II) hydroxide on the surface of the modified electrode. Under optimum conditions, some parameters of the analyte (MeOH), such as the electron transfer coefficient (α), the electron transfer rate constant) k_s), and the diffusion coefficient of species in a 0.1 M solution (pH = 13), were determined. The designed sensor showed a linear dynamic range of 2.0–100.0 and 100.0–1000.0 μM and a detection limit of 0.68 μM for MeOH determination. The Ni(II)‐MHP/RGO/CPE sensor was used in the determination of MeOH in a real sample.     

Cobalt nanoparticles anchored to porous silicon as a novel modifier for the construction of enzyme‐free hydrogen peroxide screen‐printed sensor

In this work, a screen‐printed carbon electrode (SPCE) was modified with a cobalt/porous silicon (Co@PSi) nanocomposite powder to develop a nonenzymatic sensor for the detection of hydrogen peroxide. The Co@PSi nanocomposite was synthesized through the chemical reaction between silicon powder in a HF/HNO₃ solution and cobalt cations. In this process, cobalt nanoparticles were anchored on the porous silicon. The structure and morphology of the synthesized nanocomposite were investigated by X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray photoemission spectroscopy, energy dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy, and field‐emission scanning electron microscopy. The constructed nonenzymatic, screen‐printed sensors based on the Co@PSi nanocomposite showed perfect electrocatalytic oxidation response to hydrogen peroxide over the range 1–170 and 170–3,770 μmol/L with the limit of detection of 0.8 μmol/L. In addition, the Co@PSi‐SPCE sensor exhibited good selectivity for the determination of H₂O₂ in the presence of common interfering species including glucose, ascorbic acid, uric acid, dopamine, nitrate, and nitrite ions. The constructed electrochemical sensor was successfully used for the determination of H₂O₂ in real samples.     

铜钱状二硫化钒的制备及储钠性能研究

钠离子电池因地壳中丰富的钠资源以及金属钠与金属锂之间具有相似的物化性质等特点,成为后锂时代电池的候选者之一,然而较大的钠离子半径影响了其体系的动力学性能及离子迁移速率,因此寻找合适的电极材料成为其发展的关键.二硫化钒作为过渡金属硫属化合物,具有类石墨烯的层状结构,为钠离子的储存提供了足够的空间,同时其出色的导电性能也为其作为高性能钠离子电池的电极材料提供了保证.利用水热法与超声剥离法,可控制备出三种堆叠密度不同的铜钱状二硫化钒（VS₂-Long、VS₂-Middle、VS₂-Short）,并将其用于储钠性能研究.结果表明,堆叠程度最低的VS₂-Short因其形貌结构特点而拥有较多的活性位点及较高结构稳定性,在100 mA·g^－1的电流密度下,循环300圈后容量高达410 mAh·g^－1;电流密度为2000 mA·g^－1,可逆容量仍高达333 mAh·g^－1.此外,还研究了二硫化钒作为钠离子电池电极材料的储能机制,通过非原位X射线粉末衍射（XRD）及透射电子显微镜（TEM）观测发现：放电过程中,电压在2.5～1.0 V发生嵌钠反应生成Na_xVS₂,之后逐渐开始转化反应生成Na₂S和V;充电时Na₂S和V转化生成Na_xVS₂,并最终脱钠生成VS₂,即在0.2～2.5 V间VS₂表现为嵌入转化的储钠机制.     

Improvements in the electrochemical generation of arsine at gold electrodes as a sample introduction strategy for arsenic determination in well-water samples by atomic absorption spectrometry

The development and evaluation of a cathode consisting of a gold electrode covered by a polyaniline film, PANI/Au modified electrode, for electrochemical generation of arsine is described. The efficiency of arsine production using the new electrode was ascertained by comparison with corresponding hydride generation atomic absorption spectroscopy determinations of arsenic (As) in aqueous standards. The PANI/Au modified electrodes provide better sensitivity, accuracy and precision than the pure Au cathodes. The PANI/Au cathodes were prepared by controlled electrodeposition cycles of polyaniline films on top of Au electrodes. Cathodes obtained after 10 electrodeposition cycles showed the best performance, while the ones obtained after five voltammetry cycles produced films too thin and those obtained after 20 voltammetry cycles produced films too thick for the purpose of this work. Under optimised conditions, the As limit of detection in aqueous solutions, according to the (3σ) criterion, was 2.48 µg L^?1. For accuracy determination, the modified electrode was applied to quantification of As(III) in acidified aqueous solutions of the certified standard reference material, NIST SRM 1643d, and in well-water samples containing possible interfering ions. Application of the Student’s t-test showed no significant difference between the expected and obtained results of the NIST SRM standard analysis at the 95% confidence level. Values for six replicate determinations of As(III) in the well-water samples showed close agreement with values obtained by analyses using hydride generation atomic absorption. Recoveries were in the range of 95–105% at test for acceptable accuracy in the analysis of real samples.     

Simple and sensitive determination of hydroxyl radical in atmosphere based on an electrochemically activated glassy carbon electrode

The hydroxyl radical (?OH) plays important roles in environment and health problems. However, the short life time and low concentrations of ?OH limited its detection. In this work, a simple method has been successfully performed for the sensitive detection of hydroxyl radical based on an activated glassy carbon electrode (AGCE).4-hydroxybenzoic acid (4-HBA) was used as a trapping agent for ?OH radicals, leading to the production of electroactive 3,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid (3,4-DHBA). Different procedures including polarisation and cyclic voltammetry in acid or base solutions have been used to activate the glassy carbon electrodes. The electrochemical behaviours of 3,4-DHBA on these activated electrodes were studied and compared. Experimental results showed that the glassy carbon electrode polarised in H₂SO₄ (AGCE-P/H₂SO₄) has the greatest sensitivity and reproducibility to 3,4-DHBA. 3,4-DHBA performed a linear relationship from 1.0 × 10^?7 to 1.0 × 10^?4 M on the AGCE-P/H₂SO₄. The detection limit was down to 6.2 × 10^?8 M. This method has been successfully applied for the detection of hydroxyl radical levels in atmosphere without separation and purification process.     

High‐Performance Sodium Metal Anodes Enabled by a Bifunctional Potassium Salt

Developing Na metal anodes that can be deeply cycled with high efficiency for a long time is a prerequisite for rechargeable Na metal batteries to be practically useful despite their notable advantages in theoretical energy density and potential low cost. Their high chemical reactivity with the electrolyte and tendency for dendrite formation are two major issues limiting the reversibility of Na metal electrodes. In this work, we introduce for the first time potassium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (KTFSI) as a bifunctional electrolyte additive to stabilize Na metal electrodes, in which the TFSI^? anions decompose into lithium nitride and oxynitrides to render a desirable solid electrolyte interphase layer while the K⁺ cations preferentially adsorb onto Na protrusions and provide electrostatic shielding to suppress dendritic deposition. Through the cooperation of the cations and anions, we have realized Na metal electrodes that can be deeply cycled at a capacity of 10 mAh cm^?2 for hundreds of hours.     

Separation of Nucleobases Using High‐performance Liquid Chromatography Coupled with Voltammetric Scanning

In this paper, a method based on chromatographic separation of analytes and their quantification using on‐line cyclic voltammetry is reported. The method based on high performance liquid chromatography on reverse phase column was optimized using free nucleobases‐guanine, adenine, thymine, and cytosine. The optimal separation of nucleobases was detected when using 0.05 M borate buffer (pH 9.0) as the mobile phase, at isocratic flow rate 1 mL min⁻¹, and at separation column temperature of 30 °C. The accurate timing of the cyclic voltammetry enabled us to quantify the concentrations of individual nucleobases by oxidation on glassy carbon electrode.