Pt/Cu双金属纳米颗粒的制备及其催化制氢活性

采用化学共还原法合成了聚乙烯吡咯烷酮保护的Pt/Cu双金属纳米颗粒(BNPs),并采用紫外可见吸收光谱、透射电子显微镜、高分辨透射电子显微镜等对所合成的Pt/Cu BNPs进行了表征。研究了化学组成对Pt/Cu BNPs催化Na BH4水解制氢性能的影响。结果表明,所制备的Pt/Cu BNPs平均粒径为1.8~2.3nm,其催化活性远高于单金属Pt和Cu NPs的活性,其中Pt90Cu10BNP的催化活性最高,其在30℃的条件下,催化Na BH4制氢的活性可达6570mol-H2·mol-cat-1·h-1,约为相同粒径的Pt单金属NP的1.6倍。密度泛函理论的计算结果表明,Pt/Cu BNPs优异的催化性能可归因于电荷转移效应,Pt原子与Cu原子之间发生的电子转移使得Pt原子带负电而Cu原子带正电,荷电的Pt和Cu原子成为催化反应的活性中心。     

A facile and green synthetic approach toward fabrication of starch-stabilized magnetite nanoparticles

A facile and green synthetic approach for fabrication of starch-stabilized magnetite nanoparticles was implemented at moderate temperature. This synthesis involved the use of iron salts, potato starch,sodium hydroxide and deionized water as iron precursors, stabilizer, reducing agent and solvent respectively. The nanoparticles(NPs) were characterized by UV-vis, PXRD, HR-TEM, FESEM, EDX, VSM and FT-IR spectroscopy. The ultrasonic assisted co-precipitation technique provides well formation of highly distributed starch/Fe_3O_4-NPs. Based on UV–vis analysis, the sample showed the characteristic of surface plasmon resonance in the presence of Fe_3O_4-NPs. The PXRD pattern depicted the characteristic of the cubic lattice structure of Fe_3O_4-NPs. HR-TEM analysis showed the good dispersion of NPs with a mean diameter and standard deviation of 10.68 4.207 nm. The d spacing measured from the lattice images were found to be around 0.30 nm and 0.52 nm attributed to the Fe3O4 and starch, respectively. FESEM analysis confirmed the formation of spherical starch/Fe_3O_4-NPs with the emission of elements of C, O and Fe by EDX analysis. The magnetic properties illustrated by VSM analysis indicated that the as synthesized sample has a saturation magnetization and coercivity of 5.30 emu/g and 22.898 G respectively.Additionally, the FTIR analysis confirmed the binding of starch with Fe_3O_4-NPs. This method was cost effective, facile and eco-friendly alternative for preparation of NPs.     

Tannic Acid Modified Electrochemical Biosensor for Glucose Sensing Based on Direct Electrochemistry

A novel glucose biosensor was constructed through the immobilization of glucose oxidase (GOx) on gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) deposited, and chemically reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanocomposite. In the synthesis, tannic acid (TA) was used for the reduction of both graphene oxide, and Au³⁺ to rGO, and Au NPs, respectively. Also, by harnessing the π‐π interaction between graphene oxide and TA, and protein‐TA interaction, a novel nanocomposite for the fabrication of a third generation biosensor was successfully constructed. Upon the oxidation of TA to quinone, which is easily reducible at the negative potential range, enhanced electron transfer was obtained. The cyclic voltammetry (CV) results demonstrated a pair of well‐defined and quasi‐reversible redox peaks of active site molecule of GOx. The biosensor exhibited a linear response to glucose concentrations varying from 2 to 10 mM with a sensitivity of 18.73 mA mM⁻¹ cm⁻². The fabricated biosensor was used for the determination of glucose in beverages.     

Wrapping of nanoparticles by membranes

How nanoparticles interact with biomembranes is central for understanding their bioactivity. Biomembranes wrap around nanoparticles if the adhesive interaction between the nanoparticles and membranes is sufficiently strong to compensate for the cost of membrane bending. In this article, we review recent results from theory and simulations that provide new insights on the interplay of bending and adhesion energies during the wrapping of nanoparticles by membranes. These results indicate that the interplay of bending and adhesion during wrapping is strongly affected by the interaction range of the particle–membrane adhesion potential, by the shape of the nanoparticles, and by shape changes of membrane vesicles during wrapping. The interaction range of the particle–membrane adhesion potential is crucial both for the wrapping process of single nanoparticles and the cooperative wrapping of nanoparticles by membrane tubules.     

Infrared laser-produced carbon-phase shield to oxidation of nanosized titanium monoxide

Pulsed infrared laser-irradiation of titanium monoxide leads to ablation and when carried out in gaseous benzene (1-5 Torr) to simultaneous dielectric breakdown of benzene into low molecular carbonaceous species which allow carbothermal reduction of ablated TiO_x particles and their protection by carbonaceous shell. The deposited particles are characterized by Fourier transform infrared Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and by electron microscopy and shown to be stable towards oxidation in air. The reported process can find use in protection of gas-phase produced reactive nanoparticles by carbon phase.     

Size control and catalytic activity of bio-supported palladium nanoparticles

The development of nanoparticles has greatly improved the catalytic properties of metals due to the higher surface to volume ratio of smaller particles. The production of nanoparticles is most commonly based on abiotic processes, but in the search for alternative protocols, bacterial cells have been identified as excellent scaffolds of nanoparticle nucleation, and bacteria have been successfully employed to recover and regenerate platinum group metals from industrial waste. We report on the formation of bio-supported palladium (Pd) nanoparticles on the surface of two bacterial species with distinctly different surfaces: the gram positive Staphylococcus sciuri and the gram negative Cupriavidus necator. We investigated how the type of bacterium and the amount of biomass affected the size and catalytic properties of the nanoparticles formed. By increasing the biomass:Pd ratio, we could produce bio-supported Pd nanoparticles smaller than 10nm in diameter, whereas lower biomass:Pd ratios resulted in particles ranging from few to hundreds of nm. The bio-supported Pd nanoparticle catalytic properties were investigated towards the Suzuki-Miyaura cross coupling reaction and hydrogenation reactions. Surprisingly, the smallest nanoparticles obtained at the highest biomass:Pd ratio showed no reactivity towards the test reactions. The lack of reactivity appears to be caused by thiol groups, which poison the catalyst by binding strongly to Pd. Different treatments intended to liberate particles from the biomass, such as burning or rinsing in acetone, did not re-establish their catalytic activity. Sulphur-free biomaterials should therefore be explored as more suitable scaffolds for Pd(0) nanoparticle formation.     

Intrinsic magnetism in Fe doped SnO2 nanoparticles

Iron doped semiconducting nanoparticles Sn_1−xFe_xO₂ with x=0, 0.001, 0.002, 0.003, 0.004, 0.01 and 0.03 were prepared by a sol-gel method. The X-ray diffraction, Transmission Electron Microscopy measurements confirm the rutile structure with no impurity phase. The three characteristic lines of electron spin resonance (ESR) are observed in the doped samples for all compositions, which is a clear evidence for rhombic Fe³⁺ in rutile phase. The line width of ESR increases with increase in Fe concentration due to induced disorder. The spin-pumping effect is observed at temperatures below 250 K for the samples with x=0.01 and 0.03. However, based on the Curie-Weiss susceptibility, iron is in paramagnetic state and is subject to weak antiferromagnetic interaction. Blue shift in the optical band gap is observed with increase in the Fe content.     

Direct detection of nanoparticles and components in smoke by time-of-flight mass spectrometry with soft plasma ionization

A new system combining a soft plasma ionization (SPI) source with a time-of-flight mass spectrometer (TOFMS) has been successfully developed and applied to direct and on-line analysis of nanoparticles in smoke generated during combustion of mosquito coils with no sample preparation. The mass spectra of nanoparticles in smoke were examined in conjunction with the effects of species, pressure and current of the SPI discharge on fragmentation. The results indicated that a maximum mass of m/z 1576 was detectable when the following optima SPI conditions were satisfied: a He gas pressure of 1000 Pa with an air pressure of 1600 Pa and a discharge current of 110 mA. Furthermore, considering the results for emission spectra we suppose an ionization mechanism of SPI in which excitation and ionization of nitrogen molecule is promoted by the presence of He gas, leading to promote the smoke sample ionization. The mass spectrum of nanoparticles showed specific patterns of a peak interval of 74 which were assigned to triacetylene (1,3,5-hexatriyne). The most abundant peak in the mass spectrum, at m/z 452, was assigned to triacontanoic acid.     

Synthesis of polyethylene glycol (PEG) assisted tungsten oxide (WO3) nanoparticles for L-dopa bio-sensing applications

Nanocrystalline tungsten oxides (WO_3−δ) are currently receiving a lot of attention because of their interesting electrical, magnetic, optical and mechanical properties. In this report, we present the synthesis of PEG assisted tungsten oxide (WO₃) nanoparticles by simple household microwave irradiation (2.45 GHz) method. The samples were characterized using powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal analysis (TG/DTA), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), UV-visible diffusion reflectance spectroscopy (UV-VIS-DRS), cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Powder XRD results revealed that both the samples prepared with and without surfactant crystallize in the orthorhombic structure corresponding to WO₃·H₂O phase. Subsequent annealing under identical conditions (600 °C/air/6 h) led to significantly different products i.e. monoclinic W₁₇O₄₇ from surfactant free sample and orthorhombic WO₃ from PEG assisted sample. Blue emission was observed through UV-VIS-DRS with blue shift and the band gap energy was estimated as 2.7 and 3.28 eV for PEG assisted as prepared (WO₃·H₂O) and annealed samples (WO₃) respectively. Electrochemical measurements have been performed on all the samples deposited on the surface of glassy carbon (GC) electrode which showed high sensitivity and good selectivity for PEG assisted sample (WO₃·H₂O) for the direct detection of l-dopa.     

NiO nanoparticles prepared via thermal decomposition of the bis(dimethylglyoximato)nickel(II) complex: A novel reusable heterogeneous catalyst for fast and efficient microwave-assisted reduction of nitroarenes with ethanol

NiO nanoparticles with an average size of 12 nm and a high specific surface area of 88.5 m²/g were easily prepared via the thermal decomposition of the complex Ni(dmgH)₂ and were characterized by TGA, XRD, FT-IR, TEM and BET surface area measurement. This nanosized transition metal oxide was used as a new heterogeneous catalyst for the reduction of nitroarenes under microwave irradiation. The efficient and selective reduction of aromatic nitro compounds into their corresponding amines was observed by using ethanol as a hydrogen donor (reducing agent) and KOH as a promoter under microwave irradiation. This highly regio- and chemoselective method is fast, simple, inexpensive, high yielding, clean and compatible with several sensitive functionalities, such as halogens, -OH, -OCH₃, -CHO, -COCH₃, -COOH, -COOEt, -CONH₂, -CN, -CHCH₂ and -NHCOCH₃. This method is suitable for the large scale preparation of different substituted anilines as well as other arylamines. In addition, the catalytic activity of nanosized NiO is higher than that of the bulk sample.