Synthesis of UiO-66 with addition of HKUST-1 for enhanced adsorption of RBBR dye

Toxic dye removal, one of the most serious and common industrial pollutants released into natural water, is a critical issue for modern civilization. In this study, a series of UiO-66 composites was synthesized with addition of HKUST-1 using solvothermal method, which was used to remove RBBR dye. The structure, morphology and surface area of the composites were studied by several analyses. HK(5)/UiO-66 possessed a specific surface area of 557.63 m²/g and showed an adsorption capacity of 400 mg/g, higher than that of UiO-66 (261.92 mg/g) with a contact time of 50 min. Several adsorption parameters that influenced RBBR removal efficiency were investigated, such as pH, initial dye concentrations, and temperature. All the composites followed pseudo-first order kinetics and Langmuir isotherm adsorption. Moreover, the adsorption process occurred exothermically and spontaneously, indicating that the adsorption process was advantageous in terms of energy. The possible adsorption mechanism and cost analysis of the adsorbent were also studied in detail.     

Super-Strong Hydrogel Composites Reinforced with PBO Nanofibers for Cartilage Replacement

Cartilage replacement materials exhibiting a set of demanding properties such as high water content, high mechanical stiffness, low friction, and excellent biocompatibility are quite difficult to achieve. Here, poly(p-phenylene-2,6-benzobisoxazole) (PBO) nanofibers are combined with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) to form a super-strong structure with a performance that surpasses the vast majority of previously existing hydrogels. PVA–PBO composites with water contents in the 59–76% range exhibit tensile and compressive moduli reaching 20.3 and 4.5 MPa, respectively, and a coefficient of friction below 0.08. Further, they are biocompatible and support the viability of chondrocytes for 1 week, with significant improvements in cell adhesion, proliferation, and differentiation compared to PVA. The new composites can be safely sterilized by steam heat or gamma radiation without compromising their integrity and overall performance. In addition, they show potential to be used as local delivery platforms for anti-inflammatory drugs. These attractive features make PVA–PBO composites highly competitive engineered materials with remarkable potential for use in the design of load-bearing tissues. Complementary work has also revealed that these composites will be interesting alternatives in other industrial fields where high thermal and mechanical resistance are essential requirements, or which can take advantage of the pH responsiveness functionality.     

锂离子电池正极材料LiNi0.5Co0.4Al0.1O2的合成与性能

采用高温固相法制备了锂离子电池正极材料LiNi_0.5Co_0.4Al_0.1O₂。采用X射线衍射(XRD)、傅里叶红外光谱(FTIR)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对材料的结构及表观形貌进行分析。通过恒电流充放电以及循环伏安法进行了电化学性能测试。测试结果表明,充放电电压在3~4.5 V之间,在0.2C倍率下首次放电比容量达到159.9 mAh·g^-1,经50次循环充放电后放电容量为142.6 mAh·g^-1,表现出良好的电化学性能。     

NZFO-PZT磁电复合纳米纤维的制备及其吸波性能

采用静电纺丝法制备(1-x)Ni_0.5Zn_0.5Fe₂O₄-(x)Pb(Zr_0.52Ti_0.48)O₃(简称为(1-x)NZFO-(x)PZT, x=0.1、0.2、0.3、0.4、0.5)磁电复合纳米纤维, 研究了PZT含量对复合纳米纤维结构、电磁特性及微波吸收性能的影响。所有样品均由尖晶石结构NZFO和钙钛矿结构PZT两相所组成。由于NZFO磁损耗与PZT介电损耗的协同效应及界面效应的加强, 适量PZT相的引入可改善复合纳米纤维吸波涂层的电磁阻抗匹配和衰减特性, 提高微波吸收性能。x=0.3和0.4的复合纳米纤维分别在低频和高频范围表现出最强的微波吸收能力。当涂层厚度为2.5~5.0 mm时, x=0.3样品的最小反射损耗在6.1 GHz处达-77.2 dB, 反射损耗小于-10 dB的有效吸收带宽为11.2 GHz(2.8~12.9和16.9~18 GHz);x=0.4样品的最小反射损耗位于18 GHz处为-37.6 dB, 有效吸收带宽达到12.5 GHz(3.3~12.5和14.7~18 GHz)。     

钙钛矿型混合离子电子导体在能源转化中应用的研究进展

钙钛矿型离子电子导体具有良好的传导氧离子和电子性能,使其在能源转化过程中具有较好的应用前景,已成为人们研究的热点。本文综述了钙钛矿型离子电子导体的主要制备方法,并着重介绍了其在化学循环燃烧、氧气的分离、制氢、太阳能电池方面的应用。钙钛矿型混合离子电子导体可作为一种复合催化剂,应用于甲烷选择性氧化工艺,为钙钛矿离子电子导体应用新途径,同时为甲烷高效催化转化利用提供了理论支持。     

A generalized technique for the encapsulation of nano‐sized NiO particles by styrene‐2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate copolymer

Encapsulation of nickel oxide (NiO) particles is of great interest to the researchers as such modification produces remarkable improvement in properties and versatility in application potential. In this investigation, nanosized NiO particles were first prepared by calcination of nickel hydroxide precursor obtained using a simple liquid‐phase process. The produced NiO particles were stabilized with oleic acid and then treated with tetraethylorthosilicate to produce NiO/SiO₂ composite seed particles. Finally tri‐layered inorganic/organic composite particles were prepared by seeded copolymerization of styrene and 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) in the presence of NiO/SiO₂ composite seed particles. The produced composite particles named as NiO/SiO₂/P(S‐HEMA) were colloidally stable, and the obtained particles were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analyses. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

化学氧化合成聚(苯胺-鲁米诺)复合纳米线的电化学发光特性研究

以过硫酸铵为氧化剂,通过氧化苯胺和鲁米诺混合溶液合成了聚(苯胺-鲁米诺)复合纳米线。相对于鲁米诺425 nm处的最大荧光发射波长,复合纳米线中聚鲁米诺的最大荧光发射波长明显红移到465 nm处。采用简单的滴凃方式将聚(苯胺-鲁米诺)复合纳米线修饰于石墨电极表面,形成一层稳定的聚(苯胺-鲁米诺)复合纳米线膜。此聚(苯胺-鲁米诺)纳米线膜修饰电极呈现出良好的电化学发光特性,H2O2对化学合成的聚(苯胺-鲁米诺)纳米线电化学发光呈现出增敏效应。在优化实验条件下,修饰电极的电化学发光信号与H2O2在5.0×10#9~1.0×10#5mol/L范围内呈线性关系,检出限为2×10#9mol/L。     

Synthesis and characterisation of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) Zr(IV) monothiophosphate composite cation exchanger: analytical application in the selective separation of lead metal ions

In this study, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) zirconium(IV) monothiophosphate composite cation exchanger was prepared by sol–gel precipitation method. The presence of sulphur in the cation exchanger enhances affinity towards the heavy metal ions which can improve the selectivity of the material. The selectivity studies showed that the material is selective towards Pb(II) ions. To characterise the material, several physicochemical properties were also studied which includes X-ray, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy studies. The ion-exchange behaviour of this cation exchanger was studied by using some of the selected properties like ion-exhange capacity for various metal ions, elution, effect of eluent concentration, thermal effect on ion-exchange capacity (IEC). The results of IEC and physicochemical properties revealed that the material is nanocomposite, crystalline, chemically, mechanically and thermally stable. The analytical ability of this cation exchanger was demonstrated in binary separation of Pb(II) ions from a mixture of other metal ions. The recovery is qualitative and the separations are reproducible.     

High performance hybrid reinforcement of nitrile rubber using short pineapple leaf fiber and carbon black

Rubber composites with very high moduli at low elongation, high elongation at break and high ultimate breaking strength have been developed. The matrix was acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) and the hybrid (fibrous and particulate) reinforcements were short, fine pineapple leaf fiber (PALF) and carbon black. The amount of PALF was fixed at 10 parts (by weight) per hundred of rubber (phr) while that of carbon black was varied from 0 to 30 phr. Uniaxial NBR composites were prepared. Tensile strength, elongation at break, modulus and tear strength of the hybrid composites were characterized in both longitudinal (parallel to the fiber axis) and transverse (perpendicular to the fiber axis) directions. The addition of carbon black causes the slope of the early part of the stress–strain curve to increase and also extends breaking to greater strains. At carbon black contents of 20 phr and above, the stress–strain relation displays an upturn at high elongations, providing greater ultimate strength. Comparison with the usual carbon black filled rubber shows that the composite behavior at low strains is determined by the PALF, and at high strains by the carbon black. This high performance PALF-carbon black reinforced NBR shows great promise for engineering applications.     

Application of a multivariate approach for analyte focusing by micelle collapse‐micellar electrokinetic chromatography for analyzing sunscreen agents in cosmetics

The operating parameters that affect the performance of the online preconcentration technique “analyte focusing by micelle collapse‐MEKC (AFMC‐MEKC)” were examined using a multivariate approach involving experimental design to determine the sunscreen agents in cosmetics. Compared to the single‐variable approach, the advantage of the multivariate approach was that many factors could be investigated simultaneously to obtain the best separation condition. A fractional factorial design was used to identify the fewest significant factors in the central composite design (cCD). The cCD was adopted for evaluating the location of the minimum or maximum response in this study. The influences of the experimental variables on the response were investigated by applying a chromatographic exponential function. The optimized condition and the relationship between the experimental variables were acquired using the JMP software. The ANOVA analysis indicated that the Tris pH value, SDS concentration, and ethanol percentage influenced the separation quality and significantly contributed to the model. The optimized condition of the running buffer was 10 mM Tris buffer (pH 9.5) containing 60 mM SDS, 7 mM γ‐CD, and 20% v/v ethanol. The sample was prepared in 100 mM Tris buffer (pH 9.0) containing 7.5 mM SDS and 20% v/v ethanol. The SDS concentration in the sample matrix was slightly greater than the CMC value that makes the micelle be easily collapsed and the analytes be accumulated in the capillary. In addition, sunscreen agents in cosmetics after 1000‐fold dilution were successfully determined by AFMC‐MEKC.