光热协同催化去除挥发性有机化合物和CO的研究进展

随着社会和经济的快速发展,环境污染和能源短缺等问题,尤其是空气污染,已经影响了人类的可持续发展.挥发性有机化合物(VOCs),如苯、甲苯、甲醛和丙酮是主要的空气污染物,它们主要来源于油漆、有机化学品、石油化工产品、药物和工业生产过程.大多VOCs具有特殊的气味,而且具有一定的毒性、致畸性和致癌作用,尤其是苯、甲苯和甲醛等,会对人类的身体健康产生巨大的负面作用.因此,研发新型高效VOCs处理技术迫在眉睫.除VOCs外,CO也是非常常见的空气污染物,在室温条件下,它无色无味,没有刺激性且易燃易爆.CO主要来源于煤和石油等含碳材料的不完全燃烧.在日常生活中很容易被排放到大气中.在室温下,CO分子是非常稳定的,很难与其它气体分子发生化学反应.因此,CO的活化和转化是一项具有挑战性的工作.催化氧化技术是在催化剂存在的条件下进行的氧化反应,可以将VOCs直接氧化成为无毒无害的CO₂和H₂O,也可将CO氧化成CO₂.光催化技术是一种新型的环境友好型技术,可在常温常压下进行,反应条件温和、能耗小、操作简单,成本低,氧化产物为无毒无害物质,以及不存在二次污染等优点.但光催化反应效率较低,主要通过入射光的能量驱动化学反应.热催化则通过升温的方法来驱动化学反应.目前,热催化剂主要为贵金属型催化剂,其具有催化活性较高,选择性较好且不存在二次污染等优点.但高能耗影响产物的稳定性和选择性,此外,贵金属的使用导致成本增加.光热协同催化可以整合光催化和热催化的优势,并弥补各自的不足,形成一种协同效应,是一种新颖的催化反应.目前,关于光催化或热催化高效去除VOCs和CO的综述较多,但很少有关于光热协同催化高效去除VOCs和CO的综述.本综述重点讨论光热协同催化高效去除VOCs和CO的最新研究进展.首先,介绍了光热协同催化的概况,如设计光热催化材料和催化反应器等.其次,重点介绍苯、甲苯、乙醇、甲醛、乙醛和丙酮等几种典型VOCs的光热协同催化的最新研究进展.再次,总结了光热协同催化CO加氢和氧化的最新研究进展.此外,还探讨了光热协同催化去除VOCs和CO的可能反应机理.最后,对光热协同催化的应用前景进行了展望.     

Growth of Single-walled Carbon Nanotubes on Substrates Using Carbon Monoxide as Carbon Source

The growth of single-walled carbon nanotubes(SWCNTs) on substrates has attracted great interests because of the potential applications in various fields. Carbon monoxide(CO) was used as the carbon source for the growth of SWCNTs on silicon substrates. Random or oriented SWCNTs can be produced by varying the CO flow rate. When the flow rate of CO was as low as 20 sccm(sccm:standard cubic centimeter per minute), dense SWCNT networks with clean surface were produced. When the flow rate was above 50 sccm, vertically aligned SWCNT(VA-SWCNT) arrays were grown. Well-aligned VA-SWCNT arrays were obtained in the temperature range of 650-800℃ and the content of large-diameter(above 1.7 nm) tubes in the array increased with the temperature. The height of the array was affected by the growth temperature, the CO flow rate, and the growth time. These findings indicate CO can be used as an efficient carbon source for the growth of SWCNTs on substrates under low flow rates.     

Efficient Synthesis of p-Hydroxyphenyl Ethanol from Hydrogenation of Methyl p-Hydroxyphenylacetate with CNTs-promoted Cu-Zr Catalyst

Hydrogenation of methyl p-hydroxyphenylacetate has been used for the synthesis of p-hydroxyphenyl ethanol. The reaction was catalyzed by Cu_iZr_j-x%(mass fraction) carbon nanotubes(CNTs) catalysts. Incorporation of a minor amount of CNTs into Cu_iZr_j oxide can visibly increase the catalytic activity for the synthesis of p-hydroxyphenyl ethanol. The yield of p-hydroxyphenyl ethanol reaches 94.2% over a co-precipitated catalyst of Cu₃Zr₁ oxide with 11.0%CNTs. Its catalytic activity shows no obvious decrease after three cycles. This is much better than the CNT-free co-precipitated catalyst with a good yield of 81.1%, Cu₃Zr₁-0%CNTs.     

A Novel Carbon Nitride Nanosheets-based Electrochemical Sensor for Determination of Hydroxychloroquine in Pharmaceutical Formulation and Synthetic Urine Samples

This study introduces modified carbon paste electrodes with carbon nitride nanosheets (CNNS) and outlines their application for the determination of hydroxychloroquine sulfate (HCQ) in tablets and synthetic urine samples. CNNS were synthesized by hydrothermal route (200 °C, 10 h) using melamine and citric acid as their precursors. The carbon nitride nanosheets-based electrode (CNNS/E) presented a linear dynamic range for HCQ (LDR), ranging from 10.0 nmol l⁻¹ to 6.92 μmol l⁻¹, and detection (LOD) and quantification limits (LOQ) of 0.16 nmol l⁻¹ and 0.52 nmol l⁻¹, respectively. LOD and LOQ were calculated by the equations: LOD=3(S_d/b), and LOQ=10(S_d/b). The modified sensor presented excellent relative standard deviations for parameters such as repeatability (2.39 % and 1.87 %) and reproducibility (3.22 % and 2.32 %) in HCQ oxidation peaks (1 and 2). The CNNS/E has not shown significant variations in its anodic signal intensity in the presence of some organic and inorganic substances. It is worth bearing in mind that CNNS/E can be easily manufactured and the sensor has the lowest HCQ detection limits reported so far. The proposed sensor was successfully applied for HCQ determination in tablets and synthetic urine, showing good recovery values and an error of 0.60 % about comparative method in tablet samples, assuring the quality of the method.     

Multi-walled Carbon Nanotubes and Gold Nanorod Decorated Biosensor for Detection of microRNA-126

In this article, we introduced a novel electrochemical biosensor for the detection of microRNA-126. The biosensor utilizes a hybridization assay combined with multi-walled carbon nanotubes and gold nanorod-decorated screen-printed carbon electrodes. For electrode preparation, gold nanorods were first immobilized onto the surface of bare and multi-walled carbon nanotube-modified screen-printed carbon electrodes, and the thiol tagged-capture probe was immobilized on the electrode surface through gold and thiol group interaction. After the immobilization, thiol tagged-capture probe hybridized with the target sequence. Under optimum conditions, we determined limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) as high as 11 nM and 36 nM, respectively.     

Sensitive Determination of 17β-Estradiol using a Magneto Sensor Based on Magnetic Molecularly Imprinted Polymer

The analysis of 17β-estradiol with high sensitivity and selectivity is extremely relevant to control the impacts that this compound can cause on health and the environment. Thus, we describe the development and application of a magneto carbon paste electrode based on magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer (MCPE-MMIP) for determination of 17β-estradiol. The analyte adsorbed on the MMIP was immobilized on the electrode surface by magnetic capture. The morphological and structural characterization of the obtained MMIP suggests that the material was effectively synthesized. MCPE-MMIP showed an improvement in the sensitivity for 17β-estradiol detection when compared to electrode configurations in the absence of this material. The optimum conditions (0.10 mol L⁻¹ phosphate buffer pH 7.0) were reached by differential pulse adsorptive stripping voltammetry (DPAdSV), in which the method presented linearity ranged from 0.06 to 175 μmol L⁻¹ with limits of detection and quantification of 0.02 and 0.06 μmol L⁻¹, respectively. The proposed sensor was applied effectively in the analysis of 17β-estradiol in river water and raw milk samples, exhibiting excellent recovery values (between 96.20 and 104 %), which were confirmed by HPLC analysis.     

Recent advances in the improvement of g-C3N4 based photocatalytic materials

g-C₃N₄ have been widely used in the fields of photocatalytic hydrogen production,photocatalytic degradation of dyes and oxidative degradation of toxic gases due to their excellent performance.It has attracted extensive attention in recent years due to its highly efficient photocatalytic capacity of hydrogen generation,water oxidation,carbon dioxide reduction and degradation of organic pollutants.Because of the abundant carbon and nitrogen composition of the earth,large-scale production and industrial applications of this material are possible.The modification of this material makes its performance more excellent so that this new material can obtain a steady stream of vitality.These outstanding works have become important materials and milestones on the road to mankind's photocatalytic hydrogen production.This review will begin with the basic idea of designing,synthesizing and improving g-C₃N₄ based photocatalytic materials,and introduce the latest development of g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts in hydrogen production from four aspects of controlling the carbon/nitrogen ratio,morphology,element doping and heterojunction structure of g-C₃N₄ materials.     

Needle-like cobalt phosphide arrays grown on carbon fiber cloth as a binder-free electrode with enhanced lithium storage performance

Cobalt phosphide(CoP) is a promising anode candidate for lithium-ion batteries(LIBs) due to its high specific capacity and low working potential.However,the poor cycling stability and rate performance,caused by low electrical conductivity and huge volume variation,impede the further practical application of CoP anode materials.Herein,we report an integrated binder-free electrode featuring needle-like CoP arrays grown on carbon fiber cloth(CC) for efficient lithium storage.The as-prepared CoP/CC electrode integrates the advantages of 1 D needle-like CoP arrays for efficient electrolyte wettability and fast cha rge transpo rtation,and 3 D CC substrate for superior mechanical stability,flexibility and high conductivity.As a result,the CoP/CC electrode delivers an initial specific capacity of 1283 mAh/g and initial Coulombic effeciencies of 85.4%,which are much higher than that of conventional CoP electrode.Notably,the Co P/CC electrode shows outstanding cycling performance up to 400 cycles at 0.5 A/cm² and excellent rate performance with a discharge capacity of 549 mAh/g even at 5 A/cm².This work demonstrates the great potential of integrated CoP/CC hybrid as efficient bind-free and freestanding electrode for LIBs and future flexible electronic devices.     

Barium Titanate-reinforced Acrylonitrile-Butadiene Rubber: Synergy Effect of Carbon-based Secondary Filler

Acrylonitrile rubber(NBR) composites filled with barium titanate(BT) were prepared using an internal mixer and a two-roll mill. Also, a secondary filler, namely carbon nanotubes(CNT), was added in order to find a potential synergistic blend ratio of BT and CNT. The cure characteristics, tensile and dielectric properties(dielectric constant and dielectric loss) of the composites were determined. It was found that NBR/BT composites with CNT secondary filler, at a proper BT:CNT ratio, exhibited shorter scorch time(t_(s1)) and cure time(t_(c90)) together with superior tensile properties and reinforcement efficiency, relative to the one with only the primary filler. In addition, the NBR/BT-CNT composite with 80 phr BT and 1-2 phr CNT had dielectric constant of 100-500, dielectric loss of 12-100 and electrical conductivity below 10~(-4) S/m together with high thermal stability. Thus, with a proper BT:CNT mix and filler loading, we can produce mechanically superior rubber composites that are easy to process and low-cost, for flexible dielectric materials application.     

Eco friendly synthesis of fluorescent carbon dots for the sensitive detection of ferric ions and cell imaging

This study established a ferric ion (Fe³⁺) detection method as a result of the fluorescence quenching effect of Fe³⁺ on carbon dots (CDs). Specifically, we proposed, a green microwave synthesis route towards fluorescent CDs that requires only the brewer’s spent grain as starting materials. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were performed to investigate the CDs characteristic: morphology, size distribution, functional groups, and composition, respectively. The experimental results, which were run under optimal experimental conditions, indicated that the fluorescence intensity and concentration of Fe³⁺ were within the desired linear range (0.3–7 μM). The detection limit of this assay towards Fe³⁺ was 95 nM. The proposed method showed significant selectivity with respect to interfering ions. We evaluated the potential application of this method with tap water, lake water and fetal bovine serum as real samples. Additionally, the CDs could be served as superior bioimaging probes in Hela cells as a result of their excellent optical stability and good biocompatibility. In a word, the present study provides a new idea for CDs derived from the waste of agricultural products for detecting food or environmental contaminants and cell imaging.