Achieving high yield of Ti3C2Tx MXene few-layer flakes with enhanced pseudocapacior performance by decreasing precursor size

Ti₃C₂T_x, a most studied member of MXene family, shows promise as a candidate electrode for pseudocapacitor due to its electronic conductivity and hydrophilic surface. However, the unsatisfactory yield of Ti₃C₂T_x few-layer flakes significantly restricted it in real applications. Here, we proposed a simple solution to boost the yield of Ti₃C₂T_x few-layer flakes by decreasing precursor size. When using the small 500 mesh Ti₃AlC₂ powders as raw material, high yield of 65% was successfully achieved. Moreover, the as-received small flakes also exhibit an enhanced pseudocapacior performance owing to their excellent electrical conductivity, expanded interlayer space and more O content on the surface. This work not only sheds light on the cost effective mass production of Ti₃C₂T_x few-layer flakes, but also provides an efficient solution for the design of MXene electrodes with high pseudocapacior performance.     

Nanostructured Ni/Ti_3C_2T_x MXene hybrid as cathode for lithium-oxygen battery

Ti_3C_2 belongs to MXenes family,which is a new two-dimensional material and has been applied in many fields.With simple method of hydrothermal and high temperature calcination,nano structured Ni/Ti_3C_2T_x hybrid was synthesized.The stable layer structure of Ti_3C_2 MXene providing high surface area as well as excellent electronic conductivity are beneficial for deposition and decomposition of discharge product Li_2O_2.Furthermore,possessing special catalytic activity,Ni nanoparticles with size of about 20 nm could accelerate Li_2O_2 breaking down.Taking advantage of two kinds of materials,Ni/Ti_3C_2T_x hybrid as cathode of Li-O_2 battery can achieve a maximal specific capacity of 20,264 mAh/g in 100 mA/g and 10,699 mAh/g in 500 mA/g at the first cycle.This work confirms that the prepared Ni/Ti_3C_2T_x hybrid exhibiting better cycling stability points out a new guideline to improve the electrochemical performance of lithium-oxygen batteries.     

Preparation of selective micro glucose sensor without permselective membrane by electrochemical deposition of ruthenium and glucose oxidase

A carbon fiber microelectrode, surface of which ruthenium and glucose oxidase (GOx) were electrochemically codeposited, has been investigated. The Ru deposition onto the microelectrode increased current response to H₂O₂ oxidation, while decreased oxidation currents due to interfering substances, such as ascorbic acid, uric acid, p-acetamidophenol, l-cysteine and dopamine. The codeposition of Ru and GOx gave further suppression of the interfering signals with keeping the current response to H₂O₂. When amperometric glucose sensing was conducted by using the GOx and Ru modified microelectrode, an increase in GOx concentration in the deposition bath enlarged oxidation current of H₂O₂ generated from glucose oxidation by GOx. The presence of ascorbic acid in analyte gave no error in detection of glucose and errors caused by uric acid was +3% at the most for measuring 5 mM glucose, which is the normal physiological level in blood.     

Fabrication and electrochemical performance of nickel ferrite nanoparticles as anode material in lithium ion batteries

Nano-sized nickel ferrite (NiFe₂O₄) was prepared by hydrothermal method at low temperature. The crystalline phase, morphology and specific surface area (BET) of the resultant samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and nitrogen physical adsorption, respectively. The particle sizes of the resulting NiFe₂O₄ samples were in the range of 5–15 nm. The electrochemical performance of NiFe₂O₄ nanoparticles as the anodic material in lithium ion batteries was tested. It was found that the first discharge capacity of the anode made from NiFe₂O₄ nanoparticles could reach a very high value of 1314 mAh g⁻¹, while the discharge capacity decreased to 790.8 mAh g⁻¹ and 709.0 mAh g⁻¹ at a current density of 0.2 mA cm⁻² after 2 and 3 cycles, respectively. The BET surface area is up to 111.4 m² g⁻¹. The reaction mechanism between lithium and nickel ferrite was also discussed based on the results of cycle voltammetry (CV) experiments.     

Real-time sensing and three-dimensional display of far outdoor scenes based on asymmetric integral imaging

A new asymmetric integral imaging (AII) system for real-time pickup and three-dimensional (3-D) display of far outdoor scenes based on dynamic-pixel-mapping (DPM) is proposed. DPM is a digital process to transform the elemental images captured with a lens array into the perspective-variant object images (POIs) whose structures are matched with those of display lenses, where the orders of pixels in each POI are reversely mapped, and then capture a set of virtual elemental images (EIs) at the specific depth planes from the back-propagated POIs. This DPM enables an asymmetrical use of pickup and display lens arrays, allowing the long-ranged pickup of far outdoor scenes and their resolution-enhanced 3-D reconstruction. Experiments with a pair of pickup and display lens arrays whose pitches and focal lengths are given by 7.5 mm, 30 mm and 1.2 mm, 8 mm, respectively, show that the effective pickup-range and resolution of the proposed system have been increased up to 6 m and 1600×1600 pixels, respectively, from 0.064 m and 480×480 pixels of the conventional systems employing the same pickup and display lens arrays. In addition, experiments with an implemented test bed confirms that the proposed system can provide real-time 3-D images in 25 frames per second.     

Transport properties of mesoscopic graphene rings

Based on a recursive Green's function method, we investigate the conductance of mesoscopic graphene rings in the presence of disorder, in the limit of phase coherent transport. Two models of disorder are considered: edge disorder and surface disorder. Our simulations show that the conductance decreases exponentially with the edge disorder and the surface disorder. In the presence of flux, a clear Aharonov-Bohm conductance oscillation with the period Φ₀ (Φ₀=h/e) is observed. The edge disorder and the surface disorder have no effect on the period of AB oscillation. The amplitudes of AB oscillations vary with gate voltage and flux, which is consistent with the previous results. Additionally, ballistic rectification and negative differential resistance are observed in I-V curves, with on/off characteristic.     

螺吡喃功能化UiO-66光响应吸附剂的制备及其性能

将光响应分子甲基螺吡喃SP-CH₃引入UiO-66的非极性孔笼中,构筑吸附活性位可光控调节的光响应吸附剂。SP-CH₃功能化的吸附剂完好保留了载体UiO-66的骨架和孔道结构。以阴离子染料甲基橙为探针,研究了吸附剂在不同光照条件下的吸附和解吸性能。结果表明,经紫外光照后,吸附剂对甲基橙的吸附量为41.99 mg·g^-1,相较于可见光照后样品的吸附量提升57.56%,吸附作用增强;经可见光照后,甲基橙的脱附量为81.6%。本策略通过光照刺激改变UiO-66孔笼中SP-CH₃的构型及表面电荷性质,即对吸附活性位进行光控调节,在不同光照条件下实现对吸附质的高效吸附和有效脱附。     

用于高性能钠离子电容器的高氮掺杂多孔碳纳米纤维的简易合成

选择合适的生物质材料是获得功能碳材料的有效途径之一。通过柠檬酸钾和三聚氰胺一步热解法制备高氮掺杂多孔碳纳米纤维(NPCF)。在电流密度为0.1和1.0 A·g^-1时,NPCF电极的容量分别为218和140 mAh·g^-1。同时,具有NPCF阳极的钠离子电容器(SIC)在1.0 A·g^-1下表现出优异的倍率性能和超长的使用寿命,可循环超过2 500次。     

水热法制备Pr掺杂Bi2WO6三维花状微球的光催化性能

通过水热法制备稀土Pr掺杂Bi₂WO₆三维花状微球,利用XRD、SEM、N₂吸附-脱附、紫外-可见吸收光谱和光致发光光谱对所制备的光催化材料进行表征。通过降解亚甲基蓝评价样品的光催化活性。结果表明,1.0% Pr-Bi₂WO₆样品的可见光催化活性最佳,降解率达到95%。Pr掺杂提高了催化剂的可见光吸收性能并且能够束缚光生电子使得电子空穴对有效分离从而获得强氧化物质。对其光催化降解做出了合理的解释。     

Copper(II) catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative coupling of cyclic benzylic ethers with simple carbonyl compounds by Na2S2O8

Copper(II) catalyzed cross-dehydrogenative coupling of cyclic benzylic ethers with a variety of simple carbonyl compounds mediated by Na₂S₂O₈ is developed. The scope of carbonyl components is broad, including simple aldehydes as well as ketones. The use of Na₂S₂O₈ as the oxidant for the CDC reaction is attractive based on economical and environmental factors.