Miniaturized electrochemical sensors and their point-of-care applications

Most of the current analytical methods depend largely on laboratory-based analytical techniques that require expensive and bullky equipment,potentially incur costly testing,and involve lengthy detection processes.With increasing requirements for point-of-care testing(POCT),more attention has been paid to miniaturized analytical devices.Miniaturized electrochemical(MEC)sensors,including different material-based MEC sensors(such as DNA-,paper-,and screen electrode-based),have been in strong demand in analytical science due to their easy operation,portability,high sensitivity,as well as their short analysis time.They have been applied for the detection of trace amounts of target through measuring changes in electrochemical signal,such as current,voltage,potential,or impedance,due to the oxidation/reduction of chemical/biological molecules with the help of electrodes and electrochemical units.MEC sensors present great potential for the detection of targets including small organic molecules,metal ions,and biomolecules.In recent years,MEC sensors have been broadly applied to POCT in various fields,including health care,food safety,and environmental monitoring,owing to the excellent advantages of electrochemical(EC)technologies.This review summarized the state-of-the-art advancements on various types of MEC sensors and their applications in POCT.Furthermore,the future perspectives,opportunities,and challenges in this field are also discussed.     

Machine Learning towards Screening Solid-state Lithium Ion Conductors

Machine learning is an emerging method to discover new materials with specific characteristics.An unsupervised machine learning research is highlighted to discover new potential lithium ionic conductors by screening and clustering lithium compounds,providing inspirations for the development of solid-state electrolytes and practical batteries.     

Surface defect-rich ceria quantum dots anchored on sulfur-doped carbon nitride nanotubes with enhanced charge separation for solar hydrogen production

Designing defect-engineered semiconductor heterojunctions can effectively promote the charge carrier separation.Herein,novel ceria(CeO2) quantum dots(QDs) decorated sulfur-doped carbon nitride nanotubes(SCN NTs) were synthesized via a thermal polycondensation coupled in situ depositionprecipitation method without use of template or surfactant.The structure and morphology studies indicate that ultrafine CeO2 QDs are well distributed inside and outside of SCN NTs offering highly dispersed active sites and a large contact interface between two components.This leads to the promoted formation of rich Ce³⁺ ion and oxygen vacancies as confirmed by XPS.The photocatalytic performance can be facilely modulated by the content of CeO2 QDs introduced in SCN matrix while bare CeO2 does not show activity of hydrogen production.The optimal catalyst with 10% of CeO2 loading yields a hydrogen evolution rate of 2923.8 μmol h-1 g-1 under visible light,remarkably higher than that of bare SCN and their physical mixtures.Further studies reveal that the abundant surface defects and the created 0 D/1 D junctions play a critical role in improving the separation and transfer of charge carriers,leading to superior solar hydrogen production and good stability.     

Superfast and solvent-free core-shell assembly of sulfur/carbon active particles by hail-inspired nanostorm technology for high-energy-density Li-S batteries

The demand on low-carbon emission fabrication technologies for energy storage materials is increasing dramatically with the global interest on carbon neutrality.As a promising active material for metal-sulfur batteries,sulfur is of great interest due to its high-energy-density and abundance.However,there is a lack of industry-friendly and low-carbon fabrication strategies for high-performance sulfur-based active particles,which,however,is in critical need by their practical success.Herein,based on a hail-inspired sulfur nano-storm(HSN)technology developed in our lab,we report an energy-saving,solvent-free strategy for producing core-shell sulfur/carbon electrode particles(CNT@AC-S)in minutes.The fabrication of the CNT@AC-S electrode particles only involves low-cost sulfur blocks,commercial carbon nanotubes(CNT)and activated carbon(AC)micro-particles with high specific surface area.Based on the above core-shell CNT@AC-S particles,sulfur cathode with a high sulfur-loading of 9.2 mg cm^-2 delivers a stable area capacity of 6.6 mAh cm^-2 over 100 cycles.Furthermore,even for sulfur cathode with a super-high sulfur content(72 wt%over the whole electrode),it still delivers a high area capacity of 9 mAh cm^-2 over50 cycles in a quasi-lean electrolyte condition.In a nutshell,this study brings a green and industryfriendly fabrication strategy for cost-effective production of rationally designed S-rich electrode particles.     

Unraveling the stabilization mechanism of solid electrolyte interface on ZnSe by rGO in sodium ion battery

Transition metal selenides have been widely studied as anode materials of sodium ion batteries(SIBs),however,the investigation of solid-electrolyte-interface(SEI)on these materials,which is critical to the electrochemical performance of SIBs,remains at its infancy.Here in this paper,ZnSe@C nanoparticles were prepared from ZIF-8 and the SEI layers on these electrodes with and without reduced graphene oxide(rGO)layers were examined in details by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopies at varied charged/discharged states.It is observed that fast and complicated electrolyte decomposition reactions on ZnSe@C leads to quite thick SEI film and intercalation of solvated sodium ions through such thick SEI film results in slow ion diffusion kinetics and unstable electrode structure.However,the presence of rGO could efficiently suppress the decomposition of electrolyte,thus thin and stable SEI film was formed.ZnSe@C electrodes wrapped by rGO demonstrates enhanced interfacial charge transfer kinetics and high electrochemical performance,a capacity retention of 96.4%,after 1000 cycles at 5 A/g.This study might offer a simple avenue for the designing high performance anode materials through manipulation of SEI film.     

CXN天然沸石的研究2: 吸附性质

采用N~2,NH~3,CO~2,乙烯,丙烯,水,甲醇,乙醇,丙醇等作为吸附剂,研究了由我国CXN天然沸石改性制得的H-STI和Na-STI沸石的吸附性质,H-STI和Na-STI沸石的BET表面积及微孔孔体积约为420m^2/g和0.20m^3/g。根据NH~3和CO~2在H-STI沸石上的吸附等温线计算得到它们的吸附热分别为44.8和26.5kJ/mol。乙烯,丙烯,甲醇,乙醇,丙醇等在Na-STI沸石上的吸附等温线表明该沸石对有机分子的吸附具有链长选择性。在低分压下水相对于甲醇的吸附量表明沸石具有一定的疏水性质。     

常温常湿条件下Au/MeO~x催化剂上CO氧化性能

利用共沉淀法制备了Au/MeO~x催化剂(Me=Al,Co,Cr,Cu,Fe,Mn,Ni,Zn)。在常温常湿条件下,考察了不同氧化物负载的金基催化剂的CO氧化性能。结果表明,氧化物种类对催化剂的活性和稳定性均有较大的影响。Cu,Mn,Cr等氧化物负载的金基催化剂的活性较差,而Zn,Fe,Co,Ni,Al等金属氧化物负载的金基催化剂可将CO完全氧化,又具有一定的稳定性,在相同反应条件下,CO完全转化时的稳定性顺序为Au/ZnO>Au/α-Fe~2O~3>Au/Co~3O~4>Au/γ-Al~2O~3≈Au/NiO。还发现水对Au/MnO~x催化剂的活性和稳定性有负作用,而对180℃焙烧制备的Au/ZnO-180催化剂的活性和稳定性均有明显的湿度增强作用。     

Boost oxygen reduction reaction performance by tuning the active sites in Fe-N-P-C catalysts

Cost-effective atomically dispersed Fe-N-P-C complex catalysts are promising to catalyze the oxygen reduction reaction(ORR)and replace Pt catalysts in fuel cells and metal-air batteries.However,it remains a challenge to increase the number of atomically dispersed active sites on these catalysts.Here we report a highly efficient impregnation-pyrolysis method to prepare effective ORR electrocatalysts with large amount of atomically dispersed Fe active sites from biomass.Two types of active catalyst centers were identified,namely atomically dispersed Fe sites and Fe_xP particles.The ORR rate of the atomically dispersed Fe sites is three orders of magnitude higher than it of Fe_xP particles.A linear correlation between the amount of the atomically dispersed Fe and the ORR activity was obtained,revealing the major contribution of the atomically dispersed Fe to the ORR activity.The number of atomically dispersed Fe increases as the Fe loading increased and reaching the maximum at 1.86 wt%Fe,resulting in the maximum ORR rate.Optimized Fe-N-P-C complex catalyst was used as the cathode catalyst in a homemade Zn-air battery and good performance of an energy density of 771 Wh kgZn^-1,a power density of 92.9 m W cm^-2 at 137 m A cm^-2 and an excellent durability were exhibited.     

Regulation of carbon distribution to construct high-sulfur-content cathode in lithium-sulfur batteries

Lithium-sulfur(Li-S)battery is regarded as one of the most promising next-generation energy storage systems due to the ultra-high theoretical energy density of 2600 Wh kg^-1.To address the insulation nature of sulfur,nanocarbon composition is essential to afford acceptable cycling capacity but inevitably sacrifices the actual energy density under working conditions.Therefore,rational structural design of the carbon/sulfur composite cathode is of great significance to realize satisfactory electrochemical performances with limited carbon content.Herein,the cathode carbon distribution is rationally regulated to construct high-sulfur-content and high-performance Li-S batteries.Concretely,a double-layer carbon(DLC)cathode is prepared by fabricating a surface carbon layer on the carbon/sulfur composite.The surface carbon layer not only provides more electrochemically active surfaces,but also blocks the polysulfide shuttle.Consequently,the DLC configuration with an increased sulfur content by nearly 10 wt%renders an initial areal capacity of 3.40 mAh cm^-2 and capacity retention of 83.8%during 50 cycles,which is about two times than that of the low-sulfur-content cathode.The strategy of carbon distribution regulation affords an effective pathway to construct advanced high-sulfur-content cathodes for practical high-energy-density Li-S batteries.     

Confined Ni-In intermetallic alloy nanocatalyst with excellent coking resistance for methane dry reforming

Carbon dioxide and methane are two main greenhouse gases which are contributed to serious global warming.Fortunately,dry reforming of methane(DRM),a very important reaction developed decades ago,can convert these two major greenhouse gases into value-added syngas or hydrogen.The main problem retarding its industrialization is the seriously coking formation upon the nickel-based catalysts.Herein,a series of confined indium-nickel(In-Ni)intermetallic alloy nanocatalysts(In_xNi@SiO₂)have been prepared and displayed superior coking resistance for DRM reaction.The sample containing 0.5 wt.%of In loading(In_0.5Ni@SiO₂)shows the best balance of carbon deposition resistance and DRM reactivity even after 430 h long term stability test.The boosted carbon resistance can be ascribed to the confinement of core–shell structure and to the transfer of electrons from Indium to Nickel in In-Ni intermetallic alloys due to the smaller electronegativity of In.Both the silica shell and the increase of electron cloud density on metallic Ni can weaken the ability of Ni to activate C–H bond and decrease the deep cracking process of methane.The reaction over the confined InNi intermetallic alloy nanocatalyst was conformed to the Langmuir-Hinshelwood(L-H)mechanism revealed by in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy(in-situ DRIFTS).This work provides a guidance to design high performance coking resistance catalysts for methane dry reforming to efficiently utilize these two main greenhouse gases.     

He+C60↔(He@C60)的反应势垒研究

The reaction barriers of (He+C60(He＠60)) have been calculated by the quantum-chemical method EHMO/ASED in the following four paths: (1) penetrate through the pentagon on the C60 cage; (2) penetrate through the hexagon on the C60 cage,(3) penetrate through the short bond; (4) penetrate through the long bond. Corresponding to each path, there are two choices: (a) while He penetrate C60 cage, the distances of the C’s which are the most adjacent to He are changed with a planar extension and a concerned window is formed; (b) while He penetrate C60 cage, the distances of the C’s which are the most adjacent to He are changed with a spherical extension and a concerned window is formed. The results are given in Figs. 1-2 and Tables 1-2. It is shown that the reaction through path(4) with choice (a) has the least reaction barrier, being optimum. At that case, a window of 9-membered ring is formed. Because the window extension of C6H6 is more free than that of C60, the barrier of He penetrating through C6H6 will be lower than that of He penetrating through C60.     

内嵌复合物X@C60中相互作用的变化规律与键本质

系统地研究了内嵌复合物Ｘ＠Ｃ６０（Ｘ＝第ＩＡ簇或第ＶＩＩＡ族元素）形成过程的能量变化,以及其中笼环境下Ｘ与Ｃ６０间相互作用的变化特征与键本质。结果表明：（１）Ｃ６０笼环境力场具有球对称性;（２）各种分解与总相互作用与内嵌原子的原子序数或原子半径呈现出规则的递变规律;（３）除Ｉ外,其余元素原子与Ｃ６０间的作用对各自复合物的稳定性都有正效应的较大贡献;（４）Ｘ在Ｃ６０笼环境中居心或偏心的稳定位置是各种     

无氧条件下Pt/TiO2光催化重整降解一乙醇胺水溶液制氢

以一乙醇胺（以下简称乙醇胺）为电子给体,在无氧条件下进行了Pt/TiO2光催化重整制氢的研究.详细讨论了诸多因素如催化剂表面Pt化学状态、Pt担载量、溶液pH值、乙醇胺溶液浓度等对产氢效率的影响,并用XRD、HNMR、XPS等进行了深入表征,探讨了Pt/TiO2光催化重整降解乙醇胺和产氢的反应, 实验表明,利用所制备的光催化剂, 可实现在消除水中有机污染物的同时制取氢气的目标.催化剂表面的Pt以Pt0的化学状态存在, 有利于析氢;溶液pH值和浓度的变化对产生速率也有一定的影响.同时发现Pt/TiO2光催化重整乙醇胺制氢反应的最佳条件是:Pt的最佳担载量约为0.5％～1.0％;乙醇胺溶液最佳浓度约为0.05 mol•L－1;最佳溶液pH值范围为4～10;氨基取代的羰基类化合物是其主要中间产物.     

单分散PtNi纳米粒子特殊的红外光学性能

采用电位置换反应以及化学还原法制备了单分散PtNi 纳米粒子,循环伏安结果显示该纳米粒子在0.1mol·L^-1硫酸介质中对CO的氧化表现出比本体Pt 电极更好的电催化活性. 以CO为探针分子,采用电化学原位红外光谱研究了PtNi 纳米粒子上的特殊红外光学性能. 结果表明,PtNi 纳米粒子无论是在玻碳电极还是在金电极上,均表现出对称的双极谱峰,同时给出很强的增强效应. 论文研究结果有助于进一步了解低维纳米材料特殊红外性能的本质.     

C60离子束撞击固体表面的坍塌沉积(I)共焦显微拉曼光谱研究

Raman spectroscopy was applied to characterize the species deposited from the mass-selected C60 ion beam which was accelerated to 900 eV. The substrates for the deposition were (0001) surface of highly oriented pyrolitic graphite and (111) surface of gold crystal. The species do not exhibit the Raman scattering features of buckminsterfullerene, but displays peaks at 1585 and 1332 cm-1 instead. The former peak is the chararteristic Ranan peak of hexagonal graphite, and the latter can be attributed to the amorphous carbon in sp3 hybridization. The result reveals that C60 was collapsed to form a new phase when it collides on the solid surface.     

抗坏血酸在PPy-HEImTfa/Pt电极上的电催化氧化及其机理

以铂为基底电极,在1-乙基咪唑三氟乙酸盐(HEImTfa)离子液体中电化学合成导电聚吡咯(PPy),制得PPy-HEImTfa/Pt电极;采用循环伏安法研究了PPy-HEImTfa/Pt电极对抗坏血酸的电催化氧化性能.结果表明:PPy-HEImTfa/Pt电极对0.1mo·lL-1抗坏血酸具有较高的电催化氧化活性,与相同条件下硫酸溶液中在铂表面修饰的聚吡咯(PPy-H2SO4/Pt)电极和裸铂电极相比,其氧化峰电位分别降低了0.10和0.19V,氧化峰电流分别增加了3.0和3.6mA.同时采用原位傅里叶变换红外(insitu FTIR)光谱技术对抗坏血酸在PPy-HEImTfa/Pt电极上的电氧化机理进行了研究,结果表明:抗坏血酸在PPy-HEImTfa/Pt电极上首先被氧化为脱氢抗坏血酸,在水溶液中脱氢抗坏血酸迅速发生水合作用形成水合脱氢抗坏血酸,它进一步水解并发生内酯开环反应生成2,3-二酮古洛糖酸;在较高电位下,部分抗坏血酸最终被氧化成CO2.     

ZrO_2负载Pt催化巴豆醛选择性加氢

以高比表面积ZrO2为载体,采用浸渍法制备了负载型Pt催化剂,应用于常压下气相巴豆醛加氢反应,考察了Pt负载量和H2还原温度等对巴豆醛选择性加氢性能的影响.实验结果表明,Pt负载量(质量分数)为3%的3Pt/ZrO2催化剂经500℃还原后,具有较高的巴豆醛选择性加氢性能:巴豆醛转化率为27%,巴豆醇的选择性为55%.X射线粉末衍射(XRD)分析,CO化学吸附,NH3程序升温脱附(NH3-TPD)表征结果表明Pt/ZrO2催化剂上Lewis强酸中心和适宜的Pt颗粒(约为8nm)有利于巴豆醛选择性加氢生成巴豆醇.     

C60离子束撞击固体表面的坍塌与沉积(II)扫描隧道显微研究

Mass-selected C60 beam produced by laser ablation was accelerated and bombarded the (0001) surface of highly oriented pyrolitic graphite and (111) surface of gold single crystal. The samples were characterized by STM. The STM images showed that, the deposited species collapsed and formed planar structure on the solid surface, but the collapsed species were not dissociated and well oriented on the surface. Both positive and negative C60 ions were observed in the desorption mass spectra, confirming that the species collapsed on the solid surface are still the C60 clusters.     

电极表面结构及有机添加物对C60电还原过程的影响

研究了不同电极表面结构及有机添加剂对Ｃ６０电化学还原过程的影响。实验结果表明，富勒烯及其阴离子的电还原活性取决于电极表面结构的影响，即：ｉｐｃ（多晶）〉ｉｐｃ［Ｐｔ（１１１）］〉ｉｐｃ［Ｐｔ（１１０）］，且在Ｐｔ（１１１）及Ｐｔ（１１０）晶面上Ｃ６０＾１－及Ｃ６０＾２－的还原电位均有一定的位移。另外，实验结果还表明当溶液中分别添加苯胺及邻氨基酚时，其对Ｃ６０电还原过程的影响机理将有所不同。     

酸性介质中1,2-丙二醇在铂电极上吸附和氧化过程的原位FTIR反射光谱研究

应用电化学循环伏安和原位FTIR反射光谱研究1,2-丙二醇在Pt电极上吸附和氧化过程。结果指出1,2-丙二醇的电氧化可按双途径进行。其一经1,2-丙二醇在Pt上解离吸附产物氧化至CO_2。但在较低电位下这些解离吸附产物(红外检测为CO_(ad)、[﹥C=CH_2]_(ad)等)累积吸附于电极上, 毒化Pt表面抑制其它反应。当电位大于0.3 V后它们一经生成即氧化脱附, 从而使1,2-丙二醇得以在未毒化Pt表面经反应中间体氧化至CO_2。在实验条件下,原位FTIR反射光谱检测到的反应中间体可能有HOC-CHOHCH_3(或CH_2OHCOCH_3)和HOOC-COCH_3(或HOOC-CHOHCH_3)等物种。