Metallic Impurities within Residual Catalyst Metallic Nanoparticles Are in Some Cases Responsible for “Electrocatalytic” Effect of Carbon Nanotubes

It′s what′s on the inside that counts : In some cases, the metallic impurities within residual catalyst metallic nanoparticle impurities, which remain in carbon nanotubes even after their purification, are responsible for the “electrocatalytic” properties of carbon nanotubes. This is demonstrated by using double‐walled carbon nanotubes (DWCNTs) containing cobalt residual catalyst nanoparticle impurities, which themselves contain iron‐based impurities.

     

Cover Picture: Metallic Impurities within Residual Catalyst Metallic Nanoparticles Are in Some Cases Responsible for “Electrocatalytic” Effect of Carbon Nanotubes (Chem. Asian J. 4/2009)

At first sight , carbon nanotubes seem to be perfect materials, but appearances can be deceptive. Carbon nanotubes contain impurities and these impurities are often contaminated by yet other impurities. Interestingly, while main impurities (such as Co and Mo) are not electrochemically active, impurities of impurities (such as Fe in this case) dominate the electrochemistry of carbon nanotubes for reduction of important biomarkers, such as hydrogen peroxide. H. Iwai and M. Pumera discuss the importance of this observation in their Full Paper on page 554 ff.

     

多肽自组装纳米管的研究进展

综述了通过多肽自组装形成纳米管道的各种方法:线形的D,L-α-多肽可以通过分子内的氢键以及主链的空间排斥作用而组装成纳米管,游离寡肽和环肽则可以通过分子间的氢键组装形成纳米管,而两亲多肽则通过疏水相互作用组装成纳米管。     

碳纳米管的酞菁钴修饰及其对香兰素的电催化性能

通过酰胺化反应制备了四-2,9,16,23-氨基酞菁钴(TAPcCo)与多壁碳纳米管(MWCNTs)的复合材料,红外光谱、扫描电镜和紫外可见吸收光谱分析表明复合材料中酞菁分子与碳管之间是通过酰胺键结合的,紫外吸收光谱还表明两者之间存在着强烈的电子相互作用。同时还研究了复合材料修饰的玻碳电极对香兰素(VNL)的电催化作用。循环伏安法表明,修饰电极对VNL有着良好的电催化活性,相对于裸玻碳电极VNL在修饰电极上峰电位负移了20mV,峰电流增大了12倍,且VNL在电极表面的反应受吸附控制。方波伏安法证实了这一反应过程中有质子参与。同时,方波伏安法研究还发现:峰电流与香兰素浓度在4.2μmol·L-1～5mmol·L-1范围内呈良好的线性关系,检出限(3.3S/N)为0.44μmol·L-1。     

The Heterogeneity of Multiwalled and Single‐Walled Carbon Nanotubes: Iron Oxide Impurities Can Catalyze the Electrochemical Oxidation of Glucose

It is well established that the heterogeneity of carbon nanotubes must be determined before the origin of the electrochemical performance can be attributed. Recently it has been diligently reported that for the case of multiwalled carbon nanotube modified electrodes, copper oxide impurities are responsible for the electrochemical activity facilitating a nonenzymatic sensing strategy towards glucose. We have explored both commercially available multiwalled and single‐walled carbon nanotubes for the sensing of glucose and find that iron oxide impurities remaining from the fabrication process are the electroactive sites facilitating the nonenzymatic detection of glucose. Given that the multiwalled carbon nanotubes in this work are purchased from the same leading supplier as that used recently, discrepancies in the fabrication process exist which clearly has implications in the commercialization of electrochemical sensors based on multiwalled carbon nanotubes.     

芦丁碳纳米管修饰玻碳电极电催化氧化肼的研究

应用循环伏安法研究了芦丁碳纳米管修饰玻碳电极(Rt-MWNT/GC)的电化学行为及其对肼的电催化氧化.实验表明,该修饰电极能使肼的氧化电位降至260 mV附近,表现出良好的电催化作用.安培法测得催化电流与肼浓度在2.5×10-6～1.0×10-4 mol·L-1范围内呈线性关系,检出限5×10-7 mol.L-1.     

Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes by an Ionic‐Liquid Polymer: Dispersion of Pt and PtRu Nanoparticles on Carbon Nanotubes and Their Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Methanol

Small beginnings : Metal nanoparticle/CNT nanohybrids are synthesized from carbon nanotubes (CNTs) functionalized with an ionic‐liquid polymer. The Pt and PtRu nanoparticles with narrow size distribution (average diameter: (1.3±0.4) nm for PtRu, (1.9±0.5) nm for Pt) are dispersed uniformly on the CNTs (see images) and show good performance in methanol electrooxidation.

     

Hydrogen Oxidation on a Platinum Microelectrode: Effect of Carbon Monoxide Impurities

The kinetics of the hydrogen oxidation and the CO adsorption on a Pt (ultra)microelectrode is studied in a 0.5 M H₂SO₄ solution saturated with a mixture of gaseous H₂ and CO at partial CO pressures p _CO = 10–500 ppm. The balance between rates of diffusion and adsorption of CO at different adsorption times is studied. Studied is the effect of CO impurities in H₂ on steady-state polarization curves for the hydrogen ionization and nonsteady-state curves of the oxidation current decay with time at 0.02–0.05 V. Conditions under which in a certain time interval and at a certain CO concentration the slope of an I vs. t curve is proportional to p _CO are determined. The obtained dependence may be used when designing a technique for monitoring CO impurities in technical hydrogen.     

Redox‐Active Nickel in Carbon Nanotubes and Its Direct Determination

The presence of residual metal‐catalyst impurities in carbon nanotubes is responsible for their toxicity. It is important to differentiate between the total amount of impurities and the redox‐active (bioavailable) amount of such impurities because only the bioavailable impurities exhibit toxic effects. Herein, we report a simple and specific method for quantifying the amount of redox‐active Ni present in various commercial samples of CNTs. It is based on the electrochemical oxidation of Ni(OH)₂ that is formed in alkaline solutions when Ni impurities are opened to the surrounding environment. Metallic Ni impurities play an extremely active role in toxicological assays as well as in undesired catalytic processes, and thus a method to rapidly quantify the amount of redox‐active Ni is of great importance.     

Electrodeposition of Platinum Nanoparticles on Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes for Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Methanol

Platinum (Pt) nanoparticles were deposited at the surface of well-aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) by potential cycling between +0.50 and −0.70 V at a scanning rate of 50 mV · s⁻¹ in 5 mM Na₂PtCl₆ solution containing 0.1 M NaCl. The electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol at the nanocomposites of Pt nanoparticles/nanotubes (Pt_nano/MWNTs) has been investigated using 0.2 M H₂SO₄ as supporting electrolyte. The effects of various parameters, such as Pt loading, concentration of methanol, medium temperature as well as the stability of Pt_nano/MWNTs electrode, have been studied. Compared to glassy carbon electrode, carbon nanotube electrode significantly enhances the catalytic efficiency of Pt nanoparticles for methanol oxidation. This improvement in performance is due not only to the high surface area and the fast electron transfer rate of nanotubes but also to the highly dispersed Pt nanoparticles as electrocatalysts at the tips and the sidewalls of nanotubes.     

Quantum Defects as a Toolbox for the Covalent Functionalization of Carbon Nanotubes with Peptides and Proteins

Single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) are a 1D nanomaterial that shows fluorescence in the near‐infrared (NIR, >800 nm). In the past, covalent chemistry was less explored to functionalize SWCNTs as it impairs NIR emission. However, certain sp³ defects (quantum defects) in the carbon lattice have emerged that preserve NIR fluorescence and even introduce a new, red‐shifted emission peak. Here, we report on quantum defects, introduced using light‐driven diazonium chemistry, that serve as anchor points for peptides and proteins. We show that maleimide anchors allow conjugation of cysteine‐containing proteins such as a GFP‐binding nanobody. In addition, an Fmoc‐protected phenylalanine defect serves as a starting point for conjugation of visible fluorophores to create multicolor SWCNTs and in situ peptide synthesis directly on the nanotube. Therefore, these quantum defects are a versatile platform to tailor both the nanotube's photophysical properties as well as their surface chemistry.     

碳纳米管的纯化──电化学氧化法

用电化学氧化法对碳纳米管进行纯化,从稳态极化曲线出发,对反应的可行性进行了分析,考察了支持电解质、电流密度、时间等因素对反应的影响,确定了最佳实验条件,同时对纯化机理进行了解释.