Effect of annealing on the supercapacitor performance of CuO-PAA/CNT films

We report the synthesis of CuO-poly(acrylic) acid/CNT hybrid thin films by a cost-effective spin-coating technique for supercapacitor application. Hybrid films were annealed at 300, 400, and 500 °C to study its effect on the supercapacitor behavior. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy techniques were used for the phase identification and determination of the organic component in the hybrid films, respectively. Surface morphology of the films was examined by scanning electron microscopy and revealed the novel ring-like structures. The average diameter of the ring changes from 0.5 to 1.2 μm with increase in annealing temperature. Cyclic voltammetry is employed to estimate the specific capacitance (C _sp) of the films in 1 M H₂SO₄ electrolyte. It is observed that the C _sp increases from 188 to 258 Fg⁻¹ with increase in annealing temperature.     

Spectrophotometric determination of methylamine moiety containing pesticides using ninhydrine reagent

A spectrophotometric method has been proposed for the determination of pesticides containing methylamine moiety. These pesticides afforded methylamine upon alkaline hydrolysis, which was subsequently reacted with ninhydrin in the presence of pyridine. The absorbance of the resulting blue-purple product was measured spectrophotometrically at 570 nm. The Beer??s law showed a linear relationship between absorbance and concentration of the pesticide in the range 0.04?C5.0 ??g/mL. The limit of detection and limit of quantification were 0.012 and 0.02 ??g/mL, respectively. The repeatability was 0.22 expressed as RSD. The performance of this newly developed method was compared with the established spectrophotometric methods for the determination of these pesticides. The method has been successfully applied to the evaluation of these pesticides in commercial pesticide formulation and to the determination of monocrotophos in fruit samples.     

Lithium-ion Mobility in Li6B18(Li3N) and Li Vacancy Tuning in the Solid Solution Li6B18(Li3N)1−x(Li2O)x

All-solid-state batteries are promising candidates for safe energy-storage systems due to non-flammable solid electrolytes and the possibility to use metallic lithium as an anode. Thus, there is a challenge to design new solid electrolytes and to understand the principles of ion conduction on an atomic scale. We report on a new concept for compounds with high lithium ion mobility based on a rigid open-framework boron structure. The host–guest structure Li₆B₁₈(Li₃N) comprises large hexagonal pores filled with Li₇N] strands that represent a perfect cutout from the structure of α-Li₃N. Variable-temperature ⁷Li NMR spectroscopy reveals a very high Li mobility in the template phase with a remarkably low activation energy below 19 kJ mol⁻¹ and thus much lower than pristine Li₃N. The formation of the solid solution of Li₆B₁₈(Li₃N) and Li₆B₁₈(Li₂O) over the complete compositional range allows the tuning of lithium defects in the template structure that is not possible for pristine Li₃N and Li₂O.