Cobalt‐Embedded Nitrogen‐Rich Carbon Nanotubes Efficiently Catalyze Hydrogen Evolution Reaction at All pH Values

Despite being technically possible, splitting water to generate hydrogen is still practically unfeasible due mainly to the lack of sustainable and efficient catalysts for the half reactions involved. Herein we report the synthesis of cobalt‐embedded nitrogen‐rich carbon nanotubes (NRCNTs) that 1) can efficiently electrocatalyze the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with activities close to that of Pt and 2) function well under acidic, neutral or basic media alike, allowing them to be coupled with the best available oxygen‐evolving catalysts—which also play crucial roles in the overall water‐splitting reaction. The materials are synthesized by a simple, easily scalable synthetic route involving thermal treatment of Co²⁺‐embedded graphitic carbon nitride derived from inexpensive starting materials (dicyandiamide and CoCl₂). The materials’ efficient catalytic activity is mainly attributed to their nitrogen dopants and concomitant structural defects.     

Catalysis and inhibition of benzimidazole units on thermal imidization of poly(amic acid) via hydrogen bonding interactions

The effect of benzimidazole units on thermal imidizaiton was studied when they were introduced into the main chain of poly(amic acid)(PAA). The thermal imidization process of PAA-PABZ synthesized by 3,3',4,4'-biphenyltetracarboxylic dianhydride(BPDA) and 2-(4-aminophenyl)-5(6)-aminobenzimidazole(PABZ) was studied by TGA, DSC, DMA, FTIR and in situ FTIR. The results of FTIR and in situ FTIR indicate benzimidazole units act as an "in situ" catalyst to accelerate thermal imidization of PAA to polyimide(PI) when the temperature is lower than 170 °C. FTIR and 1H-NMR results demonstrate that in situ catalysis is caused by the hydrogen bonding interactions between C=N of benzimidazole and ―NH― in ―CONH― of PAA and the semi-ionization of the H in imidazole ring of benzimidazole. However, when the imidization temperature is higher than 170 °C, the thermal imidization process is inhibited. DMA and in situ FTIR results illustrate that the decreased mobility of PI-PABZ macromolecular chains and the reduced reactive ability of anhydride formed during the intramolecular breakdown of polymer chains lead to the inhibition of thermal imidization process.     

Derivatization following hollow‐fiber microextraction with tetramethylammonium acetate as a dual‐function reagent for the determination of benzoic acid and sorbic acid by GC

Derivatization at the injection port following hollow‐fiber‐based liquid–liquid–liquid microextraction with tetramethylammonium acetate as a dual‐function reagent, i.e. an acceptor and derivatization reagent, for the determination of benzoic acid (BA) and sorbic acid (SA) in real samples by GC was developed. BA and SA were extracted from aqueous samples to an organic phase impregnated into the pores of the hollow fiber wall, and then back‐extracted to the acceptor solution located inside the lumen of the hollow fiber. Upon injection, the extracted analytes were quantitatively derivatized to their methyl esters with tetramethylammonium acetate in the GC injection port. Several parameters related to the derivatization and extraction efficiency were optimized. The linearity was satisfactory over a concentration range of 0.1–50 mg/L with r > 0.993 for both analytes. The LODs were 2.0 μg/L for SA and 20 μg/L for BA. The recoveries (83–116%) and precisions (RSDs of 1.2–11.4% (n = 3)) were examined by analyzing real spiked samples. The enrichment factors of BA and SA were 300 and 425. The results demonstrated that this is a simple, rapid, accurate, and sensitive method for the determination of BA and SA in various samples.     

Cloud point extraction and simultaneous spectrophotometric determination of V(V), Co(II) and Cu(II) ions in water samples by 5-Br-PADAP using partial least squares regression

In this work, a new method has been proposed to simultaneously determine V(V), Co(II) and Cu(II) ions from aqueous solution by spectrophotometry after cloud point extraction using partial least squares regression (PLS). The metal ions in 10 ml of aqueous solution (containing 0.2 M sodium acetate buffer solution, pH 3.5) were formed complexes with 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol (5-Br-PADAP). Then, Triton X-114 (2 %, v/v) was added to the solution. By increasing the temperature of the solution up to 55 °C, a phase separation occurred. After centrifugation at 3,000 rpm for 10 min, the surfactant-rich phase was dissolved and diluted to 0.5 mL with ethanol. The metal ions were then determined using spectrophotometry. At these optimal extraction and operating conditions, linearity was obeyed in the range 7–300, 3–100 and 15–700 ng mL^?1 of V(V), Co(II) and Cu(II), with the detection limit of 2.2, 1.0 and 4.5 ng mL^?1, respectively. The relative predictive error for the simultaneous determination of 15 test samples of different concentrations of V(V), Co(II) and Cu(II) was 3.28, 3.64 and 4.04 %, respectively. The root mean square error of prediction for applying the PLS method to 15 synthetic samples in the linear ranges of these metal ions was 3.4, 1.6 and 18.1 ng mL^?1. The interference effect of some anions and cations was also tested. The proposed method has been applied successfully to the simultaneous determination of V(V), Co(II) and Cu(II) ions in real matrix samples with the recoveries of 96.75–104.80 %.     

氮掺杂石墨烯负载的硫化镉空心球纳米复合材料的光催化性能

通过无模板法一步合成了一种新型N掺杂石墨烯负载的CdS空心球复合材料. 采用X射线衍射、透射电镜、红外光谱、紫外-可见光谱、N₂吸附-脱附、荧光光谱和X射线光电子能谱等技术对该材料进行了表征, 并在可见光照射下测试了其在降解亚甲基蓝和水杨酸中的光催化性能. 结果表明, 相对于氧化石墨烯负载硫化镉空心球和单独的硫化镉空心球, 氮掺杂石墨烯负载的硫化镉空心球具有更高的光催化活性和稳定性. 这是由于氮掺杂的石墨烯能充当优异的电子受体和传输体, 从而抑制了载流子的复合. 另外发现, 羟基自由基是可见光下降解亚甲基蓝的主要活性物种.     

螯合吸附材料ASA-PGMA/SiO2对稀土离子的吸附性能研究

采用静态吸附法研究了ASA-PGMA/SiO2对稀土离子的螯合吸附性能、吸附动力学和热力学。实验结果表明,其对稀土离子的吸附能力分别为:La3+:38.6 mg.g-1,Pr3+:39.6 mg.g-1,Nd3+:41.8 mg.g-1,Sm3+:42.8 mg.g-1,Tb3+:46.2 mg.g-1。吸附等温模型符合Lang-muir型单分子层吸附。介质pH值对材料的吸附能力有很大影响,pH值为6时吸附量最大。以盐酸为洗脱剂,当酸度为0.1 mol.L-1时,洗脱率为99.8%。连续吸附-脱附实验表明,ASA-PGMA/SiO2重复使用10次后,吸附能力变化很小。     

气相色谱法测定树脂工艺品中的半挥发性有机物残留

建立了树脂工艺品中半挥发性有机物(SVOCs)的超声萃取–气相色谱检测方法。对超声萃取条件进行了研究,优化了气相色谱参数。结果表明,样品用三氯甲烷在60℃下超声萃取40 min,选择HP–5色谱柱时,气相色谱(FID)测定半挥发物总量时可获得良好的灵敏度和准确的定量结果。方法的相对标准偏差小于5%(n=6),检测限为2 mg/kg。4个含量水平样品的6个实验室3次平行测定结果表明,实验室内测定结果的相对标准偏差为1.61%~2.94%,实验室间测定结果的相对标准偏差为5.96%~8.35%。     

电沉积表面修饰对染料敏化太阳电池微观性能影响机理研究

为了改善染料敏化太阳电池内电子的传输复合过程, 研究者尝试不同方法制备或改性TiO₂薄膜. 对TiO₂薄膜进行后处理, 在其表面引入一层小颗粒层, 是一种有效的方法并被广泛研究. 通过对TiO₂薄膜不同时间的电沉积表面修饰, 细致研究了表面修饰后染料敏化太阳电池微观性能的变化机制. 采用阳极氧化法在TiCl₃水溶液中对TiO₂薄膜进行电沉积后处理, 将溶液pH值调至2.2, 装置的反应速率由恒电位仪控制. 不同沉积时间电池带边移动以及电子传输复合的动力学过程, 借助强度调制光电流谱(IMPS)/强度调制光电压谱(IMVS)和电化学阻抗谱(EIS)等探测技术表征. 研究表明, 电沉积在TiO₂薄膜表面引入了大量浅能级陷阱态, 以致电势较高时电容随沉积时间延长增加明显. 不同时间的电沉积表面修饰在TiO₂薄膜表面形成了新的小颗粒层并改善了TiO₂颗粒间接触, 在改善电子注入及收集过程的同时, 也有效抑制了内部电子复合. IMPS/IMVS结果表明, 电沉积对动力学过程改善的效果受光强影响明显, 弱光下作用更为突出. 此外, 电池开路电压主要受带边移动及内部复合变化影响, 随沉积时间延长, 表面电荷的增多使TiO₂薄膜带边逐渐正移, 有效改善了光电流却限制了开路电压的提升. 在适合的电沉积时间下, 电沉积表面修饰可以同时改善光电流和光电压.