氰基修饰石墨相氮化碳构建高效的活性位点用于光催化还原CO2

作为影响光催化反应的关键因素,光催化剂的活性位点数量直接决定了光催化活性.传统石墨相氮化碳(g-C3N4)由于活性位点不足而表现出较弱的光催化活性.为了增加g-C3N4的活性位点数量,研究人员采取了各种策略,包括杂原子掺杂、表面改性和空位工程.其中,表面改性是增加催化剂活性位点的有效策略之一.氰基具有很强的吸电子能力,可在光催化反应中作为活性位点.然而,关于氰基作为CO2光还原活性位点的研究并不多,特别是对于氰基修饰增强g-C3N4活性的机理尚不清楚.构建多孔结构是暴露催化剂活性位点的有效措施之一.多孔结构可以有效改善纳米片的团聚,促进活性位点暴露,增大反应物与活性位点间的接触机会;并且相互连接的多孔网络可形成独特的传输通道,进一步促进载流子迁移.本文通过分子自组装和碱辅助策略合成了氰基改性的多孔g-C3N4纳米片(MCN-0.5).氰基由于具有良好的吸电子特性,促进了局部载流子分离,并充当了光催化反应的活性位点.受益于活性位点的影响,MCN-0.5表现出显著增强的光催化CO2还原活性.在不添加牺牲剂和助催化剂的条件下,MCN-0.5样品上CO和CH4产率达到13.7和0.6μmol·h–1·g–1,分别是传统煅烧法制备的g-C3N4(TCN)产生CO和CH4产率的2.5和2倍.通过盐酸处理MCN-0.5除去氰基,并没有破坏样品的形貌结构,但催化剂的光催化活性显著降低,证实了氰基活性位点的作用.光还原Pt纳米颗粒的实验结果表明,与对照样品相比,氰基修饰的样品上还原的Pt纳米颗粒更多,进一步证实了引入氰基为光还原反应提供了更多活性位点.CO2等温吸附测试结果表明,MCN-0.5对CO2的吸附能力不如对照样品,间接证明氰基能成为活性位点是由于其良好的吸电子能力促进了局部载流子分离.瞬态荧光光谱、光电化学表征结果表明,氰基修饰增强了载流子迁移和分离能力.根据理论计算和原位红外光谱提出了氰基修饰增强g-C3N4光催化还原CO2活性的作用机理.以三聚氰胺为前驱体接枝氰基的g-C3N4也表现出比体相g-C3N4明显增强的光催化还原CO2活性,这证明了氰基改性增强g-C3N4活性策略的通用性.本文通过在光催化剂材料中设计活性位点为太阳能高效转化提供了一个有效途径.     

On fractional stable processes and sheets: White noise approach

In this paper we construct the β-fractional α-stable processes and sheets as functionals of α-stable white noises by using a transformation induced from fractional integral operators. This white noise approach is shown to be very useful in investigating their distribution and path properties (stationariness of increments, self-similarity, sample continuity, etc.).     

Enhancement mechanism of field electron emission properties in hybrid carbon nanotubes with tree- and wing-like features

In this work, the tree-like carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with branches of different diameters and the wing-like CNTs with graphitic-sheets of different densities were synthesized by using plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The nanostructures of the as-prepared hybrid carbon materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The structural dependence of field electron emission (FEE) property was also investigated. It is found that both of the tree- and wing-like CNTs exhibit a lower turn-on field and higher emission current density than the pristine CNTs, which can be ascribed to the effects of branch size, crystal orientation, and graphitic-sheet density.     

Helical‐Ribbon Formation by a β‐Amino Acid Modified Amyloid β‐Peptide Fragment

An addition to the family : The introduction of β‐amino acid residues into a modified amyloid β peptide fragment resulted in well‐defined helical nanoribbons (see cryo‐TEM image) comprising β strands mainly oriented perpendicular to the ribbon axis. The nanoribbons order into a flow‐aligning nematic phase at higher concentration. The β‐strand nanoribbon structure is an addition to the known set of secondary structures adopted by β‐peptides.

     

A New Class of Boron Nanotube

The configurations, stability and electronic structures of a new class of boron sheet and related boron nanotubes are predicted within the framework of density functional theory. This boron sheet is sparser than those of recent proposals. Our theoretic results show that the stable boron sheet remains flat and is metallic. There are bands similar to the π‐bands in graphite near the Fermi level. Stable nanotubes with various diameters and chiral vectors can be rolled from the sheet. Within our study, only the thin (8, 0) nanotube with a band gap of 0.44 eV is semiconducting, while all the other thicker boron nanotubes are metallic, independent of their chirality. It indicates the possibility, in the design of nanodevices, to control the electronic transport properties of the boron nanotube through the diameter.     

Simultaneous electrochemical detection of multiple tumor markers based on dual catalysis amplification of multi-functionalized onion-like mesoporous graphene sheets

In this work, a sandwich-type electrochemical immunosensor for simultaneous sensitive detection of prostate specific antigen (PSA) and free prostate specific antigen (fPSA) is fabricated. Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) modified Prussian blue and nickel hexacyanoferrates nanoparticles were firstly prepared, respectively, and then decorated onion-like mesoporous graphene sheets (denoted as Au@PBNPs/O-GS and Au@NiNPs/O-GS) as distinguishable signal tags to label different detection antibodies. Subsequently, streptavidin and biotinylated alkaline phosphatase (bio-AP) were employed to block the possible remaining active sites. With the employment of the as prepared nanohybrids, the dual catalysis amplification can be achieved by catalysis of the ascorbic acid 2-phosphate to in situ produce AA in the presence of bio-AP, and then AA was further catalyzed by Au@PBNPs/O-GS and Au@NiNPs/O-GS nanohybrids, respectively, to obtain the higher signal responses. The experiment results show that the linear range of the proposed immunosensor for simultaneous determination of fPSA is from 0.02 to 10 ng mL⁻¹ with a detection limit of 6.7 pg mL⁻¹ and PSA is from 0.01 to 50 ng mL⁻¹ with a detection limit of 3.4 pg mL⁻¹ (S/N = 3). Importantly, the proposed method offers promise for rapid, simple and cost-effective analysis of biological samples.     

Selective Preconcentration and Ion Chromatography of Trace Lead(II) in Environmental Samples Using a Porous Graphitic Carbon Column

Abstract

Highly selective ion analysis of sub-ppm Pb(II) on a porous graphitic carbon (PGC) column, is described using ion chromatography with acidified aqueous mobile phases, post-column detection using PAR and spectrophotometric detection. Sensitivity is enhanced by on-line preconcentration of the metal prior to the chromatography using one millilitre injection volumes applied to a calix[4]arene-tetrahydroxamate based chelating precolumn. The method is applied to water samples collected from a river subjected to an industrial effluent discharge and results obtained compare favourably with those obtained using flame atomic absorption spectroscopy.