Electrospinning of ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene nanofibers

The electrospinning method has been employed to fabricate ultrafine nanofibers of ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polyethylene for the first time with a mixture of solvents of different dielectric constants and conductivities. The possibility of producing highly oriented nanofibers from ultrahigh‐molecular‐weight polymers suggests new ways of fabricating ultrastrong, porous, and single‐component nanocomposite fibers with improved properties. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 766–773, 2007     

Hollow Carbon Nanofibers Filled with MnO2 Nanosheets as Efficient Sulfur Hosts for Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

Lithium–sulfur batteries have been investigated as promising electrochemical‐energy storage systems owing to their high theoretical energy density. Sulfur‐based cathodes must not only be highly conductive to enhance the utilization of sulfur, but also effectively confine polysulfides to mitigate their dissolution. A new physical and chemical entrapment strategy is based on a highly efficient sulfur host, namely hollow carbon nanofibers (HCFs) filled with MnO₂ nanosheets. Benefiting from both the HCFs and birnessite‐type MnO₂ nanosheets, the MnO₂@HCF hybrid host not only facilitates electron and ion transfer during the redox reactions, but also efficiently prevents polysulfide dissolution. With a high sulfur content of 71 wt % in the composite and an areal sulfur mass loading of 3.5 mg cm^?2 in the electrode, the MnO₂@HCF/S electrode delivered a specific capacity of 1161 mAh g^?1 (4.1 mAh cm^?2) at 0.05 C and maintained a stable cycling performance at 0.5 C over 300 cycles.     

Luminescent Nanofibers Fabricated from Phenanthroimidazole Derivatives by Organogelation: Fluorescence Response towards Acid with High Performance

Nanofibers based on phenanthroimidazole derivatives PCC , PDC , and PSC were fabricated by organogelation processes, and their fluorescence sensory properties towards acid were investigated. It was found that the emission of PCC in the nanofiber‐based film could be quenched significantly upon exposure to gaseous TFA due to the formation of protonated PCC , in which ICT (intramolecular charge transfer) would occur. On the other hand, TFA vapor led to the emitting colors of PDC and PSC in the nanofiber‐based films to turn to yellow and green from sky blue and blue, respectively. Additionally, we found that the decay times of PCC were 0.1 s and 1.9 s in probing the saturated vapor of TFA in nanofiber‐based film and in spin‐coated film, respectively. The results suggested that the high surface‐to‐volume ratio and large interspace in the nanofiber‐based networks favored the enhanced adsorption, accumulation, and diffusion of gaseous molecules, resulting in such a high performance.     

Mesoporous Carbon Nanofibers Embedded with MoS2 Nanocrystals for Extraordinary Li‐Ion Storage

MoS₂ nanocrystals embedded in mesoporous carbon nanofibers are synthesized through an electrospinning process followed by calcination. The resultant nanofibers are 100–150 nm in diameter and constructed from MoS₂ nanocrystals with a lateral diameter of around 7 nm with specific surface areas of 135.9 m² g^?1. The MoS₂@C nanofibers are treated at 450 °C in H₂ and comparison samples annealed at 800 °C in N₂. The heat treatments are designed to achieve good crystallinity and desired mesoporous microstructure, resulting in enhanced electrochemical performance. The small amount of oxygen in the nanofibers annealed in H₂ contributes to obtaining a lower internal resistance, and thus, improving the conductivity. The results show that the nanofibers obtained at 450 °C in H₂ deliver an extraordinary capacity of 1022 mA h g^?1 and improved cyclic stability, with only 2.3 % capacity loss after 165 cycles at a current density of 100 mA g^?1, as well as an outstanding rate capability. The greatly improved kinetics and cycling stability of the mesoporous MoS₂@C nanofibers can be attributed to the crosslinked conductive carbon nanofibers, the large specific surface area, the good crystallinity of MoS₂, and the robust mesoporous microstructure. The resulting nanofiber electrodes, with short mass‐ and charge‐transport pathways, improved electrical conductivity, and large contact area exposed to electrolyte, permitting fast diffusional flux of Li ions, explains the improved kinetics of the interfacial charge‐transfer reaction and the diffusivity of the MoS₂@C mesoporous nanofibers. It is believed that the integration of MoS₂ nanocrystals and mesoporous carbon nanofibers may have a synergistic effect, giving a promising anode, and widening the applicability range into high performance and mass production in the Li‐ion battery market.     

Fast and Robust Nanocellulose Width Estimation Using Turbidimetry

The dimensions of nanocelluloses are important factors in controlling their material properties. The present study reports a fast and robust method for estimating the widths of individual nanocellulose particles based on the turbidities of their water dispersions. Seven types of nanocellulose, including short and rigid cellulose nanocrystals and long and flexible cellulose nanofibers, are prepared via different processes. Their widths are calculated from the respective turbidity plots of their water dispersions, based on the theory of light scattering by thin and long particles. The turbidity‐derived widths of the seven nanocelluloses range from 2 to 10 nm, and show good correlations with the thicknesses of nanocellulose particles spread on flat mica surfaces determined using atomic force microscopy.

     

高分散钴氮共掺杂碳纳米纤维氧还原催化剂

过渡金属氮掺杂碳基催化剂已成为替代铂基氧还原反应(ORR)电催化剂的理想选择。本文通过静电纺丝技术制备了高比表面、高度分散的钴原子配位氮掺杂的碳纳米纤维催化剂(Co-N/C)。X射线衍射(XRD)和高分辨率透射电镜(HRTEM)结果证实Co元素高度分散于制备的Co-N/C催化剂中。X射线光电子能谱结果表明N元素主要以吡啶N和石墨N形式存在。该Co-N/C催化剂对ORR反应呈现出较高的电催化活性,其氧还原起始和半波电位分别为0.92 V和0.80 V(相对于标准氢电极),接近于商业化Pt/C催化剂的性能。以制备的Co-N/C催化剂作为阴极,25℃下锌空气燃料电池的开路电位1.54 V、最大功率密度达到了190 m V·cm~(-2)表明该催化剂具有良好的应用前景。     

Enhanced Electron Transfer Rates by AC Voltammetry for Ferrocenes Attached to the End of Embedded Carbon Nanofiber Nanoelectrode Arrays

The effect of the interior structure of carbon nanomaterials on their electrochemical properties is not well understood. We report here the electron transfer rate (ETR) of ferrocene (Fc) molecules covalently attached to the exposed end of carbon nanofibers (CNFs) in an embedded nanoelectrode array. The ETR in normal DC voltammetry was found to be limited by the conical graphitic stacking structure interior of CNFs. AC voltammetry, however, can cope with this intrinsic materials property and provide over 100 times higher ETR, likely by a new capacitive pathway. This provides a new method for high‐performance electroanalysis using CNF nanoelectrodes.     

A novel H(2)O(2) amperometric biosensor based on gold nanoparticles/self-doped polyaniline nanofibers

A new kind of gold nanoparticles/self-doped polyaniline nanofibers (Au/SPAN) with grooves has been prepared for the immobilization of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) on the surface of glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The ratio of gold in the composite nanofibers was up to 64%, which could promote the conductivity and biocompatibility of SPAN and increase the immobilized amount of HRP molecules greatly. The electrode exhibits enhanced electrocatalytic activity in the reduction of H₂O₂ in the presence of the mediator hydroquinone (HQ). The effects of concentration of HQ, solution pH and the working potential on the current response of the modified electrode toward H₂O₂ were optimized to obtain the maximal sensitivity. The proposed biosensor exhibited a good linear response in the range from 10 to 2000 μM with a detection limit of 1.6 μM (S/N = 3) under the optimum conditions. The response showed Michaelis–Menten behavior at larger H₂O₂ concentrations, and the apparent Michaelis–Menten constant K_m was estimated to be 2.21 mM. The detection of H₂O₂ concentration in real sample showed acceptable accuracy with the traditional potassium permanganate titration.     

Carbon nanofibers extracted from soot as a sorbent for the determination of aromatic amines from wastewater effluent samples

The isolation and characterization of carbon nanofibers from soot obtained by burning natural oil is reported. The fibers were extracted from the soot with tetrahydrofuran followed by sonication. The carbon nanofibers were mixed with poly(vinyl alcohol) and electrospun to get the nanofiber mat. The extraction ability of electrospun nanofibers for the separation and preconcentration of aromatic compounds such as 3-nitroaniline, 4-chloroaniline, 4-bromoaniline and 3,4-dichloroaniline were tested and efficiently evaluated using high performance liquid chromatography. Under optimized conditions, the method showed good linearity in a range of 0.5–50 μg L⁻¹ with correlation coefficient ranging from 0.989 to 0.998. High precision of the extraction with RSD values of 4.5–5.8% and low LOD value in a range of 0.009–0.081 μg L⁻¹ for all aniline compounds were achieved. The proposed microextraction method offers advantages such as easy operation, high recovery, fast extraction, minimal use of organic solvent and elimination of tedious solvent evaporation and reconstitution steps.     

Multiple quantum NMR spectra of toluene and p‐bromotoluene partially aligned in a nematic phase

¹H multiple quantum (MQ) NMR spectra of toluene and p‐bromotoluene, partially aligned in a liquid crystalline solvent, were acquired using gradient‐assisted methods. The MQ spectra were analysed to give the dipolar couplings (D_ij) and these were used to determine the molecular shape and average orientation of the of the spin systems. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.