Ultrasonic-assisted synthesis of Ce doped cubic–hexagonal ZnTiO3 with highly efficient sonocatalytic activity

Ce doped ZnTiO₃ as a novel catalyst with highly efficient and stable sonocatalytic activity was synthesized via an ultrasound-assisted sol–gel method using non-ionic surfactant Pluronic F127 as structure directing agent. Synthesized samples were characterized by using various techniques, such as XRD, TEM, SEM, EDX, ​XRF, BET, DRS, and PL, and their sonocatalytic activity studied toward degradation of p-Nitrophenol as a model organic compound. The synthesized mesoporous Ce/ZnTiO₃ had mixed cubic–hexagonal phase with large surface area (118.2 m² g^–1) and narrow pore size distribution (4.9 nm). The effects of cerium concentration, calcination temperature, and calcination time on the structure and the sonocatalytic activity of Ce/ZnTiO₃ were studied in detail. XRD results were suggested that the relation between the phase structure and the catalytic activity is considerable. Significant decrease in band-gap and PL intensity was observed with increasing the cerium concentration in the ZnTiO₃. It became clear that the Ce/ZnTiO₃ (0.81 mol%) shows high sonocatalytic activity compared with pure ZnTiO₃ and other Ce/ZnTiO₃ samples as well as commercial TiO₂-P25. The possible mechanism for the enhanced sonocatalytic activity of Ce/ZnTiO₃ was discussed in details. The electrical energy consumption was also considered during sonocatalytic experiments.     

Defect Chemistry of Singly and Doubly Doped Ceria: Correlation between Ion Transport and Energetics

Earlier studies have shown a strong correlation between the enthalpy of formation, ΔH_f,ox, and the ionic conductivity, σ_i, near room temperature in doped ceria systems, which are promising solid electrolytes for intermediate‐temperature solid oxide fuel cells (IT‐SOFCs). The present work demonstrates that this correlation holds at the operating temperature of IT‐SOFCs, 600–700 °C. Solid solutions of Ce_1?xNd_xO_2?0.5x, Ce_1?xSm_xO_2?0.5x, and Ce_1?xSm_0.5xNd_0.5xO_2?0.5x are studied. The ΔH_f,ox at 702 °C is determined by considering the excess heat content between 25 and 702 °C combined with the value of ΔH_f,ox at 25 °C. Both σ_i and ΔH_f,ox show maxima at x=0.15 and 0.20 for the singly and doubly doped ceria, respectively, suggesting that the number of mobile oxygen vacancies in these solid solutions reaches a maximum near those compositions. An increase in temperature results in a shift of the maximum in both ΔH_f,ox and σ_i towards higher concentrations. This shift results from a gradual increase in dissociation of the defect associates.     

Synthesis and Properties of Self‐doped Polyaniline with Polycationic Templates via Biocatalysis

The enzyme horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was used to polymerize acid‐functionalized anilines to make self‐doped polymer in the presence of a polycationic template. Anionic templates such as sulfonated polystyrene (SPS) could not function as a suitable template for the polymerization of acid‐functionalized aniline derivatives. Several types of polyelectrolytes were used as templates to observe the structural effects and doping behavior of polyaniline/template complexes. The synthesis is straightforward and the conditions are mild in that the polymerization of conducting polyanilines may be carried out in buffered solutions as high as pH 6, with a stoichiometric amount of hydrogen peroxide and catalytic amount of enzyme. The conductivity of these enzymatically synthesized self‐doped polymers was relatively high without additional doping due to the self‐doping of the acid moieties. The conductivity did not decrease dramatically at pH 3 as is the usual case of unsubstituted HCl‐doped polyaniline and maintained good conductivity even at pH 6. The measured conductivity at pH 4～pH 6 is around 10^?4 S/cm to 10^?6 S/cm.     

The Synthesis,Characterization and DC Electrical Conductivity of Polypyrrole‐Zirconium Complex

Polypyrrole‐zirconium complex has been synthesized by reacting 2‐amino‐3,4‐dicyano‐5‐mercaptopyrrole with zirconium nitrate in absolute ethanol under reflux for 24 h. The product has been characterized by elemental analyses, FTIR spectroscopy, in addition to thermal analysis (TGA and DSC) and its solubility has been investigated. The DC electrical conductivity variation of polypyrrole‐zirconium complex has been studied in the temperature range 300–500 K after annealing for 24 h at 100°C and doping with I₂, FeCl₃ and CuCl₂ · H₂O for comparison. An attempt has been made to interpret the DC electrical conductivity behavior and thermal properties to chain length, dopant used, polymer structure and attached groups.     

Poly(3,5‐dichloroaniline) Doped with Different Sulfonic Acids

Poly(3,5‐dichloroaniline) was prepared by chemical oxidation in the presence of various sulfonic acids as doping agent, using potassium permanganate as oxidant. 1‐Naphtalene sulfonic acid, 2‐naphatalene sulphonic acid, 1,5‐naphtalene disulfonic acid, and p‐toluenesulfonic acid were the acids of choice. Infrared and UV‐Vis spectroscopy, utilized to characterize the polymers, revealed that the compounds exist in the emeraldine (conductive) oxidation state. The level of doping, conductivity, and morphology were determined as well. The presence of a sulfonic acid produces a morphological change, from granular to microtubule structures, which is responsible for the strong increase in the conductivity of the polymer.     

Characterizing the Role of Iodine Doping in Improving Photovoltaic Performance of Dye‐Sensitized Hierarchically Structured ZnO Solar Cells

We report two novel types of hierarchically structured iodine‐doped ZnO (I? ZnO)‐based dye‐sensitized solar cells (DSCs) using indoline D205 and the ruthenium complex N719 as sensitizers. It was found that iodine doping boosts the efficiencies of D205 I? ZnO and N719 I? ZnO DSCs with an enhancement of 20.3 and 17.9 %, respectively, compared to the undoped versions. Transient absorption spectra demonstrated that iodine doping impels an increase in the decay time of I? ZnO, favoring enhanced exciton life. Mott–Schottky analysis results indicated a negative shift of the flat‐band potential (V_fb) of ZnO, caused by iodine doping, and this shift correlated with the enhancement of the open circuit voltage (V_oc). To reveal the effect of iodine doping on the effective separation of e^?‐h⁺ pairs which is responsible for cell efficiency, direct visualization of light‐induced changes in the surface potential between I? ZnO particles and dye molecules were traced by Kelvin probe force microscopy. We found that potential changes of iodine‐doped ZnO films by irradiation were above one hundred millivolts and thus significantly greater. In order to correlate enhanced cell performance with iodine doping, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, incident‐photon‐current efficiency, and cyclic voltammetry investigations on I? ZnO cells were carried out. The results revealed several favorable features of I? ZnO cells, that is, longer electron lifetime, lower charge‐transfer resistance, stronger peak current, and extended visible light harvest, all of which serve to promote cell performance.     

M2+(M=Cu、Cd、Ag、Fe)掺杂氧化锌纳米粉晶的抗菌性能

采用柠檬酸溶胶-凝胶法制备了ZnO及M²⁺掺杂ZnO纳米粉晶(M=Cu、Cd、Ag、Fe),用现代测试技术表征了样品的组成、结构和形貌,以大肠杆菌(Escherichia coli)、金黄色葡萄球菌(Staphylococcus aureus)和白色念珠菌(Candida albicans)为测试菌株,用抑菌圈、最小抑菌浓度和最小杀菌浓度等方法研究了样品在日光照射下的抗菌活性。结果表明,与母体ZnO相比,Cu、Ag、Cd掺杂样品的抗菌性能明显地增强,这可能是由于掺杂金属离子置换Zn²⁺生成了晶格缺陷和电荷缺陷,阻止了光生电子和光生空穴对的复合从而增强了光催化活性和抗菌活性。     

富锂层状正极材料Li2Mn1-xTixO3的合成及电化学性能

应用简单的高温固相烧结法合成了Ti掺杂改性的Li₂MnO₃材料。电子扫描显微镜、X射线衍射以及X射线光电子能谱分析表明Ti元素取代Mn离子掺入到Li₂MnO₃晶格中,且掺杂能有效地抑制一次颗粒的团聚。电化学阻抗和恒流充放电测试结果表明,在2.0~4.6 V的电压窗口下,掺杂改性的样品Li₂Mn_0.9Ti_0.03O₃的首圈放电比容量达到209 mAh·g^-1,库仑效率为99.5%,循环40圈后容量保持率为94%;当电流密度增大到400 mA·g^-1时,掺杂改性的样品仍然可以放出120 mAh·g^-1比容量,远高于同等电流密度下未掺杂的Li₂MnO₃原粉的比容量（52 mAh·g^-1）。Ti掺杂可有效地改善Li₂MnO₃的循环稳定性和倍率性能,有利于促进该材料的商业化应用。