Zn-doped MnO nanowires displaying plentiful crystalline defects and tunable small cross-sections for an optimized volcano-type performance towards supercapacitors.

MnO-based nanomaterials are promising large-scale electrochemical energy storage devices due to their high specific capacity, low toxicity, and low cost. However, their slow diffusion kinetics is still challenging, restricting practical applications. Here, a one-pot and straightforward method was reported to produce Zn-doped MnO nanowires with abundant defects and tunable small cross-sections, exhibiting an outstanding specific capacitance.

The oscillatory electro-oxidation of 2-propanol on platinum: the effect of temperature and addition of methanol.

The oscillatory electro-oxidation of 2-propanol on platinum and platinum-based catalysts has attracted growing attention in recent years due to its importance in the interconversion between chemical and electrical energies. This reaction might proceed with a very high selectivity to acetone, nearly without the formation of carbon dioxide, and the reversibility of the 2-propanol/acetone pair is very appropriate for hydrogen transfer. An important aspect of this system is the ubiquitous emergence of potential oscillations under current control, and it has been pointed out as a problem to be avoided and a primary cause of limitations to the use of 2-propanol in practical devices.

Novel Conducting and Biodegradable Copolymers with Noncytotoxic Properties toward Embryonic Stem Cells.

Electroactive biomaterials that are easily processed as scaffolds with good biocompatibility for tissue regeneration are difficult to design. Herein, the synthesis and characterization of a variety of novel electroactive, biodegradable biomaterials based on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiphene) copolymerized with poly(d,l lactic acid) (PEDOT--PDLLA) are presented. These copolymers were obtained using (2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4-][1,4]dioxin-2-yl)methanol (EDOT-OH) as an initiator in a lactide ring-opening polymerization reaction, resulting in EDOT-PDLLA macromonomer.

Kinetics, Assembling, and Conformation Control of L-Cysteine Adsorption on Pt Investigated by in situ FTIR Spectroscopy and QCM-D.

A quartz crystal microbalance method with dissipation (QCM-D) and attenuated total reflection Fourier-transform infrared (ATR-FTIRS) spectroscopy were used to study the adsorption of L-cysteine (L-Cys) on Pt. Through QCM-D, it was possible to verify that the viscoelastic properties of the adsorbed species play an important role in the adsorption, rendering Sauerbrey's equation inapplicable. The modelling of QCM-D data exposed two different processes for the adsorption reaction.

The long and successful journey of electrochemically active amino acids. From fundamental adsorption studies to potential surface engineering tools.

Proteins have been the subject of electrochemical studies. It is possible to apply electrochemical techniques to obtain information about their structure due to the presence of five electroactive amino acids that can be oriented to the outside of the peptidic chain. These amino acids are L-Tryptophan (L-Trp), L-Tyrosine (L-Tyr), L-Histidine (L-His), L-Methionine (L-Met) and L-Cysteine (L-Cys); their electrochemical behavior being subject of extensive research, but it is still controversial.