Ultrathin Mixed Ionic-Electronic Conducting Interlayer via the Solution Shearing Technique for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

The commercialization of lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries has been hampered by diverse challenges, including the shuttle phenomenon and low electrical/ionic conductivity of lithium sulfide and sulfur. To address these issues, extensive research has been devoted to developing multifunctional interlayers. However, interlayers capable of simultaneously suppressing the polysulfide (PS) shuttle and ensuring stable electrical and ionic conductivity are relatively uncommon.

Rational Design of Hollow Structural Materials for Sodium-Ion Battery Anodes.

The development of sodium-ion battery (SIB) anodes is still hindered by their rapid capacity decay and poor rate capabilities. Although there have been some new materials that can be used to fabricate stable anodes, SIBs are still far from wide applications. Strategies like nanostructure construction and material modification have been used to prepare more robust SIB anodes.

Construction of Co/FeCo@Fe(Co)O heterojunction rich in oxygen vacancies derived from metal-organic frameworks using O plasma as a high-performance bifunctional catalyst for rechargeable zinc-air batteries.

Developing high-efficient, good-durability, and low-cost bifunctional non-precious metal catalysts for both oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is urgent and significant for promoting the practical rechargeable zinc-air batteries (RZABs). Herein, N-doped carbon coated Co/FeCo@Fe(Co)O heterojunction rich in oxygen vacancies derived from metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is successfully constructed by O plasma treatment. The phase transition of Co/FeCo to FeCo oxide (FeO/CoO) mainly occurs on the surface of nanoparticles (NPs) during the O plasma treatment, which can form rich oxygen vacancies simultaneously.

Design optimisation and fabrication of amino acid based molecularly imprinted sensor for the selective determination of food additive tartrazine.

In this work, we developed a new molecularly imprinted polymer detector for tartrazine's rapid and selective detection. Electropolymerisation using l-Methionine resulted in the polymer immobilised on the carbon fibre paper electrode's surface. MIP film was formed by electropolymerisation in the presence of the template tartrazine.

Biowaste derived hydroxyapatite embedded on two-dimensional g-CN nanosheets for degradation of hazardous dye and pharmacological drug via Z-scheme charge transfer.

In recent years, there has been an increase in demand for inexpensive biowaste-derived photocatalysts for the degradation of hazardous dyes and pharmacological drugs. Here, we developed eggshell derived hydroxyapatite nanoparticles entrenched on two-dimensional g-CN nanosheets. The structural, morphological and photophysical behavior of the materials is confirmed through various analytical techniques.

CuCoS@B,N-Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide Hybrid as a Bifunctional Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction and Evolution Reactions.

In this report, a facile synthetic route is adopted for typically designing a hybrid electrocatalyst containing boron, nitrogen dual-doped reduced graphene oxide (B,N-rGO) and thiospinel CuCoS (CuCoS@B,N-rGO). The electrocatalytic activity of the hybrid catalyst is tested with respect to oxygen evolution (OER) and oxygen reduction (ORR) reactions in alkali. Physicochemical characterizations confirm the unique formation of a reduced graphene oxide-non-noble-metal sulfide hybrid.

Synthesis, Characterizations, and Electrochemical Performances of Highly Porous, Anhydrous CoNiCO for Pseudocapacitive Energy Storage Applications.

Electrochemical energy storage relies essentially on the development of innovative electrode materials with enhanced kinetics of ion transport. Pseudocapacitors are excellent candidates to bridge the performance gap between supercapacitors and batteries. Highly porous, anhydrous NiCoCO is envisaged here as a potential electrode for pseudocapacitor applications, mainly because of its open pore framework structure, which poses inherent structural stability due to the presence of planar oxalate anions (CO ), and active participation of Ni and Co results in high intercalative charge storage capacity in the aqueous KOH electrolyte.

Novel Dispersion of 1D Nanofiber Fillers for Fast Ion-Conducting Nanocomposite Polymer Blend Quasi-Solid Electrolytes for Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells.

Electrospun nanocomposite polymer blend poly(vinylidene difluoride--hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF-HFP)/poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) membranes with a novel dispersion of wt % of one-dimensional (1D) TiO nanofiber fillers ( = 0.0-0.8 in steps of 0.

La K FeO: An Anion Intercalative Pseudocapacitive Electrode for Supercapacitor Application.

The green energy alternative to a fossil fuel-based economy can be provided only by coupling renewable energy solution solutions such as solar or wind energy plants with large-scale electrochemical energy storage devices. Enabling high-energy storage coupled with high-power delivery can be envisaged though high-capacitive pseudocapacitor electrodes. A pseudocapacitor electrode with multiple oxidation state accessibility can enable more than 1 charge/transfer per molecule to facilitate superior energy storage.

Synthesis, Characterization, and Ionic Conductivity Studies of Simultaneously Substituted K- and Ga-Doped BaZrO.

Ceramic fuel cells possess tremendous advantages over PMFCs due to their fuel flexibility and requirement of low-purity hydrogen. Despite high conversion efficiency, the high cost of ultra high-purity hydrogen required for the operation limits the application of PMFCs. Although ceramic fuel cells operate at elevated temperature, high performance coupled with multifuel flexibility makes ceramic fuel cells a superior option as a static power source to generate electricity compared to thermal coal-fired power plants.

Ordered mesoporous Pt-Ru-Ir nanostructures as superior bifunctional electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction/oxygen evolution reactions.

An efficient oxygen bifunctional catalyst Pt-Ru-Ir with ordered mesoporous nanostructures (OMNs) was successfully synthesized by chemical reduction using KIT-6 mesoporous silica as a template. The crystallographic behavior, electronic effects, and microstructure of the catalysts were investigated by XRD, XPS, SEM, and TEM analysis. The influence of OMNs and the effect of Ir content in Pt-Ru-Ir catalyst on both oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) were investigated.

N-Doped Carbon Nanotubes Derived from Graphene Oxide with Embedment of FeCo Nanoparticles as Bifunctional Air Electrode for Rechargeable Liquid and Flexible All-Solid-State Zinc-Air Batteries.

This work reports a novel approach for the synthesis of FeCo alloy nanoparticles (NPs) embedded in the N,P-codoped carbon coated nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NPC/FeCo@NCNTs). Specifically, the synthesis of NCNT is achieved by the calcination of graphene oxide-coated polystyrene spheres with Fe, Co and melamine adsorbed, during which graphene oxide is transformed into carbon nanotubes and simultaneously nitrogen is doped into the graphitic structure. The NPC/FeCo@NCNT is demonstrated to be an efficient and durable bifunctional catalyst for oxygen evolution (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR).

Nickel-phosphate pompon flowers nanostructured network enables the sensitive detection of microRNA.

An electrochemical immuno-nanogenosensor is developed based on noble-metal-free nickel phosphate nanostructure (NiPNs) as an excellent biocompatible material for miRNA detection in blood serum and urine samples without using indicators for the first time. The pompon flower-like morphology of NiPNs is synthesized, and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction pattern (XRD), fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and electrochemical impedance methods. The novel NiPNs nanostructured interface was constructed by coordinate covalent bonding between Ni and phosphate group of probe DNA.

Electrochemically Sensing of Trichloroacetic Acid with Iron(II) Phthalocyanine and Zn-Based Metal Organic Framework Nanocomposites.

Rapid and accurate determination of disinfection byproducts (DBPs) has become an emerging need for environmental monitoring and has yet to be realized in electrochemical sensors with metal organic framework (MOF)-based materials. In this study, a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for trichloroacetic acid (TCAA) detection based on iron(II) phthalocyanine (PcFe) and a Zn-based metal organic framework (ZIF-8) composite is fabricated. As an electrode material, ZIF-8 possesses a large surface area and porous structure, which exhibits high absorbability; meanwhile, PcFe (II), as the sensing element, undergoes a reduction process from PcFe (II) to PcFe (I) during the sensing process.

Cobalt Oxide Porous Nanocubes-Based Electrochemical Immunobiosensing of Hepatitis B Virus DNA in Blood Serum and Urine Samples.

In this work, we report a new biosensing platform for hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA genosensing using cobalt oxide (CoO) nanostructures. The tunable morphologies of CoO nanostructures such as porous nanocubes (PNCs), nanooctahedra (NOHs), and nanosticks (NSKs) are synthesized, and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherms (BET), and electrochemical impedance spectral (EIS) methods. The HBV probe DNA (ssDNA) is immobilized on the CoO nanostructures through coordinate bond formation between nucleic acid of ssDNA and Co metal, which results in highly stable nanostructured biosensing platform.

Performance of Solid-state Hybrid Energy-storage Device using Reduced Graphene-oxide Anchored Sol-gel Derived Ni/NiO Nanocomposite.

The influence of (nickel nitrate/citric acid) mole ratio on the formation of sol-gel end products was examined. The formed Ni/NiO nanoparticle was anchored on to reduced graphene-oxide (rGO) by means of probe sonication. It was found that the sample obtained from the (1:1) nickel ion: citric acid (Ni: CA) mole ratio resulted in a high specific capacity of 158 C/g among all (Ni: CA) ratios examined.

Highly active 3-dimensional cobalt oxide nanostructures on the flexible carbon substrates for enzymeless glucose sensing.

The demand for electrochemical sensors with high sensitivity and reliability, fast response, and excellent selectivity has stimulated intensive research on developing highly active nanomaterials. In this work, freestanding 3D/CoO thorn-like and wire-like (nanowires) nanostructures are directly grown on a flexible carbon fiber paper (CFP) substrate by a single-step hydrothermal process without using surfactants or templates. The 3D/CoO thorn-like nanostructures show higher electrochemical activity than wire-like because of their high conductivity, large specific surface areas, and mesopores on their surface.

Nanostructured conducting polymers for energy applications: towards a sustainable platform.

Recently, there has been tremendous progress in the field of nanodimensional conducting polymers with the objective of tuning the intrinsic properties of the polymer and the potential to be efficient, biocompatible, inexpensive, and solution processable. Compared with bulk conducting polymers, conducting polymer nanostructures possess a high electrical conductivity, large surface area, short path length for ion transport and superior electrochemical activity which make them suitable for energy storage and conversion applications. The current status of polymer nanostructure fabrication and characterization is reviewed in detail.

Hierarchical 3-dimensional nickel-iron nanosheet arrays on carbon fiber paper as a novel electrode for non-enzymatic glucose sensing.

Three-dimensional nickel-iron (3-D/Ni-Fe) nanostructures are exciting candidates for various applications because they produce more reaction-active sites than 1-D and 2-D nanostructured materials and exhibit attractive optical, electrical and catalytic properties. In this work, freestanding 3-D/Ni-Fe interconnected hierarchical nanosheets, hierarchical nanospheres, and porous nanospheres are directly grown on a flexible carbon fiber paper (CFP) substrate by a single-step hydrothermal process. Among the nanostructures, 3-D/Ni-Fe interconnected hierarchical nanosheets show excellent electrochemical properties because of its high conductivity, large specific active surface area, and mesopores on its walls (vide infra).

Facile and rapid synthesis of Pd nanodendrites for electrocatalysis and surface-enhanced Raman scattering applications.

Numerous properties from metal nanostructures can be tuned by controlling both their size and shape. In particular, the latter is extremely important because the type of crystalline surface affects the surface electronic density. This paper describes a simple approach to the synthesis of highly-structured, anisotropic palladium nanostructured dendrites.

Tungsten carbide nanotubes supported platinum nanoparticles as a potential sensing platform for oxalic acid.

Supported tungsten carbide is an efficient and vital nanomaterial for the development of high-performance, sensitive, and selective electrochemical sensors. In this work, tungsten carbide with tube-like nanostructures (WC NTs) supported platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs) are synthesized and explored as an efficient catalyst toward electrochemical oxidation of oxalic acid for the first the time. The WC NTs supported PtNPs modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode is highly sensitive toward the electrochemical oxidation of oxalic acid.

Spinel-type lithium cobalt oxide as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions.

Development of efficient, affordable electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction and the oxygen reduction reaction is critical for rechargeable metal-air batteries. Here we present lithium cobalt oxide, synthesized at 400 °C (designated as LT-LiCoO2) that adopts a lithiated spinel structure, as an inexpensive, efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction. The catalytic activity of LT-LiCoO2 is higher than that of both spinel cobalt oxide and layered lithium cobalt oxide synthesized at 800 °C (designated as HT-LiCoO2) for the oxygen evolution reaction.

Nitrogen doped graphene nanosheet supported platinum nanoparticles as high performance electrochemical homocysteine biosensors.

Functional carbon nanomaterials are significantly important for the development of high performance sensitive and selective electrochemical biosensors. In this study, graphene supported platinum nanoparticles (GN-PtNPs) and nitrogen doped graphene supported platinum nanoparticles (N-GN-PtNPs) were synthesized by a simple chemical reduction method and explored as high performance nanocatalyst supports, as well as doped nanocatalyst supports, toward electrochemical oxidation of homocysteine (HCY) for the first the time. Our studies demonstrate that N-doped graphene supported PtNPs show higher electrocatalytic activity for HCY with an experimental detection limit of 200 pM.

Nanostructured α-Fe2O3 platform for the electrochemical sensing of folic acid.

α-Fe(2)O(3) nanofibers are synthesized by a simple and efficient electrospinning method and the selective determination of folic acid (FA) is demonstrated in the presence of an important physiological interferent, ascorbic acid (AA), using the α-Fe(2)O(3) nanofiber modified glassy carbon (GC) electrode at physiological pH. Bare GC electrode fails to determine the concentration of FA in the presence of a higher concentration of AA due to the surface fouling caused by the oxidized products of AA and FA. However, modification with α-Fe(2)O(3) nanofibers not only separates the voltammetric signals of AA and FA by 420 mV between AA and FA, but also enhances higher oxidation current.