Utilizing electrospun molecularly imprinted membranes for food industry: Opportunities and challenges.

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) have been widely studied in environmental protection and food industry, owing to their excellent specific recognition and structural stability. However, MIPs prepared by conventional methods suffer from low adsorption capacity and slow mass transfer rate. To date, the combination of electrostatic spinning technology and molecular imprinting technology has been proposed to prepare molecularly imprinted membranes (MIMs) with specific recognition capability, and has shown great attraction in the separation and detection of food additives, as well as the extraction and release of active ingredients.

Fabrication and application of a 3D-rGO electrochemical sensor for SO detection in ionic liquids.

Sulfur dioxide (SO) is a common atmospheric pollutant. Currently, most of the detection methods are based on chemical reactions and optical absorption principles. However, these methods have some limitations in their detection range and accuracy, especially in complex environments.

Magnetic MXene-based molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for methylmalonic acid.

A novel magnetic TiCT-MXene/FeO composite was prepared from TiCT and magnetic FeO. The characterizations by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) exhibited that the TiCT/FeO nanomaterial presented an outstanding conductivity and a large specific area, which could improve the electron transfer rate, leading to the amplification of the sensor's signal. Furthermore, an ultrasensitive molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor based on MXene/FeO composites was fabricated for detecting methylmalonic acid (MMA) with high selectivity.

Large-scale preparation of graphene oxide film and its application for electromagnetic interference shielding.

In this work, a large-scale preparation of graphene oxide (GO) film is reported, and the structure and the compositional variation was studied after thermal annealing. The electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding performance of thermally reduced GO films was also investigated. Commercial GO clay was well dispersed by high-speed shearing and formed a stable slurry with a high solid content in water (5%), and this was chosen rather than organic solvent due to its optimal performance in coating procedures and film quality.

The Reinforced Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Performance of Thermal Reduced Graphene Oxide Films via Polyimide Pyrolysis.

In this work, thin reduced graphene oxide (GO) composite films were fabricated for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding application. High solid content GO slurry (7 wt %) was obtained by dispersing GO clay in polymer solution under high-speed mechanical stirring. A composite film with varied thickness (10-150 μm) could be fabricated in pilot scale.

Electrochemical sensor based on TiC membrane doped with UIO-66-NH for dopamine.

A TiC membrane was prepared by doping UIO-66-NH with TiC through hydrogen bonds. When the doping mass ratio of TiC and UIO-66-NH was 6:1, the electrochemical performance was optimal. Characterization was done by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) which exhibited hierarchical cave-like physiognomy, large specific area, outstanding electronic conductive network, and excellent film-forming property.

Imidazole Compounds: Synthesis, Characterization and Application in Optical Analysis.

Imidazole is a five-membered heterocyclic ring containing three carbon atoms, two nitrogen atoms, and two double bonds. Among two nitrogen atoms, one of which carries with a hydrogen atom is a pyrrole-type nitrogen atom, another is a pyridine type nitrogen atom. Hence, the imidazole ring belongs to the π electron-rich aromatic ring and can accept strong suction to the electronic group.

A novel symmetrical imidazole-containing framework as a fluorescence sensor for selectively detecting silver ions.

In this study, a novel and highly efficient "turn-off" fluorescence imidazole-based sensor (BIB) with a symmetric structure was synthesized by a four-step reaction, from -phenylenediamine, 6-bromo-2-pyridinecarboxaldehyde, and 1-bromohexane. The sensing mechanism was confirmed fluorescence titration, HRMS, and HNMR techiniques. The results showed that the binding ratio of BIB and Ag was 1 : 1 in a DMF-HEPES (pH 7.

l-Cysteine-Modified Graphene Oxide-Based Membrane for Chiral Selective Separation.

A novel chiral separation membrane was fabricated by assembling l-cysteine (l-Cys)-modified graphene oxide sheets. l-Cys modification leads to an enantiomer separation membrane with an accessible interlayer spacing of 8 Å, which allows high solvent permeability. In the racemate separation experiments under isobaric conditions, the enantiomeric excess (ee) values of alanine (Ala), threonine (Thr), tyrosine (Tyr), and penicillamine (Pen) racemates in the permeation solution were 43.

Facile synthesis of an aggregation-induced emission (AIE) active imidazoles for sensitive detection of trifluralin.

A novel imidazoles fluorescent probe (2) was synthesized from vanillin, o-phenylenediamine, and N,N-diphenylcarbamyl chloride. Its structure was characterized by fluorescence spectra, UV-Vis spectra, H NMR, C NMR, and high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS). Moreover, its aggregation-induced emission (AIE) feature was investigated in THF/MeOH solution.

MXene-based enzymatic sensor for highly sensitive and selective detection of cholesterol.

In this work, the synthesized MXene (TiCT) exhibited large specific area, biocompatibility, excellent electronic conductivity, and good dispersion in aqueous phase. The Chit/ChOx/TiCT nanocomposite was prepared through the continuous self-assembled process. Its structure is characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), cyclic voltammetry (CV), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and differential pulse voltammetry (DPV).

Synthesis of membrane-type graphene oxide immobilized manganese dioxide adsorbent and its adsorption behavior for lithium ion.

Recently, there has been an urgent need to develop new materials and technologies for extracting lithium ions. Herein, the membrane-type adsorbent of manganese dioxide (MnO) is prepared by a vacuum filtration method using graphene oxide (GO) as a binder and amino-β-cyclodextrin (amino-β-CD) as an adjuvant. The results of thermogravimetric analysis show that MnO is successfully immobilized on GO layers with a content of about 24 wt%, which enabled rapid adsorb lithium ions from the ionic solution.

Fe-cation Doping in NiSe as an Effective Method of Electronic Structure Modulation towards High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

The commercialization of Li-S batteries is hindered by the shuttling of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs), the sluggish sulfur redox kinetics as well as the low sulfur utilization during charge/discharge processes. Herein, a free-standing cathode material was developed, based on Fe-doped NiSe nanosheets grown on activated carbon cloth substrates (Fe-NiSe /ACC) for high-performance Li-S batteries. Fe-doping in NiSe plays a key role in the electronic structure modulation of NiSe , enabling improved charge transfer with the adsorbed LiPSs molecules, stronger interactions with the active sulfur species and higher electrical conductivity.

Direct chemical vapor deposition of graphene on plasma-etched quartz glass combined with Pt nanoparticles as an independent transparent electrode for non-enzymatic sensing of hydrogen peroxide.

In this work, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method-grown graphene on plasma-etched quartz glass supported platinum nanoparticles (PtNPs/eQG) was constructed as an independent transparent electrode for non-enzymatic hydrogen peroxide (HO) detection. Graphene grown on quartz glass by the CVD method can effectively reduce the wrinkles and pollution caused by traditional transfer methods. The addition of the CF plasma-etched process accelerates the growth rate of graphene on quartz glass.

Facile synthesis of wavy carbon nanowires activation-enabled reconstruction and their applications towards nanoparticles separation and catalysis.

We report a facile synthesis of wavy carbon nanowires (WCNWs) derived from polyurethane KOH activation. The success of this synthesis relies on a carefully designed activation procedure, which involved one pre-activation stage to form suitable precursor and one high-temperature activation stage to allow directional carbon reconstruction. In particular, PU was initially mixed with KOH and thermally treated sequentially at 400 °C and 800 °C for 1 hour, respectively.

Adjustable Electrochemiluminescence from Highly Passivated CdTe/CdS Nanocrystals by Simple Surface Decoration with Counterions.

Tunable optics and electronics of II-VI nanocrystals (NCs) is mainly achieved by using the traditional size-dependent strategy. Herein, we show that the triggering energy (potential), intensity, and even reductive-oxidation electrochemiluminescence (ECL) spectra of highly passivated CdTe/CdS NCs of the same size can be adjusted by simply decorating the NCs with counterions, which proves that surface chemistry can bring about varied electrostatic interactions between the surface vacancies and electrochemically injected carriers for adjustable electrochemical redox induced radiative charge transfer. Potential-resolved ECL demonstrates that increasing the surface sulfur vacancies and decreasing the surface cadmium vacancies can clearly enhance the ECL intensity and lower ECL triggering energy.

Solid-Solution Anion-Enhanced Electrochemical Performances of Metal Sulfides/Selenides for Sodium-Ion Capacitors: The Case of FeSSe .

Transition-metal sulfides/selenides are explored as advanced electrode materials for nonaqueous sodium-ion capacitors, using FeSSe as an example. A solid solution of S/Se in FeSSe allows it to combine the high capacity of FeS and the good diffusion kinetics of FeSe together, thereby exhibiting excellent cycle stability (∼220 mA h g after 6000 cycles at 2 A g) and superior rate capability (∼210 mA h g at 40 A g) within 0.8-3.

Promising Anodic Electrochemiluminescence of Nontoxic Core/Shell CuInS/ZnS Nanocrystals in Aqueous Medium and Its Biosensing Potential.

Copper indium sulfide (CuInS, CIS) nanocrystals (NCs) are a promising solution to the toxic issue of Cd- and Pb-based NCs. Herein, electrochemiluminescence (ECL) of CIS NCs in aqueous medium is investigated for the first time with l-glutathione and sodium citrate-stabilized water-soluble CIS/ZnS NCs as model. The CIS/ZnS NCs can be oxidized to hole-injected states via electrochemically injecting holes into valence band at 0.

Synthesis of triangular silver nanoprisms and spectroscopic analysis on the interaction with bovine serum albumin.

The interactions of triangular silver nanoprisms (TAgNPrs) with bovine serum albumin (BSA) were investigated using multiple spectroscopic techniques. A noticeable absorbance increase was noted in the peak ranges of 250 to 300 nm for BSA, and the intensity increased with the increasing concentration of TAgNPrs. Furthermore, a slight blue shift of the surface plasmon resonance band of TAgNPrs occurred, indicating that the protein absorbed on the TAgNPrs surface to form a bio-nano interface.

Electrochemistry and electrocatalysis of myoglobin immobilized in sulfonated graphene oxide and Nafion films.

In this study, sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) was synthesized and characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was used to make Mb-SGO-Nafion composite films by coating myoglobin (Mb) on the glassy carbon electrodes (GCE). Positions of the Soret absorption bands suggested that Mb retained its native conformation in the films.

Excellent anti-corrosive pretreatment layer on iron substrate based on three-dimensional porous phytic acid/silane hybrid.

A novel, highly effective and environmentally friendly film-forming material, phytic acid (PA)/silane (denoted as PAS) hybrid with a three-dimensional (3D) network structure, was prepared through a condensation reaction of PA with methyltrihydroxysilane generated from the hydrolysis of methyltriethoxysilane (MTES). Two kinds of PAS-based pretreatment layers, namely NaBrO3-free and NaBrO3-doped PAS layers, were fabricated on iron substrates using the dip-coating method. SEM and AFM observations showed that the as-fabricated PAS-based layers possessed a 3D porous microstructure at the nanoscale and a rough surface morphology.

Electroactive Film of Myoglobin Incorporated in a 3D-porous Calcium Alginate Film with Polyvinyl Alcohol, Glycerin and Gelatin.

In this work, an electroactive porous Mb-CA's composite film was fabricated by incorporating myoglobin (Mb) in a three-dimension (3D) porous calcium alginate (CA) film with polyvinyl alcohol, glycerol, and gelatin. The porous Mb-CA's film modified electrodes exhibited a pair of well-defined, quasi-reversible cyclic voltammetric (CV) peaks at about -0.37 V vs.

Fabrication of nanofluidic biochips with nanochannels for applications in DNA analysis.

With the development of nanotechnology, great progress has been made in the fabrication of nanochannels. Nanofluidic biochips based on nanochannel structures allow biomolecule transport, bioseparation, and biodetection. The domain applications of nanofluidic biochips with nanochannels are DNA stretching and separation.

Adsorption behavior of EDTA-graphene oxide for Pb (II) removal.

Chelating groups are successfully linked to graphene oxide (GO) surfaces through a silanization reaction between N-(trimethoxysilylpropyl) ethylenediamine triacetic acid (EDTA-silane) and hydroxyl groups on GO surface. EDTA-GO was found to be an ideal adsorbent for Pb(II) removal with a higher adsorption capacity. EDTA-modification enhances the adsorption capacity of GO because of the chelating ability of ethylene diamine triacetic acid.

Template-synthesized DNA nanotubes.

There is considerable interest in DNA-functionalized nanotubes with proposed applications that include use as gene delivery vehicles, in DNA-assisted separation and assembly of carbon nanotubes, and in nanotube-based DNA sensing and separations. In all of these previous cases, the DNA molecules were attached to a nanotube composed of a second material, typically carbon; however, it might also be advantageous to have nanotubes composed entirely, or predominately, of DNA itself. We describe here a template synthesis method for preparing such DNA nanotubes.