Mesoporous Silica Supported Hydrophilic Ionic Liquid Gel Microspheres for Solvent-Free Deep Oxidative Desulfurization.

Solvent-free oxidative desulfurization can avoid environmental pollution caused by organic solvents as well as prevent loss of fuel during the oil-water separation process. In this work, first, hydrophilic ionic liquid gel microspheres with [BMIM]BF and PHEMA as the dispersion medium and gel network, respectively, were successfully prepared by using mesoporous silica microspheres as a supporting skeleton capable of stabilizing the gel through an anchoring effect, and then the catalyst [BMIM]PW and oxidant HO were incorporated into the gel microspheres to construct a liquid compartment microreactor for deep desulfurization. The prepared microreactor (SiO@[BMIM]PW/ILG-microspheres) has excellent extraction-catalytic capacity and exhibited ∼100% desulfurization ratio for a model oil of -heptane with 500 ppm of DBT at 60 °C for 3 h without solvents.

Photoinduced deformation behavior of poly(aryl ether)s with different azobenzene groups in the side chain.

Azobenzene-containing poly(aryl ether)s are a potential type of photoinduced deformable high-performance polymer. However, research on photoinduced deformation of azobenzene-containing poly(aryl ether)s focuses mainly on poly(aryl ether)s containing azobenzene groups in the main chain. In this paper, the photoinduced deformation of poly(aryl ether)s containing azobenzene groups in the side chain was studied for the first time.

Photocorrosion-Based BiOCl Photothermal Materials for Synergistic Solar-Driven Desalination and Photoelectrochemistry Energy Storage and Release.

Solar-driven interfacial evaporation is one of the most promising desalination technologies. However, few studies have effectively combined energy storage with evaporation processes. Here, a novel multifunctional interfacial evaporator, calcium alginate hydrogel/bismuth oxychloride/carbon black (HBiC), is designed, which integrates the characteristics of interfacial evaporation and direct photoelectric conversion.

Asymmetric ultrathin silica nanonets as a super-performance emulsifier.

Hypothesis: Pickering emulsions have been used in many fields such as catalytic synthesis, pharmaceutics and oilfield chemicals. They usually have good stability, but in some extreme conditions such as at high temperatures or in special liquid-liquid systems, poor stability is often encountered.

Experiments: Herein, ultrathin silica nanosheets with controllable morphologies were synthesized via a simple interfacial anisotropic self-assembly approach integrated with pore-forming techniques.

Preparation of asymmetric particles by controlling the phase separation of seeded emulsion polymerization with ethanol/water mixture.

Alcohols are discovered for the first time to tune the morphology of poly(vinyl benzyl chloride)-poly(3-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane) (PVBC-PMPS) composite particles through seeded emulsion polymerization within the alcohol/water mixture. Here, monodispersed linear PVBC particles was synthesized through the dispersion polymerization and employed as the seeds. The as-obtained PVBC-PMPS composite particles could be dramatically tuned from core-shell structures to snowman-like particles, to dumbbell-shaped particles, to inverse snowman-like particles when the ethanol content in reaction mixtures is only adjusted within a narrow range.

Chemical coupling of manganese-cobalt oxide and oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes for enhanced lithium storage.

Carbonaceous materials are extensively utilized to optimize the electrochemical performance of the transition metal oxides as anode for lithium-ion batteries. However, the in-depth mechanism of the synergistic effect and the interfacial interaction between transition metal oxides and conductive carbon material has not been elucidated clearly. Herein, by using the oxidized multi-walled carbon nanotubes (oMWCNTs), an advanced MnO/(Co, Mn)(Co, Mn)O/oMWCNTs (MO/CMO/oMWCNTs) nanocomposite with abundant metal-oxygen-carbon (Me-OC) bonds as linkage bridge is fabricated for the first time.

A sensitive cholesterol electrochemical biosensor based on biomimetic cerasome and graphene quantum dots.

A simple and sensitive electrochemical cholesterol biosensor was fabricated based on ceramic-coated liposome (cerasome) and graphene quantum dots (GQDs) with good conductivity. The cerasome consists of a lipid-bilayer membrane and a ceramic surface as a soft biomimetic interface, and the mild layer-by-layer self-assembled method as the immobilization strategy on the surface of the modified electrode was used, which can provide good biocompatibility to maintain the biological activity of cholesterol oxidase (ChOx). The GQDs promoted electron transport between the enzyme and the electrode more effectively.

Carbon Dots as an Indicator of Acid-Base Titration and a Fluorescent Probe for Endoplasm Reticulum Imaging.

In this study, carbon dots (CDs) with red color are successfully prepared via hydrothermal treatment of -phenylenediamine and urea. The as-prepared red CDs exhibit an acidichromism feature, making them turn purple at pH 4.4 and become blue at pH 3.

Smart Solar-Metal-Air Batteries Based on BiOCl Photocorrosion for Monolithic Solar Energy Conversion and Storage.

Herein, a BiOCl hydrogel film electrode featuring excellent photocorrosion and regeneration properties acts as the anode to construct a novel type of smart solar-metal-air batteries (SMABs), which combines the characteristics of solar cells (direct photovoltaic conversion) and metal-air batteries (electric energy storage and release interacting with atmosphere). The cyclic photocorrosion processes between BiOCl (Bi ) and Bi can simply be achieved by solar light illumination and standing in the dark. Upon illumination, the device takes open-circuit configuration to charge itself from the sunlight.

A Dual Photoelectrode Photoassisted Fe-Air Battery: The Photo-Electrocatalysis Mechanism Accounting for the Improved Oxygen Evolution Reaction and Oxygen Reduction Reaction of Air Electrodes.

Effective utilization of solar energy in battery systems is a promising solution to achieve sustainable and green development. In this work, a photoassisted Fe-air battery (PFAB) with two photoelectrodes of ZnO-TiO heterostructure and polyterthiophene (pTTh)-coated CuO (pTTh-CuO) grown on fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) is proposed. The band structure of semiconductors and the charge-transfer mechanism of heterostructure are studied.

Synergy of Bi O and RuO Nanocatalysts for Low-Overpotential and Wide pH-Window Electrochemical Ammonia Synthesis.

Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions is still seriously impeded by the inferior NH yield and low Faradaic efficiency, especially at low overpotentials. Herein, we report the synthesis of nano-sized RuO and Bi O particles grown on functionalized exfoliated graphene (FEG) through in situ electrodeposition, denoted as RuO -Bi O /FEG. The prepared self-supporting RuO -Bi O /FEG hybrid with a Bi mass loading of 0.

Bismuth-Based Free-Standing Electrodes for Ambient-Condition Ammonia Production in Neutral Media.

Electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction is a carbon-free and energy-saving strategy for efficient synthesis of ammonia under ambient conditions. Here, we report the synthesis of nanosized BiO particles grown on functionalized exfoliated graphene (BiO/FEG) via a facile electrochemical deposition method. The obtained free-standing BiO/FEG achieves a high Faradaic efficiency of 11.

Superhydrophobic Coating Derived from the Spontaneous Orientation of Janus Particles.

A superhydrophobic surface was achieved using a monolayer of the perpendicularly oriented epoxy-silica@polydivinylbenzene (PDVB) Janus particles (JPs) on an epoxy resin substrate. The epoxy-silica@PDVB JPs were synthesized from the silica@PDVB/polystyrene (PS) JPs through selective etching of the PDVB/PS belly and the surface modification of the silica part. The modified silica parts can be covalently bonded with the epoxy resin to make the perpendicular orientation spontaneous as well as the coating more robust.

The relationship between particulate matter retention capacity and leaf surface micromorphology of ten tree species in Hangzhou, China.

Atmospheric particulate matter (PM) is one of the main environmental air pollutants, but it can be retained and adsorbed by plants. To systematically and comprehensively conduct qualitative and quantitative research on the relationship between the leaf PM retention ability and the microstructure of leaf surfaces, this study evaluated the PM retention abilities of ten common tree species (1860 leaf pieces in total) in the greenbelts around the Lin'an toll station of the Hang-Rui Expressway in Hangzhou, China, in October 2019. The leaf surface roughness and contact angle were measured with confocal laser scanning microscopy and a contact angle measuring instrument.

Pickering emulsion-embedded hierarchical solid-liquid hydrogel spheres for static and flow photocatalysis.

Pickering emulsion-based photocatalysis is considered to be a promising system due to its large active surface area and water/oil spatial separation capability for enrichment of substrates and products. In this work, a novel hierarchical structure composed of calcium alginate gel sphere wrapped ionic liquid-in-water Pickering emulsion with TiO in the water phase, which are stabilized by graphene oxide, is prepared via a facile one-step emulsion gelation method. Such subtle combination of Pickering emulsion, hydrogel and TiO with a multi-stage solid-liquid assemblage structure shows enhanced degradation activity of 2-naphthol into small molecular alkanes under simulated solar irradiation.

Surface engineered 2D materials for photocatalysis.

Benefitting from their unique structure and physicochemical properties, two-dimensional (2D) materials have aroused tremendous interest from academia and industry, being regarded as an important class of photocatalysts. However, their photocatalytic activities still need further improvement to satisfy the requirement of scale-up production. In this regard, the surface engineering strategy is considered as one of the most effective methods for optimizing their photocatalytic performance.

Responsive polymeric Janus cage.

A robust thermo-responsive polymeric Janus cage with a PNIPAM-cPVBC-PEO sandwiched shell is synthesized. The Janus cage provides a general method of thermally triggered separation of oil/water emulsions independent of the type of surfactant and emulsion. It can selectively capture organic compounds at a higher temperature and release them at a lower temperature.

Ultrathin 1T-MoS Nanoplates Induced by Quaternary Ammonium-Type Ionic Liquids on Polypyrrole/Graphene Oxide Nanosheets and Its Irreversible Crystal Phase Transition During Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction.

Ultrathin nanoplates of metastable 1T-MoS have been successfully stabilized and uniformly distributed on the surface of -butyl triethyl ammonium bromide functionalized polypyrrole/graphene oxide (BTAB/PPy/GO) by a very simple hydrothermal method. BTAB as a typical kind of quaternary ammonium-type ionic liquids (ILs) played a crucial role in the formation of the obtained 1T-MoS/BTAB/PPy/GO. It was covalently linked with PPy/GO and arranged in a highly ordered order at the solid-liquid interface of PPy/GO and HO due to Coulombic interactions and other intermolecular interactions, which would induce and stabilize ultrathin 1T-MoS nanoplates by morphosynthesis.

Accurate and rapid discrimination of cigarette and household decoration material ash residues by negative chemical ionization TOFMS via acid-enhanced evaporation.

The detection and identification of cigarette ash in fire debris can be meaningful in fire investigations caused by burning cigarettes. In this work, a novel analytical method based on negative chemical ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (NCI/TOFMS) combined with a phosphoric-acid-enhanced evaporation strategy has been developed for the discrimination of cigarette ash samples (CAs) and common household decoration material ash samples (CHDMAs). A series of characteristic ions representing the acidified products HNCO and formic acid in the CAs were achieved, whose signal responses were enhanced with the help of mechanical agitation operation.

Surface modification of cerasomes with AuNPs@poly(ionic liquid)s for an enhanced stereo biomimetic membrane electrochemical platform.

A novel liposomal nanocomposite, Au@PIL-cerasome, with biocompatibility and conductivity was fabricated via the self-assembly of cerasomes and gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) stabilized by poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs). The surface charge, morphology and chemical composition of the nanocomposites were characterized by the zeta potential, UV-vis, TEM, SEM and EDS. The nanocomposites exhibited structural stability directly on the surface of solid electrodes, without fusion.

A novel forced separation method for the preparation of paraffin with excellent phase changes.

A novel forced separation method based on driving force vacuum sweating was used to prepare high melting point paraffin with high phase-change enthalpies. The effects of the vacuum pressure and final separation temperature on the forced separation of the paraffin components were investigated. The research results showed that the optimal vacuum pressure for forced separation was 80.

Bi-continuous emulsion using Janus particles.

Bi-continuous emulsion stabilized with amphiphilic Janus particles was achieved. Phase inversion of the as-formed emulsion was driven by increasing water content. The orientated Janus particle monolayer at the bi-continuous emulsion interface is interconnected by interfacial polymerization to form robust materials with amphiphilic channels.

Poly(arylene ether)s with aromatic azo-coupled cobalt phthalocyanines in the side chain: synthesis, characterization and nonlinear optical and optical limiting properties.

A novel poly(arylene ether) with azo-coupled cobalt phthalocyanine in the side chain (PAE-azo-CoPc) was prepared by 1,2-benzodinitrile, anhydrous cobaltous chloride and a novel azobenzene-containing poly(aryl ether) (PAE-azo-DCN) a nucleophilic substitution polycondensation based on a novel bisfluoro monomer, 4-[(3,4-cyanophenyl)diazenyl]phenyl-2,6-difluorobenzoate. The obtained polymers were characterized and evaluated by FT-IR, H NMR, DSC and TGA. PAE-azo-CoPc exhibited higher glass transition temperature and better thermal stability than PAE-azo-DCN because of the introduction of cobalt phthalocyanine groups.

Ultrathin NiS/Ni(OH) Nanosheets Filled within Ammonium Polyacrylate-Functionalized Polypyrrole Nanotubes as an Unique Nanoconfined System for Nonenzymatic Glucose Sensors.

Ultrathin two-dimensional NiS/Ni(OH) nanosheets (NiS/Ni(OH) NSs) were successfully filled within the hollow interiors of ammonium polyacrylate-functionalized polypyrrole nanotubes (NHPA/PPyNTs) by a simple solvothermal method. This kind of novel hierarchical nanostructures with typical structural features of a nanoconfined system, denoted by NiS/Ni(OH)/NHPA/PPyNTs, were prepared by two main sections: polyacrylic acid (PAA) was first polymerized on PPyNTs containing vinyl groups, and the obtained PAA/PPyNTs exhibited a typical Janus structure, whose external surface was covered with carboxyl groups and the internal surface was still covered with PPy chains; second, Ni ions as a precursor were facilely combined with -NH- segments in PPy chains by the coordination interaction under the solvothermal environment; therefore, NiS/Ni(OH) NSs (<1 nm) were well distributed on the internal surface of NHPA/PPyNTs by the in situ growth. Because of the synergistic effects of ionizable NHPA, PPy with good conductivity, NiS and Ni(OH) with electrocatalytical activity, as well as the nanoconfinement effect, the obtained NiS/Ni(OH)@NHPA/PPyNTs exhibited excellent electrocatalytic performance for detecting glucose.

Magnetic-Responsive Janus Nanosheets with Catalytic Properties.

In this article, we describe a method to fabricate magnetic-responsive Janus nanosheets with catalytic properties via the surface protection method. FeO nanoparticles and PWO-based ionic liquid are located on the two opposite sides of the Janus nanosheets, respectively. The Janus nanosheets are characterized by Fourier transform infrared, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, and ζ-potential analyses.