Topochemical behavior of ferrocene embedded in VO·nHO with weak hydrogen bonding enhancing ammonium-ion storage.

Aqueous ammonium ion batteries (AAIBs) are garnering increasing attention due to their utilization of abundant resources, cost-effectiveness, safety, and unique energy storage mechanism. The pursuit of high-performance cathode materials has become a pressing issue. In this study, we propose and synthesize ferrocene-embedded hydrated vanadium pentoxide (Fer/VOH) for implementation in AAIBs.

Supramolecular Copolymers Under Kinetic, Thermodynamic, or Pathway-Switching Control.

Supramolecular copolymers have attracted much attention due to their potential functionalities. However, the co-assembly strategies to construct co-assemblies of small molecules with well-defined sequence structures are still limited, especially for more complex crystalline block co-assemblies. Herein, we target this challenge by designing Ir complexes 1 and 2, which possess unique self-assembly pathways and are capable of forming crystalline assemblies in aqueous systems.

Unsupported Nanoporous Platinum-Iron Bimetallic Catalyst for the Chemoselective Hydrogenation of Halonitrobenzenes to Haloanilines.

An unsupported nanoporous platinum-iron bimetallic catalyst (PtFeNPore) was prepared with an electrochemical dealloying technique. Its structure and composition were characterized through various measurement methods, such as X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). An intermetallic compound and iron oxide species were both found in the PtFeNPore catalyst.

Accelerating effects of humin on sulfide-mediated azo dye reduction.

As an important fraction of humic substances, humin has been found capable of stimulating bioreduction reactions. However, whether humin could promote abiotic reduction and the effects of coexisting soluble humic substance and insoluble mineral remained unsolved. In this study, a humin sample was isolated from a paddy soil.

Inorganic Colloidal Perovskite Quantum Dots for Robust Solar CO Reduction.

Inorganic perovskite quantum dots as optoelectronic materials have attracted enormous attention in light-harvesting and emitting devices. However, photocatalytic conversion based on inorganic perovskite halides has not been reported. Here, we have synthesized colloidal quantum dots (QDs, 3-12 nm) of cesium lead halide perovskites (CsPbBr ) as a new type of photocatalytic material.

Microbial reduction of Fe(III)-bearing clay minerals in the presence of humic acids.

Both Fe(III)-bearing clay minerals and humic acids (HAs) are abundant in the soils and sediments. Previous studies have shown that bioreduction of structural Fe(III) in clay minerals could be accelerated by adding anthraquinone compound as a redox-active surrogate of HAs. However, a quinoid analogue could not reflect the adsorption and complexation properties of HA, and little is known about the effects of real HAs at environmental concentration on bioreduction of clay minerals.

Using silver nanocluster/graphene nanocomposite to enhance photoelectrochemical activity of CdS:Mn/TiO2 for highly sensitive signal-on immunoassay.

A highly sensitive signal-on photoelectrochemical (PEC) immunosensor was fabricated here using CdS:Mn/TiO2 as photoelectrochemical sensing platform, and silver nanoclusters and graphene naocomposites (AgNCs-GR) as signal amplification tags. The immunosensor was constructed based on the specific sandwich immunoreaction, and the photo-to-current conversion efficiency of the isolated protein modified CdS:Mn/TiO2 matrix was improved based on the synergistic effect of AgNCs-GR. Under irradiation, the photogenerated electrons from the AgNCs at a higher conduction band edge level could be transport to the CdS:Mn/TiO2 matrix with the assistance of highly conductive graphene nanosheets, as well as recycle the trapped excitons in the defects-rich CdS:Mn/TiO2 interface.

Photostable ester-substituted bis-cyclometalated cationic iridium(III) complexes for continuous monitoring of oxygen.

Three bis-cyclometalated cationic Ir(iii) complexes , and with an ester substituent at the 4-position of the phenyl ring on the 2-phenylpyridine (ppy) have been synthesized and fully characterized. The emission maxima of ester-substituted Ir(iii) complexes show a notable blue-shift compared to the parent complex [Ir(ppy)2(phen)](+)PF6(-) (phen = 1,10-phenanthroline). The influence of an ester group on the photoelectric properties of the Ir(iii) complexes has been investigated systematically.

Investigation of factors affecting adsorption of transition metals on oxidized carbon nanotubes.

Adsorption of nickel, copper, zinc and cadmium from aqueous solutions on carbon nanotubes oxidized with concentrated nitric acid was carried out in single, binary, ternary and quaternary systems. TEM and adsorption of nitrogen were used to determine texture and structural parameters, respectively. The surface chemistry was evaluated using the pH at the point of zero charge, FTIR spectroscopy and XPS analysis.

Investigation of the role of surface chemistry and accessibility of cadmium adsorption sites on open-surface carbonaceous materials.

Carbon nanotubes fabricated by the dc arc discharge method (ADCNTs) and chemical vapor deposition method (CVDCNTs) were oxidized with concentrated HNO 3 to modify their surface chemistry. The materials were characterized using SEM, TEM, FTIR, XPS, potentiometric titration, and nitrogen adsorption. The initial and oxidized materials were used as adsorbents of cadmium from aqueous solutions with different pH.