Molecularly Imprinted Hybrid Adsorbents for Adenine and Adenosine-5′-triphosphate

Submicrometer-sized silica gel particles were coated with a polyanion and a polycation bearing thymine chromophores. The polymer-coated particles were found to selectively adsorb adenine and adenosine-5′-triphosphate (ATP), as compared to other nucleobases and nucleotides, respectively. The adsorption was enhanced by the irradiation of the particles in the presence of adenine which resulted in the molecular imprinting of adenine. ATP adsorption was strongly pH-dependent

Chemical Bonding Construction of Reduced Graphene Oxide-Anchored Few-Layer Bismuth Oxychloride for Synergistically Improving Sodium-Ion Storage

Two-dimensional-layered materials (TDLMs) have gained enormous attention because of their open layered structures and high specific capacities in sodium ion batteries (SIBs). However, effectively suppressing the fast capacity fading and serious volume change in cycling process is still a challenge. Herein, we report reduced graphene oxide-riveted bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) by inducing interfacial Bi–C bonding as the high-performance anode for SIBs. This new composite structure can deliver an initial charge capacity of 266.6 mA h g–1 at 50 mA g–1 and a cycling stability maintaining 81.7% after 100 cycles, which is much superior to recent data of metal oxyhalide. The excellent charge/discharge cyclability is associated with the strong interfacial coupling that significantly reinforces charge transfer and structural stability of the electrode. At the same time, the remarkable mechanical stretching could mitigate the volume expansion and hence maintain the integrity of BiOCl nanosheets during cycling. The proposed strategy based on constructing strong interfacial coupling through chemical bonding and interlayer engineering may hold great promise for developing TDLMs for next-generation rechargeable batteries

Composite NASICON (Na₃Zr₂Si₂PO₁₂) Solid-State Electrolyte with Enhanced Na⁺ Ionic Conductivity: Effect of Liquid Phase Sintering

NASICON-type of solid-state electrolyte, Na3Zr2Si2PO12 (NZSP), is one of the potential solid-state electrolytes for all-solid-state Na battery and Na–air battery. However, in solid-state synthesis, high sintering temperature above 1200 °C and long duration are required, which led to loss of volatile materials and formation of impurities at the grain boundaries. This hampers the total ionic conductivity of NZSP to be in the range of 10–4 S cm–1. Herein, we have reduced both the sintering temperature and time of the NZSP electrolyte by sintering the NZSP powders with different amounts of Na2SiO3 additive, which provides the liquid phase for the sintering process. The addition of 5 wt % Na2SiO3 has shown the highest total ionic conductivity of 1.45 mS cm–1 at room temperature. A systematic study of the effect of Na2SiO3 on the microstructure and electrical properties of the NZSP electrolyte is conducted by the structural study with the help of morphological and chemical observations using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy, and using focused ion-beam-time of flight-secondary ion mass spectroscopy. The XRD results revealed that cations from Na2SiO3 diffused into the bulk change the stoichiometry of NZSP, leading to an enlarged bottleneck area and hence lowering activation energy in the bulk, which contributes to the increment of the bulk ion conductivity, as indicated by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy result. In addition, higher density and better microstructure contribute to improved grain boundary conductivity. More importantly, this study has achieved a highly ionic conductive NZSP only by facile addition of Na2SiO3 into the NZSP powder prior to the sintering stage