Formation of PbSe/CdSe Core/Shell Nanocrystals for Stable Near-Infrared High Photoluminescence Emission

PbSe/CdSe core/shell nanocrystals with quantum yield of 70% were obtained by the “successive ion layer adsorption and reaction” technology in solution. The thickness of the CdSe shell was exactly controlled. A series of spectral red shifts with the CdSe shell growth were observed, which was attributed to the combined effect of the surface polarization and the expansion of carriers’ wavefunctions. The stability of PbSe nanocrystals was tremendously improved with CdSe shells

Removal of heavy metal ions from wastewater by capacitive deionization using polypyrrole/chitosan composite electrode

A polypyrrole/chitosan composite material was obtained by chemical polymerization. The adsorption performance of a hot-molded polypyrrole/chitosan composite electrode was tested by adsorption/desorption experiments. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy both showed the deposition of polypyrrole on the chitosan surface. The specific capacitance of the polypyrrole/chitosan composite was determined by cyclic voltammetry in 1.0 M KCl at 0.01 V/s as 102.96 F/g. The adsorption/desorption experiments indicated that the specific adsorption capacity of the composite for Cu 2+ was 99.67 mg/g, while the removal performance for other metal ions, such as Ag + , Pb 2+ , and Cd 2+ , was good. The results of multicycle adsorption/desorption tests showed that the adsorption rate of the polypyrrole/chitosan composite electrode for Cu 2+ was decreased from 56.4 to 51.4% over 10 cycles, demonstrating the stable metal-ion adsorption/desorption behavior of the composite electrode. The obtained performances show that the prepared polypyrrole/chitosan composite material is an ideal electrode material for the removal of heavy metal ions