4 research outputs found
Environmentally Safe Mercury(II) Ions Aided Zero-Background and Ultrasensitive SERS Detection of Dipicolinic Acid
Field, reliable,
and ultrasensitive detection of dipicolinic acid
(DPA), a general biomarker of bacterial spores and especially Bacillus anthracis, is highly desirable but still
challenging in current biometric security emergency response system.
Herein we report an environmentally safe mercury(II) ions-mediated
and competitive coordination interaction based approach for rationally
designed surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-active gold nanoparticles
(AuNPs), enabling rapid, ultrasensitive and zero-background detection
of DPA without the pretreatment of samples. By means of competitiveness,
these papain-capped gold nanoparticles (P-AuNPs) are induced to undergo
controllable aggregation upon the addition of Hg<sup>2+</sup> ions
and DPA with a concentration range (1 nM∼8 μM), which
correspondingly cause quantitative changes of SERS intensity of cresyl
violet acetate (CVa) conjugated AuNPs. The decreased Raman intensity
obtained by subtracting two cases of additives that contain only Hg<sup>2+</sup> and the mixture of Hg<sup>2+</sup> and DPA is proportional
to the concentration of DPA over a range of 1 nM∼8 μM
(<i>R</i><sup>2</sup> = 0.9824), with by far the lowest
limit of detection (LOD) of 67.25 pM (0.01 ppb, <i>S</i>/<i>N</i> = 3:1). Of particular significance, mercury(II)
ions actually play two roles in the process of measurements: a mediator
for two designed competitive ligands (DPA and papain), and also a
scavenger for the possibly blended ligands due to the different interaction
time between DPA and the interferent with Hg<sup>2+</sup> ions, which
guarantees the interference-free detection of DPA even under real
conditions
Dynamic Hosts for High-Performance Li–S Batteries Studied by Cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy and in Situ X‑ray Diffraction
Developing
a high-performance sulfur host is central to the commercialization
and general development of lithium–sulfur batteries. Here,
for the first time, we propose the concept of dynamic hosts for lithium–sulfur
batteries and elucidate the mechanism through which TiS<sub>2</sub> acts in such a fashion, using in situ X-ray diffraction and cryogenic
scanning transmission electron microscopy (cryo-STEM). A TiS<sub>2</sub>–S composite electrode delivered a reversible capacity of
1120 mAh g<sup>–1</sup> at 0.3 C after 200 cycles with a capacity
retention of 97.0% and capacities of 886 and 613 mAh g<sup>–1</sup> at 1.0 C up to 200 and 1000 cycles, respectively. Our results indicate
that it is Li<sub><i>x</i></sub>TiS<sub>2</sub> (0 < <i>x</i> ≤ 1), rather than TiS<sub>2</sub>, that effectively
traps polysulfides and catalytically decomposes Li<sub>2</sub>S
Achieving Highly Efficient, Selective, and Stable CO<sub>2</sub> Reduction on Nitrogen-Doped Carbon Nanotubes
The challenge in the electrosynthesis of fuels from CO<sub>2</sub> is to achieve durable and active performance with cost-effective catalysts. Here, we report that carbon nanotubes (CNTs), doped with nitrogen to form resident electron-rich defects, can act as highly efficient and, more importantly, stable catalysts for the conversion of CO<sub>2</sub> to CO. The unprecedented overpotential (−0.18 V) and selectivity (80%) observed on nitrogen-doped CNTs (NCNTs) are attributed to their unique features to facilitate the reaction, including (i) high electrical conductivity, (ii) preferable catalytic sites (pyridinic N defects), and (iii) low free energy for CO<sub>2</sub> activation and high barrier for hydrogen evolution. Indeed, DFT calculations show a low free energy barrier for the potential-limiting step to form key intermediate COOH as well as strong binding energy of adsorbed COOH and weak binding energy for the adsorbed CO. The highest selective site toward CO production is pyridinic N, and the NCNT-based electrodes exhibit no degradation over 10 h of continuous operation, suggesting the structural stability of the electrode
A Synergistic Effect in a Composite Cathode Consisting of Spinel and Layered Structures To Increase the Electrochemical Performance for Li-Ion Batteries
In this work, a composite consisting
of layered Li[Li<sub>0</sub>.<sub>2</sub>Ni<sub>0</sub>.<sub>12</sub> Mn<sub>0</sub>.<sub>56</sub>Co<sub>0</sub>.<sub>12</sub>]O<sub>2</sub> (LNMC) and spinel Li[Ni<sub>0</sub>.<sub>5</sub>Mn<sub>1</sub>.<sub>5</sub>]O<sub>4</sub> (LNMO) was synthesized by a modified Pechini
method. Extensive analysis was carried out to investigate the synergistic
effect between the layered oxide and spinels in the composite by comparing
its properties with baseline individual compounds, as well as a physical
mixture of LMNC and LNMO. Comparing to the LNMC, the compsoite cathode
exhibited a similar initial capacity of ∼250 mA·h/g at
0.1 C, but a much higher first-cycle effeciency, better cyclability
and rate capability, attributed to the presence of spinel. The synertistic
effect of integrated spinel on the microstructure, crystal strucutre,
Mn oxidation states, and Li<sup>+</sup>/Ni<sup>2+</sup> disordering
of the composite was studied by X-ray absorption near edge structure
(XANES), electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The presence
of a spinel component in the composite cathode is the origin for the
improvement of cyclability and rate capability, largely due to a lower
Li<sup>+</sup>/Ni<sup>2+</sup> disordering, milder redox reaction
of manganese ions, and suppressed converting reaction to form Li<sub><i>x</i></sub>Mn<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub>-like spinel