2 research outputs found
Fabrication of Crack-Free Photonic Crystal Films on Superhydrophobic Nanopin Surface
On the basis of their superior optical performance, photonic
crystals (PCs) have been investigated as excellent candidates for
widespread applications including sensors, displays, separation processes,
and catalysis. However, fabrication of structurally controllable large-area
PC assemblies with no defects is still a tough task. Herein, we develop
an effective strategy for preparing centimeter-scale crack-free photonic
crystal films by the combined effects of soft assembly and superhydrophobic
nanopin surfaces. Owing to its large contact angle and low-adhesive
force on the superhydrophobic substrate, the colloidal suspension
exhibits a continuous retraction of the three-phase (gas–liquid–solid)
contact line (TCL) in the process of solvent (water molecules) evaporation.
The constantly receding TCL can bring the colloidal spheres closer
to each other, which could timely close the gaps due to the loss of
water molecules. As a result, close-packed and well-ordered assembly
structures can be easily obtained. We expect that this work may pave
the way to utilize novel superhydrophobic materials for designing
and developing high-quality PCs and to apply PCs in different fields
Protein-Directed Synthesis of Bifunctional Adsorbent-Catalytic Hemin-Graphene Nanosheets for Highly Efficient Removal of Dye Pollutants via Synergistic Adsorption and Degradation
Herein,
for the first time, we report a “green”,
one-pot reduction/decoration method for the synthesis of bifunctional
adsorbent-catalytic hemin-graphene nanosheets by using a common available
protein (bovine serum albumin, BSA) as both a reductant and a stabilizer.
Our prepared nanosheets are highly stable and possess intrinsic peroxidase-like
catalytic activity due to the decoration of BSA and hemin. Furthermore,
benefiting from the combined advantages of graphene and BSA, these
nanosheets are able to efficiently adsorb dye pollutants from aqueous
solution. More importantly, due to their adsorption and catalytic
ability, these adsorbent-catalytic nanosheets can be applied to highly
efficient dye removal via synergistic adsorption and degradation.
Specifically, our catalysts can easily bring organic dyes to their
surface by adsorption, and then activate H<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub> to generate hydroxyl radicals, leading to the degradation of the
dyes. Such catalytic mechanism of our as-prepared nanosheets was analogous
to that of natural enzymes, in which the extremely high catalytic
efficiency is largely dependent upon their ability to bring substrates
in close proximity to the active sites of enzymes. Our finding may
open new potential applications of hemin-graphene hybrid nanosheets
in environmental chemistry, biotechnology, and medicine