Advanced Sensor and Energy Materials最新文献

Among the semiconductor photocatalytic materials, zinc oxide (ZnO)-based composites show promising research prospects in the field of environmental and biomedical materials due to their simple preparation, low cost, high photocatalytic performance, excellent physical stability and biocompatibility. Therefore, this review summarizes the preparation and application of ZnO-based composites with high catalytic performance. Firstly, the modification strategies of ZnO by researchers in recent years are reviewed, including non-metal doping, metal doping, noble metal deposition, compounding with semiconductors and other surface modification methods. Subsequently, the applications of photocatalytic ZnO-based composites in biomedicine (antibacterial, anticancer, biosensing, etc.), environmental pollution and other fields in the last five years are presented. Finally, the challenges faced by the future development of ZnO-based composites in various fields are discussed. We hope that this review will provide ideas for the design and development of efficient photocatalysts based on ZnO-based composites in further applications.

The carbon dioxide electroreduction reaction (CO₂RR) represents a sustainable way to store intermittent renewable energy in a manner that generates virtually zero net emissions, yet the energy efficiency remains a significant bottleneck due to its sluggish kinetics and complex reaction pathways. There is a strong demand for highly efficient electrocatalysts that can achieve high energy and Faradaic efficiency, as well as rapid conversion. Among various developed CO₂RR catalysts, nickel-based materials have garnered increasing attention due to their outstanding performance and low cost. In this review, the relevant CO₂RR mechanisms are firstly discussed in detail. Following this, several typical Ni-based catalysts including Ni-based complexes catalysts, nanoparticles and alloys, Ni-based compounds, and atomically dispersed Ni catalysts are summarized. The preparation strategies for industrial level electrocatalysts are also highlighted in this review. Finally, the opportunities, challenges and future outlooks of CO₂RR technology are summarized. This review introduces the recent advances and frontiers of nickel-based CO₂RR catalysts, which enlightens the path for further exploration of highly efficient CO₂RR electrocatalysts.

A conductive polymer-supported electrocatalyst in the form of fibrous mat has been developed that can be employed as a polymer-based electrode for direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) with promoting effects to the state-of-the art Pd based catalysts. A series of conductive polyaniline (PANI)-containing polymer fibres-supported Pd electrocatalytic electrodes were successfully prepared and tested for the ethanol electro-oxidation reaction (EOR) in alkaline medium. The polymer support was a robust fibrous mat, where the fibres possessed a core-shell configuration. The core part was produced via electrospinning using a mixture of polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride [BMIm]Cl ionic liquid (IL). The shell was a PANI layer deposited via the chemical polymerisation of aniline monomer. Pd was then electrodeposited on the fibres and the catalysts were tested for the EOR via cyclic voltammetry (CV) in a half-cell configuration and in a temperature range between 25 and 60 °C. The activity of the catalysts tested was measured in terms of activation energy and forward peak current density in the CV and compared to that of glassy carbon (GC)-supported Pd/PANI/PAN/IL fibrous catalysts. The polymer fibre-catalyst samples showed a higher active surface area and significantly lower activation energy than the GC-based ones. Even though the GC-supported catalysts showed a higher activity in terms of current, the Pd/(PAN/IL)-core/PANI-shell fibrous mats were active as well and, in some cases, demonstrated a promoting effect of PANI on Pd for EOR and a much better stability and robustness compared to the former. Furthermore, a series of promoting metals were investigated for these mats, such as Ag, Bi and Cu, with Ag and Bi demonstrating promoting effects compared to monometallic Pd/(PAN/IL)-core/PANI-shell mats in terms of both activation energy and peak current density. This work demonstrates a promising strategy in the arena of development of polymeric mats as anode electrodes for DEFCs, exploiting the benefits of PANI in terms of ease of synthesis, catalyst poisoning prevention, cost and promoting effects.

In the face of environmental pollution and an energy shortage, how to reduce the cost of a noble metal catalyst in clean energy such as the fuel cell system and improve its electrocatalytic performance is one of the hot issues in this field. Here, a facile stepwise co-reduction route for synthesizing a series of PdFe/Cu catalysts with surface reconstruction is investigated and the ethanol oxidation reaction (EOR) performance is explored. The greater exposure of Pd active sites makes it excellent in EOR in alkaline media compared to the homemade and commercial Pd black catalyst. The mass activity of PdFe/Cu (794.97 mA mg⁻¹_Pd) is 2.52 times that of the Pd black catalyst (315.64 mA mg⁻¹_Pd). This kind of PdFe/Cu catalyst shows enhanced mass current density (255.66 mA mg⁻¹_Pd) after the 1800 s chronoamperometry test and only exhibits a decay of 1.4% after accelerated 500-cycle measurement. The enhanced EOR performance may be due to the change in the electronic structure of Pd caused by synergistic and strain effects among Pd, Fe, and Cu. This work provides an effective and kindly strategy to synthesize electrocatalysts with superior activity and durability in relation to EOR.

Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are highly sensitive to CO poisoning on the current Pt based anode at operating condition. In a paper recently published in Angewandte Chemie International Edition, Kong et al. and coworkers presented a precise position control of single atom via atomic layer deposition (ALD) to synthesis the selective deposition of Ru single atoms (SAs) on the concavities of corrugated PtNi nanoparticles (Ru-ca-PtNi), which exhibited high activity and stability for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR).

Fullerenes are widely applied in the field of ORR, OER, and HER due to their well-defined molecular structures, excellent electron affinity potential that can be used to regulate the electronic structures when composited with other materials, the π-π intermolecular self-assembly into super crystals, and the customizable chemical modifications including heteroatom doping, metal encapsulation, and functionalization. These advantages endow fullerene with a great number of derivates and composites. Many theoretical and experimental works are reported on electrocatalysts. To better understand the study progress, herein, we give a common review of the latest research. We first introduce the theoretical calculations of fullerenes and their derivates towards ORR, OER, and HER, aiming to give understandable reaction mechanisms and electrocatalytic active sites. Then, the experimental identification of the electrocatalytic performance was summarized. The experimental section is organized based on fullerene-based composites including fullerene/carbon composites, fullerene/sulfide composites, fullerene/LDH or metal composites, and fullerene molecular and its derivates including fullerene crystals, fullertubes, as well as endohedral fullerene. Finally, the challenges and opportunities for rational designing of electrocatalysts using fullerene as a precursor or additive are summarized and highlighted. The review not only points out the recent progress in fullerene application in electrocatalysts but also gives an in-depth insight into the materials design theoretically and experimentally that helps the future study directions.

Drug abuse has proliferated at an unprecedented rate worldwide, posing significant public health challenges that directly impact society, criminality, and the economy. This review presents the application of nanomaterials for qualitative and quantitative electrocatalytic analysis of drugs of abuse, mostly opioids (such as heroin (HER), morphine (MOR), codeine (COD), fentanyl (FEN), and tramadol (TR)), and addictive stimulants (such as cocaine (COC) and methamphetamine (MAM)) via direct oxidation. Electroanalytical techniques have attracted attention for generating point-of-use sensors because of their low cost, portability, ease of use, and the possibility of miniaturization. Electroanalytical-based devices can assist first responders with tools to identify unknown powders and to treat victims of drug abuse. Based on the drug therapeutic and usage purposes, research advances in drug electroanalysis can be classified and discussed with special emphasis on the electrochemical reaction mechanism of the drug. Therefore, this review discusses sensor enhancement based on the electrocatalytic properties introduced by various strategies, such as surface nanostructuring, the use of conducting polymers, and anodization of electrode surfaces Finally, a critical outlook is presented with recommendations and prospects for future development.

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) as a well-known kind of cancer marker are closely associated with the formation and metastasis of tumors. Here, a novel tetraphenylethylene (TPE)-doped covalent organic frameworks (TPE-COFs) with strong aggregation-induced electrochemiluminescence (AIECL) response was synthesized and introduced to construct an ultrasensitive biosensor for the detection of miRNA-21. The strong aggregation-induced emission (AIE) response was obtained because the molecular motion of TPE was restricted by COFs which had the porosity and highly ordered topological structure. Meanwhile, the porous structure of COFs allowed TPE to react with electrochemiluminescence (ECL) coreactants more effectively. Furthermore, COFs significantly improved the electron transport efficiency of the entire ECL system. All of these endowed the TPE-COFs with superior AIECL performance. Then, a TPE-COFs based ECL resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) system was constructed for ultrasensitive miRNA-21 biosensing with differential signal readout. The proposed assays exhibited excellent sensitivity with a wide dynamic range from 10 aM to 1 pM and a low detection limit of 2.18 aM. Therefore, these indicated that doping TPE in COFs was a creative way to develop functional COFs and provided an effective way for enhancing AIECL. Furthermore, this work boarded the application of AIECL in analytical chemistry.