Adsorption Electrochemistry

Wood is easily affected by decay fungi, mildew fungi, insects, water, UV, and other factors when used outdoors. In particular, mildew on the surface of wood negatively affects the appearance and practical use of wood or wood-based engineered products. In recent years, as a class of popular crystalline materials, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been widely applied in electrochemistry, adsorption, anti-mildew efforts, and other areas. In this study, we first grew a Co-based metal-organic framework (Co-MOF) in situ on a wood surface and subsequently converted the Co-MOF in situ into a cobalt-nickel double hydroxide layer, which formed micro- and nanohierarchical composite structures on the wood surface...

The biosilicification of diatoms allows for the customization of the synthesis of functionalized diatom frustules. The S active sites (-SH) on diatom frustules were created by adding the organic silicon sources tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) and (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTMS). The mechanisms of adsorption-reduction and the indirect effects of S active sites on electrochemical performance were declared. The DBS@C-Ag-3 anode material sourced from the cultivation condition with a silicon source of TMOS:MPTMS = 3:1 shows the best comprehensive performance and delivers a discharge capacity of ∼660 mAh·g-1 after 1000 cycles at 1 A·g-1 ...

Electrocatalytic hydrogenation of benzoic acid (BA) to cyclohexanecarboxylic acid (CCA) at ambient temperature and pressure has been recognized as a promising alternative to thermal hydrogenation since water is required as the hydrogen source. So far, only a few Pt-based electrocatalysts have been developed in acidic electrolyte. To overcome the limitations of reactant solubility and catalyst corrosion, herein, carbon fiber-supported Ru electrocatalysts with abundant Ru/RuO2 heterojunctions were fabricated via cyclic electrodeposition between -0...

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is an analytical technique with a broad range of potential applications in fields such as biomedicine, electrochemistry, and hazardous chemicals. However, it is challenging to develop SERS substrates that are both good sensitive and signal stable. Here we designed a superhydrophobic Nd doped MoS2 uniformly assembled on the activated carbon fiber cloth (CFC) to avoid the coffee ring effect and enrich the analyte, improving the enhancement factor (EF) to 3.9 × 109 and pesticide endosulfan (<10-10 ) analyte detection...

N-heterocyclic carbene ligands (NHCs) are increasingly used to tune the properties of metal surfaces. The generally greater chemical and thermal robustness of NHCs on gold, as compared to thiolate surface ligands, underscores their potential for a range of applications. While much is now known about the adsorption geometry, overlayer structure, dynamics, and stability of NHCs on coinage elements, especially gold and copper, much less is known about their interaction with the surfaces of Pt-group metals, despite the importance of such metals in catalysis and electrochemistry...

Scandium oxide (Sc2 O3 ) is considered as omnipotent "Industrial Ajinomoto" and holds promise in catalytic applications. However, rarely little attention have been paid to its electrochemistry. Here, we reported the first nanocasting design of high-surface area Sc2 O3 with abundant oxygen vacancies (mesoporous VO -Sc2 O3 ) for efficient electrochemical biomass valorization. In the case of the electro-oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), quantitative HMF conversion, high yield and high faradic efficiency of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) via the hydroxymethylfurancarboxylic acid (HMFCA) pathway were achieved by this advanced electrocatalyst...

The electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) via two-electron (2e-) oxygen (O2) reduction reaction (ORR) has great potential to replace the traditional energy-intensive anthraquinone process, but the design of low-cost and highly active and selective catalysts is greatly challenging for the long-term H2O2 production under industrial relevant current density, especially under neutral electrolytes. To address this issue, this work constructed a carboxylated hexagonal boron nitride/graphene (h-BN/G) heterojunction on the commercial activated carbon through the coupling of B, N co-doping with surface oxygen groups functionalization...

Accurately and rapidly acquiring the microscopic properties of a material is crucial for catalysis and electrochemistry. Characterization tools, such as spectroscopy, can be a valuable tool to infer these properties, and when combined with machine learning tools, they can theoretically achieve fast and accurate prediction results. However, on the path to practical applications, training a reliable machine learning model is faced with the challenge of uneven data distribution in a vast array of non-negligible solvent types...

There is high interest in the development of water pollution remediation technologies. Advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) are a promising alternative for the degradation of organic compounds; however, these technologies have been limited mainly by high operating costs and, in some cases, by forming byproducts, which can be more hazardous than the original pollutants. Activated carbon (AC) is a porous material that can be combined with AOP systems in various ways, given its adsorbent and catalytic characteristics...

Undercoordination chemistry is an effective strategy to modulate the geometry-governed electronic structure and thereby regulate the activity of sulfur electrocatalysts. Efficient sulfur electrocatalysis is requisite to overcome the sluggish kinetics in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries aroused by multi-electron transfer and multi-phase conversions. Recent advances unveil the great promise of undercoordination chemistry in facilitating and stabilizing sulfur electrochemistry, yet a related review with systematicness and perspectives is still missing...

2D transition metal carbides and carbonitrides (MXenes) have emerged as promising electrode materials for electrochemistry ion capture but always suffer from severe layer-restacking and irreversible oxidation that restrains their electrochemical performance. Here we design a dual strategy of microstructure tailoring and heterostructure construction to synthesize a unique 3D grape string-like heterostructure consisting of Ti3 C2 T x MXene hollow microspheres wrapped by fungi-derived N-doping carbon nanoribbons (denoted as GMNC)...

As a typical cation-exchangeable layered compound, layered titanate has a unique open layered structure. Its excellent physical and chemical properties allow its wide use in the energy, environmental protection, electronics, biology, and other fields. This paper reviews the recent progress in the research on the structure, synthesis, properties, and application of layered titanates. Various reactivities, as well as the advantages and disadvantages, of different synthetic methods are discussed. The reaction mechanism and influencing factors of the ion exchange reaction, intercalation reaction, and exfoliation reaction are analyzed...

Hexavalent chromium exposure via inhalation, ingestion, or both has been proven to adversely affect internal organs, induce toxic effects, cause allergies, and contribute to the development of cancer. It requires a substantial and challenging effort to detect several heavy metal ions conveniently, sensitively, and reliably by using materials that are easy to synthesize and have a high yield. The impact of light on the electrocatalytic oxidation/reduction process proves an environmentally friendly methodology with numerous applications in pollution control...

Carbon xerogels (CXs) provide unique opportunities for numerous applications in the areas of adsorption, separation, insulation, catalysis, and electrochemistry, but their use is hampered by time- and energy-intensive synthesis protocols. Synthesis protocols may require several days or more. Here, we report the synthesis of CXs requiring only 5 h using hydrothermal gelation and direct carbonization of the wet polymer. Drying of the polymer gel is of utmost importance for the synthesis of closely related carbon aerogels and is generally considered to be essential for the preparation of CXs...

The production of aluminum (Al) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) by electrosynthesis using solid-state Al electrodes always faces significant challenges due to the formation of a passivating aluminum oxide layer in the process. Here, we developed a liquid-metal-based method to electrosynthesize an aluminum Al-MOF (MIL-53). This method uses a liquid-state gallium (Ga) anode as a reservoir and activator for a light metal, Al, in the form of Al-Ga alloys that releases Al3+ for the electrosynthesis of Al-MOFs. Introducing Ga into the system inhibits the formation of aluminum oxide passivation layer and promotes the electrochemical reaction for Al-MOF synthesis...

Cellulose paper-based sensing devices have shown promise in addressing the accuracy, sensitivity, selectivity, analysis time and cost of current disease diagnostic tools owing to their excellent physical and physiochemical properties, high surface-area-to-volume ratio, strong adsorption capabilities, ease of chemical functionalization for immobilization, biodegradability, biocompatibility and liquid transport by simple capillary action. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent advancements in the field of electrochemical immunosensing for various diseases, particularly in underdeveloped regions and globally...

G-quadruplexes (G4) are stable alternative secondary structures of nucleic acids. With increasing understanding of their roles in biological processes and their application in bio- and nanotechnology, the exploration of novel methods for the analysis of these structures is becoming important. In this work, N-methyl mesoporphyrin IX (NMM) was used as a voltammetric probe for an easy electrochemical detection of G4s. Cyclic voltammetry on a hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE) was used to detect NMM with a limit of detection (LOD) of 40 nM...

Non-heme mononuclear iron complexes, especially when supported by tripodal tetradentate ligands, show promising C-H bond activation efficiency in catalytic reactions. Nevertheless, they intrinsically decay readily to their dinuclear form, and the dimerization process is inevitable in homogenous solution, which dramatically hinders their further application. Hence, we demonstrate that the mononuclear iron complex [(TPA)FeII -2L]2+ (L = labile ligands, mainly solvent molecules) was successfully encapsulated in a highly robust metal-organic framework UiO-66 via a two-step " ship-in-a-bottle " strategy...

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is essential to various renewable energy technologies. An important catalyst for ORR is single iron atoms embedded in nitrogen-doped graphene (Fe-N-C). However, the rate-limiting step of the ORR on Fe-N-C is unknown, significantly impeding understanding and improvement. Here, we report the activation energies of all of the steps, calculated by ab initio molecular dynamics simulations under constant electrode potential. In contrast to the common belief that a hydrogenation step limits the reaction rate, we find that the rate-limiting step is oxygen molecule replacing adsorbed water on Fe...

Contact-induced electrification, commonly referred to as triboelectrification, is the subject of extensive investigation at liquid-solid interfaces due to its wide range of applications in electrochemistry, energy harvesting, and sensors. This study examines the triboelectric between an ionic liquid and 2D MoS2 under light illumination. Notably, when a liquid droplet slides across the MoS2 surface, an increase in the generated current and voltage is observed in the forward direction, while a decrease is observed in the reverse direction...