Jingshuai Chen

Highly Stable Hierarchical Flower-like β-In2S3 Assembled from 2D Nanosheets with high Adsorption-Photodecolorization Activities for the Treatment of Wastewater

The hierarchical flower-like β-In2S3 catalyst assembled from 2D nanosheets was prepared using an organic-component depletion method utilizing inorganic-organic hybrids indium diethyldithiocarbamate (In-DDTC) as a single-source precursor. The crystallization, morphology and composition of the as-synthesized β-In2S3 were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, EDS and XPS, respectively. The β-In2S3 possessed high specific surface area of 134.1 m2 g-1, adsorption capacity of 195.5 mg g-1 for methylene blue, and extreme photodecolorization speed under visible light irradiation for the complete removal of methyl orange (MO) dye within 15 min and tetracycline within 60 min. Although methyl orange concentration decreased quickly, the total organic carbon (TOC) decreased slowly. UV-vis and mass spectrometry (MS) were applied to analyze the intermediates coming from the photodecolorization of MO. In order to estimate the roles of active species during the decolorization of MO, trapping experiments were conducted to determine the main active species during the decolorization process. The results indicated that .O2− radicals and e-1 were the key intermediates. This enhanced activity was attributed to its unique structures assembled from 2D nanosheets with thickness of ca. 5-7 nm, leading to high specific surface area, wide range of pore size distribution and great efficiency in absorbing light and electron/hole separation. The hierarchical flower-like β-In2S3 demonstrated great advantages in the treatment of various wastewater pollutants including textile dyes and antibiotics.

Facile Synthesis of CeO2-LaFeO3 Perovskite Composite and Its Application for 4-(Methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-Pyridyl)-1-Butanone (NNK) Degradation

A facile and environmentally friendly surface-ion adsorption method using CeCO3OH@C as template was demonstrated to synthesize CeO2-LaFeO3 perovskite composite material. The obtained composite was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), fourier transform infrared spectra (FT-IR), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermo-gravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC), N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) measurements. The catalytic degradation of nitrosamine 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanone (NNK) was tested to evaluate catalytic activity of the CeO2-LaFeO3 composite. Much better activity was observed for the CeO2-LaFeO3 composite comparing with CeO2 and LaFeO3. These results suggested that perovskite composite materials are a promising candidate for the degradation of tobacco-specific nitrosamines (TSNAs).

A label-free photoelectrochemical biosensor for urokinase-type plasminogen activator detection based on a g-C 3 N 4 /CdS nanocomposite

Herein, we established a novel ultrasensitive photoelectrochemical biosensor for detecting urokinase-type plasminogen activator (u-PA), based on a g-C3N4/CdS nanocomposite. The prepared nanocomposite was characterized by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thus indicating that the nanocomposite was prepared successfully. In the typical process, the prepared nanocomposite was deposited on the surface of a bare FTO electrode. After being air-dried, the g-C3N4/CdS nanocomposite modified electrode was successively incubated with antibody against urokinase-type plasminogen activator and the blocking agent BSA to produce a photoelectrochemical biosensor for u-PA. In the presence of target u-PA antigen, the photocurrent response of the prepared biosensor electrode decreased significantly. The proposed novel photoelectrochemical biosensor exhibited good sensitivity, specificity, and reproducibility for u-PA detection, and a low detection limit of 33 fg mL-1, ranging from 1 μg mL-1-0.1 pg mL-1. The proposed strategy should provide a promising method for detection of other biomarkers.

Colloidal Synthesis and Thermoelectric Properties of CuFeSe2 Nanocrystals

Copper-based chalcogenides that contain abundant, low-cost and environmentally-friendly elements, are excellent materials for numerous energy conversion applications, such as photocatalysis, photovoltaics, photoelectricity and thermoelectrics (TE). Here, we present a high-yield and upscalable colloidal synthesis route for the production of monodisperse ternary I-III-VI2 chalcogenides nanocrystals (NCs), particularly stannite CuFeSe2, with uniform shape and narrow size distributions by using selenium powder as the anion precursor and CuCl2·2H2O and FeCl3 as the cationic precursors. The composition, the state of valence, size and morphology of the CuFeSe2 materials were examined by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and high resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), respectively. Furthermore, the TE properties characterization of these dense nanomaterials compacted from monodisperse CuFeSe2 NCs by hot press at 623 K were preliminarily studied after ligand removal by means of hydrazine and hexane solution. The TE performances of the sintered CuFeSe2 pellets were characterized in the temperature range from room temperature to 653 K. Finally, the dimensionless TE figure of merit (ZT) of this Earth-abundant and intrinsic p-type CuFeSe2 NCs is significantly increased to 0.22 at 653 K in this work, which is demonstrated to show a promising TE materialand makes it a possible p-type candidate for medium-temperature TE applications.

Enhanced photoelectrochemical DNA sensor based on TiO 2 /Au hybrid structure

A novel enhanced photoelectrochemical DNA sensor, based on a TiO2/Au hybrid electrode structure, was developed to detect target DNA. The sensor was developed by successively modifying fluorine-tin oxide (FTO) electrodes with TiO2 nanoparticles, gold (Au) nanoparticles, hairpin DNA (DNA1), and CdSe-COOH quantum dots (QDs), which acted as signal amplification factors. In the absence of target DNA, the incubated DNA1 hairpin and the CdSe-COOH QDs were in close contact with the TiO2/Au electrode surface, leading to an enhanced photocurrent intensity due to the sensitization effect. After incubation of the modified electrode with the target DNA, the hairpin DNA changed into a double helix structure, and the CdSe QDs moved away from the TiO2/Au electrode surface, leading to a decreased sensitization effect and photoelectrochemical signal intensity. This novel DNA sensor exhibited stable, sensitive and reproducible detection of DNA from 0.1 μM to 10 fM, with a lower detection limit of 3 fM. It provided good specificity, reproducibility, stability and is a promising strategy for the detection of a variety of other DNA targets, for early clinical diagnosis of various diseases.