Tingzhou Lei

Porous Carbon Nanofibers from Electrospun Biomass Tar/Polyacrylonitrile/Silver Hybrids as Antimicrobial Materials

A novel route to fabricate low-cost porous carbon nanofibers (CNFs) using biomass tar, polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and silver nanoparticles has been demonstrated through electrospinning and subsequent stabilization and carbonization processes. The continuous electrospun nanofibers had average diameters ranging from 392 to 903 nm. The addition of biomass tar resulted in increased fiber diameters, reduced thermal stabilities, and slowed cyclization reactions of PAN in the as-spun nanofibers. After stabilization and carbonization, the resultant CNFs showed more uniformly sized and reduced average diameters (226-507 nm) compared to as-spun nanofibers. The CNFs exhibited high specific surface area (>400 m(2)/g) and microporosity, attributed to the combined effects of phase separations of the tar and PAN and thermal decompositions of tar components. These pore characteristics increased the exposures and contacts of silver nanoparticles to the bacteria including Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Gram-negative Escherichia coli, leading to excellent antimicrobial performances of as-spun nanofibers and CNFs. A new strategy is thus provided for utilizing biomass tar as a low-cost precursor to prepare functional CNFs and reduce environmental pollutions associated with direct disposal of tar as an industrial waste.

Soy Protein Isolate As Fluid Loss Additive in Bentonite-Water-Based Drilling Fluids.

Wellbore instability and formation collapse caused by lost circulation are vital issues during well excavation in the oil industry. This study reports the novel utilization of soy protein isolate (SPI) as fluid loss additive in bentonite-water based drilling fluids (BT-WDFs) and describes how its particle size and concentration influence on the filtration property of SPI/BT-WDFs. It was found that high pressure homogenization (HPH)-treated SPI had superior filtration property over that of native SPI due to the improved ability for the plugging pore throat. HPH treatment also caused a significant change in the surface characteristic of SPI, leading to a considerable surface interaction with BT in aqueous solution. The concentration of SPI had a significant impact on the dispersion state of SPI/BT mixtures in aquesous solution. At low SPI concentrations, strong aggregations were created, resulting in the formation of thick, loose, high-porosity and high-permeability filter cakes and high fluid loss. At high SPI concentrations, intercatlated/exfoliated structures were generated, resulting in the formation of thin, compact, low-porosity and low-permeability filter cakes and low fluid loss. The SPI/BT-WDFs exhibited superior filtration property than pure BT-WDFs at the same solid concentraion, demonstrating the potential utilization of SPI as an effective, renewable, and biodegradable fluid loss reducer in well excavation applications.

Electrospun Nanofibers Made of Silver Nanoparticles, Cellulose Nanocrystals, and Polyacrylonitrile as Substrates for Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering

Nanofibers with excellent activities in surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) were developed through electrospinning precursor suspensions consisting of polyacrylonitrile (PAN), silver nanoparticles (AgNPs), silicon nanoparticles (SiNPs), and cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs). Rheology of the precursor suspensions, and morphology, thermal properties, chemical structures, and SERS sensitivity of the nanofibers were investigated. The electrospun nanofibers showed uniform diameters with a smooth surface. Hydrofluoric (HF) acid treatment of the PAN/CNC/Ag composite nanofibers (defined as p-PAN/CNC/Ag) led to rougher fiber surfaces with certain pores and increased mean fiber diameters. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results confirmed the existence of AgNPs that were formed during heat and HF acid treatment processes. In addition, thermal stability of the electrospun nanofibers increased due to the incorporation of CNCs and AgNPs. The p-PAN/CNC/Ag nanofibers were used as a SERS substrate to detect p-aminothiophenol (p-ATP) probe molecule. The results show that this substrate exhibited high sensitivity for the p-ATP probe detection.

Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)–cellulose nanocrystals supported Au nanoparticles for nonenzymatic glucose sensing

Poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride)–cellulose nanocrystal (PDDA–CNC) supported Au nanohybrids were prepared by in situ deposition, via the self-assembly between negative Au precursor and positively charged functional groups of PDDA–CNC. The Au/PDDA–CNC nanohybrids were characterized for their structural properties and for glucose sensing. Characterization studies show that the synthesis protocol led to well distribution of Au nanoparticles with a mean particle size varying from 3.5 to 8.4 nm on the PDDA–CNC support matrix depending on the Au concentration. The 5Au/PDDA–CNCs (i.e., Au loading level of 5 wt%) exhibited the best glucose sensing ability with a low detection limit of 2.4 μM (S/N = 3), high sensitivity of 62.8 μA mM−1 cm−2, a linear detection range from 0.004 mM to 6.5 mM, which was ascribed to the moderate size and dispersity of the Au nanoparticles. Further investigation revealed that the 5Au/PDDA–CNC nanohybrids also showed high selectivity and stability. These results suggest a new utilization route of CNCs decorated with metal nanoparticles in electrochemical biosensing.

The effect of chemical and high-pressure homogenization treatment conditions on the morphology of cellulose nanoparticles

Cellulose nanoparticles were fabricated from microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) through combined acid hydrolysis with sulfuric and hydrochloric acids and high-pressure homogenization. The effect of acid type, acid-to-MCC ratio, reaction time, and numbers of high-pressure homogenization passes on morphology and thermal stability of the nanoparticles was studied. An aggressive acid hydrolysis was shown to lead to rod-like cellulose nanocrystals with diameter about 10nm and lengths in the range of 50-200 nm. Increased acid-to-MCC ratio and number of homogenization treatments reduced the dimension of the nanocrystals produced. Weak acid hydrolysis treatment led to a network of cellulose nanofiber bundles having diameters in the range of 20-100 nm and lengths of a few thousands of nanometers. The high-pressure homogenization treatment helped separate the nanofiber bundles. The thermal degradation behaviors characterized by thermogravimetric analysis at nitrogen atmosphere indicated that the degradation of cellulose nanocrystals from sulfuric acid hydrolysis started at a lower temperature and had two remarkable pyrolysis processes. The thermal stability of cellulose nanofibers produced from hydrochloric acid hydrolysis improved significantly.