Y.B. Han

Wide bandgap mesoporous hematite nanowire bundles as a sensitive and rapid response ethanol sensor.

In this study, α-Fe2O3 nanowires were synthesized using mesoporous SBA-15 silica as the hard templates with the nanocasting method, and then mesoporous α-Fe2O3 nanowire bundles (NWBs) were separated from the well-dispersed α-Fe2O3 nanowires (NWs) by the centrifugation technique. Both samples were characterized by x-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm and UV-vis spectra. All results indicated that the α-Fe2O3 NWBs with mesoporous structure presented a higher BET surface area (95 m(2) g(-1)) and wider bandgap (2.08 eV) than those of α-Fe2O3 NWs (32 m(2) g(-1) and 1.91 eV). The bandgap of α-Fe2O3 NWBs was in accordance with the bulk α-Fe2O3, while the BET surface area was much higher. The results from the gas-sensing measurement revealed that the α-Fe2O3 NWBs based gas sensor exhibited a high sensitivity of 21.7, fast response-recovery of 7.5 s and 1 s, and good selectivity to ethanol at 340 °C. The sensitivity (21.7) for ethanol of α-Fe2O3 NWBs was much better than that of the α-Fe2O3 NWs (12.2), which should be attributed to the higher BET surface area and wider bandgap of α-Fe2O3 NWBs.

The sol-gel synthesis of rare-earth ions substituted barium hexaferrites and magnetic properties

In this paper, a series of rare-earth-doped barium hexaferrite powders (Ba0.95Re0.05-Fe12O19 and Ba0.95Re0.05M0.05Fe11.95O19: Re = La, Pr, Sm, Nd, Gd, Dy, Yb; M = Zn2+, Mn2+, ) were synthesized by the sol–gel self-combustion technology. The phase composition and the magnetic properties of the as-prepared barium hexaferrites were characterized and discussed with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The results showed that the barium hexaferrites exhibited the magnetoplumbite phase structure with the average diameter of 45 nm. Magnetic properties study revealed that the variation of the saturation magnetization (Ms) was similar with the change of the rare-earth ions radius, but the change of Ms was low. This indicated that the magnetic moments of rare-earth ions could not affect Ms. The magnetocrystalline anisotropy field mainly influenced the anisotropism of hexaferrites, and the coercivity (Hc) of the rare-earth ions doped barium hexaferrites basically decreased with the increasing orbital quantum numbers (except Sm3+ and Gd3+). Further study showed the co-addition of Zn2+ and Mn2+ did not change the trend of Ms and Hc. Thus, it is concluded that the rare-earth ions played an important role for the anisotropy field of barium hexaferrites.

Highly improved ethanol gas-sensing performance of mesoporous nickel oxides nanowires with the stannum donor doping

Mesoporous nickel oxides (NiO) and stannum(Sn)-doped NiO nanowires (NWs) were synthesized by using SBA-15 templates with the nanocasting method. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, energy dispersive spectrometry, nitrogen adsorption/desorption isotherm and UV-vis spectrum were used to characterize the phase structure, components and microstructure of the as-prepared samples. The gas-sensing analysis indicated that the Sn-doping could greatly improve the ethanol sensitivity for mesoporous NiO NWs. With the increasing Sn content, the ethanol sensitivity increased from 2.16 for NiO NWs up to the maximum of 15.60 for Ni0.962Sn0.038O1.038, and then decreased to 12.24 for Ni0.946Sn0.054O1.054 to 100 ppm ethanol gas at 340 °C. The high surface area from the Sn-doping improved the adsorption of oxygen on the surface of NiO NWs, resulting in the smaller surface resistance in air. Furthermore, owing to the recombination of the holes in hole-accumulation lay with the electrons from the donor impurity level and the increasing the body defects for Sn-doping, the total resistance in ethanol gas enhanced greatly. It was concluded that the sensitivity of Sn-doped NiO NWs based sensor could be greatly improved by the higher surface area and high-valence donor substitution from Sn-doping.

Magnetic CoFe2O4/carbon nanotubes composites:fabrication, microstructure and magnetic response

By combining the unique microstructure of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with the good magnetism of CoFe2O4 ferrites, CoFe2O4/CNTs nanocomposites were prepared by the solvothermal method for the application of targeting therapy and tumor hyperthermia. X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravity analysis (TGA), transmission electron microscope (TEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) were introduced to study the influence of the solvothermal temperature, time and the CNTs content on the microstructure and magnetic properties of CoFe2O4/CNTs nanocomposites. The diameter of CoFe2O4 nanoparticles coating on the surface of CNTs and the saturation magnetization (Ms) increased with the solvothermal temperature. CoFe2O4/CNTs nanocomposites prepared at 180°C, 200°C and 220°C exhibited superparamagnetism at room temperature, while the samples prepared at 240°C and 260°C presented ferromagnetism. And the solvothermal time and CNTs content slightly affected the microstructure and magnetic properties, Ms and coercivity (Hc) increased slightly with the increasing solvothermal time and the decreasing CNTs content.

Surface modification and electrochemical properties of activated carbons for supercapacitor electrodes

Modifications with different acids (HNO3, H2SO4, HCl and HF, respectively) were introduced to treat the activated carbons (ACs) surface. The microstructures and surface chemical properties were discussed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), ASAP, Raman spectra and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra. The ACs electrode-based supercapacitors were assembled with 6 mol ⋅ L−1 KOH electrolyte. The electrochemical properties were studied by galvanostatic charge–discharge and cyclic voltammetry. The results indicated that although the BET surface area of modified ACs decreased, the functional groups were introduced and the ash contents were reduced on the surface of ACs, receiving larger specific capacitance to initial AC. The specific capacitance of ACs modified with HCl, H2SO4, HF and HNO3 increased by 31.4%, 23%, 21% and 11.6%, respectively.