ALBERT

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): X.Y. Wang, S.L. Zhang, S.D. Feng, L. Qi, R.P. Liu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The structures of the Ti〈sub〉75〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉25〈/sub〉 alloy during rapid-quenching with and without external pressure are investigated by using molecular dynamic techniques. The amorphous phase can be obtained at the cooling rate 10.0 K/ps without pressure. The alloy is composed of crystal and amorphous phase at the cooling rate 0.1 and 1.0 K/ps without pressure, but the pure amorphous phase can be formed when the pressure exceeds the critical value. The critical pressure is about 20 and 30 GPa when the cooling rate is 0.1 and 1.0 K/ps, respectively. H-A indices analysis indicates that high pressure favors the formation of the ideal icosahedral structures in the amorphous Ti〈sub〉75〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉25〈/sub〉 alloy, and the content of 1551 bond-type can reach near to 50% when the pressure is 30 GPa. The amorphous state can be maintained if the external pressure is removed from the alloy step-by-step. The content of 1551 bond-type decreases with the deceasing of the pressure, but the 1541 and 1431 bond-types increase in this process.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Anne-Isabelle Bidegaray, Andrea Ceglia, Maria Rita Cicconi, Van-Thai Pham, Amandine Crabbé, El Amine Mernissi Cherigui, Karin Nys, Herman Terryn, Daniel R. Neuville, Stéphane Godet〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The analysis of iron, manganese and antimony in silicate glass is of great interest in chemistry, materials science, earth sciences and archaeological sciences. Yet, conclusions from different fields appear to be contradictory and many questions about redox reactions in glass remain. The purpose of this study is thus to discuss whether and how these multivalent elements interact in glass. Soda-lime silicate melts containing iron along with manganese and/or antimony have been analysed at different high temperatures under argon atmosphere. Using 〈em〉in-situ〈/em〉 XANES at the Fe K-edge, redox thermodynamics, kinetics and diffusivities have been assessed for the different compositions. The data obtained show that antimony is more efficient at oxidising iron compared to manganese at all temperatures. The oxidising power trend would thus be Sb 〉 Sb + Mn 〉 Mn. Furthermore, hypotheses on the formation of Fe-Mn complexes are also reported in glasses with stoichiometric proportions of iron and manganese. Based on the determination of redox diffusivities, it appears that presence of other multivalent elements does not significantly affect the iron redox mechanisms and that diffusivity is essentially controlled by the mobility of calcium.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Wentao Zhang, Feng He, Junlin Xie, Xiaoqing Liu, De Fang, Hu Yang, Zhihong Luo〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Glass ceramics from modified molten blast furnace (BF) slag were prepared. The crystallization behavior of the modified BF slag was characterized using differential thermal analysis (DTA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The crystallization kinetics results indicated that the crystallization activation energy initially decreased and subsequently increased with increasing CaO/SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. The crystallization temperature and the crystallization index (n) decreased from 916 to 867 °C, and 5.66–1.13, respectively. The crystallization mechanism transformed from bulk crystallization to surface crystallization. By XRD analyzing, Melilite was developed as the main crystal phase, and the transformation of crystal from akermanite to gehlenite was observed. The rapid surface crystallization was beneficial for maintaining the shape of glass ceramics. The complex replacement in melilite crystals resulted in the micro cracks in glass ceramics, therefore led to the decrease of flexural strength of glass ceramics〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): B.C. Jamalaiah〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Different amounts of GeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 activated tellurite tungstate glasses were prepared by melt quenching technique. Thermal stability and glass forming ability were studied using differential scanning calorimetry. The chemical composition, homogeneity and amorphous nature of studied glasses were investigated. The phonon energy was estimated to be 721.34 cm〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. Experimentally determined refractive indices were compared with those determined from optical band gap (E〈sub〉g〈/sub〉) and optical electronegativity (Δ〈em〉χ〈/em〉〈sup〉∗〈/sup〉). The dielectric constant (K) and electronic polarizability (α) were determined using refractive index value. The presence of disorder was estimated in terms of Urbach energy (E〈sub〉U〈/sub〉). The average electronegativity (〈em〉χ〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉ave〈/em〉〈/sub〉), oxide ion polarizability (〈em〉α〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉O〈/em〉〈/sub〉〈sup〉2−〈/sup〉) and covalent character (C〈sub〉cov〈/sub〉) were determined. The content of GeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 was optimized to be 10.0 mol% to design a novel host material for solid state lasers and fiber devices.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chunhe Jiang, Kejiang Li, Jianliang Zhang, Qinghua Qin, Zhengjian Liu, Minmin Sun, Ziming Wang, Wang Liang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-CaO-MgO is the most significant slag system in the blast furnace ironmaking process and it is very important to investigate the microstructure and viscosity of the system. In this paper, molecular dynamics simulations were carried out to explore the effects of MgO/Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 ratio on structure and properties of the system. Based on the self-diffusion coefficients, the viscosities were calculated by Einstein-Stokes equation and compared with the experimental value and the Factsage value. The results showed that with the increase of MgO/Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 ratio, the stability of [SiO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉]〈sup〉4−〈/sup〉 and [AlO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉]〈sup〉5−〈/sup〉 tetrahedron became weaken and the relative proportions of bridge and non-bridge oxygen showed a decrease. And due to the increase of MgO, more Mg〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 ions are used as network modifiers to reduce the degree of polymerization of the system, resulting in a decrease in the viscosity, which is consistent with experimental results. Finally, based on the present study, in the case of increasing Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 content of blast furnace slag, the fluidity of slag could be adjusted by controlling MgO/Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 ratio, thereby providing a basis for stable operation of blast furnace ironmaking.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): A.I. Popov〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The definition of glassy state presented by the authors of the article “The glassy state of matter: Its definition and ultimate fate” E. Zanotto and J. Mauro is considered. The importance of the contribution to the glassy state problem made in the article is emphasized. At the same time consideration of the glassy state as unstable state of matter causes definite objections. It is more correctly to consider the glassy state as metastable state of matter.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): M.G. Syamala Rao, M.A. Pacheco-Zuñiga, L.A. Garcia-Cerda, G. Gutiérrez-Heredia, J.A. Torres Ochoa, M.A. Quevedo López, R. Ramírez-Bon〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this work, we developed a novel inorganic-organic hybrid gate dielectric by combining zirconium and hafnium components to form zirconium hafnium oxide strongly linked with polymethyl methacrylate (ZrHfO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-PMMA) and deposited at low temperature (200 °C) by sol-gel method. The obtained 108 nm thick, high-quality hybrid gate dielectric showed an exceptionally low surface roughness (0.9-nm), a low leakage current density (7.7 × 10〈sup〉−6〈/sup〉 A/cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉) and reasonable dielectric properties such as gate capacitance along with dielectric constant (77 nF/cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 & 9.4 @1 kHz) respectively. To examine the ZrHfO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-PMMA hybrid dielectric electrical properties we constructed thin-film transistors (TFTs) with room temperature r.f sputtered n-type metal oxide semiconductors, a-IGZO and ZnO, as active channels. The bottom gate fabricated a-IGZO TFTs driving at as low as below 6 V, with extracted field effect mobility of 2.45 cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/V. s, a low threshold voltage of 1.2 V with large ON/OFF current ratio 10〈sup〉7〈/sup〉 respectively. On the other hand, for comparison we employed ZnO TFTs by applying same hybrid dielectric system, the obtained parameters of bottom gate ZnO TFTs were good field effect saturation mobility of 12.8 cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/V. s, threshold voltage of 1.8 V and ON/OFF current ratio of 10〈sup〉3〈/sup〉.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Weidi Zhu, Mark Lockhart, Bruce Aitken, Sabyasachi Sen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The viscoelastic properties of supercooled As〈sub〉x〈/sub〉Se〈sub〉100-x〈/sub〉 (0 ≤ x ≤ 30) and As〈sub〉x〈/sub〉Se〈sub〉100-x-y〈/sub〉I〈sub〉y〈/sub〉 (x = 20, 30 and y = 10, 20) liquids are studied using oscillatory parallel plate rheometry. In addition to the α-relaxation process, the shear relaxation of liquids with selenium chains longer than ~ 3 atoms is also characterized by a low-frequency polymeric mode. The temporal decoupling of this low-frequency soft/floppy relaxation mode from that of the α-relaxation mode is a unique function of the average selenium chain length. The floppy mode abruptly vanishes for liquids with average chain lengths shorter than ~ 3 Se atoms, thus implying a dynamical rigidity transition. When taken together, these results indicate that, contrary to the conventional wisdom, the pertinent structural variable associated with such transition in the viscoelastic behavior is not the average coordination number but instead the intermediate-range structural elements such as the average selenium chain length.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): M.S.A. Mohd Saidi, S.K. Ghoshal, K. Hamzah, R. Arifin, M.F. Omar, M.K. Roslan, E.S. Sazali〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We report the influence of silver (Ag) and titania (TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉) nanoparticles (ATNPs) co-embedment on the photoluminescence (PL) properties of dysprosium ions (Dy〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉) doped zinc-magnesium tellurite glass system prepared using conventional melt quenching method. Both up- and down- converted PL spectra of glasses revealed three emission bands located at 482 (blue: 〈sup〉4〈/sup〉F〈sub〉9/2〈/sub〉 → 〈sup〉6〈/sup〉H〈sub〉15/2〈/sub〉), 574 (yellow: 〈sup〉4〈/sup〉F〈sub〉9/2〈/sub〉 → 〈sup〉6〈/sup〉H〈sub〉13/2〈/sub〉) and 664 nm (weak red: 〈sup〉4〈/sup〉F〈sub〉9/2〈/sub〉 → 〈sup〉6〈/sup〉H〈sub〉11/2〈/sub〉), where the band intensities were enhanced with the inclusion of ATNPs. Glasses with 0.2 mol% of ANPs and up to 0.3 mol% of TNPs disclosed highest PL intensity enhancement, which was majorly attributed to the ATNPs mediated localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) and large field enhancement (called hot spot) effects in the proximity of Dy〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 ions. Absorption spectra of glasses displayed two plasmon bands characteristics of each type of nanoparticle. It was inferred that the superposition of localized SP modes from ATNPs could generate new hybridized modes (strong local field in the vicinity of Dy〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 ions) shifted with respect to the single type of NPs resonance. HRTEM images showed the existence of both Ag and titania NPs inside the glass matrix. Glasses containing ATNPs exhibited anatase phase with (103) and (112) nanocrystalline lattice plane orientation. Proposed glass system may be useful for the development of solid state laser and photonic devices.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 501〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): G. Gorni, M.J. Pascual, A. Caballero, J.J. Velázquez, J. Mosa, Y. Castro, A. Durán〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The crystallization mechanism of LaF〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 in sol-gel oxyfluoride glass-ceramics in the system SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-LaF〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 has been studied using DTA, XRD, FTIR, HRTEM and NMR. Based on classical calculations of non-isothermal DTA curves involving Ozawas's plots, a diffusion-controlled process should be responsible for the fluorides crystallization similarly to that obtained for melt-quenching oxyfluoride glass-ceramics. Therefore, an increase of the crystal size and fraction is expected when increasing the time and/or temperature of the treatment. Nevertheless, XRD, FIR, HRTEM and NMR demonstrated that neither bigger crystals nor higher crystal fraction are obtained for treatment times longer than 1 min at 550 °C. However, further heat treatment causes that the structural order of the crystals is lost. On the other hand, typical fluorides crystallization temperatures (~300 °C) in sol-gel materials are much lower than T〈sub〉g〈/sub〉 of the matrix (~1130 °C) thus being very different to what observed for oxyfluoride glasses prepared by melt-quenching. The proposed crystallization mechanism is a fast process that occurs when crystallization temperature is reached. This behavior is explained as a chemical reaction from the xerogels, followed by the fast precipitation of the nanocrystals without energy barrier. The nanocrystals are unstable in the surrounding SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 matrix for aging at crystallization or higher temperatures. These treatments lead to a dissolution process, favored by the compositional gradient between matrix and crystals, which drive the material to reach the equilibrium.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 501〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jürn W.P. Schmelzer, Alexander S. Abyzov, Vladimir M. Fokin, Christoph Schick〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉General relations for the dependence of the thermodynamic driving force of crystallization and the specific interfacial energy melt-crystal of critical crystal clusters on temperature and pressure are derived. Its application to the analysis of experimental data on crystal nucleation seems to support at a first glance a proposal by Kauzmann on the existence of a pseudo-spinodal curve in melt-crystallization. Provided this assumption is true, Kauzmann temperature (and for pressure-induced nucleation, the Kauzmann pressure) cannot be reached by a metastable liquid due to intensive crystallization processes occurring in its vicinity. However, such suggestion cannot be retained taking into account the kinetic terms (diffusion coefficients, viscosity) in the expression for the nucleation rate. The absence of a pseudo-spinodal in melt-crystallization can be verified also in an alternative way by considering the characteristic time scales of crystallization and relaxation. Finally, it is shown that the phenomenon denoted commonly as Kauzmann paradox is merely an untypical as compared to normal conditions type of behavior. Neither in its original formulation nor in its consequences it results in any contradictions with basic laws of nature. They are prevented either by normal (not associated with a pseudo-spinodal) crystallization or a conventional glass transition.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 501〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): J. Gilabert, M.P. Gómez-Tena, V. Sanz, S. Mestre〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉The effect of a post-synthesis thermal treatment on CoCr〈sub〉2−2Ψ〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉2Ψ〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 (0.0 ≤ Ψ ≤ 1.0) ceramic pigments synthesized by Solution Combustion Synthesis (SCS) has been studied. As-synthesized SCS pigments were treated at two different calcination temperatures (800 °C and 1000 °C) to study changes in mineralogy, microstructure and thermal behaviour, as well as their effect over the colouring power.〈/p〉 〈p〉Spinel-type 〈em〉Fd〈/em〉-3〈em〉m〈/em〉 crystalline structure was developed in all cases. Nevertheless, crystallinity parameters were highly affected by both analysed processing parameters: composition (Ψ) and post-synthesis calcination temperature (T〈sub〉c〈/sub〉). A Cr(III) enrichment along with T〈sub〉c〈/sub〉 increase favoured ion rearrangement to promote sample crystallization and crystallite growth. Fast kinetics of SCS makes Al-rich spinels with transition metals difficult to be synthesized. The application of a secondary thermal treatment resulted in a favourable evolution towards a well-crystallized structure. Lattice parameter did not seem to be affected by T〈sub〉c〈/sub〉, although it evolved indeed with composition. From a microstructural point of view, as-synthesized pigments were foamy, with a very low bulk density and nanometric grain size. After the thermal treatment, larger grain sizes were obtained, especially for the samples richer in Al and treated at higher T〈sub〉c〈/sub〉.〈/p〉 〈p〉All pigments developed intense colours in a transparent glaze without showing heterogeneities, indicating a stable behaviour against glazing process. Glaze colour evolved from green to perfectly blue shades, indicating an important dependence on composition. Nevertheless, colouring power seemed to be rather affected by calcination process.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 501〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Joanna Pisarska, Marta Sołtys, Joanna Janek, Agata Górny, Ewa Pietrasik, Tomasz Goryczka, Wojciech A. Pisarski〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Oxyfluoride lead-based and lead-free germanate glasses were heat-treated in order to fabricate transparent glass-ceramics. Cubic β-PbF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanocrystals are well formed during crystallization of lead germanate glass. The up-conversion luminescence spectra of Er〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 ions in lead germanate glass-ceramic system are enhanced significantly due to partial incorporation of the optically active ions into fluoride crystalline phase. These effects are not significant in oxyfluoride lead-free germanate glass after heat treatment process. The crystallization of barium gallo-germanate glass with BaF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 is more complex and the presence of four crystalline phases BaF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, BaO, Ba〈sub〉3〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉2〈/sub〉Ge〈sub〉4〈/sub〉O〈sub〉14〈/sub〉 and GeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 was verified by X-ray diffraction measurements.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Gang Yuan, Xiao Zhao, Yeru Liang, Lin Peng, Hanwu Dong, Yong Xiao, Chaofan Hu, Hang Hu, Yingliang Liu, Mingtao Zheng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉As a new class of zero-dimensional carbon nanomaterials, carbon dots have triggered intensive research interest in various fields. However, the low surface area, hydrophilicity, and agglomeration characteristics limit their applications in energy storage fields. Herein, we demonstrate that nitrogen-doped carbon dots can be employed as efficient nanoenhancer to boost the electrochemical performance of three-dimensional graphene. The as-prepared materials exhibit an interconnected framework with abundant oxygen- and nitrogen-containing functional groups, which enable fast penetration and transport of electrolyte ions and provide more active sites and electric conductivity. Employed as binder-free electrode for supercapacitors, the resultant materials present high specific capacitance (338 F g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) and areal capacitance (604 μF cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉) at a current density of 0.5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, which is much higher than that of pristine three-dimensional graphene (190 F g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, and 114 μF cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉), with an enhancement of 78% and 430%, respectively. Moreover, superior long-term cycling stability (94% of capacitance retention after 20 000 charging/discharging cycles at 10 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) as well as improved electric conductivity can also be achieved. These results certify that nitrogen-doped carbon dots can be applied as nanobooster to comprehensively improve the performance of graphene for high-performance electrochemical energy storage.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Small nitrogen-doped carbon dots (〈em〉N〈/em〉-CDs) are employed as efficient nanoenhancer to significantly boost the electrochemical performances of three-dimensional graphene (3DG) for supercapacitors.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312931-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuanyuan Zhang, Lili Wang, Fengying Dong, Qiao Chen, Haiyan Jiang, Mei Xu, Jinsheng Shi〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉CO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-based ternary composite materials are generally synthesized by two- or multi-step method and special precursor of CO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉〈sup〉2−〈/sup〉 is usually utilized in synthesis of Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉CO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉, which are time-consuming, laborious and relatively costly. In this paper, for the first time, a facile one-step solvothermal method is used to fabricate Z-scheme Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉CO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/Bi/Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉WO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 ternary composites. Interestingly, ethylene glycol not only acts as solvent for the reaction system, but also reduced Bi〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 into metallic Bi and itself is oxidized to CO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉〈sup〉2−〈/sup〉, which could construct Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉CO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉. On this occasion, Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉CO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/Bi/Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉WO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 ternary composites are obtained after one-step method. High resolution transmission electron microscopy clearly reveals each component in composites. The as-prepared samples could be applied in various photocatalytic activities. Under solar light irradiation, Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉CO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/Bi/Bi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉WO〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 composites exhibited prominent photodegradation performances for both ciprofloxacin and bisphenol A. Meanwhile, these composites could also be used in efficient photoreduction of CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. The efficient photocatalytic activity could be mainly ascribed to Z-scheme electron transfer mechanism in ternary composites, which is determined by surface redox reactions, active species trapping experiment, electron spin resonance spectrum.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312918-ga1.jpg" width="425" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hua Guo, Ya Su, Yanling Shen, Yumei Long, Weifeng Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Optimizing heterostructure of nanocomposites holds great potential for making full use of their ability. Herein, gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) were in situ synthesized over the surface of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) via one-step pyrolyzation route using a single source precursor. The precursor of melamine chloroauric (C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉H〈sub〉6〈/sub〉N〈sub〉6〈/sub〉H〈sup〉+〈/sup〉⋅AuCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉〈sup〉−〈/sup〉) was obtained through chemical precipitation reaction between melamine and chloroauric acid. The morphological analysis confirmed the compact contact between Au nanoparticles and g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉. Then, the Au-g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanocomposites were employed to fabricate electrochemical sensor by modifying glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Electrochemical experiments showed that the Au-g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 exhibited enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards tetracycline oxidation as compared with either pure g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 or Au nanoparticles. Based on cyclic voltammetry (CV) method, the sensor was applied in the detection of tetracycline with a low detection limit of 0.03 μM (S/N = 3) and the linear range of concentration were 0.1–20 μM and 20–200 μM, respectively. Moreover, such an electrochemical sensor demonstrated high stability and good selectivity. Finally, the electrochemical sensor was applied to drug assays and exhibited sufficient precision and accuracy. Therefore, this work paves a new way of preparing g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉–based heterostructures and provides an efficient method for the detection of tetracycline in clinical analysis and quality control.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718313018-ga1.jpg" width="419" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mingmei Zhang, Hong Liu, Ying Wang, Tianjiao Ma〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Three-dimensional (3D) flower center/petal nanostructure exhibits excellent electrochemical performance because of their unique unfold ultra-thin multi-layer structure benefit to the rapid transmission of electrons and the full infiltration of the electrolyte. A three-phase Fe〈sub〉5〈/sub〉Ni〈sub〉4〈/sub〉S〈sub〉8〈/sub〉 nanosflower is constructed by one step alcohothermal technique using a mixture solvent of glycerol, diethylene glycol and ethylenediamine. Ethylenediamine successfully functions as the complexing agent of metal ions to slowly release the metal ions in the process of reaction, which encourage the flower petal nanostructure formation. Interestingly, when the proportion of iron increased, a novel Fe〈sub〉7〈/sub〉S〈sub〉8〈/sub〉@Fe〈sub〉5〈/sub〉Ni〈sub〉4〈/sub〉S〈sub〉8〈/sub〉 flower center/petal nanostructure come into being. Benefiting from the interconnected structure of the multi-layer shell, the Fe〈sub〉7〈/sub〉S〈sub〉8〈/sub〉@ Fe〈sub〉5〈/sub〉Ni〈sub〉4〈/sub〉S〈sub〉8〈/sub〉 nanosflower displays high specific capacitance of 670.4C g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 1 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, excellent rate capability of 79.2% (531.0C g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 20 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉), and longer cycling stability of 92.1% retained capacitance after 5000 cycles. Furthermore, the assembled hybrid supercapacitor demonstrates high energy density of 49.9 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at power density of 770.0 W kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. Our results provide a new strategy to design metal sulfides with special structure for application to asymmetrical supercapacitor cathode material.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉A three-phase core/shell flower-like Fe〈sub〉7〈/sub〉S〈sub〉8〈/sub〉@Fe〈sub〉5〈/sub〉Ni〈sub〉4〈/sub〉S〈sub〉8〈/sub〉 is successfully constructed by one step alcohothermal technique using a mixture solvent of glycerol, diethylene glycol and ethylenediamine. The as-obtained composites become a promising electrode material for the next generation energy storage devices with high specific capacitance (670.4C g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 1 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉), excellent energy density (49.9 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at power density of 770.0 W kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉), as well as good long-term cycling stability (almost 88.9% retention after 10,000 cycles).〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312906-ga1.jpg" width="496" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ngoc-Hanh Cao-Luu, Quoc-Thai Pham, Zong-Han Yao, Fu-Ming Wang, Chorng-Shyan Chern〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Hypothesis〈/h6〉 〈p〉How to encapsulate poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) mesoglobule cores by silica shells greatly affects the resultant nanoparticle structures. Incorporation of acrylamide (AM) unit into PNIPAM in combination with 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GLYMO, as a coupling agent) effectively induces nucleation and growth of silica on PNIPAM core surfaces, where the –NH〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 of acrylamide reacts with the epoxide of GLYMO while GLYMO further participates in subsequent sol-gel reaction of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), thereby leading to desirable particle morphology.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Experiments〈/h6〉 〈p〉PNIPAM-based core–silica shell nanoparticles were prepared by sol〈em〉-〈/em〉gel reaction of TEOS and GLYMO in the presence of polymeric core particles. The major parameters investigated in a systematic fashion include acrylamide concentration and weight ratio of polymer:GLYMO:TEOS. GPC, DLS, DSC, FE-SEM, TEM, FTIR and TGA were then used to characterize polymeric cores and hybrid nanoparticles.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉The particle morphology was governed primarily by the acrylamide content and the weight ratio of PNIPAM/AM:GLYMO:TEOS, and desirable hybrid nanoparticles with narrow particle size distribution were achieved. The LCST of PNIPAM-based mesoglobules increases with increasing acrylamide content. Encapsulation of PNIPAM-based mesoglobules with silica also reduces their thermo-sensitivity. This is the first report of developing a novel approach to prepare PNIPAM-based mesoglobule core–silica shell nanoparticles with controllable particle morphologies.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312888-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 209〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Magdalena Broda, Carmen-Mihaela Popescu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Wood has been extensively used as a material for different applications over the years, therefore the understanding of different degradation processes in various environments is of great importance. In this study, the infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and chemometric methods were used to evaluate and compare the structure of archaeological and artificially degraded oak wood. The results clearly show that modifications in the structure of archaeological wood are related to the position of the material in the log (sapwood and heartwood), thus the extent of wood degradation. To identify the possible factors influencing these effects, the control wood samples were exposed to artificial white rot biodegradation with 〈em〉Coriolus〈/em〉 (〈em〉Trametes〈/em〉) 〈em〉versicolor〈/em〉 and to alkali treatment (with NaOH solution). Due to the structural similarities between biodegraded wood and control or archaeological samples, this type of decay is likely to occur during natural ageing along with degradation produced by other environmental factors. Further, no real similarity was identified between the alkali treated wood and archaeological samples, indicating that such degradation does not affect wood under natural conditions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309909-ga1.jpg" width="295" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Patryk Wąsik, Annela M. Seddon, Hua Wu, Wuge H. Briscoe〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We present a box counting fractal dimension (FD) analysis of the dendritic patterns obtained under conditions far from equilibrium 〈em〉via〈/em〉 rapid evaporation of a sessile drop containing 〈em〉reactive〈/em〉 ZnO nanoparticles. These dendrites were manifestations of solidified Bénard-Marangoni (BM) instability convection cells, and we previously noted that their complex hierarchical morphologies were superficially analogous to the foliage of red algae, Spanish dagger, or spider plant. The fractal dimension of the Bénard-Marangoni dendrites was found to vary in the range of 1.77–1.89 and also depend on the size of the Bénard-Marangoni cells. These fractal dimension results were correlated with the morphological details of the Bénard-Marangoni cells and ZnO particle characteristics, providing a quantitative description of such complex surface patterns emerging from the dynamic process of the Bénard-Marangoni instability.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312773-ga1.jpg" width="498" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bin Fang, Xingchang Lu, Junyi Hu, Geng Zhang, Xinsheng Zheng, Limin He, Jianbo Cao, Jiangjiang Gu, Feifei Cao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Emerging carbon dots (CDs) are widely used as fluorescent probes in biological and environmental fields, nevertheless, the control of CDs based on different detection mechanisms is rarely reported. In this paper, green luminescent CDs (G-CDs) were prepared by a facile hydrothermal treatment of benzoxazine monomers (BZM). The obtained G-CDs showed pH dependent photoluminescence, which could be designed as fluorescence turn-on and turn-off sensors. The G-CDs exhibited weak photoluminescence at pH = 7.0 and could be turned on by Zn(II) selectively with the limitation of 0.32 μM in the concentration range from 1 to 100 μM. When pH = 10.0, Cr(VI) could quench the strong fluorescence of G-CDs efficiently, and the limit of detection was 0.99 μM with a linear range of 1–50 μM. Furthermore, the fluorescence turn-on and turn-off performance of G-CDs was attributed to the intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) of Zn(II) and the inner filter effect (IFE) of Cr(VI), respectively. The excellent probes were successfully applied for the detection of Zn(II) in biological system and Cr(VI) in environment.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312839-ga1.jpg" width="463" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 209〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Prathap Reddy Patlolla, Nakshi Desai, Sharad Gupta, Bhaskar Datta〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The interaction of fluorescent dyes with serum proteins has garnered significant interest owing to potential for non-covalent labeling and imaging applications. In this work, dimeric benzothiazole-based trimethine cyanine dyes are synthesized and their interaction with bovine serum albumin studied. The dimeric cyanine dyes mainly exist as H-dimers and H-aggregates in aqueous solution. A combination of absorbance, fluorescence, circular dichroism spectroscopy and atomic force and fluorescence microscopy indicate the formation of dye-BSA complexes. Binding of one of the dimeric dyes on BSA with a K〈sub〉a〈/sub〉 of 1.49 × 10〈sup〉5〈/sup〉 M〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 results in disruption of dye self-aggregates and unfolding of the dyes into the monomeric or open conformation. Fluorescence enhancement experienced by the dimeric dyes upon interaction with BSA is superior to that registered by Thioflavin T. Surfactant SDS has been used to further tune the self-aggregation of the dimeric dye resulting in a 200-fold fluorescence enhancement in presence of BSA. Interaction of a dimeric dye with BSA under conditions favoring protein aggregation is found to result in faster dye binding and the resulting fluorescence enhancement is easily visualized by fluorescence microscopy. The interaction of a dimeric cyanine dye aggregate with BSA is promising for non-covalent labeling applications in sharp contrast to the monomeric dye counterpart.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309818-ga1.jpg" width="322" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 209〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Huan Zong, Xijiao Mu, Jiangcai Wang, Huifang Zhao, Ying Shi, Mengtao Sun〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this paper, we report time resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) using femtosecond ultrafast transient absorption spectroscopy. The lifetimes of FRET are strongly dependent on the molecular concentration and ratio of donor and acceptor. Also, in the FRET, photoinduced intermolecular charge transfer (PICT) is also investigated theoretically. The driving force for PICT in FRET system equals the reorganization energy, which gives barrier-less charge transfer according to Marcus theory. The rates of PICT in the FRET system can be estimated with our simplified Marcus equation. Our results of PICT in FRET system provide a new efficient way for the charge transfer in donor-acceptor system.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309855-ga1.jpg" width="296" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 209〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kai Zhang, Lei Cai, Jianzhong Fan, Yuchen Zhang, Lili Lin, Chuan-Kui Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Recently, thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) molecules have attracted great attention since nearly 100% exciton usage efficiency was obtained in TADF molecules. Most TADF molecules used in organic light-emitting diodes are in aggregation state, so it is necessary to make out the intermolecular interaction on their photophysical properties. In this work, the excited-state properties of the molecule AI-Cz in solid phase are theoretically studied by the combined quantum mechanics and molecular mechanics (QM/MM) method. Our results show that geometry changes between the ground state (S〈sub〉0〈/sub〉) and the first singlet excited state (S〈sub〉1〈/sub〉) are limited due to the intermolecular π-π and CH-π interactions. The energy gap between S〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 and the first triplet excited state is broadened and the transition properties of excited states are changed. Moreover, the Huang-Rhys factors and the reorganization energy between S〈sub〉0〈/sub〉 and S〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 are decreased in solid phase, because the vibration modes and rotations are hindered by intermolecular interaction. The non-radiative rate has a large decrease in solid phase which improves the light-emitting performance of the molecule. Our calculation provides a reasonable explanation for experimental measurements and highlights the effect of intermolecular interaction on excited-states properties of TADF molecules.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309867-ga1.jpg" width="499" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 209〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tinggui Chen, Xueying Pei, Yongkang Yue, Fangjun Huo, Caixia Yin〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Cysteine (Cys) is not only the central matter of sulfur metabolism in cells but also the only amino acid with reduced thiol group in 20 kinds of natural amino acids. In animal cells, Cys is taking part in many important and essential biological functions including protein synthesis, detoxification and metabolism. The development and application of fluorescent probes for the detection of Cys have attracted more and more attention and interest. Herein, we report a new fluorescent probe 〈strong〉NFA〈/strong〉 that utilized naphthyl carboxy fluorescein as fluorophore and acryloyl group as reaction site for Cys specific detection. The probe essentially has weak fluorescence. Cys addition to 〈strong〉NFA〈/strong〉 containing system induced distinct enhanced fluorescence emission which was attributed to the nucleophilic reaction of cysteine and acryloyl to release the fluorophore. The signal fluorescent response detection system allows 〈strong〉NFA〈/strong〉 to be a reliable tool for Cys detection with low detection limit (0.58 μM). And 〈strong〉NFA〈/strong〉 has been successfully applied for Cys imaging specifically in live Hela cells, which promotes the probe as a potential tool to understand the pathology of Cys related diseases.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S138614251830982X-ga1.jpg" width="339" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Edgar D. Zanotto, John C. Mauro〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The comment by Popov raises two questions related to (a) whether the glassy state can more appropriately be described as 〈em〉metastable〈/em〉 or 〈em〉unstable〈/em〉 and (b) whether the supercooled liquid state exists below the glass transition temperature, 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉g〈/sub〉. We argue that the glassy state is thermodynamically unstable, as it continuously and spontaneously relaxes toward the metastable supercooled liquid state at any nonzero temperature. Moreover, the supercooled liquid state—the target for the glass relaxation process—exists at any temperature below the liquidus temperature of a system. There is no problem with having a missing target for the glass relaxation process, since this metastable supercooled liquid state can always be defined.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): B. Grosdidier〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this work, a rigorous mathematical method to calculate the order parameter in a binary amorphous or liquid alloy, is established even when the alloy is made up of very differently sized atoms. This method, based on the study of the eigenstates of the exchange operator of the alloy components, allows revealing different spherical layers whose inner and outer radii are solutions of a certain equation. These layers have no constant thickness but contain numbers of atoms of each species that are exactly in the ratio of the concentrations of these two species. Thus, each layer has exactly the average concentration of the alloy, allowing to properly formalize the order parameter. Thus the order parameter is formalized in each of these layers. This method makes possible to retrieve the subtle Bhatia-Thornton formalism [Phys. Rev., B2, 3004 (1970)] used for the description of binary alloys. We discuss the link between the zero 〈em〉q〈/em〉 value of concentration-concentration Bhatia-Thornton partial structure factor and the numbers of neighbours. We apply our method to study the order in the Bi〈sub〉0.3〈/sub〉Ga〈sub〉0.7〈/sub〉 liquid alloy. We are able to determine eight layers and their order parameter on the interatomic distance-range [0, 15 Å].〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hongtu He, Tongjin Xiao, Qian Qiao, Jiaxin Yu, Yafeng Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉It is well-known that the sliding contact damage of glass materials is very sensitive to the presence of water, but the detailed mechanisms remain elusive. In this work, the effects of water and speed on wear behaviors of soda lime silica (SLS) glass are investigated upon a ball-on-flat reciprocating tribometer in dry and humid air. When water molecules are present at the sliding interfaces in humid air, the wear volume of SLS glass decreases with the increase in sliding speed from 0.25 mm/s to 8 mm/s, which is believed to be originated from the suppressed tribochemical reactions involving water molecules at high speed conditions, therein the wear volume of SLS glass decreases to ~6 times. However, when water molecules are absent at the sliding interfaces in dry air, the wear volume of SLS glass increases to ~12.5 times when the sliding speed increases from 0.25 mm/s to 8 mm/s. Analyses suggest that the wear of SLS glass in dry air is dominated by the adhesive wear and brittle exfoliation, which can be facilitated by the friction-induced temperature rise and surface cracking at high speed conditions. Our results indicate that the sliding speed can either promote or suppress the wear of SLS glass, depending on the presence of water molecules at the sliding interfaces. These results may provide a deep understanding on the effects of water and speed on the material damage of oxide glass materials during its manufacturing and operation processes.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): S.S. Chen, W.H. Li, X.R. Zeng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this work, an enhanced room-temperature plasticity was achieved in a Zr〈sub〉62.8〈/sub〉Cu〈sub〉15〈/sub〉Co〈sub〉9.2〈/sub〉Ti〈sub〉6〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉7〈/sub〉 glassy alloy through the application of micro-arc oxidation (MAO) treatment. After treated for 15 and 30 min, the glassy alloy specimen exhibited an enhanced plastic strain of 5.5% and 7.9%, respectively. Both the introduction of nucleation sites for shear band at the coating/substrate interface owing to stress concentration and the physical constraint effect for the propagating shear bands from the in-situ formed coating are responsible for the enhanced plasticity. This finding may open a new avenue for developing ductile metallic glasses from a surface modification aspect.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhuang Guo, Song Ye, Ping Xiao, Deping Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this research, the Ag nanoclusters (Ag NCs) dispersed borosilicate glasses with the absence and presence of LiF were prepared by the melt-quenching method. The absorption, photoluminescence, FTIR results indicated that the doping of LiF plays dual effects on the size evaluation of Ag species: the introduction of F〈sup〉−〈/sup〉 and Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 can promote and restrain the formation of Ag NCs, respectively. It was also indicated that the promotion effect of F〈sup〉−〈/sup〉 is overwhelming at lower LiF doping concentration, while the restrain effect of Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 becomes dominated when increase LiF concentration to 8 mol%. Besides, our research further proved that the formation of Ag NCs is very sensitive to the presence of F content, even the introduction of rare earth ions in the form of fluoride or oxide can obviously modify the amount and size distribution of Ag NCs and thus affect the luminescence properties of the codoped glasses.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zongwen Zhao, Yuxia Song, Xiaobo Min, Yanjie Liang, Liyuan Chai, Meiqing Shi〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bo Huang, Changfu Xu, Zhen Zhang, Chun yang Zang, Lizhong Sun〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The near ~3 μm mid-infrared laser demonstrates real and potential applications in many military and civilian areas, but the lack of host materials with nice optical quality and the overlapped vibrations of OH〈sup〉–〈/sup〉 hamper the emission intensity. To eliminate the OH〈sup〉–〈/sup〉 absorption, ZnF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 was adopted in Yb〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉/Ho〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 codoped binary TeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-PbF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 glass to partially till totally replace PbF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. The high ZnF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 concentration would raise the glass transition temperature and enhance the thermal stability of matrix, especially enhance the intensity of 2.85 μm mid-infrared luminescence obviously. TeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-ZnF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 glass with 45.5% ZnF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 original content has high ratio of the strength parameter 〈em〉Ω〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉4〈/em〉〈/sub〉〈em〉/Ω〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉6〈/em〉〈/sub〉 (=2.90) and possesses higher spontaneous transition probability (45.25 S〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) along with the larger calculated emission cross section (0.96 × 10〈sup〉−20〈/sup〉 cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉) corresponding Ho〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉: 〈sup〉5〈/sup〉I〈sub〉6〈/sub〉 → 〈sup〉5〈/sup〉I〈sub〉7〈/sub〉 transition. Fourier transmittance of infrared spectra revealed ZnF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 could reduce the OH〈sup〉–〈/sup〉 concentration in glass substantially, which were favor of 2.85 μm mid-infrared emission. Our results indicated that the use of ZnF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 to effectively remove the hydroxyl groups is an efficacious way to develop near ~3 μm mid-infrared optical glass with high efficient luminescence and thermochemical reliability.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ana F. Kozmidis Petrović, Goran R. Štrbac, Dragana D. Štrbac〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉In this paper, the modified Kissinger equation and the Ozava type equation were obtained by using a process of homogenization from dimensional analysis, thus making them correct in relation to the application of a logarithmic function. An equation that holds at maximum reaction rate is applied for the chosen reference heating rate 〈em〉β〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉r〈/em〉〈/sub〉 and also for a heating rate 〈em〉β〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉i〈/em〉〈/sub〉 that was used. In that way the modified Kissinger equation 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" display="block" altimg="si1.gif" overflow="scroll"〉〈mo〉ln〈/mo〉〈mfenced open="(" close=")"〉〈mrow〉〈mfrac〉〈msubsup〉〈mi〉T〈/mi〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉mr〈/mi〉〈mn〉2〈/mn〉〈/msubsup〉〈msubsup〉〈mi〉T〈/mi〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉mi〈/mi〉〈mn〉2〈/mn〉〈/msubsup〉〈/mfrac〉〈mfrac〉〈msub〉〈mi〉β〈/mi〉〈mi〉i〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈msub〉〈mi〉β〈/mi〉〈mi〉r〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/mfrac〉〈/mrow〉〈/mfenced〉〈mo〉=〈/mo〉〈mo〉−〈/mo〉〈mfrac〉〈mi〉E〈/mi〉〈mi〉R〈/mi〉〈/mfrac〉〈mfrac〉〈mn〉1〈/mn〉〈msub〉〈mi〉T〈/mi〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉mi〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/mfrac〉〈mo〉+〈/mo〉〈mfrac〉〈mi〉E〈/mi〉〈mi〉R〈/mi〉〈/mfrac〉〈mfrac〉〈mn〉1〈/mn〉〈msub〉〈mi〉T〈/mi〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉mr〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/mfrac〉〈/math〉 was obtained. The modified Ozava type equation was obtained in the form.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈span〉〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si1.gif" overflow="scroll"〉〈mo〉ln〈/mo〉〈mfenced〉〈mfrac〉〈msub〉〈mi〉β〈/mi〉〈mi〉i〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈msub〉〈mi〉β〈/mi〉〈mi〉r〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/mfrac〉〈/mfenced〉〈mo〉=〈/mo〉〈mo〉−〈/mo〉〈mfrac〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉m〈/mi〉〈mi〉E〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉n〈/mi〉〈mi〉R〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈/mfrac〉〈mfrac〉〈mn〉1〈/mn〉〈msub〉〈mi〉T〈/mi〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉mi〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/mfrac〉〈mo〉+〈/mo〉〈mfrac〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉m〈/mi〉〈mi〉E〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉n〈/mi〉〈mi〉R〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈/mfrac〉〈mfrac〉〈mn〉1〈/mn〉〈msub〉〈mi〉T〈/mi〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉mr〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/mfrac〉〈/math〉〈/span〉where 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉mr〈/em〉〈/sub〉 and 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉mi〈/em〉〈/sub〉 are the temperatures of the maximum obtained with 〈em〉β〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉r〈/em〉〈/sub〉 and 〈em〉β〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉i〈/em〉〈/sub〉 respectively. In these equations, free terms are explicitly defined and from their values it is possible to calculate the value of activation energy 〈em〉E〈/em〉, as from the slope of straight lines. The main advantage of the modified equations compared to the original Kissinger equation and the Ozava type equation is not the more accurate value of the activation energy, but the more precise form of the equation.〈/p〉 〈p〉With the goal to overcome all imperfections of the Lasocka equation, we propose the modified relationship 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉g〈/em〉〈/sub〉 〈em〉= A〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉g〈/em〉〈/sub〉 〈em〉+ B〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉g〈/em〉〈/sub〉 log〈em〉(β/β〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉r〈/em〉〈/sub〉 〈em〉+〈/em〉 〈em〉1)〈/em〉 between the glass transition temperature 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉g〈/em〉〈/sub〉 and the heating rate 〈em〉β〈/em〉. In this equation, the logarithm is calculated from dimensionless values, where 〈em〉β〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉r〈/em〉〈/sub〉 is the chosen reference heating rate. In contrast to the original Lasocka equation, the modified Lasocka equation parameters 〈em〉A〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉g〈/em〉〈/sub〉 and 〈em〉B〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉g〈/em〉〈/sub〉 have the same units. The temperature 〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉g0〈/em〉〈/sub〉 = 〈em〉A〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉g〈/em〉〈/sub〉 can be obtained by extrapolation of experimental results to 〈em〉β〈/em〉 = 0. This is impossible to get from the original Lasocka equation, but it can be obtained from the modified one.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Collin J. Wilkinson, Evgeny Pakhomenko, Martha R. Jesuit, Anthony DeCeanne, Brittney Hauke, Michael Packard, Steve A. Feller, John C. Mauro〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A topological constraint model is developed to elucidate the coordination environment of alkali tellurite glasses. The model is derived from temperature-dependent constraint theory and provides a quantitative connection between the connectivity of the glass network and the compositional dependence of the glass transition temperature (〈em〉T〈/em〉〈sub〉〈em〉g〈/em〉〈/sub〉). Our model gives support to the model proposed by Barney et al. [〈em〉J. Phys. Chem. Lett.〈/em〉〈strong〉4,〈/strong〉 2312–2316 (2013)], confirming their model of the coordination environment in alkali tellurites. The model simultaneously serves as a framework that can be used in binary alkali glass-formers to predict an expected coordination the network forming cation in an oxide glass.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 501〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yasuhiro Nobuta, Yoshihiro Takahashi, Takamichi Miyazaki, Nobuaki Terakado, Noriko Onoue, Tsuyoshi Shinozaki, Takumi Fujiwara〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Recently, we have developed the borosilicate glass, in which ZrO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 phase is singly crystallizable, and has found an emissive monoclinic ZrO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 dendrites in the resulting GCs. In order to promote the formation of monoclinic phase, we have examined the effect of substitution of alumina Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 for ZrO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 in the precursor glass composition, i.e., 15Na〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O–(15 − 〈em〉x〈/em〉)ZrO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉–〈em〉x〈/em〉Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉–30B〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉–40SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. It was found that the substitution of small amount of Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 (〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 1) gave a positive effect, i.e., increase in the amount of monoclinic phase and decrease in the crystal size. Furthermore, the substitution improved the internal quantum-yield. On the other hand, the further substitution (〈em〉x〈/em〉 ≥ 2) provided the decrease in amount of the monoclinic phase.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 501〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Takumi Kato, Go Okada, Noriaki Kawaguchi, Hirokazu Masai, Takayuki Yanagida〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We have investigated photoluminescence (PL) and scintillation properties of 30BaO-15TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-(55-〈em〉x〈/em〉)GeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-〈em〉x〈/em〉SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 (BTGS〈em〉x〈/em〉: 〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 0, 13.75, 25, 30, 41.25 and 55) glasses and glass-ceramics prepared by the conventional melt-quenching method. In the PL spectra of all the samples, an emission band was observed around 490 nm. In addition, another emission band was detected around 530 nm in the BTGS30, BTGS25, BTGS13.75 and BTG55 glass-ceramics. From the PL decay time constants, the emission bands at 490 and 530 nm were confirmed to be due to the 〈sup〉3〈/sup〉T〈sub〉1〈/sub〉-〈sup〉1〈/sup〉A〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 transition of Ti〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉 ions and 〈sup〉2〈/sup〉E-〈sup〉2〈/sup〉T〈sub〉2g〈/sub〉 transition of Ti〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 ions, respectively. The quantum yields of all the glass-ceramics were higher than those of the glasses of the same chemical compositions. In scintillation spectra, all the samples showed emission peaks similarly seen in PL. The scintillation intensities of the glass-ceramics were higher than those of the glasses of the same chemical compositions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 501〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Dmytro Savytskii, Volkmar Dierolf, Nobumichi Tamura, Himanshu Jain〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We have investigated the occurrence of the sometimes observed grain boundaries, as initial seed is extended to form line in laser-fabricated single-crystal architecture in glass (SCAG). In particular, for Sb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 SCAG in Sb-S-I glass as a model system, grain boundaries are formed during the transition from laser-written initial seed dot to crystal line. Such grain boundaries during the growth of Sb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 crystals occur in 16SbI〈sub〉3〈/sub〉–84Sb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 glass, whereas they are absent in Sb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 glass. We correlate this difference in tendency to form multiple grains with the relative glass forming ability i.e. the dynamics of nucleation and crystal growth as determined by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). On the basis of this understanding, methods to minimize the appearance of grain boundaries in the transition region are suggested.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 501〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Go Okada, Kenji Shinozaki, Takayuki Komatsu, Naoki Kawano, Noriaki Kawaguchi, Takayuki Yanagida〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Tb〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉-doped BaF〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-B〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 glass and glass-ceramic were synthesized, and the luminescence properties were investigated for potential applications in radiation measurements. The glass-ceramic can be obtained by heat-treating the glass, and it includes BaAlBO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉F〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 crystalline phase in glass matrix. The photoluminescence (PL) quantum yield is higher for glass than glass-ceramic. The reason can be due to the difference of the number of F〈sup〉−〈/sup〉 and O〈sup〉2–〈/sup〉 ions surrounding Tb〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 activator ion. The lifetime of PL is slightly shorter than that of scintillation suggesting energy transfer process from the host to Tb〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 is involved. The time-response of scintillation has significantly slow rise feature possibly due to excited state absorption. Both glass and glass-ceramic show efficient optically-stimulated luminescence (OSL) with equivalent sensitivities despite the large difference of PL efficiency. The latter observation suggests that the glass-ceramic includes large number of OSL active centres than glass. The OSL dynamic range was confirmed to be at least 10〈sup〉1〈/sup〉–10〈sup〉4〈/sup〉 mGy.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 501〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sergey I. Gutnikov, Yuriy V. Pavlov, Evgeniya S. Zhukovskaya〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The influence of low-frequency vibrational treatment on the crystallization of basalt wool fibers was studied. In this work, three series of samples were investigated. The first sample set was only one-sided heated at temperatures from 300 °C to 900 °C for 24 h. The second sample set was after only vibrational treatment with a frequency of 50 Hz and oscillations amplitude of 1 mm for 6–48 h. The third sample set was after simultaneous treatment of one-sided heating and vibration at temperatures from 300 °C to 600 °C with a frequency of 50 Hz and oscillations amplitude of 1 mm for 24 h. It is shown that at temperatures close to the glass transition temperature, vibration can influence on the relaxation processes in glasses and accelerate them. Mechanism of glass structure transformation in the basalt fiber does not change, but it starts at a slightly lower temperature. That is a consequence of an additional low-energy vibrational treatment. The vibrational treatment intensifies the crystallization process in basalt fibers and decreases the service temperature of the material by at least 40–50 °C.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 501〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jürn W.P. Schmelzer, Alexander S. Abyzov〈/p〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In classical nucleation theory, the thermodynamic driving force of crystallization is computed by comparing the bulk properties of the liquid and crystal phases for the respective macroscopic samples. Such approach represents a reasonable approximation as far as the bulk properties of the critical clusters do not deviate significantly from the properties of the newly evolving macroscopic phases. However, in general, this assumption is not true and may lead to incorrect results. As one consequence, the classical approach utilizing, in addition, the capillarity approximation overestimates as a rule the work of critical cluster formation and underestimates the steady-state nucleation rate. Based on a generalization of the classical Gibbs’ approach, the basic equations are formulated here allowing one a correct determination of the properties of the critical clusters and of the work of critical cluster formation. In this way, a new tool for the quantitative description of crystal nucleation has been advanced retaining the advantages of the classical treatment but avoiding its shortcomings. Several general consequences are discussed. In particular, it is demonstrated that this method opens a new perspective in the interpretation of possible effects of atomic-scale structure of the melts on the rate of crystal nucleation.〈/p〉〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Huihui Sun, Katarzyna Zielinska, Marina Resmini, Ali Zarbakhsh〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In dermal drug delivery, the influence of the chemical structure of the carriers on their penetration mechanisms is not yet fully understood. This is a key requirement in order to design highly efficient delivery systems. In this study, neutron reflectivity is used to provide insights into the interactions between thermoresponsive 〈em〉N〈/em〉-isopropylacrylamide based nanogels, cross-linked with 10%, 20% and 30% 〈em〉N,N'〈/em〉-methylenebisacrylamide, and skin lipid multi-bilayers models. Ceramide lipid multi-bilayers and ceramide/cholesterol/behenic acid mixed lipid multi-bilayers were used for this work. The results indicated that in both multi-bilayers the lipids were depleted by the nanogels mainly through hydrophobic interactions. The ability of nanogels to associate with skin lipids to form water-dispersible complexes was found to be a function of the percentage cross-linker. An enhanced depletion of lipids was further observed in the presence of benzyl alcohol, a well-known skin penetration enhancer.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312840-ga1.jpg" width="294" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zexing Wu, Min Song, Zijin Zhang, Jie Wang, Xien Liu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Investigation of non-precious, highly-active and durable catalysts is an essential criteria for the development of electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this work, reduced graphene oxide coupled with molybdenum phosphide (MoP-RGO) is prepared through a facile and scalable one-step strategy. Three strategies are developed to tune the electrocatalytic performance of MoP-RGO including optimize the pyrolysis temperature, add NaCl template and introduction of sulfur atoms. After the optimization, the overpotentials at 10 mA cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 reduced from 238 to 152 mV (alkaline electrolyte) and 232 to 144 mV (acid medium), respectively. This work mainly focus on exploiting various strategies to tune the electrocatalytic performance of non-precious catalysts for HER which can provide multiple avenues to develop efficient electrocatalysts.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Pyrolysis temperature, NaCl template and sulfur atom are used to tune the electrocatalytic performance of MoP-RGO. After the optimized process, the overpotentials needed to deliver 10 mA cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 reduced from 238 to 152 mV (alkaline electrolyte) and 232 to 144 mV (acid medium), respectively.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312657-ga1.jpg" width="353" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Prakhar Sengar, Karelid Garcia-Tapia, Kanchan Chauhan, Akhil Jain, Karla Juarez-Moreno, Hugo A. Borbón-Nuñez, Hugo Tiznado, Oscar E. Contreras, Gustavo A. Hirata〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The current photodynamic therapy (PDT) is majorly hindered by the shallow penetration depth and oxygen dependency, limiting its application to deep-seated solid hypoxic tumors. Thus, it is meaningful to develop efficient X-ray mediated PDT system capable of generating reactive oxygen species (ROS) under both the normoxic and hypoxic conditions. Herein, we report the synthesis and characterization of nanocomposite, YAG:Pr@ZnO@PpIX with an amalgamation of UV-emitting Y〈sub〉2.99〈/sub〉Pr〈sub〉0.01〈/sub〉Al〈sub〉5〈/sub〉O〈sub〉12〈/sub〉 (YAG:Pr) nanoscintillator, and zinc oxide (ZnO) and protoporphyrin IX (PpIX) as photosensitizers. YAG:Pr surface was coated with a ZnO layer (∼10 nm) by atomic layer deposition, and then PpIX was covalently conjugated via a linker to give YAG:Pr@ZnO@PpIX. The photo- and cathodoluminescence analyses gave the evidences of efficient energy transfer from YAG:Pr to ZnO at ∼320 nm, and YAG:Pr@ZnO to PpIX at Soret region (350–450 nm). The nanohybrid was able to produce both, Type I and Type II ROS upon direct and indirect photoactivation with UV〈sub〉365nm〈/sub〉 and UV〈sub〉290nm〈/sub〉, respectively. In vitro cytotoxicity of non-activated YAG:Pr@ZnO@PpIX in mouse melanoma cells revealed low toxicity, which significantly enhanced upon photoactivation with UV〈sub〉365nm〈/sub〉 indicating the photokilling property of the nanohybrid. Overall, our preliminary studies successfully demonstrate the potential of YAG:Pr@ZnO@PpIX to overcome the limited penetration and oxygen-dependency of traditional PDT.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312876-ga1.jpg" width="287" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volumes 503–504〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Guang Wang, Yingchun Shan, Jianxin Xu, Yuzhen Chen, Jiujun Xu, Jiangtao Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉By formation β-SiAlON/Y-Si-Al-O-N glass-ceramic as interlayer, AlON ceramics (51.70 at.% O) were successfully joined at 1475 °C for 15 min. The effects of joining temperature on wettability of interlayer material on AlON ceramics, phase assemblages and microstructures of joints, and bending strength of the as-joined AlON ceramics were investigated. The wettability of the interlayer material on the AlON ceramics is positively correlated with joining temperature at 1300–1475 °C, and the minimum contact angle of 8° was measured at 1475 °C. Increasing joining temperature is helpful to improve the bonding strength, and the maximum bending strength of 125 MPa was achieved for the samples joined at 1475 °C, which is ~41.7% of AlON strength. The high bonding strength should be mainly attributed to the formation of high strength β-SiAlON crystalline in Y-Si-Al-O-N glasses and strong interface between AlON substrate and interlayer led by the excellent wettability of β-SiAlON/Y-Si-Al-O-N glass-ceramic on AlON ceramics.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volumes 503–504〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hristo Aleksandrov Solunov〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The molecules of the supercooled liquids in the cooperative molecular dynamics are partitioning to specific dynamic units, known as “beads”. The beads have been defined as the smallest units, forming the heat capacity of the supercooled liquids. The beads appear as a sub-molecular scale in the dynamics of the glass-forming liquids. In the Adam-Gibbs theory the number of molecules, rearranging simultaneously, has been defined as the size of the cooperative rearranging region and these regions form the second larger molecular scale in molecular dynamics. Due to a noticeable discrepancy in estimating the number of beads in the molecules by the empirical rules as well as by theoretical models the relations between these two scales are not well known. Recently, a new thermodynamic method for estimating the number of the beads in the molecules and a rule for the examination of their temperature dependence have been suggested. By these methods 48 low-molecular supercooled liquids are investigated and the relations between these two molecular scales and the structure of the molecules have been found. The estimated number of configuration beads is compared with the number of the structural units (the chemical groups, the ions and the atoms), with the assigned number by the empirical rules and with the ones calculated, based on a Lennar-Jones model of the random first order transition theory. A constant and two kinds of temperature dependence of the number of the beads in the molecules of different liquids have been revealed. A molecular basis, forming the fragility of the supercooled liquids, has been found. From the results obtained, the investigated liquids are classified in several groups following the logical line in the formation of the beads.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 210〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chinduluri Sravani, Mohsin Y. Lone, Prakash C. Jha, K.I. Sathiyanarayanan, Akella Sivaramakrishna〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A new series of 2‑styryl phenanthro[9,10‑〈em〉d〈/em〉]oxazoles was readily accessible from the condensation reaction of 9,10‑phenanthroquinone with cinnamaldehydes in the presence of lactic acid. All these styryl dyes were isolated in good yields and characterized by various analytical and spectroscopic techniques. One of the dyes containing 〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉NO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 group (〈strong〉3d〈/strong〉) was structurally characterized by single crystal X-ray analysis. These dyes displayed emission in blue to green region with larger Stokes shift values characteristic to the nature of substituents. In addition, positive solvatochromic trend was observed by increasing the solvent polarity suggestive of a more stabilized polar excited state. Moreover, the addition of trifluoroacetic acid leads to a prominent blue-shift in visible and emission color changes owing to the protonation of the nitrogen atom of oxazole moiety. Among the all, the oxazole derivative having 〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉NMe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 group (〈strong〉3b〈/strong〉) exhibits good response to acidic pH in the range of 3.0 to 5.6 with a good linearity upon decreasing the pH from 8.0 to 2.16. The absorption studies were further supported by density functional theory calculations.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309880-ga1.jpg" width="430" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 209〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Anxin Jiao, Xuejian Dong, Hua Zhang, Linlin Xu, Yue Tian, Xiangdong Liu, Ming Chen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Ultrasensitive detection of pesticide residues on agricultural products using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is of significant interest in food security. Herein, worm-like AuAg nanochains with highly interconnected ultrafine (~6.2 nm) bimetallic particles were developed as an excellent SERS nanosensor via laser-assisted strategy. The SERS detection limit of thiram molecules on apple surfaces is about 10〈sup〉−7〈/sup〉 M (0.03 ppm), which is about 200 times lower than the maximal residue limit (MRL, 7 ppm) in fruit prescribed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Importantly, the established excellent linear relationships between the SERS intensities and thiram concentrations can sensitively monitor the slight variation of pesticide residues in agriculture.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309843-ga1.jpg" width="331" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 208〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 209〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Manjushree M., Revanasiddappa H.D.〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Bupropion hydrochloride (BPH) an antidepressant and widely used to treat addiction of nicotine. The actual protein existing in blood plasma for the vehicle of exogenous and endogenous substances is human serum albumin 〈em〉i〈/em〉.〈em〉e〈/em〉. HSA. The interaction of BPH with HSA was examined by molecular docking, multiple spectroscopy's such as fluorescence (emission, synchronous and three-dimensional), UV–vis (ultraviolet–visible), FT–IR (Fourier transform infrared) and CD (circular dichroism) at physiological pH 7.40 at 286, 296 and 306 K. BPH was particularly bind to HSA through forces called hydrogen bonds and vander Waals at site I (IIA) which was confirmed from negative values of thermodynamics calculated by van't Hoff equation and docking studies in addition to site marker analysis. This interaction was spontaneous and exothermic process. Secondary structure including conformation of HSA changes after interaction with BPH was revealed from CD and FT–IR (Fourier self-deconvolution to curve fitting), UV–vis, 3D and synchronous florescence techniques. Forster's theory (non–radiation energy transfer) was applied to calculate the distance from tryptophan of HSA to BPH. This interaction involves static quenching (Stern–Volmer and Modified Stern–Volmer equations) with larger binding constant values were in the range 10〈sup〉5〈/sup〉 confirming that strong interaction was exists between BPH and HSA. The interference of bio-active Mg〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉, Cu〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉, Zn〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉, Ca〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 and Fe〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 metal ions on this interaction was also analysed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309806-ga1.jpg" width="410" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 502〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jung-Chang Kung, Yi-Jhen Chen, Yu-Ching Chiang, Chung-Lin Lee, Yuan-Ting Yang-Wang, Chun-Cheng Hung, Chi-Jen Shih〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Many clinical cases show that the failure of root-canal treatment is primarily attributable to remnants of bacteria in root canal systems, especially 〈em〉Enterococcus faecalis〈/em〉 (〈em〉E. faecalis〈/em〉).〈/p〉 〈p〉In this study, silver nanoparticle (AgNP) confined mesoporous structured bioactive powder (M-BP-Ag) was prepared by the evaporation-induced self-assembly (EISA) method and evaluated for antibacterial activity against 〈em〉E. faecalis〈/em〉. The composition of the M-BP-Ag belongs to the SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-CaO-P〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉 system. The M-BP-Ag was obtained with the composition ratios of Si, Ca, P, and Ag in mole% being (80-X), 15, 5, and X, where X = 0, 1, 5, or 10, respectively. X-ray diffraction (XRD), gas adsorption and desorption analyzer, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were used to characterize these M-BP-Ag.〈/p〉 〈p〉The antibacterial activity of the test samples against 〈em〉E. faecalis〈/em〉 was verified by the time-killing curve test and the colony-forming capacity assay. The samples' antibacterial activities depended on the confined AgNP position. From bacterial morphology observation, we also speculated the antibacterial mechanism of the M-BP-Ag test samples in this study.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 December 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 501〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mark J. Davis, Paula Vullo, Michaelene Kocher, Martun Hovhannisyan, Martin Letz〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We report on a non-ferroelectric, piezoelectric polar glass-ceramic specifically targeted for high-temperature sensor use (〈em〉T〈/em〉 〉 300 °C). Potential applications include accelerometers for turbine engines and in-cylinder pressure sensors for diesel engines. Choice of an alkali-free, Sr-fresnoite (Sr〈sub〉2〈/sub〉TiSi〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉8〈/sub〉) + added SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 bulk composition led to desirably high electrical resistivity while maintaining good piezoelectric sensitivity. Piezoelectric properties are highly competitive with existing high-temperature single crystals and ceramics, consisting of 〈em〉d〈/em〉〈sub〉33〈/sub〉 = 10, 〈em〉d〈/em〉〈sub〉31〈/sub〉 = 1.5, and 〈em〉d〈/em〉〈sub〉15〈/sub〉 = 34 (pC/N). Support for the high value of the shear mode 〈em〉d〈/em〉〈sub〉15〈/sub〉 coefficient comes from both direct measurement as well as consideration of the expected variation in effective 〈em〉d〈/em〉〈sub〉33〈/sub〉 due to deviation in perfect (001) crystalline alignment, as demonstrated in this system by Wisniewski et al. (2012). Due to the low dielectric permittivity in this system (〈em〉ε〈/em〉〈sub〉33〈/sub〉〈sup〉〈em〉T〈/em〉〈/sup〉/〈em〉ε〈/em〉〈sub〉0〈/sub〉 = 11.5; 〈em〉ε〈/em〉〈sub〉11〈/sub〉〈sup〉〈em〉T〈/em〉〈/sup〉/〈em〉ε〈/em〉〈sub〉0〈/sub〉 = 16.5, both at 1 kHz), the voltage coefficients are quite high: 〈em〉g〈/em〉〈sub〉33〈/sub〉 = 103, 〈em〉g〈/em〉〈sub〉31〈/sub〉 = 15, and 〈em〉g〈/em〉〈sub〉15〈/sub〉 = 233 (×10〈sup〉−3〈/sup〉 V m/N). The room-temperature pyroelectric coefficient 〈em〉p〈/em〉〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 of +8 μC/m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/°C is followed by a hysteretic peak, though repeatable, near 175 °C, attaining −70 μC/m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/°C, but by 250 °C, 〈em〉p〈/em〉〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 has returned to low levels and passes through zero around 275 °C. Of crucial particular importance for high-temperature applications is high electrical resistivity, well exemplified by this material, with 〈em〉ρ〈/em〉 ~ 10〈sup〉12〈/sup〉 Ω-cm at 300 °C and 10〈sup〉6〈/sup〉 at 850 °C; higher levels of resistivity can be obtained through use of raw materials with lower levels of alkali contaminants. The combination of high electrical resistivity coupled with good piezoelectric sensitivity and the lack of a Curie temperature, with its associated aging effects, makes Sr-fresnoite glass-ceramics a realistic contender in the technically-challenging field of high-temperature piezoelectric materials.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 536〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xueyi Guo, Weijia Wang, Xiuhong Yuan, Ying Yang, Qinghua Tian, Yang Xiang, Yan Sun, Zhiming Bai〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Magnetic nano capture agent (MNCA)-based magnetic separation is considered as a promising approach to rapidly isolate heavy metals from blood. Limited removal efficiency and potential biosafety risks are the major challenges for the clinical use of MNCA-based magnetic separation. Here, we report a highly-efficient MNCA-based magnetic separation of heavy metals from blood in continuous multi-stage adsorption mode. The interactions between MNCA and blood components (〈em〉e.g.〈/em〉 blood cells and plasma proteins) and the MNCA-induced cellular immune responses are studied in detail. The distribution and redistribution of heavy metals in blood are quantitatively analyzed. It demonstrates that concentration dependent redistribution can increase the contact between heavy metals and MNCA, leading to improvement on heavy metal removal efficiency. The removal performance is tested in batch mode and in continuous mode. Results show that 97.97% of Pb and 96.53% of Cd are removed from blood in 120 min using continuous multi-stage adsorption mode, and the residual concentrations of Pb and Cd in blood decrease from 400 μg L〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 to 8.11 μg L〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and 13.84 μg L〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, respectively. This study paves an effective way for heavy metal intoxication therapy by MNCA-based magnetic separation.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S002197971831292X-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volumes 503–504〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): W.C. Wang, Y.B. Xiao, B. Zhou, S.H. Xu, Q.Y. Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The structural, thermal, and luminescent properties of germanate glass containing heavily Dy〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 content are systematically investigated by means of differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectra, absorption and emission spectra, and dynamic lifetime decay curves. To seek a suitable composition, the optimal glass forming region is first predicted through the thermodynamic calculation method and their basic physical properties are further forecasted according to the phase diagram model. The experiment results show that the density, refractive index, characteristic temperature, and phonon energy of the glass host all exhibit a close connection with the rare earth concentration. Strikingly, when the amount of Dy〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 is up to 10.5 mol%, the transition temperature of the glass reaches 747 °C, which is higher than any other known germanate glass and is much advantageous to achieve a higher laser damage threshold. Moreover, the high doping caused the refractive index to increase significantly, which also prompted the glass to obtain a larger emission section and quality factor, increasing the possibility of laser output. Besides, three visible luminescence peaks of Dy〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 at 480 nm (blue) and 575 nm (yellow), and 665 nm (red) are observed even at an extremely high Dy〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 concentration. All the results demonstrate that this kind of germanate glass containing significant amounts of RE could be of interest for implementation of high-gain fiber lasers.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 208〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xing Peng, Xian Wei, Tieyu Chen〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 208〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): 〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 500〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Young Hoon Rim, Mac Kim, Jae-Hyeon Ko, Yong Suk Yang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We have studied the relationship between ionic conductivity and the ionic radius of A site in 2AO〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉2TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 (ATSO; A〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/dbnd"〉Ca, Sr and Ba) glasses. Electrical measurements were carried out in the frequency range 100 Hz ~ 30 MHz and temperature range 300–540 °C. Raman spectroscopy and differential thermal analysis measurements were also performed. The exponents of the Cole-Cole plot, power-law conductivity and modulus formalisms reveal the nature of ionic transport and the conductivity relaxation. Raman spectroscopic data of ATSO glasses clarify the modification of vibrational networks of silicate and titanate complexes by alkaline-earth metals (Ca, Sr and Ba). The ratio of non-bridging oxygens per tetrahedrally coordinated cations (NBO/T) in the 2CaO〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉 and 2SrO〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉2TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 glasses decreases rapidly, suggesting polymerization of the silicate and titanate networks. The disorder of the glass matrix in 2BaO〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉2TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 glass is greatly reduced with increasing non-bridging oxygens per NBO/T and decreasing interionic Coulomb interactions. The conduction mechanisms of 〈em〉dc〈/em〉 and 〈em〉ac〈/em〉 for all ATSO glasses are the same but the ions hop through a different fractal structured conduction pathway. The dimension of ionic conduction pathway decreases with increasing ionic radius of alkaline-earth metals in ATSO glasses.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 499〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): K. Ullmann, P. Ádám, K. Sinkó〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In the present work a new low-cost sol-gel method has been developed to prepare highly porous alumina systems. The prime consideration of this research work was to avoid the complicated and laborious preparation technique and the expensive drying processes. Aluminum oxide hydroxide gel systems were synthesized by a new sol-gel route. The sol-gel process starts from only two chemical compounds; from an aluminum salt and a solvent, and it does not adopt any basic agent or complex formation. All gel systems were dried at atmospheric pressure to obtain xerogels. Different chemical agents (such as gelation agent propylene oxide, surfactant characteristic citric acid and ethyl acetate or basic agent carbamide and urotropine) were applied. Their application was varied in the steps of the sol-gel procedure. Some wet gels were subjected to different treatments (microwave radiation and freezing in vacuum) before the drying process. The cryogels evolved by lyophilization was provided for the comparison. The route of propylene oxide’ addition to system reacted for 24 h produces a bead-like structure with the highest porosity and smallest pores in the present work.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 499〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ting Zhou, Lunlun Gong, Xudong Cheng, Yuelei Pan, Congcong Li, Heping Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The by-product silicon tetrachloride (SiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) was usually obtained from polysilicon industry and was a cheaper alternative precursor. An economic method to produce silica aerogel using silicon tetrachloride under ambient pressure drying was presented in this work, which can also solve the pollution problem during the by-product silicon tetrachloride treatment process. The prepared aerogel samples were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller analysis, thermal conductivity analysis, contact angle test, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. It was found that the molar ratio of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O/SiCl〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 could affect the properties of aerogels seriously. The density and thermal conductivity first decreased and then increased as the molar ratio increased from 13 to 32. The porosity showed an opposite trend with the density. Silica aerogel with high specific surface area (856.7 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/g), low density (0.077 m〈sup〉3〈/sup〉/g) and low thermal conductivity (0.0213 W/m·k) were obtained at the optimal conditions when the molar ratio was 25. The resulting aerogel is also mesoporous material with super hydrophobicity and have a huge application in thermal insulation field.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 500〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Janis Snikeris, Vjaceslavs Gerbreders, Valdis Mizers〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Electron beam (EB)-induced deformations of the surface of thin Cr films on soda-lime glass and Si substrates were studied using atomic force microscopy. The thickness of the Cr films was within the range 20 to 500 nm. The thin films were irradiated with a 30 keV EB in the vacuum chamber of a scanning electron microscope. The EB current was within the range 10 pA to 15 nA, and the irradiation time was within the range 30 s to 10 min. The lateral size of the deformations was typically at the micrometre scale, while their vertical size was at the sub-micron and nanometre scales. Depressions of up to 80 nm deep and bulges of up to 700 nm high were observed. Irradiated areas were wet etched using K〈sub〉3〈/sub〉[Fe(CN)〈sub〉6〈/sub〉] in an alkaline solution. It was observed that EB irradiation can significantly decrease the etching rate and that wet etching can increase the height to width ratio of EB-induced deformations on Cr thin films. Possible physical mechanisms for formation of these deformations are discussed.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 499〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sean W. King, Liza Ross, William A. Lanford〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Intermediate phases represent the so called “sweet spot” in amorphous material systems where the bond stretching and bond bending constraint forces are equally balanced by the total degrees of freedom in the system. They are sometimes also referred to as “Boolchand” phases in recognition of the seminal contributions of Dr. Punit Boolchand to the study of these materials. In a prior publication (King et al., 〈em〉J. Non-Cryst. Solids〈/em〉 379 (2013) 67), we presented possible evidence for the existance of an intermediate (i.e. “Boolchand”) phase in amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbide (a-SiC:H) with a wide range in mean atomic coordination (〈〈em〉r〈/em〉〉 = 2.4 − 2.7). Support for such a wide phase window was based primarily on a correlation between the post plasma deposition bi-axial film stress and 〈〈em〉r〈/em〉〉. However, we demonstrate in the present article that the apparent width of the Boolchand intermediate phase window in the prior study was inflated due to two competing film stress contributions, and that the true range in 〈〈em〉r〈/em〉〉 for the phase window is substantially narrower. Specifically, opposing tensile and compressive film stress components were identified to arise during the plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) of a-SiC:H. The tensile film stress component was attributed to film/substrate thermal contraction mismatch on cooling from the deposition temperature, while the compressive stress component was attributed to ion bombardment of the a-SiC:H growth surface during PECVD. In the prior study, the energy of the ions during PECVD was primarily modulated by the addition of a low frequency bias to the plasma and was intentionally utilized to produce films with varying compressive stress and 〈〈em〉r〈/em〉〉. In the present study, the low frequency bias was removed from the PECVD of a-SiC:H and instead the deposition pressure was varied to produce films with varying 〈〈em〉r〈/em〉〉 and exclusively tensile stress. Through detailed analysis of the tensile bi-axial film stress and Young's modulus dependence on 〈〈em〉r〈/em〉〉, we found conclusive evidence that the film-substrate thermal contraction mismatch was the dominant film stress component in this case and that the magnitidue of the tensile stress was purely due to rigidity percolation in the a-SiC:H film. We therefore conclude that in our previous study the balance of the tensile and compressive stress components resulted in the deceptive appearance of a potentially wide Boolchand intermediate phase window for a-SiC:H. Based on the a-SiC:H films generated in the present study where only the tensile stress component was significant, we have found the window for a possible intermediate phase to be greatly narrowed at Δ〈〈em〉r〈/em〉〉 ≤ 0.05.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 500〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): C. Dong, A. Inoue, X.H. Wang, F.L. Kong, E.N. Zanaeva, F. Wang, A.I. Bazlov, S.L. Zhu, Q. Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉With the aim of developing a new inexpensive soft magnetic amorphous alloy exhibiting high saturation magnetic flux density (〈em〉B〈/em〉〈sub〉s〈/sub〉) above 1.7 T, we examined the formation, thermal stability and magnetic properties for melt-spun Fe-B-Si-C amorphous alloys with high (B + C)/Si content ratios. The high 〈em〉B〈/em〉〈sub〉s〈/sub〉 of 1.71–1.73 T exceeding the previously reported 〈em〉B〈/em〉〈sub〉s〈/sub〉 was obtained for annealed Fe〈sub〉82-82.5〈/sub〉B〈sub〉15〈/sub〉Si〈sub〉2〈/sub〉C〈sub〉0.5-1〈/sub〉 alloys. These high 〈em〉B〈/em〉〈sub〉s〈/sub〉 alloys exhibit low coercivity below 8 A/m and good bending ductility. The 82.5Fe alloy with the highest 〈em〉B〈/em〉〈sub〉s〈/sub〉 of 1.73 T also has the highest hardness. Besides, the 82.5Fe alloy has the largest nearest neighbor atomic distance among the present alloys. The correlation between the highest 〈em〉B〈/em〉〈sub〉s〈/sub〉 and the largest atomic distance is similar for (Fe,Co)〈sub〉83-86〈/sub〉B〈sub〉15-16〈/sub〉Si〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 amorphous alloys. The 82.5Fe and 82Fe alloys are located near the critical composition where the crystallization changes from two stages of α-Fe(Si) + amorphous ⇢ α-Fe(Si) + Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉(B,C) to a single stage of α-Fe(Si) + Fe〈sub〉3〈/sub〉(B,C). These results indicate the importance of the special alloy composition with the largest atomic distance and high stability to primary α-Fe precipitation, in addition to high (B + C)/Si content ratios, for the synthesis of a new ductile amorphous alloy with high 〈em〉B〈/em〉〈sub〉s〈/sub〉 and good magnetic softness.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 November 2018〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, Volume 499〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Akira Takada〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Packing models have been used as one of powerful analytical tools to investigate atomic structures comprised of single element or metallic alloy. In this study, the structures of SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 crystals and glasses were studied by a new packing model. To deal with two-element oxide systems like SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, packing structures focused only on oxygen atoms were constructed using the Voronoi tessellation method. First, the method was applied to crystal polymorphs of SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉. Species of polyhedron, species of polygon and volume of each polyhedron were compared between the polymorphs. The calculated results captured not only structure features inherent in each crystal, but also the indication of structural changes such as α–β transition or corruption of crystal structure. Next, the method was applied to SiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 glass. The Voronoi analysis distinguished glass from crystals in terms of species of polyhedron. In addition, the same method could distinguish structural changes caused by thermal effects from those by pressure effects. The thermal effects change geometrical symmetry (i.e. shape of polyhedron and polygon) with little change in Voronoi volume, in contrast, the pressure effects change geometrical symmetry less with larger change in Voronoi volume. In addition, a new index, which represents a degree of geometrical similarity between crystals and glasses, was defined in terms of Voronoi polyhedron. In sum, the Voronoi analysis based on oxygen packing is expected to be a promising tool to investigate not only the structure of crystal polymorphs but also that of glass and liquid, taking the complimentary role to the conventional network model.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hélène Labie, Adeline Perro, Véronique Lapeyre, Bertrand Goudeau, Bogdan Catargi, Rachel Auzély, Valérie Ravaine〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A simple route to deliver on demand hydrosoluble molecules such as peptides, packaged in biocompatible and biodegradable microgels, is presented. Hyaluronic acid hydrogel particles with a controlled structure are prepared using a microfluidic approach. Their porosity and their rigidity can be tuned by changing the crosslinking density. These negatively-charged polyelectrolytes interact strongly with positively-charged linear peptides such as poly-〈span〉l〈/span〉-lysine (PLL). Their interactions induce microgel deswelling and inhibit microgel enzymatic degradability by hyaluronidase. While small PLL penetrate the whole volume of the microgel, PLL larger than the mesh size of the network remain confined at its periphery. They make a complexed layer with reduced pore size, which insulates the microgel inner core from the outer medium. Consequently, enzymatic degradation of the matrix is fully inhibited and non-affinity hydrophilic species can be trapped in the core. Indeed, negatively-charged or small neutral peptides, without interactions with the network, usually diffuse freely across the network. By simple addition of large PLL, they are packaged in the core and can be released on demand, upon introduction of an enzyme that degrades selectively the capping agent. Single polyelectrolyte layer appears as a simple generic method to coat hydrogel-based materials of various scales for encapsulation and controlled delivery of hydrosoluble molecules.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311238-ga1.jpg" width="395" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 534〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Pengfei Chen, Pingxing Xing, Zhiqiang Chen, Xin Hu, Hongjun Lin, Leihong Zhao, Yiming He〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉This paper is designed for elevating the photocatalytic H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-evoultion performance of g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 through the modification of AgNbO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanocubes. Via the microwave heating method, g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 was in-situ formed on AgNbO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 surface to fabricate a close contact between the two semiconductors in forty minutes. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) experiments were performed to confirm the binary structure of the synthesized AgNbO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 composite. N〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-adsorption and visible diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS) analyses indicated that the addition of AgNbO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 to g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 showed nearly negligible influence on the specific surface area and the optical property. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy experiment suggested that the AgNbO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 displayed reduced PL emission and longer lifetime of photoexcited charge carriers than g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, which could be ascribed to the suitable band potential and the intimate contact of g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 and AgNbO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉. This result was also confirmed by the transient photocurrent response experiment. The influence of the enhanced charge separation was displayed in their photocatalytic reaction. AgNbO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 sample showed enhanced performance in photocatalytic H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-generation under visible light illumination. The H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-evolution rate is determined to be 88 μmol·g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉·h〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, which reaches 2.0 times of g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉. This study provides a feasible and rapid approach to fabricate g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 based composite.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311007-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 534〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jie Yang, Liujie Wang, Zhihua Ma, Mingdeng Wei〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A newly self-supported electrode composed of Mn〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 on Ni foam/graphene (NF/graphene/Mn〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) was synthesized in situ by electrodeposition, and was used as a supercapacitor electrode for the first time. An ultrahigh specific capacitance of 630 Fg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 can be achieved at a current density of 0.5 Ag〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. The maximum energy density of 94.4 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 can be achieved, and the capacitance retention can be maintained about 97% after 20,000 cycles at 10 Ag〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. The electrochemical properties, including specific capacitance, energy density and cycling performance, were better than those in previous reports on Mn〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉-graphene electrodes. Such an outstanding property may be attributed to its unique characteristics, such as self-supported structure, favorable electric conductivity and cellular-like porous morphology.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉A self-supported electrode composed of Mn〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 on Ni foam/graphene was firstly synthesized and exhibited an ultra-high specific capacitance of 630 Fg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.5 Ag〈sup〉−1.〈/sup〉〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311536-ga1.jpg" width="337" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jianhui Li, Haiting Yan, Dongfeng Dang, Wei Wei, Lingjie Meng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Graphene has attracted enormous attention due to its unique physical properties and attractive applications in many fields. However, it is an ongoing challenge to develop a facile and low-cost method for the large scale preparation of high-quality graphene (HQGr). In this work, we have developed an improved liquid-phase exfoliation method to mass produce HQGr. This method is quite simple but efficient by exfoliation of graphite in organic solvent with the co-assistance of sodium citrate and water. Remarkably, the concentration of as-exfoliated HQGr was as high as 0.71 mg/mL under optimal conditions, while the oxygen content in HQGr was only 2.39%. After annealing at 500 °C for 2 h in argon atmosphere, the mean conductivity of annealed HQGr was as high as 1.4 × 10〈sup〉4〈/sup〉 S m〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. Therefore, this facile method for liquid-phase exfoliation of graphite has excellent potential in the industrial-scale production of HQGr for numerous applications in energy storage, optical and electronic fields.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉High-quality graphene (HQGr) was efficiently prepared by exfoliation of graphite in organic solvent with the co-assistance of sodium citrate and water. The effects of alkali metal species, solvent type and the volume ratio of NMP/water in co-solvent on the exfoliation efficiency of graphite were studied systematically. HQGr have great potential for numerous applications in optical and electronic fields, such as anode material of lithium ion batteries.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311755-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jingwen Wang, Min Zheng, Zhigang Xie〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Carrier-free nanodrugs named BCNPs were prepared by the coassembly of 2,5-bis(4-(diethylamino)benzylidene)cyclopentanone (BDBC) and curcumin (CCM) in the absence of surfactants. The as-synthesized BCNPs possess high dispersity and stability in aqueous media, along with favorable photostability and good biocompatibility. Comparing with their counterparts BDBC and CCM, BCNPs exhibit higher singlet oxygen yield and better two-photon photodynamic therapy (PDT) efficacy. Moreover, BCNPs display dramatically enhanced ability for inhibiting the growth of HeLa cells, which benefits from the synergistic treatment of BDBC and CCM under the irradiation of 450/808 nm. This work highlights the potential of using simple coassembly strategy to codelivery of multiple drugs in one single formulation for cancer therapy.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311767-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rui Zhang, Xiupeng Liu, Tingting Zhou, Tong Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Hollow metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) materials with controllable shells have attracted increasing attention because of their interesting properties and potential applications in sensors, catalysis, biology, etc. Cuprous oxide (Cu〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O), which is a typical p-type semiconductor material, has four kinds of nanostructures (i.e., single-, double-, triple-, and quadruple-shelled spheres) and was successfully synthesized by the simple regulation of hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) concentration. All as-obtained samples were at the nanometer level, and the hollow layers were also located between the two shells of the Cu〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O nanostructures. The structural evolution and formation mechanism of the core-in-hollow multishelled nanostructure were also studied in this work. Moreover, the gas sensing performance of four kinds of materials was measured. The performance of the quadruple-shelled Cu〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O-based formaldehyde (HCHO) sensor was greater than that of other sensors. The results indicated that the well-defined multishelled structure may significantly enhance HCHO detection by facilitating the gas adsorption quantity and transport rate.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉A controllable multishelled Cu〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O nanoparticles-based sensing platform exhibits an excellent response/recovery formaldehyde behavior at a working temperature of 120 °C.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311573-ga1.jpg" width="329" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Liang Wang, Ji He, Lingli Zhu, Yilei Wang, Xuequan Feng, Binge Chang, H. Enis Karahan, Yuan Chen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Graphene hydrogels hold great potential for the disinfection of bacteria-contaminated water. However, the intrinsic antibacterial activity of graphene hydrogels is not satisfactory, and the incorporation of other antibacterial agents often results in their unwanted releases. Here, we present a new strategy to improve the antibacterial activities of graphene hydrogels. We first synthesized a new pi-conjugated molecule containing five aromatic rings and two side-linked quaternary ammonium (QA) groups, denoted as piQA. Next, we fabricated composite gravity filters by assembling piQA with reduced graphene oxide (rGO) hydrogel. The rGO hydrogel helps to form a sponge-like physical sieve, contributes to the overall antibacterial activity, and provides abundant pi-rich surfaces. The large aromatic cores of piQA allow the formation of collectively strong pi-pi interactions with rGO, resulting in a high piQA mass loading of ∼31 wt%. Due to the sieving effect of rGO hydrogel and the synergistic antibacterial activity of rGO and piQA, the filters prepared based on piQA-rGO assemblies can remove over 99.5% of Gram-negative 〈em〉Escherichia coli〈/em〉 (〈em〉E. coli〈/em〉) and Gram-positive 〈em〉Staphylococcus aureus〈/em〉 (〈em〉S. aureus〈/em〉) cells with a high-water treatment capacity of 10 L g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. Furthermore, the piQA-rGO assemblies show low toxicity towards two different mammalian cell lines (L929 and macrophages), and the release of piQA is also negligible. Overall, the new piQA-rGO assembly demonstrates high potential for water disinfection applications.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311597-ga1.jpg" width="380" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuxi Zhang, Hao Fang, Yanqiao Zhang, Ming Wen, Dandan Wu, Qingsheng Wu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Tremendous attention has been focused on exploring highly efficient and economical catalysts to the reduction of 〈em〉p〈/em〉-nitrophenol for the purpose of green chemistry. However, it is still a challenge to elevate the catalysts with high activity and desirable recyclability. Herein, Cobalt-Cobalt Ferrite (Co-CoFe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) nanobrushes have been synthesized by controlled growth-reduction process in one step, which is applied to catalyze the reduction of 〈em〉p〈/em〉-nitrophenol. 〈em〉In situ〈/em〉 generated active Co(0) can induce Co-CoFe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanobrushes to achieve higher catalytic activity with a reaction rate of 0.0457 s〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 for the reduction of 〈em〉p〈/em〉-nitrophenol due to the synergetic effect between 〈em〉in situ〈/em〉 generated Co(0) and its induced defects on the CoFe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 support. Compared with other catalysts calculated and gathered in Table S1 in Supporting Information, as-designed Co-CoFe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanobrushes can be employed as a good candidate for the nitro-reduction reaction.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Induced by active Co(0), as-designed Co-CoFe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 complex structures show excellent catalytic performance on the reduction of 〈em〉p〈/em〉-nitrophenol to 〈em〉p〈/em〉-aminophenol, suggesting as a good catalyst candidate for the nitro-reduction reaction in line with the purpose of Green Chemistry.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312104-ga1.jpg" width="312" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yanxiao Li, Congjie Wei, Chenglin Wu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Silver nanowire graphene (AgNW-GN) composite, as an alternative transparent conductive film (TCF) to conventional indium tin oxide (ITO), has much improved mechanical and electrical properties. These advantages make AgNW-GN an ideal TCF for planar devices. The adhesion of AgNW-GN composite film plays a critical role in these applications. However, the effect of silver nanowire on the adhesion between AgNW-GN and copper substrate remains unexplored. In the present work, AgNW-GN composite films with different AgNW concentrations were prepared and their adhesion with copper substrates was characterized using the double cantilever beam (DCB) experiment and the digital image correlation (DIC). The interfacial failures were characterized using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Raman spectroscopy, and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The results showed the brittle to ductile interfacial fracture transition with increased amount of AgNW. The interfacial traction separation relations (TSR) were subsequently extracted. The competing interfacial failure mechanism was discovered and modeled between the interfaces of epoxy/composite and composite/copper. The associated transfer criterion was subsequently established combining both experimental and modeling results.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312025-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xuejie Yue, Tao Zhang, Dongya Yang, Fengxian Qiu, Zhangdi Li, Gengyao Wei, Yu Qiao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉To maintain personal thermal comfort in cold weather, indoor heating consumes large amount of energy and is a primary source of greenhouse gas emission. Traditional clothes are too thick for thermal comfort in cold outdoor environment, resulting the lower wearing comfort. In this work, a multifunctional Ag nanoparticles/cellulose fibers thermal insulation membrane starting from waste paper cellulose fibers was prepared via simple silver mirror reaction and subsequent vacuum filtration process to improve the infrared reflection properties of membranes for human thermal insulation. The sphere-like Ag nanoparticles were tightly anchored on surface of waste paper cellulose fibers, forming an Ag nanoparticles infrared radiation reflection coating with high infrared reflectance, resulting in high thermal insulation capacity of the thermal insulation membrane. In addition, Ag nanoparticles endow the thermo insulation membrane with excellent antibacterial activity, and the thermo insulation membranes can effectively inhibit the growth of both 〈em〉Staphylococcus aureus〈/em〉 and 〈em〉Escherichia coli〈/em〉. In this thermal insulation system, the thermo insulation membranes show superhydrophilicity and porosity, which allow the membranes to be breathable for comfortable wearing feeling. These promising results including high infrared reflection for high thermal insolating, high breathability for wearing comfort, and excellent antibacterial activity make the Ag/cellulose thermo insulation membranes promising candidates for applications in human thermal management, energy regulation and other facilities.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311974-ga1.jpg" width="280" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Faisal Rehman, Khalid Mahmood, Arshi Khalid, Muhammad Shahzad Zafar, Madsar Hameed〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉ZnO as an electron transporting material (ETM) in perovskite solar cells has many benefits, including low temperature processability and high mobility. We explore here for the first time, hysteresis-less mesostructured perovskite solar cells with an incredible steady-state efficiency of 20.62% particularly enhancement of the device stability. We anticipated a device structure consisting of a novel fully-solution-processed and low-temperature barium hydroxide hybridized boron-doped ZnO (B:ZnO) bilayer film as electron transport material (ETM). We modify the design of ETMs with reduced trap states density is very crucial to obtain highly stabilized power conversion efficiency (PCE) and adjustable architectures in perovskite solar cells which should produce an impact on emerging highly efficient devices and their future commercialization.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉A uniquely structured bilayer ETM is studied for the first time, as an electron transporting material in detail for hybrid perovskite solar cells leading to power conversion efficiency above 20.5%.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311998-ga1.jpg" width="251" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 534〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hui Sun, Tianshu Yao, Xi Xie, Yuxi Lu, Yan Wang, Zirou Xu, Jie Han, Xiaobing Chen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Bi〈sub〉5−〈/sub〉〈em〉〈sub〉y〈/sub〉〈/em〉Eu〈em〉〈sub〉y〈/sub〉〈/em〉Fe〈sub〉1−〈/sub〉〈em〉〈sub〉x〈/sub〉〈/em〉Ni〈em〉〈sub〉x〈/sub〉〈/em〉Ti〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉15〈/sub〉 (〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20; 〈em〉y〈/em〉 = 0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5) nanosheet-based nanoflowers as magnetic recyclable visible-light photocatalysts toward Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation were successfully synthesized by a hydrothermal method. As started from Bi〈sub〉5〈/sub〉FeTi〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉15〈/sub〉 (BFTO), Ni was firstly employed to substitute for Fe at B-site to improve the magnetism for magnetic recyclability. After Ni doping (Bi〈sub〉5〈/sub〉Fe〈sub〉1−〈/sub〉〈em〉〈sub〉x〈/sub〉〈/em〉Ni〈em〉〈sub〉x〈/sub〉〈/em〉Ti〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉15〈/sub〉: BFNTO-〈em〉x〈/em〉, 〈em〉x〈/em〉 = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20), both the ferromagnetism and photocatalytic activity were obviously improved, where BFNTO-0.1 (Bi〈sub〉5〈/sub〉Fe〈sub〉0.9〈/sub〉Ni〈sub〉0.1〈/sub〉Ti〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉15〈/sub〉) exhibited the maximum remnant and statured magnetization of 0.14 and 0.82 emu/g respectively. To further improve the magnetism and photocatalytic activity, Eu was chosen to substitute for Bi at A-site. Both ferromagnetism and photocatalytic properties of Bi〈sub〉5−〈/sub〉〈em〉〈sub〉y〈/sub〉〈/em〉Eu〈em〉〈sub〉y〈/sub〉〈/em〉Fe〈sub〉0.9〈/sub〉Ni〈sub〉0.1〈/sub〉Ti〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉15〈/sub〉 (BEFNTO-〈em〉y〈/em〉, 〈em〉y〈/em〉 = 0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5) were further improved by optimizing the doped europium content. The BEFNTO-0.1 (Bi〈sub〉4.9〈/sub〉Eu〈sub〉0.1〈/sub〉Fe〈sub〉0.9〈/sub〉Ni〈sub〉0.1〈/sub〉Ti〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉15〈/sub〉) showed enhanced photocatalytic activity and could be recycled simply by applying a magnet bar. This work may provide a basis for further developing new visible-light photocatalysts because the layer-structured Aurivillius phase has significant potential in elemental doping and further structural engineering applications.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311305-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kairuo Zhu, Changlun Chen, Haiyan Wang, Yi Xie, Muhammad Wakeel, Abdul Wahid, Xiaodong Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Layered double oxides (LDO) and γ-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 have been demonstrated to be promising adsorbents to remove radioactive elements from aqueous media. Herein, magnetic γ-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanoparticles decoration onto porous layered double oxides belts (γ-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/LDO) were fabricated by in situ solid-state thermolysis technique combined with Fe(III)-loaded layered double hydroxides as a precursor. The microstructure, chemical composition, and magnetic properties of γ-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/LDO were characterized in detail. The as-obtained γ-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/LDO was employed as an adsorbent for the elimination of U(VI) from water. The adsorption process followed the Langmuir model with the maximal adsorption capacity of U(VI) onto γ-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/LDO being 526.32 mg·g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 303 K and pH 5, which surpassed pristine LDO and many other materials. The Fourier transformed infrared spectra and the X-ray photoelectron spectra analysis suggested that the interaction mechanism was mainly controlled by the surface complexation and electrostatic interactions. All in all, the γ-Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/LDO with remarkable adsorption capacity, excellent regeneration, and easy magnetic separation opens a new expectation as a suitable material for the cleanup of U(VI) from contaminated water.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311949-ga1.jpg" width="286" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Luping Sha, Qinfu Zhao, Da Wang, Xian Li, Xiudan Wang, Xinyao Guan, Siling Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉“Gate” engineered mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) have been extensively applied in cancer theranostics. Due to the complexity of tumor development and progression, with chemotherapy alone, it has often been difficult to achieve a good therapeutic effect. Currently, it has been shown that the combination with photothermal therapy overcomes the shortcoming of chemotherapy. In most studies, the photothermal effect has proven to accelerate drug release from nanocarriers and ablate malignant cells directly, but the influence on the intracellular fate of nanocarriers remains unknown. Herein, a lipophilic cyanine dye Cypate acting as a photothermal converting agent was conjugated on the external surface of MSN through a disulfide bond (MSN-Cy) and 〈em〉〈span〉d〈/span〉〈/em〉-〈em〉α〈/em〉-tocopherol polyethylene glycol 1000 succinate (TPGS) was coated on the outside of the MSN-Cy via a hydrophobic interaction (TCMSN) to cover the pores, preventing drug preleakage in the circulation. The TCMSN underwent exocytosis through the lysosome-mediated pathway. Moderate heat induced by near-infrared light promoted lysosome disruption, which thus partly inhibited lysosome-mediated particle exocytosis. In the meantime, TPGS, as a P-glycoprotein inhibitor, blocked the drug efflux. This research elaborated the photothermal effect from a new perspective—inhibiting particle exocytosis. The as-designed “gate” engineered MSN realized a double inhibition of drug efflux and particle exocytosis from cancer cells, thus sustaining the drug action time and enhancing the antitumor activity.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311640-ga1.jpg" width="482" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 534〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zanru Guo, Hongjian Gu, Qiang Chen, Zhanfeng He, Wenyuan Xu, Jiali Zhang, Yongxin Liu, Leyan Xiong, Longzhen Zheng, Yujun Feng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Hypothesis〈/h6〉 〈p〉The effective separation and recovery of oils from water is important for the protections of ecosystems and the environment. Polymeric porous monoliths have been demonstrated as attractive absorbents for oil/water separation. However, the recyclability was mainly realized by squeezing, combustion, or centrifugation, which may restrict in elastic materials, destroy the adsorbates or need special apparatus. Thus it is desirable to developing monoliths with controllable oil absorption and desorption.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Experiments〈/h6〉 〈p〉A series of “smart” monoliths with pH-induced switchable wettability were fabricated by high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) polymerization and epoxide ring-opening for the incorporation of amine groups. The resultant monoliths and their wettabilities were examined using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), nitrogen adsorption/desorption and contact angle analysis, respectively. The oil separation efficiency and recyclability were evaluated.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉The monoliths with macroporous structure can undergo switchable wettability under reversible pH stimulation. As an absorbent, the monoliths not only separated and recovered organic solvents and oils (including crude oil) from aqueous mixtures through a reversible and recyclable absorption and desorption process upon alternating the pH between 7.0 and 1.0, but also continuously expulsed oils from water surfaces in a continuous manner with the aid of external driving pressures. Moreover, the monoliths also allowed the effective separation of surfactant-free and surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions with high separation efficiency.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Smart macroporous monoliths with pH-induced switchable wettability and reversible oil absorption-desorption ability were developed.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718310968-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ling-Li Min, Li-Ming Yang, Ren-Xiang Wu, Lu-Bin Zhong, Zhi-Hua Yuan, Yu-Ming Zheng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A novel iron-doped chitosan electrospun nanofiber mat (Fe@CTS ENM) was synthesized, which was proven to be effective for the removal of arsenite (As(III)) from water at neutral pH condition. The physiochemical properties and adsorption mechanism were explored by SEM-EDS and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Batch adsorption experiments were carried out to evaluate the As(III) adsorption performance of the Fe@CTS ENM with various process parameters, such as adsorbent dose, solution pH, initial As(III) concentration, contact time, ionic strength, coexisting anions, and natural organic matter. The experimental results indicated that the maximum adsorption capacity was up to 36.1 mg g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. Especially, when the adsorbent dosage was higher than 0.3 g L〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, the As(III) concentration was reduced from 100 µg L〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 to less than 10 µg L〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, which indicated the Fe@CTS ENM could effectively remove trace As(III) from water over a wide pH range (from 3.3 to 7.5). Kinetics study demonstrated that the adsorption equilibrium was achieved within 2.0 h, corresponding to a fast uptake of As(III). The presence of common co-ions and humic acid had little effect on the As(III) adsorption. XPS analysis suggested that the Fe〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉O, C〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉OH, C〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉O〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉C and C〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉N groups on the adsorbent surface play dominant roles in the adsorption of As(III). Adsorption-desorption regeneration test further demonstrated that no appreciable loss in the adsorption capacities was observed, which confirmed that the Fe@CTS ENM maintained a desirable life cycle that was free of complex synthesis processes, expensive and toxic materials, qualifying it as an efficient and low-cost As(III) adsorbent.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311512-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Wenbo Dong, Dongbo Wang, Hou Wang, Mengke Li, Fei Chen, Feiyue Jia, Qi Yang, Xiaoming Li, Xingzhong Yuan, Jilai Gong, Hailong Li, Jun Ye〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this study, a series of In〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/UiO-66 composites were fabricated through a one-step solvothermal method for the first time. The diffraction peaks, composition, morphology, and chemical states of the composites were first characterized through X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscope, or transmission electron microscope. Then, the performances of as-obtained In〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/UiO-66 composites were assessed by the removal of tetracycline under 1 h dark condition and 1 h visible-light irradiation. Experimental results showed that all the In〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/UiO-66 composites exhibited greater tetracycline removal, as compared with the two parent materials (i.e., UiO-66 and In〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉). The highest tetracycline removal was obtained by the developed In〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉/UiO-66 composite with Zr: In molar ratio of (0.37:1), labelled as ISUO-0.37, with the maximal tetracycline removal capacity of 106.3 mg/g being achieved, which was greater than that of UiO-66, In〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉, or other photocatalysts documented in the literature. The mechanism investigations revealed that compared with UiO-66 and In〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉, ISUO-0.37 had higher adsorption capability and photocatalytic performance. Although the specific surface area of ISUO-0.37 (74.57 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/g) was lower than that of either UiO-66 (388.6 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/g) or In〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 (76.36 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/g), the former possessed greater pore diameter and adsorption sites such as 〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-us-east-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉OH, C〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-us-east-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/dbnd"〉O, O〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-us-east-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉C〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-us-east-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉O, C〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-us-east-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/dbnd"〉C, and C〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-us-east-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉H, which might be the reason for ISUO-0.37 showing the enhanced adsorption capability. The trapping experiment and electron spin resonance measurements demonstrated that 〈sup〉〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-us-east-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/rad"〉〈/sup〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉〈sup〉−〈/sup〉 and h〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 were the major contributors to the photo-degradation of tetracycline in this work, and more 〈sup〉〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-us-east-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/rad"〉〈/sup〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉〈sup〉−〈/sup〉 and h〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 were produced by ISUO-0.37, as compared with In〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉. Further investigation with the diffused spectra of reflectance showed that ISUO-0.37 had better visible light absorption than either In〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 or UiO-66, which may be the reason for ISUO-0.37 producing more 〈sup〉〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-us-east-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/rad"〉〈/sup〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉〈sup〉−〈/sup〉. In addition, photoluminescence emission spectra confirmed that the recombination rate of photoexcited electron-hole pairs of ISUO-0.37 composite is much lower than that of In〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉3〈/sub〉, which may increase h〈sup〉+〈/sup〉. It was also found that ISUO-0.37 showed excellent structural stability and recyclability.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311962-ga1.jpg" width="453" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Guangle Li, Jinbo Fei, Youqian Xu, Jong-Dal Hong, Junbai Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉At present, photophosphorylation in natural or artificial systems is accomplished by the production of protons or their pumping across the biomembranes. Herein, different from this strategy above, we demonstrate a designed system which can effectively enhance photophosphorylation by photo-induced proton-scavenging through molecular assembly. Upon the introduction of photobase generators, a (photo-) chemical reaction occurs to produce hydroxyl ions. Accompanying the further extramembranous acid-base neutralization reaction, an outbound flow of protons is generated to drive the reconstituted adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase to produce ATP. That is, contrary to biochemistry, the proton gradient to drive photophosphorylation derives from the scavenging of protons present in the external medium by hydroxyl ions, produced by the partially photo-induced splitting of photobase generator. Such assembled system holds great potential in ATP-consuming bioapplications.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Contrary to biochemistry, a designed system effectively enhances photophosphorylation by photo-induced proton-scavenging through molecular assembly.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311561-ga1.jpg" width="294" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 534〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Junyan Zhang, Yongxin Song, Dongqing Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Hypothesis〈/h6〉 〈p〉The shape of the liquid film (SLF) between a glass slide and an oil droplet immersed in an aqueous solution is influenced by the direct current (DC) electric field. The liquid film, consisting of the central film region and the meniscus film region, is formed between a floating oil droplet and a glass slide overhead.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Experiments〈/h6〉 〈p〉The SLF was experimentally studied in aqueous solutions of different ionic concentrations and pH values. After the DC electric fields were applied along the glass slide in horizontal direction, the diameter of central film and the thickness of meniscus film were measured by the interference method with an optical microscope.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉The diameter of the central film decreases with the increase in the applied electric fields and declines at higher pH values while increases when the ionic concentration increases. The meniscus film becomes thicker with the increase in applied electric fields and is thicker in pH = 11 solution and thinner in pH = 3 and 1 mM NaCl solution. This is the first study of dynamic thin liquid film under DC electric field, which may be attributed to the balance of dielectrophoretic (DEP) force, colloidal force and the deformable characteristic of the oil droplet.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311056-ga1.jpg" width="255" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shinya Higashimoto, Takuto Nakase, Shun Mukai, Masanari Takahashi〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The copper-indium-sulfide (CIS) ternary colloids were synthesized in “green” water solvent at room temperature employing mercapto-alkyl carboxylic linker molecules such as thioglycolic acid (TGA), thioacetic acid (TAA), 2-mercaptopropionic acid (2-MPA) and 〈span〉l〈/span〉-cysteine (Cys). The stability of the CIS colloids is strongly influenced by the structures of linker molecules, and short linker molecules induce strong adsorption of the CIS colloids on the TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, exhibiting strong visible-light absorption and high photo-conductivities. Effects of linker molecules capping CIS colloids on the solar cell performances were demonstrated. The solar cell performances for the CIS-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 improve as an increase of photo-conductivity of the CIS-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 electrodes. In particular, the CIS(TAA)-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 photoelectrode employing the shortest linker molecules (TAA) exhibited the highest PCE yielding with 6.33% (short-circuit current: 14.0 mA/cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉, open-circuit voltage: 0.91 V and fill factor: 48.0%).〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311731-ga1.jpg" width="478" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 534〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Muhammad Ali, Sarmad Al-Anssari, Muhammad Arif, Ahmed Barifcani, Mohammad Sarmadivaleh, Linda Stalker, Maxim Lebedev, Stefan Iglauer〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Hypothesis〈/h6〉 〈p〉CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 geological storage (CGS) involves different mechanisms which can store millions of tonnes of CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 per year in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs and deep saline aquifers. But their storage capacity is influenced by the presence of different carboxylic compounds in the reservoir. These molecules strongly affect the water wetness of the rock, which has a dramatic impact on storage capacities and containment security. However, precise understanding of how these carboxylic acids influence the rock’s CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-wettability is lacking.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Experiments〈/h6〉 〈p〉We thus systematically analysed these relationships as a function of pressure, temperature, storage depth and organic acid concentrations. A particular focus was on identifying organic acid concentration thresholds above which storage efficiency may get influenced significantly.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉These thresholds (defined for structural trapping as a water contact angle θ 〉 90°; and for capillary trapping when primary drainage is unaffected, i.e. θ 〉 50°) were very low for structural trapping (∼10〈sup〉−3〈/sup〉–10〈sup〉−7〈/sup〉 M organic acid concentration C〈sub〉organic〈/sub〉) and extremely low for capillary trapping (10〈sup〉−7〈/sup〉 M to below 10〈sup〉−10〈/sup〉 M C〈sub〉organic〈/sub〉). Since minute organic acid concentrations are always present in deep saline aquifers and certainly in depleted hydrocarbon reservoirs, significantly lower storage capacities and containment security than previously thought can be predicted in carbonate reservoirs, and reservoir-scale models and evaluation schemes need to account for these effects to de-risk CGS projects.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718310257-ga1.jpg" width="451" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jing Du, Lixin Wang, Lei Bai, Shijia Dang, Li Su, Xiujuan Qin, Guangjie Shao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Development of highly-active and noble-metal-free electrocatalysts for hydrogen evolution reactions is a challenge, and optimizing the structure and the composition of the relative materials is critical to obtain the high-quality catalysts. Ni-based compounds are being explored as noble-metal-free electrocatalysts in hydrogen evolution reactions but the Ni-based needs to be modified effectively. In this work, we co-electrodeposited Ni nanoparticles, hydrophilic graphene and graphene oxide layers on Ni foam to synthesize Ni-HG-rGO/NF catalysts. It was presented a Datura-like shape allowing for high performance with current densities of −10 and −100 mA cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 for HER at overpotentials of −50 and −132 mV, a low Tafel slope of −48 mV dec〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and excellent long-term stability in 1.0 M NaOH solution. These results demonstrate that the Ni-HG-rGO/NF electrode can be a competitive electrode materials for HER in alkaline conditions.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S002197971831138X-ga1.jpg" width="301" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xiaowei Cheng, Le Huang, Xuanyu Yang, Ahmed A. Elzatahry, Abdulaziz Alghamdi, Yonghui Deng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Owing to the high costs and instability of natural enzymes, the development of enzyme mimics based on inorganic nanomaterials has attracted a wide concern in recent years. In this work, a stable nanocomposite composed of highly dispersed CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanoparticles decorated on zeolite Y as support (CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/Y) was synthesized by a facile wet impregnation method, and the CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/Y nanocomposite was firstly proposed as an efficient peroxidase-mimicking nanozyme for accurate detection of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and glucose. The best catalyst was the nanocomposite with CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 to zeolite Y mass ratio of 0.20 (denoted as 20CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/Y), showing a better affinity and higher catalytic constant to the substrate of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) than horseradish peroxidase (HRP) enzymes by the steady-state kinetic analysis. The enzyme-mimicking catalyst could be used over a wider range of pH and temperature for a long-time reuse in TMB oxidation. A facile colorimetric assay was set up for the accurate detection of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and glucose, with the detection limits of 0.323 μM and 35.4 μM, respectively. The CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/Y-based peroxidase mimic was used to precisely detect the glucose concentration in real blood serum samples, exhibiting a great potential to be constructed as a reliable biosensor for glucose detection in some complex systems. The superior peroxidase-mimicking performance of CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/Y nanocomposite is attributed to the synergistic effects of outstanding activity of highly dispersed CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanoparticles (5–10 nm) and adsorption properties of zeolite Y with large surface area (517 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉·g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) and pore volume (0.329 cm〈sup〉3〈/sup〉·g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉).〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉A facile colorimetric assay was developed for the accurate detection of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and glucose with the CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/Y hybrid nanocomposite as a highly efficient peroxidase-mimicking nanozyme, which shows the synergistic effects of outstanding activity of highly dispersed CeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanoparticles and high surface area and pore volume of zeolite Y as support.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311858-ga1.jpg" width="253" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Michaela Sochorová, Pavla Audrlická, Martina Červená, Andrej Kováčik, Monika Kopečná, Lukáš Opálka, Petra Pullmannová, Kateřina Vávrová〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Cholesterol (Chol) is one of the major skin barrier lipids. The physiological level of Chol in the stratum corneum (SC) appears to exceed its miscibility with other barrier lipids, as some Chol is phase separated. Chol synthesis is essential for epidermal homeostasis, yet the role of these Chol domains in SC permeability is unknown. We investigated the impact of Chol depletion on the permeability properties and microstructure of model membranes and human SC. X-ray powder diffraction of membranes constructed from isolated human skin ceramides or synthetic ceramides confirmed that only approximately half of the normal Chol amount can be incorporated in either long or short periodicity lamellar phases. The long periodicity lipid arrangement persisted even in the absence of Chol. Infrared spectroscopy suggested that Chol had negligible effects on the lipid chain order and packing at physiological skin temperature. Chol depletion of the model membranes or isolated human SC did not compromise the barrier function to water and two model permeants. On the contrary, the membrane with the Chol content reduced to 40% of the normal value, where no separated Chol was observed, was significantly less permeable than the control. Thus, a 0.4:1:1 M ratio of Chol/ceramides/fatty acids appears sufficient for skin lipids to limit water loss and prevent the entry of environmental substances. We speculate that the SC Chol domains may have roles in the skin other than barrier function.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311883-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 534〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Nan Lu, Xi Zhang, Ruiqi Na, Wendi Ma, Chongyang Zhang, Yuchao Luo, Yongfeng Mu, Shuling Zhang, Guibin Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The synthesis of a nanocomposite gel polymer electrolytes (NGPEs) using Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉-functionalized SPEEK (SPEEK(Li)) nanofiber membrane as a matrix, cross-linked PVA as a gelled agent and LiClO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 as an electrolytic salt for electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs) were reported in this work. Compared with conventional PVA based gel electrolyte, the “SO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉〈sup〉−〈/sup〉Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉” functional groups and the pores structure of the SPEEK(Li) nanofiber membrane improves the ionic conductivity as well as mechanical stability, which made the prepared NGPEs exhibited a high ionic conductivity of 8.9 × 10〈sup〉−3〈/sup〉 S cm〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at ambient temperature and a large voltage stability window range from 0 to 2.0 V. The fabricated symmetric EDLCs showed a specific capacitance of 146.96 F g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at a current density of 0.5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, with a maximum energy density of 18.26 W h kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. Meanwhile, the EDLCs showed outstanding cyclical stability of 98% specific capacitance retention after 3000 cycles GCD testing, all of these results indicated that the NGPEs should be appropriate to EDLCs and next-generation energy storage systems.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311020-ga1.jpg" width="383" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Elisangela P. Da Silva, Manuel E.G. Winkler, Willyan M. Giufrida, Lucio Cardozo-Filho, Christian G. Alonso, Jardel B.O. Lopes, Adley F. Rubira, Rafael Silva〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Photocatalytic activity of TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanoparticles is highly dependent on their phase composition. The coexistence of anatase and rutile phases in a single nanoparticle eases the electron transfer process between the phases, and favors the separation of photogenerated pairs. In this work, highly photoactive mixed-phase TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanostructures were prepared by supercritical antisolvent precipitation (SAS), an environmentally friendly technology. It is shown here that this methodology has the remarkable ability to produce highly porous (515 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉/g) and crystalline TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanoparticles. The phase composition of as-prepared TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 samples can be tailored through annealing process. Several mixed-phase TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 samples were tested to assess the correlation between photocatalytic activity and phase composition. The photocatalytic performance is strongly affected by the anatase-rutile ratio, since the synergism between phases enhances the charge separation, reducing the recombination effect of the photogenerated pairs (e〈sup〉−〈/sup〉/h〈sup〉+〈/sup〉). It was found that the nanocatalyst composed by 7.0 wt% of rutile phase and 93.0 wt% of anatase phase, named as TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉_650, presented the highest photodegradation for both methyl orange (MO) and methylene blue (MB) dyes. Interestingly, TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 samples prepared by SAS have superior photoactivity than the benchmark photocatalyst names as P25, which is a widely used TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 material composed of anatase and rutile phases.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311792-ga1.jpg" width="309" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 534〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Na Zhang, Ying Huang, Mingyue Wang, Xudong Liu, Meng Zong〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A novel hierarchical composites for coupling thistle-like CoNi with dielectric Ag decorated graphene in paraffin wax as high performance microwave absorber has been synthesized by a facile two-step strategy. The components, particle size, microstructure and morphology of the resulting composites are characterized by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectra, scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, etc. Due to the unique flower structure and good synergistic effect of dielectric loss and magnetic loss, thistle-like CoNi@dielectric Ag decorated graphene composites have showed glorious microwave absorption intensity and frequency width. The maximum reflection loss of −61.9 dB can be gained at 6.96 GHz, which has rarely been reported yet. In addition, the corresponding effective bandwidth with reflection loss less than −10 dB is 5.6 GHz ranging from 12.4 to 18 GHz at only 1.67 mm thickness. This highly efficient and broad band features endow thistle-like CoNi@dielectric Ag decorated graphene composites with promising applications in microwave absorption, electromagnetic shielding, information safety, direct broadcast satellite and military radar fields.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Synthesis and microwave absorption properties schematic diagram.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718310877-ga1.jpg" width="273" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jianqiang Wang, Hao Guo, Xiaonan Shi, Zhikan Yao, Weihua Qing, Fu Liu, Chuyang Y. Tang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We report a novel membrane surface modification method using a fast polydopamine coating (fPDAc) strategy. Specifically, NaIO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 was introduced in the coating process to accelerate the polydopamine deposition rate. Surface properties and separation performances of fPDAc-coated reverse osmosis membranes were characterized and compared to those obtained using the conventional slow polydopamine coating (sPDAc) strategy. Quartz crystal microbalance measurements showed greatly increased polydopamine deposition rate using the fPDAc method, resulting in a reduction of 97% coating time to reach an areal mass of 2000 ng/cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉. Both fPDAc and sPDAc enhanced the surface hydrophilicity and reduced the membrane surface charge. At relatively low areal mass deposition (〈1000 ng/cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉), fPDAc-coated membranes showed improved NaCl rejection together with only mild loss of pure water flux. Nevertheless, this rejection enhancement effect was not noticeable when extensive polydopamine coating was applied due to the undesirable cake-enhanced concentration polarization effect. The extensive polydopamine coating was further accompanied with severe loss of membrane permeability, suggesting that shorter coating time (e.g., 4 min) is preferred using the fPDAc method. Our study provides a more rapid and effective membrane surface coating method compared to the conventional sPDAc method.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312049-ga1.jpg" width="312" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 534〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xiaoyan Lu, Wei Jia, Hui Chai, Jindou Hu, Shiqiang Wang, Yali Cao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Simple solid-state chemical reaction was adopted to synthesize NiMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanomaterials with different crystal phase without the use of organic solvent or templating agent. The as-prepared NiMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉·xH〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O, α-NiMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 and β-NiMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanostructures were investigated as the electrode materials for supercapacitors. The β-NiMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanorods were composed of the nanoparticles, which exhibited relatively high specific capacitances about 1415 F g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at a charge density of 1 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, 80.2% of the initial reversible capacity was maintained after 1000 cycles. The β-NiMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉//rGO asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) system was assembled in serials, which displayed high specific energy density of 29.3 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at a high power density of 187 W kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. This ASC system can drive the light-emitting diode (LED) effectively and give out light about 40 min, even easily light two LEDs in serials for 20 min. The remarkable electrochemical performances make the as-prepared NiMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanostructures an excellent candidate as electrode materials for advanced supercapacitors.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉The β-NiMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanomrods were successfully fabricated by a green solid-state chemical approach and exhibit high electrochemical performance for supercapacitors.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311172-ga1.jpg" width="272" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 February 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 535〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Harkirat Kaur, Girivyankatesh Hippargi, Girish R. Pophali, Amit Bansiwal〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Triclosan, an antimicrobial micro-pollutant with a high bio-accumulation potential represented by its high octanol-water partition coefficient (log K〈sub〉ow〈/sub〉) of 4.76 is commonly encountered in water and wastewater worldwide. The present study focuses on biomimetic surface modification of commercial activated carbon (PAC) with long chain fatty acid namely docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) resulting in enhanced affinity for the hydrophobic micro-pollutant; triclosan (TCS). The sorption process of the resulting modified lipophilic carbon (PAC〈sub〉M〈/sub〉) was investigated for the effect of various experimental conditions. The Freundlich isotherm and pseudo-second-order kinetic models had a better fit. PAC〈sub〉M〈/sub〉 exhibited the maximum adsorption capacity of 395.2 mg g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 in contrast to 71.5 mg g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 obtained for PAC. The surface morphology in terms of surface area, surface acidity, pore size, contact angle, etc. and were also evaluated. The contact angle of 134.3° obtained for PAC〈sub〉M〈/sub〉 confirmed its highly hydrophobic nature. The efficacy of PAC〈sub〉M〈/sub〉 was also evaluated using real-world secondary treated effluent containing triclosan confirming its applicability for tertiary treatment of wastewater. The study established that the biomimetic approach of creating lipid-like sites on the carbon surface results in the enhanced removal of lipophilic micro-pollutants. It can also be utilized for the removal and recovery of a wide variety of other organic micro-pollutants.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718311743-ga1.jpg" width="235" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 534〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ahmad Tayyebi, Tayyebeh Soltani, Byeong-Kyu Lee〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Monoclinic bismuth vanadate (c-BVO) was prepared via simple calcination of solvothermally processed tetrahedral BiVO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉. The physicochemical and morphological properties of c-BVO demonstrated the successful synthesis of the photoactive monoclinic phase from the tetrahedral phase, which has low photoactivity properties. The photoactivities of c-BVO were investigated using the photodegradation of methylene blue (MB) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) measurements in acidic (pH = 2.5), neutral (pH = 6.5) and basic (pH = 9.5) media. The photocatalytic activity of c-BVO was increased with increasing pH, achieved 99% MB degradation in the basic condition, compared with 70 and 45% in the neutral and acidic media, respectively. Although the tetrahedral BiVO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 showed mainly adsorption with negligible photodegradation, c-BVO demonstrated both good adsorption and photodegradation activities. The PEC results indicated that the photocurrent density was affected by both pH and applied voltage. Impedance measurements showed faster charge transfer in the neutral condition than in the acidic and basic electrolytes. The incident photon conversion efficiency (IPCE) showed very low activity for tetrahedral BiVO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, but in comparison it was enhanced by 20- and 10-fold for c-BVO in the visible and simulated solar light, respectively.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718310208-ga1.jpg" width="309" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 January 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 534〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ying Yang, Dehong Zeng, Senjie Yang, Lin Gu, Baijun Liu, Shijie Hao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Core-shell structured carbon nanofiber@metal oxide is one of the most promising hybrid electrodes as supercapacitors, in which the pseudocapacitive metal oxides can be fully exerted and stabilized on the carbonaceous scaffolds. However, facile fabrication of mesoporous carbon nanofibers and integration of them with metal oxides are challenging. Herein, we report a new type of mesoporous carbon nanofibers (MCNs), derived from zinc-trimesic acid fibers, acting as the scaffolds to anchor nickel cobaltite (NiCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) nanosheets after surface O-functionalization. The resultant core-shell OMCN@NiCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanostructure is demonstrated by scanning electron microscope (SEM), elemental mapping, bright-field/high-resolution transmission electron microscope (TEM), selected area electron diffraction (SAED) studies. The anchored NiCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanosheets are dense (97.4%), and have a strong interaction with OMCN, as revealed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-temperature programmed reduction (H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉-TPR) techniques. As expected, the OMCN@NiCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 is highly efficient, showing a high specific capacitance of 1631 F g〈sup〉–1〈/sup〉 at the current density of 1 A g〈sup〉–1〈/sup〉, excellent rate capability and superior cycling stability up to 5000 cycles within a high capacitance retention ratio of 94.5%. This research opens the avenue to fabricate high-efficiency carbon-metal oxide electrodes using metal-organic framework fiber-derived mesoporous carbon nanofibers and integration of them with NiCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanosheets by increasing the interfacial interaction.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉NiCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanosheets coated on zinic-trimesic acid fiber-derived mesoporous carbon nanofibers within surface O-functionalities as high-performance electrode for supercapacitors.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S002197971831110X-ga1.jpg" width="276" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 210〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Peng Qu, Xiaohua Ma, Wansong Chen, Dandan Zhu, Huifei Bai, Xiuhua Wei, Shu Chen, Maotian Xu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A new ratiometric fluorescent probe (〈strong〉1〈/strong〉) was developed for the detection of hydrazine. The probe was obtained by incorporating the recognition moiety of acetyl group onto a coumarin fluorophore. Probe 〈strong〉1〈/strong〉 displayed a distinct cyan emission in a 100% aqueous phosphate buffer solution. In the presence of hydrazine, probe 〈strong〉1〈/strong〉 undergoes a hydrazinolysis process to release the coumarin fluorophore, which exhibited significant hypsochromic shifts in both absorption and emission spectra, and thus achieving a ratiometric response. This ratiometric probe is highly selective and sensitive towards hydrazine detection. The limit of detection (LOD) was calculated to be 34 nM. Moreover, cellular toxicity and imaging experiments suggested that probe 〈strong〉1〈/strong〉 is can be used to monitor hydrazine in live cells.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S1386142518309983-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 537〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): P.V. Ostroverkhov, A.S. Semkina, V.A. Naumenko, E.A. Plotnikova, P.A. Melnikov, T.O. Abakumova, R.I. Yakubovskaya, A.F. Mironov, S.S. Vodopyanov, A.M. Abakumov, A.G. Majouga, M.A. Grin, V.P. Chekhonin, M.A. Abakumov〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Hypothesis〈/h6〉 〈p〉Hydrophobic bacteriochlorin based photosensitizer (PS) can be effectively immobilized on MNP covered by human serum albumin (HSA). PS loading into MNP protein shell allows solubilizing PS in water solution without altering its photodynamic activity. MNP@PS can serve as diagnostic tool for tracking PS delivery to tumor tissues by MRI.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Experiments〈/h6〉 〈p〉Immobilization on MNP-HSA-PEG was performed by adding PS solution in organic solvents with further purification. MNP@PS were characterized by DLS, HAADF STEM and AFM. Absorbance and fluorescence measurements were used to assess PS photophysical properties before and after immobilization. MNP@PS internalization into CT26 cells was investigated by confocal microscopy in vitro and MRI/IVIS were used for tracking MNP@PS delivery to tumors in vivo.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉MNP@PS complexes were stable in water solution and retained PS photophysical activity. The length of side chain affected MNP@PS size, loading capacity and cell internalization. In vitro testing demonstrated MNP@PS delivery to cancer cells followed by photoinduced toxicity. In vivo studies confirmed that as-synthetized complexes can be used for MRI tracking over drug accumulation in tumors.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312852-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 537〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Önder Tekinalp, Sacide Alsoy Altinkaya〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The aim of this study is to prepare high flux, stable, antifouling nanofiltration membranes through single bilayer polyelectrolyte deposition. To this end, a tight ultrafiltration support membrane was prepared from a polysulfone/sulfonated polyethersulfone blend. Deposition of a polyethyleneimine and alginate pair on this support has reduced the molecular weight cut off from 6 kDa to below 1 kDa. The pure water permeability and polyethylene glycol 1000 rejection of the coated membrane were found to be 15.5 ± 0.3 L/m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉·h·bar and 90 ± 0.6%, respectively, by setting the deposition pH for each layer to 8 and the ionic strengths to 0.5 M and 0 M. This membrane has exhibited significantly higher permeability than commercial membranes with the same molecular weight cut off, retaining 98% of the initial flux during 15 h filtration of bovine serum albumine. In addition, the membrane has been able to completely remove anionic dyes from aqueous solution by showing 99.9% retentions to Reactive red 141, Brilliant blue G and Congo red with a 2 bar transmembrane pressure. High flux and membrane stability in acidic and salty environments have been achieved when deposition conditions favor high adsorption levels for the first layer and strong ionic cross-linking between the carboxyl group on the alginate and the amine groups on the polyethyleneimine.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979718312864-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 5 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, Volume 210〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Na-Na Li, Yu-Qing Ma, Xue-Jiao Sun, Ming-Qiang Li, Shuang Zeng, Zhi-Yong Xing, Jin-Long Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A simple naphthalene derivative, 6-hydroxy-2-naphthohydrazide (〈strong〉NAH〈/strong〉), was designed and synthesized through two facile steps reactions with the 6-hydroxy-2-naphthoic acid (NCA) as the starting material. In neat H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O (10% 0.01 M HEPES buffer, v/v, pH = 7.4), probe 〈strong〉NAH〈/strong〉 showed a highly selective and sensitive response towards Fe〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 via perceptible color change and displayed “turn-on” dual-emission fluorescence response for Cu〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉. The binding stoichiometry ratio of 〈strong〉NAH〈/strong〉/Cu〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 and 〈strong〉NAH〈/strong〉/Fe〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 were all confirmed as 1:1 by the method of fluorescence job's plot and UV–Vis job's plot, respectively. Probe 〈strong〉NAH〈/strong〉 can be used over a wide pH range for the determination of Fe〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 (2.0–10.0) and Cu〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 (6.0–10.0) without interference from other co-existing metal ions. A possible detection mechanism was the hydrolysis of 〈strong〉NAH〈/strong〉 upon the addition of Fe〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 or Cu〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉, thereby leading to the formation of 6-hydroxy-naphthalene-2-carboxylic acid (〈strong〉NCA〈/strong〉) which was further confirmed by the various spectroscopic techniques including FT-IR, 〈sup〉1〈/sup〉H NMR titration and HRMS. Moreover, 〈strong〉NAH〈/strong〉 was successfully applied to the detection of Cu〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 and Fe〈sup〉3+〈/sup〉 in tap water, ultrapure water and BSA.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S138614251831028X-ga1.jpg" width="333" alt="Unlabelled Image" title="Unlabelled Image"〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 March 2019〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 539〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): V.I. Kovalchuk, E.V. Aksenenko, A.V. Makievski, V.B. Fainerman, R. Miller〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The dilational visco-elasticity of surfactant adsorption layers was measured at low frequencies by the drop profile analysis tensiometry using oscillating drops. As the studied non-ionic surfactant C〈sub〉13〈/sub〉DMPO (tridecyl dimethyl phosphine oxide) is soluble in water and in hexane, the partitioning of the surfactant between the two solvents had to be taken into consideration. The diffusion controlled exchange of matter theory was generalized in order to take into consideration the curvature of the interface, the diffusional transport in both adjacent bulk phases as well as the transfer across the liquid interface. Using two configurations, i.e. water drop in hexane and hexane drop in water, it is shown that the frequency dependence of the visco-elasticity modulus and the phase angle can be well described when the correct partition coefficient is applied. The surface activity of the selected surfactant C〈sub〉13〈/sub〉DMPO is optimum to demonstrate the impact of matter transfer across the interface on the dilational visco-elasticity of interfacial adsorption layers of non-ionic surfactants.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S002197971831453X-ga1.jpg" width="254" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉