ALBERT

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 27 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xingyu Kang, Dayong Teng, Shouliang Wu, Zhenfei Tian, Jun Liu, Pengfei Li, Yao Ma, Changhao Liang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Downsizing copper nanoparticles (Cu NPs) can effectively improve their catalytic activity, but simultaneously ensuring the structural stability is always a challenge. In this study, by laser ablating a Cu target in graphene oxide (GO) solution along with a reduction treatment, pure Cu NPs (2.0 ± 0.4 nm) are evenly scattered on reduced graphene oxide (rGO). As-prepared Cu/rGO nanocomposites (NCs) are applied as catalysts for 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) reduction, which display high values of mass-normalized rate constant (〈em〉k/m〈/em〉, 3.118 s〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 mg〈sub〉Cu〈/sub〉〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) and turnover frequency (TOF, 2.987×10〈sup〉−4〈/sup〉 mmol mg〈sub〉Cu〈/sub〉〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 s〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉), over those of most reported Cu catalysts. In addition, owing to the stable conjugation between ultrafine Cu NPs and rGO, the Cu/rGO catalysts reveal good catalytic stability that the conversion efficiency of 4-NP is still over 92.0% even after 10 successive cycles.〈/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-S0021979720301090-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xiong-Fei Zhang, Lian Song, Xinxin Chen, Yaquan Wang, Yi Feng, Jianfeng Yao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Hydrophilic melamine sponge is transferred into hydrophobic melamine sponge by immersing the commercial melamine sponge cubes into zirconium oxychloride aqueous solution and followed by a simple dry process. The hydrophobicity transformation is assigned to the complex bonds constructed by the Zr〈sup〉4+〈/sup〉 ions and N atoms, thus reducing the surface polarity. The modified melamine sponge presents excellent absorption capacities toward various oils and organic solvents (70–181 g/g). Its contact angle with water can reach 130° or more, and displays good oil-water selectivity for both heavy oil and light oil. Besides, the sponge has stable chemical properties and good recyclability. This work presents a facile and low-cost method for fabrication of hydrophobic materials that might be used for the cleanup of oil spills.〈/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-S0021979720301156-ga1.jpg" width="489" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 25 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rajarshi Sengupta, Aditya S. Khair, Lynn M. Walker〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Hypothesis〈/h6〉 〈p〉Electric fields enhance surfactant transport to oil-water interfaces when the surfactant forms charged aggregates in the oil phase. Hence, transport under electric fields could be used to detect charged surfactant aggregates in nonpolar media.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Experiments〈/h6〉 〈p〉Two surfactants with different architecture were dispersed in Isopar-M. The transport of surfactants to an oil-water interface under a constant electric field was quantified using a custom-built electrified microtensiometer platform. Electrical conductivity of the oil with surfactant concentration was also measured to determine the presence of charge carriers.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉The charging mechanism of the oil phase, and field-enhanced transport was different for the two surfactants. At low concentrations where the electrical conductivity of the surfactants is indistinguishable, dynamic interfacial tension measurements under electric fields can ascertain the presence of charge carriers in Isopar-M. The transport of ionic surfactants in the aqueous phase was unaffected by the field, confirming that the field-enhanced transport of oil-phase surfactants is due to electrophoresis of charge carriers. Moreover, the equilibrium interfacial tension was not found to change under an electric field, suggesting the adsorption isotherm is independent of the field strength. We demonstrate that dynamic interfacial tension measurements under electric fields is a sensitive technique to detect charge carriers in nonpolar fluids.〈/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-S0021979720300072-ga1.jpg" width="445" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 25 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hui Ding, Guancheng Xu, Li Zhang, Bei Wei, Jin cheng Hei, Liang Chen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Metal selenides as highly efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts were extensively applied to water-splitting technology. In present work, N-doped graphitized carbon wrapped CoSe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanoparticles (NPs) with in-situ grown bamboo-like carbon nanotube (CoSe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉@N/C-CNT) was successfully synthesized via a Co-Ade (Adenine) MOF-derived selenylation strategy. Each CNT was capped with CoSe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 NP, which not only effectively avoided self-agglomeration of CoSe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 NPs but also protected the CoSe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 NPs from electrolyte etching. The synergism of bamboo-like CNT with high conductivity and the uniformly distributed CoSe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 NPs endowed CoSe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉@N/C-CNT the better bifunctional electrocatalytic activities toward both HER (hydrogen evolution reaction) and OER (oxygen evolution reaction). To generate a current density of 10 mA cm〈sup〉-2〈/sup〉, CoSe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉@N/C-CNT exerted as low as overpotential (η) of 185 mV vs. RHE (reversible hydrogen electrode) and 340 mV vs. RHE for HER and OER, the corresponding Tafel slopes were 98 and 107 mV dec〈sup〉-1〈/sup〉 respectively. In addition, CoSe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉@N/C-CNT exhibited superior durability with negligible attenuation after long-term stability test.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Benefiting from the highly conductive bamboo-like CNT and uniformly distributed CoSe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanoparticles, the CoSe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉@N/C-CNT showed excellent catalytic activities with lower Tafel slope, smaller overpotential and longer stability toward HER and OER.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720301107-ga1.jpg" width="496" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 25 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Michael Orrill, Dustin Abele, Michael Wagner, Saniya LeBlanc〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Hypothesis〈/p〉 〈p〉Most functional inkjet inks are sterically stabilized nanoparticle dispersions that require a post-printing-process to remove stabilizing materials and gain functionality. This post-process limits material selection and increases fabrication time and complexity for printed devices. By optimizing the electrostatic stability of a carbon nanomaterial dispersed in water or ethylene glycol via pH adjustment, a stable and printable ink should be attainable without a steric stabilizing material and hence the post-process may be avoided.〈/p〉 〈p〉Experiments〈/p〉 〈p〉The electrostatic stability of multilayer graphene nanoshells (MGNS)—an inexpensive and net carbon-negative nanomaterial—dispersed in water and ethylene glycol was studied by measuring zeta potential as a function of pH and modeling energetic potentials between particles. Requirements for electrical percolation of printed MGNS were analyzed and corroborated with electrical measurements.〈/p〉 〈p〉Findings〈/p〉 〈p〉Electrostatic stability improved with increased zeta potential caused by an increased pH. Ionic strength also increased with pH, causing strong destabilization. By increasing zeta potential while minimizing ionic strength, the maximum solid-loading of MGNS in DI water and ethylene glycol was increased up to 20%. For the MGNS solid-loading achieved here, electrical percolation occurs with 20-30 consecutively printed layers producing a resistivity of 30 Ω-cm. The inexpensive, environmentally-friendly MGNS are a promising material for printed, flexible electronics.〈/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-S0021979720301119-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kanako Watanabe, Tom A.J. Welling, Sina Sadighikia, Haruyuki Ishii, Arnout Imhof, Marijn A. van Huis, Alfons van Blaaderen, Daisuke Nagao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Assembly of plasmonic nanoparticle clusters having hotspots in a specific space is an effective way to efficiently utilize their plasmonic properties. In the assembly, however, bulk-like aggregates of the nanoparticles are readily formed by strong van der Waals forces, inducing a decrease of the properties. The present work proposes an advanced method to avoid aggregation of the clusters by encapsulating into a confined space of hollow silica interior. Hollow spheres incorporating gold nanoparticle clusters were synthesized by a surface-protected etching process. The observation of inner nanoparticles with liquid cell transmission electron microscopy experimentally proved that the nanoparticles moved as a cluster instead of as dispersed nanoparticles within the water-filled hollow compartment. The hollow spheres incorporating the nanoparticle clusters were assembled in the vicinity of electrodes by application of an external AC electric field, resulting in the enhancement of Raman intensities of probe molecules. The nanoparticle-cluster-containing hollow spheres were redispersed when the electric field was turned off, showing that the hollow silica spheres can act as a physical barrier to avoid the cluster aggregation. The Raman intensities were reversibly changed by switching the electric field on and off to control the assembled or dispersed states of the hollow spheres.〈/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-S0021979720301089-ga1.jpg" width="499" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 24 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yanzhen Guo, Binbin Chang, Ting Wen, Shouren Zhang, Min Zeng, Nantao Hu, Yanjie Su, Zhi Yang, Baocheng Yang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Light-harvesting capacity and photoexcited charge carrier separation ability are two crucial requirements for high-efficiency semiconductor photocatalysis. Here, we report a plasmonic Z-scheme nanohybrid by hydrothermally in-situ growing two-dimensional (2D) oxygen-deficient molybdenum oxide (MoO〈sub〉3-x〈/sub〉) nanoplates onto 2D graphitic carbon nitride (g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) nanosheets. The resultant 2D/2D MoO〈sub〉3-x〈/sub〉/g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanohybrids not only construct a unique Z-scheme heterojunction, which improves the photogenerated charge carrier separation efficiency, but also possess numerous oxygen vacancies on the surface of MoO〈sub〉3-x〈/sub〉, which could excite its plasmon resonance for extending spectrum adsorption. Importantly, the plasmon resonance can be readily designed by tailoring the oxygen vacancy concentration via an annealing in air. Benefiting from the synergetic effect of interfacial Z-scheme heterojunction and the tunable plasmon resonance of MoO〈sub〉3-x〈/sub〉, the as-obtained nanohybrids achieve a remarkably improved photocatalytic H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 evolution efficiency. The optimal Z-scheme heterostructure presents 2.6 and 1.7 times higher of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 evolution rate as compared to pure g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 and the annealing nanohybrid under visible light irradiation. Even under light irradiation with wavelength longer than 590 nm, the hybrid photocatalyst displays a H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 generation rate as high as 22.8 µmol h〈sup〉–1〈/sup〉 due to the plasmonic sensitization effect. The result in our work can provide an alternative for fabricating Z-scheme heterostructures that take advantages of Z-scheme-induced charge carrier separation, accompanied with plasmon-enhanced light harvesting of semiconductor to advance the solar energy conversion efficiency in photocatalysis.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Enhanced photocatalytic H2 evolution performance over a plasmonic Z-scheme nanostructure.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720301053-ga1.jpg" width="389" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 23 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Liqiang Zhang, Huazhen Cao, Yueheng Lu, Huibin Zhang, Guangya Hou, Yiping Tang, Guoqu Zheng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Herein, we report a simple approach to synthesize CuFeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/TNNTs photocathodes composed of high-temperature resistance n-type Nb-doped TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanotube arrays (TNNTs) and p-type CuFeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 for CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 reduction. TNNTs were prepared by anodic oxidation on TiNb alloy sheets and CuFeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/TNNTs were then prepared by coating precursor liquid onto TNNTs followed by heat treatment in argon atmosphere. The microstructures of CuFeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/TNNTs and TNNTs before and after heat treatment were investigated by SEM and TEM. The phase compositions of CuFeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/TNNTs were studied by XRD and XPS, and the light absorption performance were tested by UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectrum. Results show that TNNTs exhibit a regular nanotube arrays structure and this structure is well remained after the calcination at 650°C. In addition, TNNTs show similar semiconductor properties to n-type TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, which enables them to be integrated with p-type CuFeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 to obtain composite photocathodes with a p-n junction. The synthesized CuFeO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉/TNNTs photocathode is well crystallized because no other crystalline iron or copper compounds are included in the prepared photocathode. Furthermore, the photocathode shows high light absorption and fast carrier transport due to the appropriate band gap and p-n junction. As a result, high photoelectrocatalytic CO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 reduction performance with high selectivity to ethanol is obtained on this photocathode.〈/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-S0021979720300977-ga1.jpg" width="210" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Matthew D. Wadge, Burhan Turgut, James W. Murray, Bryan W. Stuart, Reda M. Felfel, Ifty Ahmed, David M. Grant〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Titanate structures have been widely investigated as biomedical component surfaces due to their bioactive, osteoinductive and antibacterial properties. However, these surfaces are limited to Ti and its alloys, due to the nature of the chemical conversion employed. The authors present a new method for generating nanoporous titanate structures on alternative biomaterial surfaces, such as other metals/alloys, ceramics and polymers, to produce bioactive and/or antibacterial properties in a simple yet effective way. Wet chemical (NaOH; 5 M; 60 °C; 24 h) conversion of DC magnetron sputtered Ti surfaces on 316L stainless steel were investigated to explore effects of microstructure on sodium titanate conversion. It was found that the more equiaxed thin films (B/300) generated the thickest titanate structures (〈em〉ca.〈/em〉 1.6 μm), which disagreed with the proposed hypothesis of columnar structures allowing greater NaOH ingress. All film parameters tested ultimately generated titanate structures, as confirmed 〈em〉via〈/em〉 EDX, SEM, XPS, XRD, FTIR and Raman analyses. Additionally, the more columnar structures (NB/NH & B/NH) had a greater quantity of Na (〈em〉ca.〈/em〉 26 at.%) in the top portion of the films, as confirmed 〈em〉via〈/em〉 XPS, however, on average the Na content was consistent across the films (〈em〉ca.〈/em〉 5–9 at.%). Film adhesion for the more columnar structures (〈em〉ca.〈/em〉 42 MPa), even on polished substrates, were close to that of the FDA requirement for plasma-sprayed HA coatings (〈em〉ca.〈/em〉 50 MPa). This study demonstrates the potential of these surfaces to be applied onto a wide variety of material types, even polymeric materials, due to the lower processing temperatures utilised, with the vision to generate bioactive and/or antibacterial properties on a plethora of bioinert materials.〈/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-S0021979720300874-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhengxi Wang, Yi Liu, Haibo Zhang, Xiaohai Zhou〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Direct conversion of methane to alcohol remains a key challenge. Here, we report a novel aqueous catalyst, cubic platinum (Pt) nanoparticles capped with Cs〈sub〉2〈/sub〉[〈em〉closo〈/em〉-B〈sub〉12〈/sub〉H〈sub〉12〈/sub〉], capable of direct oxidation of methane to ethanol and methanol with H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 under facile conditions. The selective conversion to ethanol exceeded 97% with a yield reaching 148.41 mol·kg〈sub〉cat〈/sub〉〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉·h〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 50 °C. Experiments with 5,5′-dimethy1-1-pyrroline-〈em〉N〈/em〉-oxide (DMPO) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) tests revealed that methane oxidation occurred via free-radical chain reactions involving CH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉〈sup〉〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/rad"〉〈/sup〉, CH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉CH〈sub〉2〈/sub〉〈sup〉〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/rad"〉〈/sup〉, and HO〈sup〉〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/rad"〉〈/sup〉 radicals. Theoretical analysis suggested that the {1 0 0} surface of the Pt nanoparticles was capped with Cs〈sub〉2〈/sub〉[〈em〉closo〈/em〉-B〈sub〉12〈/sub〉H〈sub〉12〈/sub〉] mediated by Pt–B bonds with a binding energy of −278.6 kcal/mol. This promoted the growth of particles along the direction of the (1 0 0) facets and finally formed a cubic structure. The EPR tests combined with theoretical calculations confirmed the hypothesis that methane–ethane–ethanol conversion was mediated by the catalyst by employing the features of nano-platinum and Cs〈sub〉2〈/sub〉[〈em〉closo〈/em〉-B〈sub〉12〈/sub〉H〈sub〉12〈/sub〉], on which only C〈sub〉1〈/sub〉 and C〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 products were generated, while no products with three or more carbon atoms were detected in the reaction systems described above.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉This article demonstrates the fabrication of cubic Pt nanoparticles capped with Cs〈sub〉2〈/sub〉[〈em〉closo〈/em〉-B〈sub〉12〈/sub〉H〈sub〉12〈/sub〉] capable of directly oxidizing methane to ethanol and methanol with H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 under facile conditions.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300497-ga1.jpg" width="288" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 23 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Le Yang, Mingxiang Hu, Hongwei Zhang, Wen Yang, Ruitao Lv〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Hard carbon is regarded as one of the most promising anode material for sodium-ion batteries in virtue of the low cost and stable framework. However, the correlation between pore structures of hard carbon and sodium-ion storage is still ambiguous. In this work, based on precise control of pore-size distribution, the capacity, ion diffusion, and initial Coulombic efficiency were improved. Meanwhile, the relationship between pore structure and capacity was investigated. Our result indicates that the micropores hinder ion diffusion and hardly ever accommodate Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 ions, while mesopores facilitate Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 ion intercalation. Hard carbon with negligible micropores and abundant mesopores delivers a maximum capacity of 283.7 mAh g〈sup〉-1〈/sup〉 at 20 mA g〈sup〉-1〈/sup〉, which is 83% higher than that of micropore-rich one. Even after 320 cycles at 200 mA g〈sup〉-1〈/sup〉, the capacity still remains 189.4 mAh g〈sup〉-1〈/sup〉.〈/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-S0021979720300990-ga1.jpg" width="268" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yijin Shu, Wenbiao Zhang, Xing Yin, Lingli Zhang, Yang Yang, Dong Ma, Qingsheng Gao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Two-dimensional transition-metal dichalcogenides can serve as emerging biosensing platforms after rational structural optimization. Herein, we develop a series of Mo〈sub〉1-x〈/sub〉W〈sub〉x〈/sub〉S〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and investigate the composition-dependent sensing of hydrogen peroxide (H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉). Among them, the Mo〈sub〉0.75〈/sub〉W〈sub〉0.25〈/sub〉S〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 affords high sensitivity (1290 μA mM〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉), good selectivity, and wide applicable concentration range (4 × 10〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉–1.0 × 10〈sup〉4〈/sup〉 μM). As indicated by theoretical investigations, such prominent performance stems from the bimetallic electronic configurations and the enhanced *OH binding on surface. Moreover, the Mo〈sub〉0.75〈/sub〉W〈sub〉0.25〈/sub〉S〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 is capable of monitoring trace amounts of H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 released from normal cells and various cancer cells, which provides efficient cell detection for clinical diagnosis. In addition, the composition-dependence, as a result of electronic modulation on Mo〈sub〉1-x〈/sub〉W〈sub〉x〈/sub〉S〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 surface, is further evidenced on electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction, which highlights the promise in sensing and electrocatalysis that share similar electrochemical fundamentals.〈/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-S0021979720300989-ga1.jpg" width="272" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 22 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Takashi Akai, Martin J. Blunt, Branko Bijeljic〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Hypothesis〈/h6〉 〈p〉The change of wettability toward more water-wet by the injection of low salinity water can improve oil recovery from porous rocks, which is known as low salinity water flooding. To simulate this process at the pore-scale, we propose that the alteration in surface wettability mediated by thin water films which are below the resolution of simulation grid blocks has to be considered, as observed in experiments. This is modeled by a wettability alteration model based on rate-limited adsorption of ions onto the rock surface.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Simulations〈/h6〉 〈p〉The wettability alteration model is developed and incorporated into a lattice Boltzmann simulator which solves both the Navier-Stokes equation for oil/water two-phase flow and the advection-diffusion equation for ion transport. The model is validated against two experiments in the literature, then applied to 3D micro-CT images of a rock.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉Our model correctly simulated the experimental observations caused by the slow wettability alteration driven by the development of water films. In the simulations on the 3D rock pore structure, a distinct difference in the mixing of high and low salinity water is observed between secondary and tertiary low salinity flooding, resulting in different oil recoveries.〈/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-S0021979720300813-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): B.N. Muñoz-Sánchez, M.G. Cabezas, C. Ferrera, M.A. Herrada, J.M. Montanero〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We propose a method to measure the interfacial tension characterizing the interface between two immiscible liquids of practically the same density. In this method, a cylindrical liquid bridge made of one the liquids is vibrated laterally inside a tank filled with the other. The first resonance frequency is determined and equated to the first eigenfrequency of the 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si23.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈mi〉m〈/mi〉〈mo linebreak="goodbreak" linebreakstyle="after"〉=〈/mo〉〈mn〉1〈/mn〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉 linear mode to infer the interfacial tension value. The method does not involve the density jump across the interface. Therefore, its accuracy is affected neither by the smallness of the Bond number nor by errors of the density difference. The experimental setup is relatively simple, and the procedure does not use image processing techniques. The results satisfactorily agree with those measured by TIFA-AI (Theoretical Fitting Image Analysis-Axisymmetric Interfaces) for the same liquid bridges when the density difference is sufficiently large for TIFA-AI to be valid. We conduct numerical simulations of the Navier-Stokes equations to determine the best parameter conditions for the proposed method. The transfer function characterizing the frequency response of the fluid configuration is measured in some experiments to quantify non-linear effects and to study the role played by the outer bath vibration.〈/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-S0021979720300448-ga1.jpg" width="378" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 21 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jiapei Yang, Xiao Ma, Linlin Fei, Xiaoqing Zhang, Kai H. Luo, Shijin Shuai〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Contact angle hysteresis, defined as the difference between advancing and receding contact angles, is an important phenomenon in multiphase flow on a wetting surface. In this study, a modified pseudo-potential lattice Boltzmann (LB) multiphase model with tunable surface tension is proposed, which is further coupled with the geometrical formulation contact angle scheme to investigate the motion of droplets invoking the contact angle hysteresis. We focus on the dynamic behaviour of droplets driven by a body force at the Bond number ranging from 1 to 6, which is defined as the ratio of the body force to the capillary force. The droplet morphology change is examined by varying (i) the Bond number and (ii) the hysteresis window. Results show the droplet morphology evolution can be classified into different stages, including stretch, relaxation, and equilibrium. The droplet oscillation phenomenon at large Bond numbers at the equilibrium stage is observed for the first time. In addition, it is found that such oscillation can lead to the breakup and/or coalescence of droplets when the surface waves spread on the top of the droplet. Furthermore, there is slight oscillation of the normalized length, width and height at the equilibrium stage for the neutral hysteresis window while more dramatic oscillation will appear for the hydrophobic hysteresis window.〈/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-S0021979720300461-ga1.jpg" width="176" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Arnau Bertran, Stefania Sandoval, Judith Oró-Solé, Àlvar Sánchez, Gerard Tobias〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Reduced graphene oxide (RGO) decorated with superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPION) is a novel composite nanomaterial with a myriad of promising applications. However, processes such as the fast and simple synthesis of non-agglomerated monodispersed SPION on RGO and the accurate characterization of particle size distributions remain challenging. Here we present how to solve these two problems. Firstly, we introduce a new microwave-assisted synthesis of stabilized SPION on RGO which is fast, simple and up-scalable but at the same time renders well dispersed SPION with narrow size distributions. The coverage of the RGO flakes with SPION is extensively tuned and the results are compared with a non-stabilized microwave-assisted method. Secondly, we implement an accurate method for the determination of particle size distributions from magnetization curves in RGO-SPION composite nanomaterials. This method is applied to the prepared composites with different particle size distributions, degrees of particle agglomeration and coverage of the RGO flakes. The influence of sample characteristics in the size determination method is discussed and the results are compared with the values obtained from transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), showing that the method is well suited for these and potentially other types of superparamagnetic composite nanomaterials.〈/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-S0021979720300862-ga1.jpg" width="251" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 20 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jeremiah C. Traeger, Daniel K. Schwartz〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Single-molecule Förster Resonance Energy Transfer was used to observe the adsorption of fluorescently-labeled “target” DNA oligonucleotides and their association and hybridization with complementary DNA “probes” tethered to the surface as a function of surface grafting density. Ionic strength was varied systematically to disentangle the potentially competing effects of probe accessibility and electrostatic repulsion. At high ionic strength, when the Debye length was ∼1 nm, the adsorption of target DNA was not significantly inhibited by the presence of tethered probe DNA, even at high grafting density, and the fraction of adsorbed target strands undergoing hybridization increased systematically with grafting density, leading to a dramatic increase in the net hybridization rate at high grafting density. However, at lower ionic strength, when the Debye length was ≥3 nm, the adsorption rate of target DNA decreased and the fraction of adsorbed target strands undergoing hybridization saturated at high probe grafting density (≥7,000 strands/µm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉), presumably due to electrostatic repulsion. As a result, the net rate of hybridization exhibited a maximum as a function of grafting density. This has important consequences for the design of systems that optimize surface-mediated DNA hybridization under low-salt high-stringency 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-S0021979720300783-ga1.jpg" width="447" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Balraj Krishnan Tudu, Varun Gupta, Aditya Kumar, Apurba Sinhamahapatra〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Fabrication of a multipurpose superhydrophobic mesh via modification of a galvanized steel mess using black titanium oxide nanoparticles and perfluorodecyltriethoxysilane is reported. Modified mesh exhibits superhydrophobicity with a water static contact angle of 157° ± 2 along with a tilt angle of 5° ± 1 and suitable chemical, thermal, mechanical stability, and self-cleaning ability. The droplet dynamic behavior of superhydrophobic mesh revels the impact velocity is 1.5 ms〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 for splashing of the water droplet. The developed mesh is studied for freshwater generation from oily water and seawater via efficient oil-water separation and solar evaporation, respectively. A proficiency of 99% and 88% is achieved for oil-water separation from mixture and emulsion, respectively. Solar evaporation efficiency of 64% and 76% are recorded under low-intensity light (225 Wm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉) and natural sunlight (591 Wm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉), respectively, from distilled water. For seawater, the evaporation efficiency of 69% is achieved under natural sunlight. Present approach can be applied to any size and shape of the mesh and has great industrial applications.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Superhydrophobic surface containing black TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 nanoparticles for efficient oil-water emulsion separation and solar evaporation in presence of natural sunlight light from sea water.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300928-ga1.jpg" width="458" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Weian Yan, Dongyang Miao, Aijaz Ahmed Babar, Jing Zhao, Yongtang Jia, Bin Ding, Xianfeng Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Hypothesis〈/h6〉 〈p〉Growing use of comfortable functional textiles has resulted in increased demand of excellent directional moisture (sweat) transport feature in textiles. However, designing such anisotropic functional textiles that allow fast penetration of sweat through one direction but prevent its movement in the reverse direction is still a challenging task. In this regard, fabrication of a novel Janus membrane with multi-scaled interconnected inter- and intra-fiber pores for enhanced directional moisture transport designed by a rational combination of superhydrophilic hydrolyzed porous polyacrylonitrile (HPPAN) nanofibers and hydrophobic polyurethane (PU) fibers 〈em〉via〈/em〉 electrospinning may be a very useful approach.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Experiment〈/h6〉 〈p〉PAN/PVP composite nanofibers were electrospun using PAN/PVP composite solution dissolved in DMF. After electrospinning, electrospun fibers were subjected extensive washing process to selectively remove PVP from the fiber matrix to develop highly rough and porous PAN (PPAN) nanofibers. The resultant PPAN nanofibers were then hydrolyzed to further improve their wettability. Finally, a layer of PU fibers was directly deposited on the HPPAN nanofibers via electrospinning to fabricate the subsequent Janus membrane.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉The resultant PU/HPPAN Janus membranes display instant moisture transport in the positive direction with exceptional directional moisture transport index (R = 1311.3%), whereas, offer superior resistance (i.e. breakthrough pressure ≥17.1 cm H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O) to the moisture movement in the reverse direction. Moreover, a plausible mechanism articulating the role of inter- and intra-porosity for the enhanced directional moisture transport has been proposed. Successful fabrication of such fascinating Janus membranes based on the proposed coherent mechanism opens a new insight into the engineering of novel functional textiles for fast sweat release and personal drying 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-S0021979720300795-ga1.jpg" width="284" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ning Tian, Jinfei Wei, Yabin Li, Bucheng Li, Junping Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Scald is a kind of common injury for human beings caused by contacting with hot liquids and/or vapor. Herein, we report the preparation of an advanced fabric for efficient scald-preventing by dip-coating a common polyester fabric in a hexadecyl polysiloxane (HD-POS) aqueous suspension, which was synthesized via a waterborne and nonfluorinated approach. Thanks to the hierarchical micro-/nanostructure of the fabric, stable bonding of the compact HD-POS layer on the polyester microfibers, and inherent high stability and elasticity of HD-POS, the fabric features excellent hot water repellency even for dynamic boiling water with a high water impalement resistance of up to 5 grades according to the water repellency grade test. In addition, the fabric shows extraordinary mechanical stability, e.g., its superhydrophobicity remained nearly unchanged after 200 cycles washing, 10,000 cycles Martindale abraison or 1000 cycles 100% streching and releasing. It also exhibits superior environmental robustness (117 d outdoor test) and chemical robustness (7 d immersion in 1 M HCl or NaOH solution, 60 min ultrosonication in both water and anchol immersion) in various harsh conditions. By applying as an advanced fabric for efficient scald-preventing, it can avoid direct contact of hot water and vapor with rat skin by preventing penetration of hot water and most of vapor. It could also significantly reduce heat conduction and radiation to rat skin by reducing contact time of hot water with the fabric (decreased 10 s more quickly than the pristine fabric to 60 °C when encountering 100 mL of 92 °C water). As a result, the fabric in contact with the skin keeps dry and the fabric temperature is much lower than that of the pristine fabric once encountering hot water, thus showing great potentials as an advanced fabric for efficient scald-preventing 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-S0021979720300837-ga1.jpg" width="284" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Marguerite Léang, Frédéric Ott, Frédérique Giorgiutti-Dauphiné, Ludovic Pauchard, Lay-Theng Lee〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Hypothesis〈/h6〉 〈p〉Colloidal silica dispersions dried under controlled conditions form solid gels that display mechanical properties similar to those observed in several practical processes. An understanding of their structural characteristics and liquid flow properties can therefore help establish these gels as an alternative family of model materials to study practical porous systems.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Experiments〈/h6〉 〈p〉Neutron radiography is a non-destructive technique well-adapted to study hydrogen-rich domains in porous materials due to the high attenuation power of hydrogen. We apply this technique to study gels prepared from silica nanoparticles of radii 5–40 nm.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉The water content in the gels have been quantified and different types of porosities have been determined: total porosity, effective porosity that contributes to liquid flow, and residual porosity that contains bound residual water. This residual water increases with decrease in particle size and constitutes an important fraction of the gel. The dynamics of water imbibition follows a √t law, from which the effective pore size and permeability are evaluated. We highlight the role of particle size on water retention, on particle organization and its impact on mechanical resistance. Quantitative analysis of the propagating liquid front shows front broadening that suggests elongated pores with reduced correlated liquid menisci.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Real-time neutron imaging of water imbibition in silica nanoporous media.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300667-ga1.jpg" width="331" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shengming Zhang, Xuhui Wang, Yan Li, Yaxiong Zhang, Qiang Hu, Xiaohui Hua, Guo Liu, Erqing Xie, Zhenxing Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉As a promising anode material for supercapacitors, Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 has been widely studied but still face the problem of low conductivity. Inducing oxygen vacancy (Vo) into Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 is a widely used approach to tune the conductivity to enhance its capacitive performance, but there is little research on the influence of Vo content. Herein, we report the effect of Vo in Fe〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 nanoplates with various content. We tuned the Vo content by annealing at 200–500 °C. XPS and EPR were taken to characterize the Vo content, ranging from 11% to 26%. Electrochemical results show that FO-300 with 17% Vo has the highest capacity of 301 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, and the capacity of the highest Vo content’s (26% Vo) is only 107 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. The symmetric supercapacitor based on FO-300 shows a considerably high energy density of 58.5 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at a power density of 9.32 kW kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and remains 84.6% after 12,000 cycles.〈/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-S0021979720300746-ga1.jpg" width="417" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yanning Chen, Baohui Ren, Shuiying Gao, Rong Cao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A novel sandwich-like structure material was exploited for the fabrication of an effective corrosion resistance system. An environmentally friendly composite material was synthesized by installing 8-hydroxyquinoline (8-HQ) on the surface of graphene oxide (GO). In order to prevent leakage of corrosion inhibitor 8-HQ, GO/8-HQ was modified by polydopamine (PDA), denoted as GO/8-HQ/PDA. A sandwich-like structure (GO/8-HQ/PDA) enables long-term stable storage of corrosion inhibitor in the protective matrix. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were utilized to verify the sandwich-like structure of GO/8-HQ/PDA. The electrochemical tests in a 3.5 wt% NaCl solution showed that the addition of well-dispersed GO/8-HQ/PDA into epoxy system (GO/8-HQ/PDA-EP) remarkably improved corrosion protection of AZ31b magnesium alloy compared with pure epoxy (EP) coating. The sandwich structure protects the activity and structural integrity of the corrosion inhibitor (8-HQ). The corrosion inhibitor (8-HQ) of the GO/8-HQ/PDA sandwich structure cuts off the ion exchange between the metal alloy and the electrolyte solution, which hinders the electrochemical corrosion of the metal. A possible corrosion resistance mechanism of GO/8-HQ/PDA is fully discussed. This study provides feasibilities for the immobilization of corrosion inhibitors on the metal surface.〈/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-S0021979720300539-ga1.jpg" width="499" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 16 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Wenlong Sheng, Ji-Long Shi, Huimin Hao, Xia Li, Xianjun Lang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The selective aerobic oxidation of sulfides is highly attractive for modern organic and pharmaceutical synthesis. There is still an urgent need for exploring new photocatalytic system on this reaction. In this work, we investigated the polyimide-TiO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 (P25) photocatalyst in visible light-driven aerobic oxidation of sulfides. Polyimide-P25 shows enhanced absorption of visible light. Subsequently, this makes polyimide-P25 exhibits observable photocatalytic activity on visible light-driven selective aerobic oxidation of sulfides while pure polyimide and P25 individually have none. Aided by triethylamine (TEA) catalysis, the yield of sulfoxide by polyimide-P25 photocatalysis reaches more 3-fold than that without TEA, highlighting the remarkable cooperative effect between polyimide-P25 photocatalysis and TEA catalysis. Moreover, a plausible mechanism was figured out based on the quenching control experiments, kinetic studies and 〈em〉in-situ〈/em〉 electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) tests. This work could provide useful guidance for the rational design of hybrid photocatalysts for challenging selective chemical transformations.〈/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-S0021979720300485-ga1.jpg" width="291" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Rongrong Qi, Tong Zhang, Xin Guan, Jianxun Dai, Sen Liu, Hongran Zhao, Teng Fei〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Owing to the outstanding dielectric properties derived from the conjugated π-electron systems, conjugated polymers have been explored and developed in capacitive humidity sensors for a few decades. In this work, a series of composites – mesoporous silica and semiconducting polymers – MCM-41 (MCM, Mesoporous Crystalline Material)/PEDOT (poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)) were chemically obtained by 〈em〉in-situ〈/em〉 polymerization at 0 °C, while the amounts of PEDOT were adjusted by different evaporation times of EDOT (3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) in the porous MCM-41 film. Additionally, it was able to modulate both the dielectricity and porosity of the composites via this convenient approach. The obtained capacitive humidity sensors based on MCM-41/PEDOT composites exhibit much better sensing performance than their bulk counterparts, with wider humidity sensing range, higher sensitivity and much faster response speed.〈/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-S0021979720300679-ga1.jpg" width="343" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 17 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Shuhua Tu, Min Chen, Limin Wu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Elastic porous organosilica monoliths (POMs) are successfully prepared by water in oil (w/o) high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) with a novel silica precursor named polyethoxysiloxane (PEOS) as sole stabilizer. The stability of the HIPEs and the mechanical strength of the POMs are investigated as functions of PEOS and crosslinker contents in the oil phase. FESEM reveals that PEOS molecules play a significant role of 〈em〉in-situ〈/em〉 growth into silica particles to strengthen the POMs, which enables the successful preparation of elastic POMs. Furthermore, oil-water separation behavior of the POMs is studied. Both the absorbent capacity and speed are considerably superior to the previously reported PDMS sponges.〈/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-S0021979720300680-ga1.jpg" width="292" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 16 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Saeide Pourshadlou, Iman Mobasherpour, Houdsa Majidian, Esmaeil Salahi, Fatemeh Shirani Bidabadi, Chang-Tong Mei, Mohsen Ebrahimi〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Calcium and magnesium are the most common sources of water hardness. These divalent ions can react with soap anions decreasing the cleaning efficiency and hence, high consumption of detergents occurred as a result. Development of novel low-cost adsorbents for metals removal has attracted a great attention. In this study, bentonite/γ-alumina nanocomposites were used to remove Mg〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 from water. Effects of process parameters including γ-alumina content, initial ion concentration, adsorbent dosage, contact time and pH on adsorption process were investigated. Increasing the amount of alumina in composite from 1 to 3 and 5 wt. %, caused a negative effect on the amount of adsorbed magnesium ions per gram of adsorbent; while increasing the initial ion concentration from 60 ppm to 100 ppm resulted in higher uptake per unit mass of the adsorbent from 2.15 mg/g to 2.80 mg/g, respectively. Langmuir, Freundlich and D-K-R isotherm models were used for data analysis, among which the Langmuir model was found to be more successful (R〈sup〉2〈/sup〉=0.9955), obtaining the maximum adsorption capacity (Q〈sub〉m〈/sub〉) of 3.478 mg/g. Moreover, calculation of the adsorption energy (E) from DKR isotherm model depicted the physical nature of the adsorption of Mg〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 onto bentonite/γ-alumina nanocomposite powder.〈/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-S0021979720300369-ga1.jpg" width="467" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xiaoqiang Wang, Yue Liu, Zhongbiao Wu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Low-medium temperature NH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉-SCR technology has been applied for years in municipal solid wastes incineration (MSWI) to control the emissions of nitrogen oxides. Unlike coal-fired flue gases, the tail gas from MSWI contains high levels of heavy metals in fly ash, especially the zinc species, which may harm SCR catalysts. As such, in this paper, the deactivation mechanism of different zinc species (ZnO, ZnSO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 and ZnCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉) on the Sb-CeZr〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈em〉〈sub〉x〈/sub〉〈/em〉 catalysts and the co-effects of zinc species and gas-phase pollutants (including SO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and HCl) were investigated. The experimental results indicated that the deactivation rate of various poisoning zinc species was in the order of ZnCl〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 〉 ZnSO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 〉 ZnO. Moreover, the interactions between zinc and antimony species would disrupt the structure of the Sb-Ce mixed oxides to decrease the redox ability, consequently suppressing the ammonia activation and NO adsorption. Furthermore, such damaging effects on catalyst structures would promote the formation of bulk-like sulfate species in the presence of SO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉, resulting in a decreased mobility of surface oxygen species, which significantly decrease the sulfur resistance. However, the presence of HCl did not show an evident co-effect on the Zn poisoned sample owing to the limited coverage of the chlorine deposition.〈/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-S0021979720300734-ga1.jpg" width="479" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Liquan Jing, Duidui Wang, Yuanguo Xu, Meng Xie, Jia Yan, Minqiang He, Zhilong Song, Hui Xu, Huaming Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉For the first time, herein this work, we have developed an effective and adaptable method to introduce defects onto the polymeric carbon nitride by simply grinding urea with urea nitrate which resulting new carbon nitride composite (UNU-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) and melamine with urea nitrate which resulting new carbon nitride composite (UNM-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉). The UNU-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 reveals high performance towards photocatalytic hydrogen production and as well as photocatalytic removal of contaminants. The results confirm that the defects enhanced the specific surface area, and improved performance of adsorbed oxygen which beneficial to generate more active radicals and more conducive sties to improve d the overall photocatalytic performance. The high N, H, and O content-enhanced electron polarization effects, by introducing the additional N, H, and O atoms into the g-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 matrix, which will increase the charge transfer rate and charge separation efficiency. At the same time, the results of ESR also expression that the new type of as-prepared carbon nitride samples exhibit abundant of hydrogen radical (H〈sup〉〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/rad"〉〈/sup〉) formation, which is also assist to improve the photocatalytic hydrogen production performance. As expected, the H〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 evolution rate of UNU-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉(or UNM-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) underneath simulated solar light irradiation is 9.93 times (13.76 times) than that of U-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 (urea as raw material) (or M-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 (melamine as raw material)). The high hydrogen evolution rates of UNU-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 and UNM-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 are 830.94 and 556.79 μmol g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉  h〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 under the visible-light irradiation, respectively. Meanwhile, the synthesized UNU-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 and UNM-C〈sub〉3〈/sub〉N〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 material are demonstrated an efficient ability to degrade pollutants. In general, this work provides a viable way to introduce defects and hydrogen bands into the structure of carbon nitride.〈/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-S0021979720300436-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Wei Zhao, Guowen Yan, Yiwei Zheng, Bingping Liu, Dedong Jia, Taiwei Liu, Liang Cui, Rongkun Zheng, Di Wei, Jingquan Liu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Rational design of electrical active materials with high performance for energy storage and conversion is of great significance. Herein, Cu(NiCo)〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/Ni〈sub〉3〈/sub〉S〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, a three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical hollow heterostructured electrode material, is designed by etching the well-defined bimetal organic framework (MOF) via sequential in-situ ion-exchange processes. This trimetallic sulfides with unique structure provide large surface area, hierarchical pore distribution and enhanced electrical conductivity, can enrich the active sites for redox reactions, facilitate electrolyte penetration and rapid charge transfer kinetics. As a result, the Cu(NiCo)〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/Ni〈sub〉3〈/sub〉S〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 electrode exhibits a high specific capacitance of 1320 F/g at 1 A/g and excellent rate performance (only 15% of capacitance is attenuated when the current density is increased by 20 times). Furthermore, a fabricated hybrid supercapacitor of Cu(NiCo)〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/Ni〈sub〉3〈/sub〉S〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/AC can deliver a maximum energy density of 40.8 Wh/kg, remarkable power density of 7859.2 W/kg and superior cycling stability (85% retention of capacitance after 5000 cycles), demonstrating great potential for practical applications in energy storage and conversion devices.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Trimetallic sulfide microspheres with flower morphology prepared based on novel bimetallic MOF via sequential ion exchange processes exhibit promising energy storage properties.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300515-ga1.jpg" width="340" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 16 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Katherine Telfeyan, Paul W. Reimus, Hakim Boukhalfa, S. Doug Ware〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Migration of radionuclides via colloid-facilitated transport is an important component of nuclear repository performance models. 〈sup〉137〈/sup〉Cs sorption to bentonite colloids follows multi-site behavior, with sorption to weak sites being a rapid process and sorption to strong sites having slow kinetics. Experiments in this study targeted desorption of 〈sup〉137〈/sup〉Cs from strong sites on the colloids by placing the 〈sup〉137〈/sup〉Cs-bearing colloids in contact with a strongly-sorbing zeolite material that competes with the colloids for 〈sup〉137〈/sup〉Cs sorption. Batch and column experiments were conducted to examine the effects of aging (i.e., increased contact time between 〈sup〉137〈/sup〉Cs and colloids) on colloid-facilitated transport of 〈sup〉137〈/sup〉Cs through crushed analcime columns. A larger proportion of 〈sup〉137〈/sup〉Cs-bearing colloids eluted through a series of columns when the colloids were aged for 1200 days prior to injection in comparison to unaged colloids. Aging the colloids increased the partitioning of 〈sup〉137〈/sup〉Cs to the colloids by nearly 20% after 1200 hours. Slow desorption (0.27 hr〈sup〉-1〈/sup〉) from the strong sites resulted in an increase of the Cs fraction bound to the strong sites from 0.365 to 0.87 by the second column injection, resulting in increased colloid-facilitated transport of Cs through strongly-sorbing zeolites from 0 in the second unaged column to 10% in the second aged column.〈/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-S0021979720300370-ga1.jpg" width="447" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Junlei Qi, Yaotian Yan, Tao Liu, Xin Zhou, Jian Cao, Jicai Feng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Herein, porous Co〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉-CoO heterostructured nanosheets are constructed by plasma treatment. The density-functional theory calculations demonstrate that constructing Co〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉-CoO heterostructures modify the electronic structure to achieve enhanced electrical conductivity, but also boost the charge transfer to realize enhanced surface reactivity. Contributing to the short ion diffusion path, the rich electroactive surface sites and enhanced charge transfer capability, the resulting Co〈sub〉3〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉-CoO nanosheet arrays possess the low overpotential of 270 mV at 10 mA cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 and the low Tafel slope of 49 mV dec〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. This work provides a novel strategy to construct heterostructured nanosheet arrays by surface reorganization for cost-effective OER electrocatalyst.〈/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-S0021979720300473-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xu Cheng, Xiaoli Zeng, Yan Zheng, Qin Fang, Xin Wang, Jun Wang, Rupei Tang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Multidrug resistance (MDR) is one of the major obstacles to clinical cancer chemotherapy. Herein, we designed new pH-sensitive pluronic micelles with the synergistic effects of oxidative therapy and MDR reversal. Pluronic (P123) was modified with α-tocopheryl succinate (α-TOS) via an acid-labile ortho ester (OE) linkage to give a pH-sensitive copolymer (POT). Self-assembled POT micelles exhibited desirable size (~80 nm), excellent anti-dilution ability, high drug loading (~85%), acid-triggered degradation and drug release behaviours. In vitro cell experiments verified that POT micelles could significantly reverse MDR through suppressing the function of drug effluxs mediated by P123 and induce more reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation mediated by α-TOS, resulting in enhanced cytotoxicity and apoptosis in MDR cells. In vivo studies further revealed that DOX-loaded POT micelles (POT-DOX) possessed the highest drug accumulation (3.03% ID/g at 24 h) and the strongest tumour growth inhibition (TGI 83.48%). Pathological analysis also indicated that POT-DOX could induce more apoptosis or necrosis at the site of tumour without distinct damage to normal tissues. Overall, these smart POT micelles have great potential as promising nano-carriers for MDR reversal and cancer treatment.〈/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-S0021979720300308-ga1.jpg" width="316" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Natalie L. Benbow, Damien A. Sebben, Samuel Karpiniec, Damien Stringer, Marta Krasowska, David A. Beattie〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Polyelectrolyte multilayers composed of pharmaceutical grade fucoidan and chitosan have been assembled and studied in terms of their response to physiological solution conditions and the presence of lysozyme. The influence of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) solution on the multilayer was interrogated using attenuated total reflectance (ATR) Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The combination of the techniques reveal that the polyelectrolyte multilayers swell when exposed to PBS after build-up and may include a small degree of mass loss as the film swells. The degree of swelling was influenced by the terminating layer of the multilayer. Upon exposure to lysozyme, it was observed that some deswelling occurred, as the enzyme adsorbed onto and permeated into the multilayer. The behaviour of the multilayer as a potential reservoir for lysozyme contrasts with the interaction with bovine serum albumin, which did not penetrate into the multilayer, indicating either exclusion by size or due to the overall net negative charge of the film.〈/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-S0021979720300321-ga1.jpg" width="222" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xuefeng Zou, Jiangyu Hao, Yujie Qiang, Bin Xiang, Xinyue Liang, Hujun Shen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Redox methods represented by Hummers’ method are the most frequently-used pathways to prepare graphene, but to date still very low-efficient, because of its time-consuming washing and hard reduction process. Here we report an intermittent microwave-exfoliated non-expansive graphite oxide (GtO) process to prepare a wrinkled graphene with a high reduction degree (C/O: 19.0), a high defect degree, and a high specific surface area (1333.7 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉). Findings show that the non-expansive GtO without water washing indicates an almost 100% exfoliated success rate during this intermittent microwave process. The obtained graphene shows easy dispersity in organic solvents, and excellent supercapacitor performance in specific capacitance, rate capacity, and especially in cycling lifetime with no decay after 80,000 cycles at 30 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. Consequently, this special microwave process successfully solves the problems of tedious washing and hard reduction in redox methods, thus exponentially boosting the efficiency of preparing graphene.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉We report an intermittent microwave-exfoliated non-expansive graphite oxide process to prepare a pure wrinkled graphene with high reduction degree, high defect degree, and high specific surface area, accompanied by excellent supercapacitor performances. This method exponentially boosting the efficiency of the redox methods to prepare graphene, and successfully solves the two key problems of tedious washing and hard reduction.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300412-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Sonia Freddi, Simona Achilli, Raffaella Soave, Stefania Pagliara, Giovanni Drera, Andrea De Poli, Francesco De Nicola, Maurizio De Crescenzi, Paola Castrucci, Luigi Sangaletti〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We observed a 73% enhancement of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of a photovoltaic cell based on a single wall carbon nanotube/Si hybrid junction after exposing the device to a limited amount (10 ppm) of NO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 diluted in dry air. On the basis of a computational modeling of the junction, this enhancement is discussed in terms of both carbon nanotube (CNT) p-doping, induced by the interaction with the oxidizing molecules, and work function changes across the junction. Unlike studies so far reported, where the PCE enhancement was correlated only qualitatively to CNT doping, our study (i) provides a novel and reversible path to tune and considerably enhance the cell efficiency by a few ppm gas exposure, and (ii) shows computational results that quantitatively relate the observed effects to the electrostatics of the cell through a systematic calculation of the work function. These effects have been cross-checked by exposing the cell to reducing molecules (i.e·NH〈sub〉3〈/sub〉) that resulted to be detrimental to the cell efficiency, consistently with the theoretical 〈em〉ab-initio〈/em〉 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-S0021979720300400-ga1.jpg" width="307" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Peixun Li, Zi Wang, Kun Ma, Yao Chen, Zifeng Yan, Jeff Penfold, Robert K. Thomas, Mario Campana, John R.P. Webster, Adam Washington〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉The formation of surface multilayer structures, with the addition of multivalent electrolytes, has been observed in a range of different anionic surfactants; and notably the sodium oxyethylene glycol alkyl sulfate, SAES, and alkyl ester sulfonate, AES, surfactants. The addition of increasing amounts of AlCl〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 results in increasing surface layering, with a transition from monolayer to bilayer to ultimately more extended multilayer structures at the interface.〈/p〉 〈p〉The headgroup structures of these SAES and AES surfactants and their hydrophilic / hydrophobic balance give a degree of tolerance to the precipitation induced by multivalent counterions. This was considered to be important factor associated with the multivalent counterion induced surface layering. In this paper the impact of sodium dodecyl sulfate, SDS, an anionic surfactant more susceptible to precipitation in the presence of multivalent counterions, on the surface multilayer formation and solution self-assembly of sodium diethylene glycol monododecyl sulfate, SLES, is explored using surface tension, neutron reflectivity and small angle neutron scattering.〈/p〉 〈p〉The results show that SDS exhibits a similar progressive evolution in surface structures with increasing AlCl〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 concentrations, as observed in SLES and related SAES surfactants, and in MES, sodium methyl ester dodecyl sulfonate surfactant. However in the SLES / SDS mixtures the structural evolution is different, and more complex pattern with increasing AlCl〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 concentration is observed. The initial transition from monolayer to bilayer / trilayer structures exists, but the surface at higher AlCl〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 concentration reverts to monolayer adsorption before extended multilayer structures are formed. Complementary small angle neutron scattering measurements indicate a more complex evolution in the micelle structure which broadly correlates with the surface behaviour.〈/p〉 〈p〉The results illustrate how subtle changes in headgroup structure and packing affect relative counterion binding and hence the surface and solution structures. The results reinforce and extend the observations of related structures on different SAES and AES surfactants, and highlight the opportunity for manipulating surface adsorption behaviour with surfactant mixtures.〈/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-S0021979720300333-ga1.jpg" width="257" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ning Wei, Xudong Zheng, Qiao Li, Chenxia Gong, Hongxiang Ou, Zhongyu Li〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Metal organic framework materials (MOFs) are kinds of hybrid materials with intra-molecular pores formed by self-assembly of organic ligands and metal ions through coordination bonds. In the paper, a type of MOFs named as [Zn(μ-L)(μ-1,3-dpp)](mof-1), using Zn〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 as metal ions, 4,4′-oxybis(benzoic acid) and 1,3-di(4-pyridyl)propane as organic ligands was synthesized. The rare earth element lanthanum, which has specific adsorption for phosphorus, is intercalated into mof-1 by the impregnation method in order to remove phosphorus-containing wastewater. In order to optimize the nano-sized La-mof-1 materials to facilitate separation, we prepared a membrane by blending MOFs materials with graphene oxide (GO) by pressure application. The addition of GO not only facilitates the separation of materials, but also has excellent removal ability for water purification. After a series of structural characterization, the adsorption properties of materials were tested. The experimental results showed that the total phosphorus in the water can get to the maximum adsorption capacity when pH = 4.0. It can be viewed in thermodynamic studies that increasing the temperature favors the adsorption reaction. Increasing the temperature to the 318 K, the equilibrium adsorption capacity of the membrane to total phosphorus in the water reached 139.51 mg/g. The adsorption removal rate of total phosphorus can reach 100% when its concentration is lower than 100 mg/L. This highlights the advantages of intercalating lanthanum into MOFs. The penetration curve was drawn by dynamic adsorption experiments to understand the mass transfer mechanism of La-mof-1GO membrane. Since GO also has a large specific surface area, it is another excellent adsorption material. Experimental data showed that compared with the original water sample, the removal rate of COD in the water reached 73.9%.〈/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-S0021979720300357-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Miaomiao Yu, Feng Gao, Yunxia Hu, Lifeng Wang, PingAn Hu, Wei Feng〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Multilayer indium selenide (InSe) is a good candidate for high performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. The electrical performance of InSe is effectively regulated by dielectric layers, contact electrodes and surface doping. However, as a powerful tool to tune properties of materials, alloy engineering is absent for multilayer InSe. In this letter, for the first time, we investigate the electrical property of InSe〈sub〉1-x〈/sub〉Te〈sub〉x〈/sub〉 alloys and optoelectronic property of InSe-InSe〈sub〉0.82〈/sub〉Te〈sub〉0.18〈/sub〉p-n heterojunction. The electrical transport properties of InSe〈sub〉1-x〈/sub〉Te〈sub〉x〈/sub〉 alloys strongly depend on the content of Te composition. With the ratio of Te/Se increasing, the 〈em〉n〈/em〉-type electron transport behavior of InSe gradually transfers to the p-type hole transport behavior of InSe〈sub〉0.82〈/sub〉Te〈sub〉0.18〈/sub〉. The p-n InSe-InSe〈sub〉0.82〈/sub〉Te〈sub〉0.18〈/sub〉 heterojunction shows a rectification effect and a self-powered photodetection. The self-powered photodetector (SPPD) has a broad photodetection range from visible light (400 nm) to near-infrared (NIR) light (1000 nm). The responsivity (〈em〉R〈/em〉) of SPPD is 14.1 mA/W under illuminated by NIR light (900 nm) at zero bias, which is comparable to some of the 2D heterojunctions NIR photodetectors measured with an external bias. The SPPD also shows a stable and fast response to NIR light (900 nm). This work demonstrates that the electrical transport properties of InSe〈sub〉1-x〈/sub〉Te〈sub〉x〈/sub〉 alloys significantly rely on the ratio of Te/Se and suggests that InSe-InSe〈sub〉1-x〈/sub〉Te〈sub〉x〈/sub〉 p-n heterojunction has a excellent potential for application in the self-powered optoelectronic device.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Electrical properties of InSe are strongly modulated by alloy engineering and high performance self-powered broadband InSe-InSe〈sub〉0.82〈/sub〉Te〈sub〉0.18〈/sub〉 heterojunction photodetector is demonstrated.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300278-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Aleksei A. Vozniakovskii, Tatyana S. Kol'tsova, Alexander P. Voznyakovskii, Alexander L. Kumskov, Sergey V. Kidalov〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A hybrid nanomaterial composed of detonation nanodiamonds-multi-walled carbon nanotubes (DND-CNT) in powdered form and the form of stable recoverable water nanofluid was obtained. The ability to obtain a hybrid material in the form of powder, as well as in the form of an aqueous suspension opens the way for the creation of new composite materials based on metals and polymers, as well as new types of nanofluids. Particle size in water suspension was investigated by dynamic light scattering (DLS) method and has been shown that while the original DND was agglomerates with the particle size about one μm, the particles size of a hybrid material in water suspension was 40–60 nm. Such result was achieved by growing multi-walled carbon nanotubes on the surface of nanodiamonds aggregates coated with a metal catalyst using catalyst chemical vapor deposition (CCVD) method for nanotubes growth. The resulting nanomaterial is a powdered hybrid material obtained based on a scalable technology. The measured electrical conductivity of the water suspension amounted to 35 μS/cm what is 6 times higher than the electrical conductivity of the pure distilled 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-S0021979720300382-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Agni Kumar Biswal, Sampa Saha〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉We introduce a facile strategy to synthesize both Janus and multi-layered microparticles with hierarchically porous structure by adopting a simple oil-in-water emulsion technique. Incorporation of a minute quantity of non volatile poor solvent such as mustard oil into the emulsion comprising of biodegradable polymers such as Poly(lactic-〈em〉co〈/em〉-glycolic acid)(PLGA) and Poly(〈span〉l〈/span〉-lactic acid)(PLLA), led to a precisely controlled phase separation. This resulted in the formation of Janus or multi-layered particles with hierarchically porous structure depending on the amount of mustard oil and viscosity/crystallinity of the polymers employed. No additional toxic porogen needs to be added to induce the porosity. The mechanism of formation of various architectures was explored with the supportive evidences primarily from in situ optical microscopy along with interfacial tension measurements. Moreover, we also show the potential application of these unique particles in delivering multiple actives by encapsulating and releasing the dual actives (antibacterial and antioxidant) in controlled fashion for prolonged period of time (60 days). The release profiles of the dual actives were found to be influenced by the porosity as well as architecture of the particles.〈/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-S0021979720300850-ga1.jpg" width="397" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): J-C. Fernández-Toledano, C. Rigaut, M. Mastrangeli, J. De Coninck〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Hypothesis〈/h6〉 〈p〉The contact line pinning that appears in a flow coating process over substrates patterned with chemical or physical heterogeneities has been recently applied to deposit micro- and nanoparticles with great precision. However, the mechanism underlying pinning of a receding contact line at the nanoscale is not yet well understood. In the case of a contact line pinned at a chemical heterogeneity, we hypothesise that it is possible to establish a relation between the pinning time, the contact line velocity and the liquid/plate/heterogeneity affinity that can help to optimize particle deposition.〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Methods〈/h6〉 〈p〉We use large-scale molecular dynamic (MD) simulations of a finite liquid bridge formed between two parallel, non–identical, smooth solid plates. The top plate slides relative to the bottom plate inducing a displacement of the four different contact lines of the liquid bridge. The introduction of a chemical heterogeneity on the bottom plate by modifying locally the liquid–solid affinity provokes the transient pinning of the contact line in contact with the bottom substrate. By means of this simple MD simulation, we can study the mechanism of contact line pinning and its relation with the liquid/heterogeneity affinity and the contact line velocity. Additionally, we compare this mechanism with the case of the receding contact line pinned on a physical heterogeneity (a simple step discontinuity).〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈div〉 〈h6〉Findings〈/h6〉 〈p〉We propose an analytical model that predicts the values of the dynamic contact angles in the general case of a capillary liquid bridge confined between two parallel plates with different wettabilities versus the relative velocity of the top plate. These predictions are successfully validated by the results of the large–scale MD simulations. The model allows thus to predict the value of the dynamic contact angles for the different contact lines of the system versus the relative speed of the moving plate. Once the chemical heterogeneity is introduced in the bottom plate, we show that when the receding contact line reaches the patch it remains temporarily pinned while the receding contact angle evolves with time. Once the receding angle reaches the value of the equilibrium contact angle of the patch, the receding contact line overcomes pinning. A geometrical model able to predict the pinning time is proposed and validated by our MD simulations. The pinning time depends not only on the relative plate velocity and plate wettability properties but also on the separation distance between the plates confining the capillary bridge. The model can consequently be used to select the substrate wettability or meniscus geometry suitable to impose the pinning time required for specific 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-S0021979720300692-ga1.jpg" width="459" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hongjing Wu, Zehao Zhao, Guanglei Wu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Transition metal compositions (Fe, Co and Ni) have always been promising candidates for electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers. In this study, the FeCo layered double hydroxide (LDH) supported on raspberry-like carbon spheres (RCs) was synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method and the spontaneous electrostatic self-assembly process. The surface FeCo-LDH is then transformed into FeCo layered double oxide (LDO) with different compositions after calcination treatment (650 °C and 700 °C), forming a typical hierarchical structure. The sample calcined at 700 °C exhibited an ultra-wide effective absorption bandwidth (〈em〉f〈/em〉〈sub〉e〈/sub〉) (〈em〉RL〈/em〉 〈 −10 dB) of 7.4 GHz (from 10.6 to 18.0 GHz) at the matched thickness of 2.2 mm. The remarkable EM wave absorption properties are attributed to the strong interface polarization due to the various phase boundaries in LDO shell as well as sufficient heterointerfaces between LDO shell and RCs. It should be emphasized that LDH is rarely used for EMW absorption, and the use of LDH positively charged characteristics to fabricate hierarchical materials is a meaningful attempt and confirms the potential of LDH in EMW absorbing materials.〈/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-S0021979720300801-ga1.jpg" width="456" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 20 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hojin Kim, Eric M. Furst〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉A layer-by-layer method is used to synthesize paramagnetic metal/polymer multi-layered colloidal particles. By taking advantage of recent advances in the synthesis of polymer colloids with various shapes and layer-by-layer assembly, superparamagnetic dumbbell colloids are fabricated with different aspect ratios and asymmetries between lobes. We characterize the surface coverage of magnetic nanoparticles on the anisotropic host particles and the magnetic response of the particles by magnetometry. The synthesized particles are colloidally stable, but in a magnetic field, form persistent microstructures through induced interactions. These column-like microstructures are reversible and readily disperse by Brownian motion. The magnetic nanoparticle concentration during synthesis provides a means to control the magnetic response of the composite nanoparticle. The method is extended to prolate ellipsoid nanoparticles with aspect ratios between 3.4 and 4.2.〈/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-S0021979720300758-ga1.jpg" width="269" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mengdi Lan, Bing Liu, Ruijie Zhao, Mengyao Dong, Xixi Wang, Linxia Fang, Lingling Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this paper, CuCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 dandelion arrays grown on nickel foam (CuCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/NF) was successfully synthesized by a simple hydrothermal route with post-heat-treatment for emolying as a high-performance positive electrode material for hybrid supercapacitors. Due to the unique tree-dimension porous (3D) microstructure and binder-free electrode architecture, the CuCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/NF electrode deliveries a large specific capacitance of 2656.7 F g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at an areal current density of 1 mA cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉. Moreover, it has an outstanding rate performance, as well as striking cycling stability. Additionally, a hybrid supercapacitors (HSCs) was fabricated using CuCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 as positive electrode and corals-like 〈em〉N〈/em〉-doping porous carbon (〈em〉N〈/em〉-CCs) as negative electrode. The device exhibited a broad potential window of 1.55 V and a high specific capacitance of 273.9 F g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, which result in a largest energy density of 91.4 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and a maximum power density of 13.4 kW kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. Finally, the assembled device manifests a preeminent electrochemical stability which maintained a 92.32% capacitance retention after 5000 cycles. The practical application was visually validated by lighting a blue light-emitting diode.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Dandelion-like CuCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 arrays on nickel foam (CuCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/NF) was successfully prepared for use as an advanced positive electrode material in hybrid supercapacitors.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S002197972030093X-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 21 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hui Xue, Ziqing Zhao, Rui Chen, John L. Brash, Hong Chen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉〈strong〉Hypothesis〈/strong〉: Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels are used extensively in the design of drug carriers, surfaces for control of cell adhesion, and optical devices. Particle size is a key factor and has a significant influence in many areas.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈strong〉Experiments〈/strong〉: In this work, precise control of the particle size of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels was achieved by controlling the separation distance of the poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) chains. Dibromoalkanes of different size were used as an adjustable “molecular ruler” to measure molecular dimensions in poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) nanoaggregates at the critical crosslinking temperature.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈strong〉Findings〈/strong〉: We find that the chain separation distance decreases as the temperature increases with a sharp decrease over the 55-to-65°C interval. Based on the observed relationships between chain separation and crosslinker, the particle size of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels can be regulated by changing the length of the “molecular ruler” (crosslinker) at the same temperature. Furthermore, for partly crosslinked poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgels that contain free crosslinkable sites, the particle size can be reduced still more by further crosslinking (“re-crosslinking”) with crosslinkers of different size. It is shown that the particle size can be regulated by adjusting the length of “molecular ruler” and the degree of crosslinking. This work provides a “molecular level” method for precise control of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) microgel particle size.〈/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-S0021979720300904-ga1.jpg" width="405" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Qingyan Ma, Mengfei Hu, Yuan Yuan, Yankai Pan, Mingqi Chen, Yayun Zhang, Donghui Long〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Functional separator, which bridges anode, electrolyte and cathode together, has the potential to offer a good solution for efficient polysulfide diffusion inhibition and anode protection of Li-S battery. Herein, a novel ultra-thin multifunctional separator is prepared by a facile coating of colloidal dispersion of Nb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites (rGO) onto porous polypropylene (PP) matrix. Benefiting from the physical blocking effect of rGO layer and chemisorption of Nb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉, the shuttle of polysulfides has been greatly suppressed. Meanwhile, the rGO layer functioning as a conductive upper current collector can improve the sulfur utilization, while the Nb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉 with high activity promotes the transformation of sulfur-containing species. With the assistant of Nb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉-rGO function layer, the sulfur cathode shows significantly improved electrochemical performance with a high specific capacity of 1328 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.2C and 754 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 retained after 200 cycles. The sulfur cathode also exhibits excellent rate capability and stable Coulombic efficiency of 91% without the addition of LiNO〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 in the electrolyte. Moreover, the presence of thin Nb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉-rGO layer also prevents the lithium surface corrosion and the dendrite growth in the lithium anode.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Colloidal dispersion of Nb〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉5〈/sub〉/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites as functional coating layer for polysulfide shuttle suppression and lithium anode protection of Li-S battery.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300825-ga1.jpg" width="337" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Tianchi Cao, Gregor Trefalt, Michal Borkovec〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Homoaggregation and heteroaggregation involving amidine and sulfate latex particles in the presence of the anionic surfactant octyl sulfate (OS) is studied by light scattering. This surfactant causes a charge reversal of the amidine particles. This reversal induces a rapid homoaggregation near the charge reversal point. In the presence of the same surfactant, the sulfate particles remain negatively charged and stable. The heteroaggregation process is probed in mixed suspensions of amidine and sulfate latex particles with multi-angle time-resolved dynamic light scattering. This technique allows differentiating between the contributions of homoaggregation and heteroaggregation, and permits to measure the heteroaggregation rate. By optimally choosing the sizes of the particles, one can optimize the contrast and extract heteroaggregation stability ratio over a wide range. The heteroaggregation rate is fast at low OS concentrations, where the two particles are oppositely charged. This rate slows down at higher OS concentrations due to double layer repulsion between the negatively charged particles. However, the onset of this slow heteroaggregation occurs at lower OS concentrations than for homoaggregation. The reason for this shift is that the double layer repulsion between two OS-decorated amidine particles is weaker than between one sulfate particle and one OS-decorated amidine particle. These measurements compare favorably with calculations with the theory by Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey, and Overbeek (DLVO). These calculations suggest that constant potential boundary conditions are more appropriate than the ones of constant charge. In the system studied, the present light scattering technique permits to extract heteroaggregation stability ratios over almost three orders of magnitude. This study is the first of its kind, where such a large range is being probed.〈/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-S0021979720300898-ga1.jpg" width="396" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Huilin Qing, Ruirui Wang, Ziliang Chen, Mingming Li, Lilei Zhang, Yong-Ning Zhou, Renbing Wu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Construction of well-defined hybrid composites consisting of transition metal sulfides and two-dimensional (2D) carbon nanosheets as high-performance anodes for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is of great significance but remains challenging. Herein, we have developed a novel strategy to 〈em〉in-situ〈/em〉 fabricate a nanohybrid composites consisting of cobalt-doped copper sulfides nanoparticles embedded in 2D carbon nanosheets (2D Co-Cu〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S@C) through a one-pot sulfurization of 2D nanosheet-like Co-doped copper-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) precursors. When applied as LIBs anodes, the as-prepared 2D Co-Cu〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S@C composites could deliver a specific capacity of 780 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 after 300 cycles and a high-rate capability with 209 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, superior to most reported copper sulfide-based anodes. The exceptional performance could be attributed to the synergism of ultrathin structure (~4 nm), appropriate cobalt doping and strong carbon coupling, resulting in the shortened paths for Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 transportation, enlarged exposing surface for Li〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 adsorption, enhanced electric conductivity for charge transfer as well as robust mechanical property against volume expansion.〈/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-S0021979720300849-ga1.jpg" width="337" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Linhua Rao, Jiayi Tang, Sufei Hu, Liguo Shen, Yanchao Xu, Renjie Li, Hongjun Lin〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉While electroless nickel plating is considered as a promising candidate for fabrication of metallized polymer composite membranes with high performance, it suffers from problems of complex and high-cost pretreatment procedure, hindering its large-scale implementations. It is hypothesized that, inkjet printing integrated with electroless plating (ELP) can serve as a facile and economical membrane fabrication method to overcome above problems. The new method proposed in this study was processed by inkjet printing silver ions and pyrrole inks as catalytic layer followed by electroless Ni deposition on polypropylene (PP) membrane surface. Successful modification was verified by characterizing the surface morphology and elemental compositions of the membranes. In comparison to the pristine PP membrane, the PPy-Ag/Ni modified membrane demonstrated lower surface resistance (2.3 Ω), better hydrophilicity (44.9°) and higher pure water flux (1135.1 L m〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 h〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉). When applying an external electric field (10.0 V cm〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉), the average flux of the PPy-Ag/Ni membrane for yeast filtration increased from 107.8 to 137.7 L m〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 h〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, which was about 2.0 times higher than that of the pristine PP membrane. Meanwhile, the PPy-Ag/Ni membrane possessed a maximum flux recover rate when applied with an external electrical field. This work provided a facile and efficient approach for fabrication of composite conductive membranes.〈/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-S0021979720300771-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lei Huang, Bichao Wu, Yanjing Wu, Zhihui Yang, Tao Yuan, Sikpaam Issaka Alhassan, Weichun Yang, Haiying Wang, Liyuan Zhang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) based membranes with superior mechanical properties are of particular interest in purification, separation, and catalysis. Nevertheless, their fabrication still remains a grand challenge. Here, fungus hyphae (Mucor) were used as a robust scaffold to load the MOFs and induced the formation of porous and flexible membranes. ZIF-8 was used as a representative of MOFs. The ZIF-8@Mucor membrane was formed by the in-situ growth of ZIF-8 on hyphae and then a vacuum filtration of the ZIF-8/hyphae composite. ZIF-8 was effectively dispersed on the ZIF-8@Mucor membrane, and the shear modulus of ZIF-8@Mucor-3 was 864 MPa by calculation. The ZIF-8@Mucor membrane exhibited promising properties for adsorption application to remove the highly toxic Pb〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉. The adsorption capacity of this membrane was as high as 1443.29 mg/g. Results from dynamic adsorption indicated that the penetration concentration of Pb〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 ions was less than 5% of the original level before 80 min whereas after 160 min, penetration concentration of Pb〈sup〉2+〈/sup〉 ions was more than 90%. This study would open a new way of how to synthesize composite MOFs/bacterial membranes for energy and environment purposes.〈/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-S0021979720300345-ga1.jpg" width="250" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Qin Wei, Yu-Mei Chen, Xu-Jia Hong, Chun-Lei Song, Yan Yang, Li-Ping Si, Min Zhang, Yue-Peng Cai〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The carbon layer with good electrical conductivity and outstanding mechanical stability are essential in designing high-performance silicon/carbon (Si/C) anodes to replace the commercial graphite in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). In terms of solving the two inherent defects of poor conductivity and big volume change of silicon, we fabricate a spongy carbon matrix derived from ZIF-8 to anchor saclike silicon synthesized by molten salt magnesiothermic reduction method. This spongy matrix can anchor saclike silicon to provide a stable reaction interface and support fast electronic transmission. At the same time, buffer space in saclike Si nanoparticles and spongy matrix can synergistically accommodate the volume change of Si to maintain the integrity of the electrode. The resulting composite with a high Si content of 77.58% exhibits good capacities of 1448 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 2 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and 848 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 4 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 after 500 cycles. High initial coulombic efficiency of 84% at 0.2 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 is also exhibited in the first three activation cycles. Therefore, this novel multifunctional 〈em〉N〈/em〉-doped spongy matrix can supply multifaceted benefits in accommodation of volumetric variation, enhancement of conductivity, and integrity of structure during cycling.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉We fabricate a spongy carbon matrix derived from ZIF-8 to anchor saclike silicon synthesized by molten salt magnesiothermic reduction method. This spongy matrix can anchor saclike silicon to provide a stable reaction interface and support fast electronic transmission. At the same time, buffer space in saclike Si nanoparticles and spongy matrix can synergistically accommodate the volume change of Si to maintain the integrity of the electrode. Therefore, this micron Si@N〈img src="https://sdfestaticassets-eu-west-1.sciencedirectassets.com/shared-assets/16/entities/sbnd"〉C composite, as anode material for LIBs, shows a good rate performance and cycling performance.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300527-ga1.jpg" width="184" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 13 January 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Saikat Ghosh, Qianyue Guo, Zhenquan Wang, Di Zhang, Nihar R. Pradhan, Bo Pan, Baoshan Xing〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Huang Yang, Hongpeng He, Zongrui Tong, Haibing Xia, Zhengwei Mao, Changyou Gao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Gold nanorods (GNRs) with longitudinal surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) peaks in second near-infrared (NIR-II) window have attracted a great amount of attention as photothermal transducer because of their inherently excellent photothermal transition efficiency, high biocompatibility and versatile surface functionalization. One key question for the application of these GNRs against tumors in vivo is which size/shape and surface ligand conjugation are promising for circulation and tumor targeting. In this study, we prepared a series of gold nanorods (GNRs) of similar aspect ratio and LSPR peaks, and thus similar photothermal transfer efficiency under irradiation of 980 nm laser, but with tunable size in width and length. The obtained GNRs were subjected to surface modification with PEG and tumor targeting ligand lactoferrin. With these tailor-designed GNRs in hand, we have the chance to study the impact of dimension and surface property of the GNRs on their internalization via tumor cells, photothermal cytotoxicity in vitro, blood circulation and tissue distribution pattern in vivo. As a result, the GNRs with medium size (70 nm in length and 11.5 nm in width) and surface PEG/LF modification (GNR70@PEG-LF) exhibit the fastest cell internalization via HepG2 cells and best photothermal outcome in vitro. The GNR70@PEG-LF also display long circulation time and the highest tumor accumulation in vivo, due to the synergetic effect of surface coating and dimension. Finally, tumor ablation ability of the GNRs under irradiation of 980 nm light were validated on mice xenograft model, suggesting their potential photothermal therapy against cancer in NIR-II window.〈/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-S002197972030028X-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xuejiao Liu, Jiantao Zai, Asma Iqbal, Ming Chen, Nazakat Ali, Rongrong Qi, Xuefeng Qian〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Developing conductive polymer binders is a new way to enhance the electric connectivity and mechanical contact of Si based anode material. While the linear structure of commercial PEDOT:PSS cannot effectively alleviate the volume expansion of Si. Herein, glycerol was introduced as a cross-linker to PEDOT:PSS binder for Si anodes, which can further improve the interfacial compatibility between silicon and PEDOT:PSS. After crosslinking, the peel force increased 2 times. As a result, the Si nanoparticles anode with the glycerol-crosslinked binder exhibited a high reversible capacity of 1951.5 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 after 200 cycles at 0.5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and superior rate capability (804 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at a high current of 8.0 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) for the inherent superior conductivity of PEDOT:PSS.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉A conductive polymer binder for Si anode was developed by crosslink PEDOT:PSS with glycerol. The Si anode with prepared binder showed improved cycling and rate performance (a reversible capacity of 1951.5 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 after 200 cycles and 804 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 8.0 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) due to the stable covalent bonding and excellent conductivity of conductive binder.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S002197972030031X-ga1.jpg" width="323" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Huangze Yu, Junfeng Li, Guoliang Gao, Guang Zhu, Xianghui Wang, Ting Lu, Likun Pan〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Cobalt phosphides, as low cost and abundant non-noble materials for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), are always constrained by their inferior charge transfer and sluggish intrinsic electrocatalytic kinetics. In this work, carbon-incorporated Co/Co〈sub〉2〈/sub〉P microspheres (Co/Co〈sub〉2〈/sub〉P@C) as a novel Mott–Schottky catalyst were synthesized successfully via carbonization and gradual phosphorization of Co based metal-organic frameworks. The unique merits, including Mott-Schottky effect at the interface formed between metal Co and semiconductor Co〈sub〉2〈/sub〉P, the incorporated carbon-layer on the surface and the spherical structure endow Co/Co〈sub〉2〈/sub〉P@C with favorable electrical conductivity, preferable kinetics and long-term stability when it was evaluated as electrocatalyst for HER in wide-pH range. As a result, the Co/Co〈sub〉2〈/sub〉P@C with the optimized phosphorization degree delivers a benchmark current density of 10 mA cm〈sup〉−2〈/sup〉 at the low overpotential of 192 and 158 mV in acidic and alkaline electrolytes, respectively, with a remarkable stability (CV cycling for 3000 cycles and continuous electrolysis at the overpotential of 200 mV for 48 h). Therefore, the as-designed Co/Co〈sub〉2〈/sub〉P@C should be one of the most promising catalysts for HER application.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Co/Co〈sub〉2〈/sub〉P@C Mott-Schottky electrocatalysts were successfully synthesized from Co-MOF and show excellent HER activity owing to the Mott-Schottky effect, synergy effect of Co and Co〈sub〉2〈/sub〉P and porous carbon shell.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S002197972030076X-ga1.jpg" width="292" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 566〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Guoyu Zhong, Jiangnan Huang, Zhenjie Yao, Baojian Luo, Kaibin Li, Shurui Xu, Xiaobo Fu, Yonghai Cao〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Nitrogen doped tubular magnetic carbons embedded with nickel nanoparticles (Ni@NTMCs) were prepared via a simple pyrolysis process and employed as the effective adsorbents for the Cr(VI) removal. Ni@NTMCs with as high as 10.63 at.% N doping exhibited the excellent Cr(VI) removal capacities of 24.4 and 250 mg g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 in neutral and acidic solution, respectively. Adsorption kinetics and isotherm study revealed that the monolayer chemical adsorption was the rate-controlling step for the Cr(VI) removal. The high removal performance can be ascribed to the combination of adsorption and reduction reaction between Cr(VI) ions, and Ni nanoparticles. N dopant and edge carbons acted as the Cr(VI) adsorption site. The surface Ni nanoparticles mainly made contributions to the reduction process. The embedded Ni nanoparticles steadily provided magnetism for the separation and helpful for the recycles stability, showing a high acid corrosion resistance in this study.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Ni@NTMCs was synthesized though a facile method, displaying a high removal efficiency (250 mg g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) and stability in the acid solution, which is the best performance for the Ni based adsorbents in the environmental remediation.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300709-ga1.jpg" width="319" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): B. Majhy, V.P. Singh, A.K. Sen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Patterned superhydrophilic-superhydrophobic (SHL – SHB) surfaces have shown promise in droplet-based biochemical assays. However, fundamental understanding of the behavior of liquid droplets on such patterned surfaces has not received much attention. Here, we report wetting dynamics and stability of an aqueous droplet placed over a superhydrophilic spot 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si17.svg"〉〈mo〉(〈/mo〉〈mi〉θ〈/mi〉〈mspace width="3.33333pt"〉〈/mspace〉〈mo〉~〈/mo〉〈mspace width="3.33333pt"〉〈/mspace〉〈msup〉〈mn〉0〈/mn〉〈mo〉°〈/mo〉〈/msup〉〈/math〉) surrounded by a superhydrophobic surface (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si18.svg"〉〈mi〉θ〈/mi〉〈mspace width="3.33333pt"〉〈/mspace〉〈mo〉~〈/mo〉〈mspace width="3.33333pt"〉〈/mspace〉〈msup〉〈mn〉160〈/mn〉〈mo〉°〈/mo〉〈/msup〉〈/math〉). We study the shape evolution (contact angle (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si7.svg"〉〈mi〉θ〈/mi〉〈/math〉) and contact line diameter (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si19.svg"〉〈msub〉〈mi〉d〈/mi〉〈mi〉c〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/math〉)) of an aqueous droplet placed over a horizontal SHL – SHB surface with its volume 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si20.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈msub〉〈mrow〉〈mo stretchy="false"〉(〈/mo〉〈mi〉V〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mi〉d〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈mrow〉〈mo stretchy="false"〉)〈/mo〉〈/mrow〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉, using experiments and analytical modeling. The results showed that depending upon the Bond number (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si9.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉Bo〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉) and spot diameter (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si8.svg"〉〈msub〉〈mi〉d〈/mi〉〈mi〉s〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/math〉), three different regimes: spherical cap with fixed 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si19.svg"〉〈msub〉〈mi〉d〈/mi〉〈mi〉c〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/math〉 and varying 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si7.svg"〉〈mi〉θ〈/mi〉〈/math〉 (Regime I), oblate spheroid with fixed 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si19.svg"〉〈msub〉〈mi〉d〈/mi〉〈mi〉c〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/math〉 and varying 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si7.svg"〉〈mi〉θ〈/mi〉〈/math〉 (Regime II), and oblate spheroid with varying 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si19.svg"〉〈msub〉〈mi〉d〈/mi〉〈mi〉c〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/math〉 and fixed 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si7.svg"〉〈mi〉θ〈/mi〉〈/math〉 (Regime III), are observed. The transition from Regime I to Regime II occurs for 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si21.svg"〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉Bo〈/mi〉〈mo mathvariant="italic"〉~〈/mo〉〈mn〉1〈/mn〉〈/math〉 whereas that from Regime II to Regime III occurs at 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si22.svg"〉〈msub〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉Bo〈/mi〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉cr〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈mo mathvariant="italic"〉~〈/mo〉〈mn〉0.33〈/mn〉〈msubsup〉〈mi〉d〈/mi〉〈mi〉s〈/mi〉〈mn〉1.30〈/mn〉〈/msubsup〉〈/math〉. Analysis of the present case wherein the contact line lies at the boundary of SHL – SHB surfaces, revealed anomaly with respect to the statements of Wenzel, Cassie-Baxter and McCarthy. Further, the stability of a droplet placed over the superhydrophilic spot on an SHL – SHB angular surface is studied using experiments and analytical modeling, which showed that the competition between contact line pinning force 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si23.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈msub〉〈mrow〉〈mo stretchy="false"〉(〈/mo〉〈mi〉F〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mi〉p〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈mrow〉〈mo stretchy="false"〉)〈/mo〉〈/mrow〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉 and gravitational force 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si24.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈msub〉〈mrow〉〈mo stretchy="false"〉(〈/mo〉〈mi〉F〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈mi〉g〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈mrow〉〈mo stretchy="false"〉)〈/mo〉〈/mrow〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉 governs its stability. The stable and unstable regimes are identified based on the Bond number (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si9.svg"〉〈mrow〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉Bo〈/mi〉〈/mrow〉〈/math〉) and spot diameter (〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si8.svg"〉〈msub〉〈mi〉d〈/mi〉〈mi〉s〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈/math〉) and the critical Bond number for stable – unstable transition depends on spot diameter as 〈math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" altimg="si25.svg"〉〈msub〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉Bo〈/mi〉〈mi mathvariant="italic"〉cr〈/mi〉〈/msub〉〈mo mathvariant="italic"〉~〈/mo〉〈mn〉0.5〈/mn〉〈msubsup〉〈mi〉d〈/mi〉〈mi〉s〈/mi〉〈mrow〉〈mo〉-〈/mo〉〈mn〉0.93〈/mn〉〈/mrow〉〈/msubsup〉〈/math〉.〈/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-S0021979720300710-ga1.jpg" width="486" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jing-Feng Hou, Jian-Fei Gao, Ling-Bin Kong〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Binary transition metal oxides have received extensive attention because of their multiple oxidation states. However, due to the inherent vices of poor electronic/ionic conductivities, their practical performance as supercapacitor material is limited. Herein, a cobalt molybdate/cobalt boride (CoMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/Co-B) composite is constructed with cobalt boride nanoflake-like as a conductive additive in CoMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanorods using a facile water bath deposition process and liquid-phase reduction method. The effects of CoMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/Co-B mass ratios on its electrochemical performance are investigated. Remarkably, the CoMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/Co-B composite obtained at a mass ratio of 2:1 shows highly enhanced electrochemical performance relative to those obtained at other ratios and exhibits an optimum specific capacity of 436 F g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉. This kind of composite could also display great rate capacity (294 F g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 10 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) and outstanding long cycle performance (90.5% capacitance retention over 10 000 cycles at 5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉). Also, the asymmetric supercapacitor device is prepared by using CoMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/Co-B composite as the anode with the active carbon as the cathode. Such a device demonstrates an outstanding energy density of 23.18 Wh kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and superior long-term stability with 100% initial specific capacity retained after 10,000 cycles. The superior electrochemical properties show that the CoMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/Co-B electrode material has tremendous potential in energy storage equipment applications.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉The CoMoO〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/Co-B heterostructure was synthesized via the water bath deposition and liquid-phase reduction method and its electrochemical properties was investigated.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300424-ga1.jpg" width="267" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jie Li, Jia-Li Chen, Xiao-Hong Tang, Jie-Hua Cai, Ji-Hong Liu, Ming Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Lightweight and high-performance conductive polymer composites (CPCs) have attracted much attention for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding. Herein, the porous structure was constructed in poly(oxymethylene)/multi-wall carbon nanotube (POM/MWCNT) nanocomposites via assisting by poly(〈span〉l〈/span〉-lactide) (PLLA). First, the POM/PLLA/MWCNT (S-PMLNT) nanocomposites were obtained by melt mixing and compression molding. Second, the nanoporous POM/MWCNT (P-PMNT) nanocomposites were fabricated by selectively dissolving PLLA, solvent exchanging and freeze-drying. Because of well miscible between PLLA and POM, the homogeneous nanopores could be successfully fabricated in the P-PMNT composites by removing the PLLA phase. The multiple reflections and scattering of microwaves happened on the walls of these nanopores, which endowed the P-PMNT nanocomposites having higher EMI shielding effectiveness (SE) in comparison of the S-PMLNT nanocomposites, although the P-PMNT nanocomposites exhibited the lower electrical conductivity. For example, the S-PMLNT samples with 10 wt% MWCNTs showed an EMI SE of 48.1 dB and an electrical conductivity of 333 S/m, which changed to 58.6 dB in EMI SE and 125 S/m in electrical conductivity after removing PLLA phase. Furthermore, the P-PMNT10 nanocomposites had outstanding the EMI normal SE (SE/d) of 29.3 dB mm〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and the EMI specific shielding effectiveness (SSE/d) of 344.4 dB cm〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 because of their low density. In addition, the P-PMNT nanocomposites maintained high compression and tensile strength simultaneously.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Homogeneous nanopores were constructed in poly(oxymethylene)/multi-wall carbon nanotube (POM/MWCNT) nanocomposites by poly(〈span〉l〈/span〉-lactide) (PLLA) assisting to improve microwave shielding property through the multiple refection and scattering on the walls of the nanopores.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300722-ga1.jpg" width="407" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Ling Chen, Junqian Deng, Shu Hong, Hailan Lian〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉The present work reports a rapid, tunable synthesis of resorcinol-formaldehyde (RF) carbon xerogels and their potential application as anode materials for lithium-ion battery. An iron-containing deep eutectic solvent (DES) is applied as both reaction medium and catalyst for the polymerization and graphitization. Water at different levels is employed as a co-solvent to mediate the polymerization and phase separation processes to produce a more-developed porous structure. The established binary-solvent synthesis strategy greatly simplifies the RF carbon xerogel preparation processes with a very short sol-gel time and a more acceptable ambient pressure drying. A duplex carbon configuration of rich microporosity (〈em〉S〈/em〉〈sub〉BET〈/sub〉 = 566 m〈sup〉2〈/sup〉 g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) and expanded nanographite is achieved in the binary-solvent system with a DES mass fraction of 70%. The integrated structural merit is highly favorable for lithium storage, showing a reversible capacity of 633 mA h g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.1 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and an excellent rate performance (205 mA h g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) as well as superior cycling stability.〈/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-S0021979720300503-ga1.jpg" width="494" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): D. Lu, Z.J. Yao, Y.Q. Li, Y. Zhong, X.L. Wang, D. Xie, X.H. Xia, C.D. Gu, J.P. Tu〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Highly conductive cathode material with enhanced Na〈sup〉+〈/sup〉 diffusion kinetics is of great importance in the exploration of sodium ion batteries. In this work, Na〈sub〉0.91〈/sub〉MnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 porous microcube which is coated with highly conductive polypyrrole (PPy) is obtained. The high Na content in the layered sodium manganate oxide brings about wider interlayer distance resulting in high capacity and electrochemical kinetics. The higher sodium content of Na〈sub〉0.91〈/sub〉MO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 makes capacity increase up to 50 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 compared with Na〈sub〉0.7〈/sub〉MnO〈sub〉2.05〈/sub〉. Furthermore, the well-designed combination between porous structure and conductive PPy coating exhibits fast ion/electron transfer inside the electrode and high cycling stability. The PPy coated Na〈sub〉0.91〈/sub〉MnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 delivers a high initial capacity of 208 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉, encouraging capacity retention and rate capability. Based on the porous Na〈sub〉0.91〈/sub〉MnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉@PPy cathode, the sodium ion full cells with puffed millet porous carbon anode show remarkably stable cycling and high-rate performances.〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Graphical abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉 〈p〉Polypyrrole-coated high Na content Na〈sub〉0.91〈/sub〉MnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 porous microcubes are prepared through high temperature calcination followed by a chemical ice water bath process. The higher sodium content of Na〈sub〉0.91〈/sub〉MnO〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 makes capacity increase up to 50 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 compared with Na〈sub〉0.7〈/sub〉MnO〈sub〉2.05〈/sub〉. The thus wider interlayer space makes ion/electron insertion/extraction faster. Porous structure providing shorter ion/electron diffusion distance compared with hollow sphere structure. The conductive polymer modified sodium manganate oxide cathode for sodium ion full batteries exhibits ultrahigh initial capacity, cycling stability and rate capability.〈/p〉 〈p〉〈figure〉〈img src="https://ars.els-cdn.com/content/image/1-s2.0-S0021979720300254-ga1.jpg" width="301" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉 〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yifeng Chen, Liguo Shen, Renjie Li, Xianchao Xu, Huachang Hong, Hongjun Lin, Jianrong Chen〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Interfacial energy between sludge foulants and rough membrane surface critically determines adhesive fouling in membrane bioreactors (MBRs). As a current available method, the advanced extensive Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (XDLVO) approach cannot efficiently quantify the interfacial energy. In this study, novel methods including back propagation (BP) artificial neural network (ANN) and generalized regression neural network (GRNN) were proposed to quantify the interfacial energy associated with the membrane fouling in an MBR. Different levels of 5 apparent input factors and the resulted interfacial energies were used as training and testing databases for establishment of ANN models. The established BP ANN and GRNN models exhibited high regression coefficients and accuracies, suggesting the high capacity of ANN models to capture the complicated non-linear mapping relations between interfacial energy and various factors. As compared with the advanced XDLVO approach, both BP ANN and GRNN showed remarkably improved quantification efficiency. Meanwhile, BP ANN showed better prediction performance than GRNN model. Case study further demonstrated the robustness and feasibility of BP ANN for interfacial energy quantification. This study provided a new approach to quantify interfacial energy associated with membrane fouling.〈/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-S0021979720300023-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Mingxia Jiao, Yun Li, Yuxiu Jia, Chenxi Li, Hao Bian, Liting Gao, Peng Cai, Xiliang Luo〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Nanoscale ternary chalcogenides have attracted increasing research interest due to their merits of tunable properties and diverse applications in energy and biomedical fields. In this article, silver indium sulfide quantum dots supported by glutathione and polyethyleneimine as dual-ligands have been synthesized through an environmentally friendly and reproducible aqueous method. An emission quantum yield up to 37.2% has been achieved by glutathione as co-ligand bearing electron-rich groups, much higher than that of polyethyleneimine coated quantum dots (4.97%). Both spectroscopic and structural characterizations demonstrate that the photoluminescence enhancement is attributed to change of surface properties by glutathione as co-ligand. Dynamic light scattering (DLS) results and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) reveal that glutathione covers the QDs with a higher density on the nanocrystal surface than other co-ligands. Therefore, it can effectively passivate the surface trap centers, thus decreasing the non-radiative emission. Moreover, the resultant silver indium sulfide quantum dots present surprisingly long lifetime of 3.69 μs, excellent fluorescent stability and low cytotoxicity, which enables them to be ideal candidate for real-time bioimaging.〈/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-S0021979720300060-ga1.jpg" width="336" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Changsheng Yang, Xinlu Wang, Guixia Liu, Wensheng Yu, Xiangting Dong, Jinxian Wang〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉NiCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉S〈sub〉4〈/sub〉, Co〈sub〉3〈/sub〉S〈sub〉4〈/sub〉/NiS〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 and Ni-Co sulfide grown on Ni-foam were successfully synthesized with a simple one-step hydrothermal method via adjusting the mass fraction of cobalt and sulphur source, forming a free-standing advanced hybrid electrode for Li-S battery. Interestingly, compared with typical synthesis methods of Ni-Co sulfide, this new synthetic method supplies nickel source through Ni-foam rather than soluble inorganic salt and avoid destroying the original structure in the process of secondary hydrothermal reaction. With the integrity of the whole mechanical structure of the hosts, the hybrid electrode behave strong chemical bonding for polysulfides and superior electrocatalytic activity for accelerating the polysulfides redox reactions. The results revealed that foam-like structure of S/Ni-foam@Ni-Co sulfide (S/NF@NCS-30) electrode delivers the highest capacity of 1352.36 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 1 C after 10 cycles and the initial capacity of S/NF@NCS-30 electrode is 1920.28 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.1 C. The results offer a facile and promising engineering strategy to achieve high sulfur utilization.〈/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-S0021979719315796-ga1.jpg" width="251" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 April 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 565〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hong Zhao, Xun Sun, Dan Xu, Qian Zhu, Yangyang Zhu, Zhengping Dong〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Non-noble-metal-based catalysts for catalyzing the oxidative coupling of aldehydes and ammonia represent an efficient atom-economical synthetic route to produce nitriles. In this study, an effective Fe-modified 〈em〉N〈/em〉-doped carbon catalyst anchored on fibrous silica nanospheres (Fe-N/KCC-1-T) was successfully prepared by a facile strategy. 1,10-Phenanthroline with a strong chelating ability ensured the homogeneous, ultrafine distribution of Fe-based active sites, and the KCC-1 support material effectively enhanced the accessibility to these active sites, which corresponded to center-radial pore channels and a high surface area. As-fabricated Fe-N/KCC-1-T exhibited excellent catalytic performance for the ammoxidation of aldehydes under mild reaction conditions. A series of functionalized aldehydes were efficiently oxidized into the corresponding nitriles by using air as the green oxidant. Moreover, the catalyst was recycled for at least five runs without any clear decrease in the performance. Hence, this study is expected to provide an eco-friendly synthetic route to produce nitriles from easily available aldehydes and ammonia by using a cost-effective catalyst.〈/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-S0021979719316108-ga1.jpg" width="304" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 22 March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 564〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Hari Vignesh Ramasamy, Pravin N. Didwal, Soumyadeep Sinha, Vanchiappan Aravindan, Jaeyeong Heo, Chan-Jin Park, Yun-Sung Lee〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉Surface modification is one of the impressive and widely used technique to improve the electrochemical performance of sodium-ion batteries by modifying the electrode-electrolyte interface. Herein, we used the atomic layer deposition (ALD) to modify the surface of P2-Na〈sub〉0.5〈/sub〉Mn〈sub〉0.5〈/sub〉Co〈sub〉0.5〈/sub〉O〈sub〉2〈/sub〉 by sub-monolayer Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 coating on the prefabricated electrodes. Phase purity is confirmed using various structural and morphological studies. The pristine electrode delivered an initial discharge capacity of 154 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.5C, and inferior rate performance of 23 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 40C rate. On the other hand, the interfacial modified cathode with 5 cycles of ALD coating delivers a high capacity of 174 and 45 mAh g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at 0.5C and 40C rate, respectively. The Co〈sup〉2+/3+〈/sup〉 redox couple is utilized for the faradaic process with high reversibility along with suppressed P2-O2 phase transition. The presence of the Al〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉3〈/sub〉 layer acts as an artificial cathode electrolyte interface by suppressing the electrolyte oxidation at higher cutoff potentials. This is clearly validated by the reduced charge transfer resistance of surface modified electrodes after cycling at various current rates. Even at an elevated temperature condition (50 °C), interfacial layer significantly improves the safety of the cell and ensures the stability of the cathode.〈/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-S0021979719316066-ga1.jpg" width="285" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 22 March 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 564〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jiwan Acharya, Tae Hoon Ko, Min-Kang Seo, Myung-Seob Khil, Hak-Yong Kim, Byoung-Suhk Kim〈/p〉 〈div xml:lang="en"〉 〈h5〉Abstract〈/h5〉 〈div〉〈p〉In this study, mesoporous nickel cobaltite (NiCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉) nanorods as electrode materials for high-performance hybrid supercapacitor were fabricated onto Ni foam by a simple and cost effective oxalic acid (OA) assisted rapid co-precipitation method. The effects of different metal precursors (NCO-Nitrate, NCO-Chloride and NCO-Acetate) on the electrochemical capacitive properties were studied. FE-SEM analysis confirmed that all samples exhibited highly dense mesoporous NiCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanorods vertically grown on the surface of Ni foam with excess accessible surfaces and unique sizes and morphologies. The resultant NiCo〈sub〉2〈/sub〉O〈sub〉4〈/sub〉 nanorod electrodes (for NCO-Nitrate, NCO-Chloride and NCO-Acetate) delivered the maximum specific capacitances of 790, 784, 776 F g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 at the current density of 1 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 with ultra-high capacitance retention of 82.27, 81.63 and 81.71% even at 20 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 and excellent cyclic stability of 84.25, 83.33 and 83.24% capacitance retention at 5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉 after 5000 cycles. The asymmetric supercapacitor (ASC) device was also sandwiched by using NCO-Nitrate as positive electrode and 〈em〉N〈/em〉-doped graphene hydrogel (NGH) as negative electrode. The fabricated ASC device delivered superior energy density (42.5 W h kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) at high power density (746.34 W kg〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉) with excellent long cyclic stability (90% initial capacitance retention after 5000 cycles at 5 A g〈sup〉−1〈/sup〉).〈/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-S0021979719315656-ga1.jpg" width="500" alt="Graphical abstract for this article" title=""〉〈/figure〉〈/p〉〈/div〉 〈/div〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 27 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jinhuo Gao, Tao Yuan, Sainan Luo, Jiafeng Ruan, Hao Sun, Junhe Yang, Shiyou Zheng〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 27 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhipeng Yang, Hongqiang Li, Lin Zhang, Xuejun Lai, Xingrong Zeng〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 26 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Bing Zhang, Ruijun Zhang, Dongmei Huang, Yu Shen, Xu Gao, Wenxin Shi〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 27 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Fang Li, Haiping Zhou, Jiajie Fan, Quanjun Xiang〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 25 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuchen Dai, Yi Yang, Baohong Liu, Liang Qiao〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 25 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Priyadarshani S. Sadalage, Mansingraj S. Nimbalkar, Kiran Kumar K. Sharma, Pramod S. Patil, Kiran D. Pawar〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 25 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhuo Luo, Xiaotong Wang, Dongzhi Yang, Shiyi Zhang, Tianyu Zhao, Liyuan Qin, Zhong-Zhen Yu〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 24 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Huihui Gao, Jinzhang Xu, Juntian Zhou, Shouwei Zhang, Ru Zhou〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 24 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Chunlei Ren, Yushan Yan, Baozhong Sun, Bohong Gu, Tsu-Wei Chou〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Meenaxi Sharma, Samrat Sohel Mondal, Pritam Kumar Roy, Krishnacharya Khare〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Cong Liu, Kuan Sun, Chenguang Lu, Junpeng Su, Libao Han, Zuankai Wang, Yahua Liu〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yixiao Li, Jianbin Zhen, Qing Tian, Chenqiang Shen, Lianbing Zhang, Kewu Yang, Li Shang〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Lingyan Gong, Guangzhi Liao, Huoxin Luan, Quansheng Chen, Xiaobin Nie, Dong Liu, Yujun Feng〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 19 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhongjun Ma, Xilin Zhang, Dapeng Wu, Xueyun Han, Lumin Zhang, Hongju Wang, Fang Xu, Zhiyong Gao, Kai Jiang〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Qiaoran Liu, Li Zhou, Jun Gao, Shaobin Wang, Lihong Liu, Shaomin Liu〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Cong Zhang, Zhichao Gao, Lei Zhao, Jing Ai, Nan Li, Xiaotian Li〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Syed Danish Ali Zaidi, Chong Wang, Bánhegyi György, Chunshui Sun, Haifeng Yuan, Leiwu Tian, Jian Chen〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 19 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Alvira Ayoub Arbab, Mumtaz Ali, Anam Ali Memon, Kyung Chul Sun, Bum Jin Choi, Sung Hoon Jeong〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Caifeng Wang, Ki-Jae Jeong, Hee Jeong Park, Mirim Lee, Su-Chak Ryu, Dae Youn Hwang, Kyoung Hyup Nam, In Ho Han, Jaebeom Lee〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Khalid Z. Elwakeel, Ahmed Shahat, Abdullah S. Al-Bogami, Buddhi Wijesiri, Ashantha Goonetilleke〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Laura Marcela Forero Ramirez, Ariane Boudier, Caroline Gaucher, Jérôme Babin, Alain Durand, Jean-Luc Six, Cécile Nouvel〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Jiuli Chang, Liming Chen, Shiqi Zang, Yifan Wang, Dapeng Wu, Fang Xu, Kai Jiang, Zhiyong Gao〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 17 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Xiaoya Gao, Qian Guo, Guangbei Tang, Wenjie Zhu, Xingxin Yang, Yongming Luo〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Zhifeng Wang, Xiaomin Zhang, Xiaoli Liu, Yongguang Zhang, Weimin Zhao, Yongyan Li, Chunling Qin, Zhumabay Bakenov〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): J. Morán, J. Yon, A. Poux〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Te Hu, Huijian Ye, Zhenggang Luo, Junjie Ma, Boyuan Zhang, Xuanhe Zhang, Jinwei Song, Qingping Wang, Lixin Xu〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Yuwei Ma, Guangtong Hai, Dimberu G. Atinafu, Wenjun Dong, Rongjie Li, Changmin Hou, Ge Wang〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: Available online 16 February 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Moataz O. Abu-Al-Saud, Soheil Esmaeilzadeh, Amir Riaz, Hamdi Tchelepi〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 1 June 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 569〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Han Zhang, Junhua Zhang〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 568〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Kai-Ping Yuan, Li-Yuan Zhu, Jia-He Yang, Cheng-Zhou Hang, Jia-Jia Tao, Hong-Ping Ma, An-Quan Jiang, David Wei Zhang, Hong-Liang Lu〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 568〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Evert Klaseboer, Derek Y.C. Chan〈/p〉

Description: 〈p〉Publication date: 15 May 2020〈/p〉 〈p〉〈b〉Source:〈/b〉 Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, Volume 568〈/p〉 〈p〉Author(s): Snehasish Basu, Bui My Hanh, J.Q. Isaiah Chua, Dan Daniel, Muhammad Hafiz Ismail, Manon Marchioro, Shahrouz Amini, Scott A. Rice, Ali Miserez〈/p〉