In situ synthesis of ceria nanoparticles in the ordered mesoporous carbon as a novel electrochemical sensor for the determination of hydrazine

Unveiling carcinogenic pollutant levels in environmental water samples through facile fabrication of gold nanoparticles on sulfur-doped graphitic carbon nitride

Extensive utilization of pesticides and herbicides to boost agricultural production increased the environmental health risks, which can be mitigate with the aid of highly sensitive detection systems. In this study, an electrochemical sensor for monitoring the carcinogenic pesticides in the environmental samples has been developed based on sulfur-doped graphitic-carbon nitride-gold nanoparticles (SCN-AuNPs) nanohybrid. Thermal polycondensation of melamine with thiourea followed by solvent exfoliation via ultrasonication leads to SCN formation and electroless deposition of AuNPs on SCN leads to SCN-AuNPs nanohybrid synthesis. The chemical composition, S-doping, and the morphology of the nanohybrid were confirmed by various microscopic and spectroscopic tools. The as-synthesized nanohybrid was fabricated with glassy carbon (GC) electrode for determining the carcinogenic hydrazine (HZ) and atrazine (ATZ) in field water samples. The present sensor exhibited superior electrocatalytic activity than GC/SCN and GC/AuNPs electrodes due to the synergism between SCN and AuNPs and the amperometric studies showed the good linear range of detection of 20 nM-0.5 mM and 500 nM-0.5 mM with the limit of detection of 0.22 and 69 nM (S/N = 3) and excellent sensitivity of 1173.5 and 13.96 μA mM-1 cm-2 towards HZ and ATZ, respectively. Ultimately, the present sensor is exploited in environmental samples for monitoring HZ and ATZ and the obtained results are validated with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique. The excellent recovery percentage and close agreement with the results of HPLC analysis proved the practicability of the present sensor. In addition, the as-prepared materials were utilized for the photocatalytic degradation of ATZ and the SCN-AuNPs nanohybrid exhibited higher photocatalytic activity with the removal efficiency of 93.6% at 90 min. Finally, the degradation mechanism was investigated and discussed.

Laser-induced 2D/0D graphene-nanoceria freestanding paper-based films for on-site hydrogen peroxide monitoring in no-touch disinfection treatments

A one-shot CO2 laser-based strategy to generate conductive reduced graphene oxide (rGO) decorated with nanoceria (nCe) is proposed. The 2D/0D rGO-nCe films, integrated as catalytic sensing layers in paper-based sensors, were employed for on-site monitoring of indoor fogging treatments against Listeria monocytogenes (Lm), a ubiquitous pathogenic bacterium. The rGO-nCe laser-assisted synthesis was optimized to preserve the rGO film morphological and electron-transfer features and simultaneously integrate catalytic nCe. The films were characterized by microscopical (SEM), spectroscopical (EDX, Raman, and FTIR), and electrochemical techniques. The most performing film was integrated into a nitrocellulose substrate, and the complete sensor was assembled via a combination of xurography and stencil printing. The rGO-nCe sensor's catalytic activity was proved toward the detection of H2O2, obtaining sensitive determination (LOD = 0.3 µM) and an extended linear range (0.5-1500 µM). Eventually, the rGO-nCe sensor was challenged for the real-time continuous monitoring of hydrogen peroxide aerosol during no-touch fogging treatment conducted following the EU's recommendation for biocidal product use. Treatment effectiveness was proved toward three Lm strains characterized by different origins, i.e., type strain ATCC 7644, clinical strain 338, and food strain 641/6II. The sensor allows for discrimination and quantification treatments at different environmental biocidal amounts and fogging times, and correlates with the microbiological inhibition, promoting the proposed sensor as a useful tool to modulate and monitor no-touch treatments.

Synthesis and Characterization of Cerium-Oxo Clusters Capped by Acetylacetonate

Cerium-oxo clusters have applications in fields ranging from catalysis to electronics and also hold the potential to inform on aspects of actinide chemistry. Toward this end, a cerium-acetylacetonate (acac1-) monomeric molecule, Ce(acac)4 (Ce-1), and two acac1--decorated cerium-oxo clusters, [Ce10O8(acac)14(CH3O)6(CH3OH)2]·10.5MeOH (Ce-10) and [Ce12O12(OH)4(acac)16(CH3COO)2]·6(CH3CN) (Ce-12), were prepared and structurally characterized. The Ce(acac)4 monomer contains CeIV. Crystallographic data and bond valence summation values for the Ce-10 and Ce-12 clusters are consistent with both clusters having a mixture of CeIII and CeIV cations. Ce L3-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy, performed on Ce-10, showed contributions from both CeIII and CeIV. The Ce-10 cluster is built from a hexameric cluster, with six CeIV sites, that is capped by two dimeric CeIII units. By comparison, Ce-12, which formed upon dissolution of Ce-10 in acetonitrile, consists of a central decamer built from edge sharing CeIV hexameric units, and two monomeric CeIII sites that are bound on the outer corners of the inner Ce10 core. Electrospray ionization mass spectrometry data for solutions prepared by dissolving Ce-10 in acetonitrile showed that the major ions could be attributed to Ce10 clusters that differed primarily in the number of acac1-, OH1-, MeO1-, and O2- ligands. Small angle X-ray scattering measurements for Ce-10 dissolved in acetonitrile showed structural units slightly larger than either Ce10 or Ce12 in solution, likely due to aggregation. Taken together, these results suggest that the acetylacetonate supported clusters can support diverse solution-phase speciation in organic solutions that could lead to stabilization of higher order cerium containing clusters, such as cluster sizes that are greater than the Ce10 and Ce12 reported herein.

Cerium-Based Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution/Reduction Reactions: Progress and Perspectives

Ce-based materials have been widely used in photocatalysis and other fields because of their rich redox pairs and oxygen vacancies, despite research on the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) remaining scare. However, most pristine cerium-based materials, such as CeO₂, are non-conductive materials. Therefore, how to obtain highly conductive and stable OER/ORR electrocatalysts is currently a hot research topic. To overcome these limitations, researchers have proposed a variety of strategies to promote the development of Ce-based electrocatalysts in recent years. This progress report focuses on reviewing new strategies concerning three categories of Ce-based electrocatalysts: metal-organic framework (MOF) derivatives, structure tuning, and polymetallic doping. It also puts forward the main existing problems and future prospects. The content of cerium in the crust is about 0.0046%, which is the highest among the rare earth elements. As a low-cost rare earth material, Ce-based materials have a bright future in the field of electrocatalysis due to replacing precious metal and some transition metals.

Determination of the site preference on the structure, magnetism and mechanical anisotropy properties of Mo-containing alloy carbide M6C (MFe, Mo)

First-principles calculations are used to study the structure, magnetism and mechanical anisotropy properties of M₆C (M = Fe, Mo) carbides. The stability of alloy carbide M₆C can be improved when Mo atoms occupy the 48f Wyckoff position. Fe₃Mo₃C with Mo atoms occupying 48f position and Fe atoms occupying 16d and 32e positions has the best structural stability. The magnetic moment is triggered when the Fe content is approximately 0.5, suggesting that there exists a critical value between the paramagnetic nature and ferromagnetism. Carbides with Fe content above 0.5 have stronger magnetism. Higher Fe content corresponds to the stronger chemical bonding of carbides, resulting in improved elastic properties when Mo atoms are held in 48f position. The special carbides Fe₄Mo₂C and Fe₃Mo₃C (Fe at 48f site, Mo at 16d and 32e sites) correspond to the excellent mechanical properties. These results are helpful in providing a theoretical foundation of the possible direction for the advances of the excellent physical properties in Mo-containing steel.

Removal of mutagen X "MX" from drinking water using reduced graphene oxide coated sand particles

PURPOSE

Mutagen X is a hazardous by-product of disinfection by chlorine, which is responsible for most of the mutagenicity in chlorinated drinking water. It has the cancer potency value of 100-fold higher than bromodichloromethane and 6000-fold higher than chloroform, In this study, Mutagen X was removed from aqueous media by a thermally reduced graphene oxide bonded on the surface of amino-functionalized sand particles.

METHOD

A Box-Behnken design was applied to optimize the adsorption process. Characterization of the adsorbent and graphene oxide was accomplished using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Raman analysis. The effects of three independent parameters, including initial concentration (20-200 μg L^-1), temperature (5-30 °C), and adsorbent dose (2-80 g L^-1) were examined using batch experiments.

RESULTS

Characterization results confirmed that the graphene oxide was successfully coated on the surface of sand particles. Regression analysis of experimental results showed a great fit with a quadratic polynomial model with the R² = 0.999. Optimum conditions (initial concentration: 20 μg L^-1, temperature: 30 °C, and adsorbent dose: 80 g L^-1) with the desirability of 1.0 resulted in the minimum residual concentration of Mutagen X (2 μg L^-1). Equilibrium study results depicted that the experimental data were fitted well to the Freundlich and UT isotherm models.

Study on the Effect of Graphene Oxide with Low Oxygen Content on Portland Cement Based Composites

The current study presents research into the effect of graphene oxide (GO) with a carbon to oxygen ratio of 4:1 on the fluidity, hydration, microstructure, mechanical and physical properties of Portland cement pastes and mortars. The amounts of GO investigated were 0.02%, 0.04%, and 0.06% by weight of cement, while for mortars, an extra composition with 0.1% was also prepared. According to the results, the fluidity of cement paste and mortar increased and the hydration process was slightly retarded with the addition of GO. Despite this, improvements in compressive and flexural strength were established in the mortars containing GO. The maximum effects (~22% and ~6%, respectively) were obtained with the addition of 0.06% GO. The calculation of estimated strength proportional to samples of equal density showed that for mortars cured for 7 days the gain in strength was directly related to the gain in density. For mortar samples cured for 28 days, the estimated strength was found to be significantly higher than that of the reference sample, indicating that besides density there are other factors determining the improvement in strength of mortars modified with GO. The possible structure strengthening mechanisms are discussed.

Three-dimensional interconnected Co(OH)2 nanosheets on Ti mesh as a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for hydrazine detection

Three-dimensional interconnected Co(OH)₂ nanosheets on TM, prepared by low cost and simple electrodeposition method, exhibit highly sensitive electrochemical hydrazine detection.

A highly selective long-wavelength fluorescent probe for hydrazine and its application in living cell imaging

A highly selective long-wavelength turn-on fluorescent probe has been developed for the detection of N₂H₄. The probe was prepared by conjugation the tricyanofuran-based D-π-A system with a recognizing moiety of acetyl group. In the presence of N₂H₄, the probe can be effectively hydrazinolysized and produce a turn-on fluorescent emission at 610nm as well as a large red-shift in the absorption spectrum corresponding to a color change from yellow to blue. The sensing mechanism was confirmed by HPLC, MS, UV-vis, emission spectroscopic and theoretical calculation studies. The probe displayed high selectivity and sensitivity for N₂H₄ with a LOD (limit of detection) of 0.16μM. Moreover, the probe was successfully utilized for the detection of hydrazine in living cells.

Recent Trends on Electrochemical Sensors Based on Ordered Mesoporous Carbon

The past decade has seen an increasing number of extensive studies devoted to the exploitation of ordered mesoporous carbon (OMC) materials in electrochemistry, notably in the fields of energy and sensing. The present review summarizes the recent achievements made in field of electroanalysis using electrodes modified with such nanomaterials. On the basis of comprehensive tables, the interest in OMC for designing electrochemical sensors is illustrated through the various applications developed to date. They include voltammetric detection after preconcentration, electrocatalysis (intrinsically due to OMC or based on suitable catalysts deposited onto OMC), electrochemical biosensors, as well as electrochemiluminescence and potentiometric sensors.

In situ visualization and quantitative investigation of the distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the micro-zones of mangrove sediment

The distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the micro-zones of mangrove sediment is a predominant factors determining PAH bioavailability. In this study, a novel method for the in situ visualization (via microscope) and quantitative investigation of the PAH distribution in the micro-zones of mangrove sediment was established using microscopic fluorescence spectral analysis combined with derivative synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (MFSA-DSFS). The MFSA-DSFS method significantly suppressed the background fluorescence signal of the sediment (the S/N values increased by over two orders of magnitude). The proportion of the nonpolar organic carbon content in the particulate organic matter (POM) rather than its content in the total organic matter (TOM) showed a significantly positive correlation with the uneven PAH distribution (Relative DC-M values) evaluated using the established method (p < 0.05). The extent of the uneven PAH distribution in the micro-zones of aged sediment was higher than that in the spiked sediment. Moreover, the distribution pattern of the PAHs within the mangrove sediment changed to become more homogeneous in the presence of low-molecular-weight organic acids (LMWOAs), which primarily contribute to increasing the POM content.

Synthesis and characterization of highly defective mesoporous carbon and its potential use in electrochemical sensors

A highly defective mesoporous carbon (DMC) was synthesized via a facile mass producible method for the fabrication of electrochemical sensing devices.

Reduced graphene oxide/gold tetraphenyl porphyrin (RGO/Au–TPP) nanocomposite as an ultrasensitive amperometric sensor for environmentally toxic hydrazine

A gold tetra phenyl porphyrin/reduced graphene oxide (RGO/Au–TPP) nanocomposite film modified glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was prepared for the trace level detection of hydrazine.

Copper nanoparticles decorated polyaniline–zeolite nanocomposite for the nanomolar simultaneous detection of hydrazine and phenylhydrazine

The high electrocatalytic activity of the CuNPs–PANI–Nano-ZSM-5 nanocomposite can be attributed to the synergistic contribution provided by the highly dispersed copper nanoparticles and conductive PANI film on high surface area Nano-ZSM-5.