Facile synthesis of α-MnO2 nanorod/graphene nanocomposite paper electrodes using a 3D precursor for supercapacitors and sensing platform to detect 4-nitrophenol

Using silver nanoparticle-decorated whey protein isolate amyloid fibrils to modify the electrode surface used for electrochemical detection of para-nitrophenol

Due to their organized structures, remarkable stiffness, and nice biocompatibility and biodegradability, amyloid fibrils serve as building blocks for versatile sustainable materials. Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are commonly used as the nano-catalysts for various electrochemical reactions. Given their large specific surface area and high surface energy, AgNPs exhibit high aggregation propensity, which hampers their electrocatalytic performance. Food protein wastes have been identified to be associated with climate change and environmental impacts, and a surplus of whey proteins in dairy industries causes high biological and chemical demands, and greenhouse gas emissions. This study is aimed at constructing sustainable electrode surface modifiers using AgNP-deposited whey protein amyloid fibrils (AgNP/WPI-AFs). AgNP/WPI-AFs were synthesized and characterized via spectroscopic techniques, electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Next, the electrocatalytic performance of AgNP/WPI-AF modified electrode was assessed via para-nitrophenol (p-NP) reduction combined with various electrochemical analyses. Moreover, the reaction mechanism of p-NP electrocatalysis on the surface of AgNP/WPI-AF modified electrode was investigated. The detection range, limit of detection, sensitivity, and selectivity of the AgNP/WPI-AF modified electrode were evaluated accordingly. This work not only demonstrates an alternative for whey valorization but also highlights the feasibility of using amyloid-based hybrid materials as the electrode surface modifier for electrochemical sensing purposes.

Graphene oxide/cellulose nanofibril composite: A high-performance catalyst for the fabrication of an electrochemical sensor for quantification of p-nitrophenol, a hazardous water pollutant

The detection and quantification of p-Nitrophenol (p-NP) in environmental samples are important for understanding the extent and impact of environmental pollution, protecting human health, ensuring regulatory compliance, and guiding remediation efforts. The main objective of this work was to investigate the electrochemical performance of a graphene oxide/cellulose nanofibril composite (GO/CNF) modified carbon paste electrode (GO/CNF/CPE) for the sensitive and reliable detection of p-nitrophenol in water samples. The transmission electron microscopy (TEM) technique was employed to enlighten the structure of nanocomposites. The electrochemical behavior of the fabricated electrochemical sensor was characterized via differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), linear sweep voltammetry (LSV), and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Under optimized analytical conditions, the peak current of the analyte showed a wide linear relationship with its concentration in a range of 3.0 nM-210 μM with a low amount of the limit of detection (LOD) value of 0.8 nM determined by the DPV method. The proposed electrochemical sensor demonstrated excellent sensitivity, selectivity, and accuracy metrics in real sample analysis of p-nitrophenol.

Ternary flower-sphere-like MnO2-graphite/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites for supercapacitor

Chemical fabrication of a nanocomposite structure for electrode materials to regulate the ion diffusion channels and charge transfer resistances and Faradaic active sites is a versatile strategy towards building a high-performance supercapacitor. Here, a new ternary flower-sphere-like nanocomposite MnO₂-graphite (MG)/reduced graphene oxide (RGO) was designed using the RGO as a coating for the MG. MnO₂-graphite (MnO₂-4) was obtained by KMnO₄ oxidizing the pretreated graphite in an acidic medium (pH = 4). The GO coating was finally reduced by the NaBH₄ to prepare the ternary nanocomposite MG. The microstructures and pore sizes were investigated by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and nitrogen adsorption/desorption. The electrochemical properties of MG were systematically investigated by the cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in Na₂SO₄ solution. The MG as an electrode material for supercapacitor exhibits a specific capacitance of 478.2 and 454.6 F g^-1 at a current density of 1.0 and 10.0 A g^-1, respectively. In addition, the capacitance retention was 90% after 8,000 cycles. The ternary nanocomposite enhanced electrochemical performance originates from the specific flower-sphere-like morphology and coating architecture bringing higher specific surface area and lower charge transfer resistance (R_ct).

Application of Octanohydroxamic Acid for Salting out Liquid-Liquid Extraction of Materials for Energy Storage in Supercapacitors

The ability to achieve high areal capacitance for oxide-based supercapacitor electrodes with high active mass loadings is critical for practical applications. This paper reports the feasibility of the fabrication of Mn₃O₄-multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) composites by the new salting-out method, which allows direct particle transfer from an aqueous synthesis medium to a 2-propanol suspension for the fabrication of advanced Mn₃O₄-MWCNT electrodes for supercapacitors. The electrodes show enhanced capacitive performance at high active mass loading due to reduced particle agglomeration and enhanced mixing of the Mn₃O₄ particles and conductive MWCNT additives. The strategy is based on the multifunctional properties of octanohydroxamic acid, which is used as a capping and dispersing agent for Mn₃O₄ synthesis and an extractor for particle transfer to the electrode processing medium. Electrochemical studies show that high areal capacitance is achieved at low electrode resistance. The electrodes with an active mass of 40.1 mg cm^-2 show a capacitance of 4.3 F cm^-2 at a scan rate of 2 mV s^-1. Electron microscopy studies reveal changes in electrode microstructure during charge-discharge cycling, which can explain the increase in capacitance. The salting-out method is promising for the development of advanced nanocomposites for energy storage in supercapacitors.

Size-controllable synthesis of zinc ferrite/reduced graphene oxide aerogels: efficient electrochemical sensing of p-nitrophenol

In this study, a nonaqueous method for the synthesis of size-controlled highly crystalline zinc ferrite/reduced graphene oxide (ZFO/rGO) aerogel was provided by using benzyl alcohol as the medium. In our findings, benzyl alcohol was introduced not only as the solvent, but the structure-directing agent and strong reducing agent during the nucleation and growth of ZnFe₂O₄ nanoparticles (NPs). The characterization analysis indicated that ZnFe₂O₄ NPs were immobilized on the multilayer rGO with a controllable size of 12 nm. Moreover, the 3D ZFO/rGO aerogel shows excellent electrochemical property as a facile electrochemical sensor for the detection of p-nitrophenol (p-NP). The ZFO/rGO electrochemical sensing offers the advantages of wide linear range (1-500 μmol l^-1), excellent sensitivity (23.985 mA mM^-1 cm^-2), good stability and selectivity (<8.8%). In addition, the possible reaction mechanism of 3D ZFO/rGO aerogel was explained during the detection process under acidic condition. Significantly, our results not only provided insight into the possible reaction mechanism of 3D ZFO/rGO nanocomposite, but proposed the way for the synthesis of highly crystalline materials through a benzyl alcohol-mediated method.

Alpha-MnO2 nanofibers/nitrogen and sulfur-co-doped reduced graphene oxide for 4.5 V quasi-solid state supercapacitors using ionic liquid-based polymer electrolyte

α-MnO₂ nanofibers combined with nitrogen and sulfur co-doped reduced graphene oxide (α-MnO₂/N&S-rGO) were prepared through simple hydrothermal and ball milling processes. Structural characterization results by X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy demonstrated that α-MnO₂ nanofibers with the average diameter of ~40 nm were well dispersed on N&S-rGO nanoflakes. The synthesized material was incorporated into supercapacitor (SC) electrodes and assembled with the quasi-solid-state electrolyte comprising N,N-Diethyl-N-methyl-N-(2-methoxy-ethyl)ammonium bis (trifluoromethyl-sulfonyl)amide [DEME][TFSA]/polyvinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene (PVDF-co-HFP) to produce coin-cell SCs. Electrochemical performances of SCs were measured by cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. From the electrochemical data, SC using α-MnO₂/N&S-rGO exhibited a good specific capacitance of 165F g^-1 at 0.25 A g^-1 with a wide potential window of 0-4.5 V, corresponding to a high energy density of 110 Wh kg^-1 and a power density of 550 W kg^-1. In addition, it exhibited good electrochemical stability with a capacitance retention of 75% after 10,000 cycles at 1 A g^-1 and a low self-discharge loss. The attained energy-storage performances indicated that the α-MnO₂/N&S-rGO composite could be highly promising for high-performance ionic liquid-based quasi solid-state supercapacitors.

Design strategy of rGO–HNT–AgNPs based hybrid nanocomposite with enhanced performance for electrochemical detection of 4-nitrophenol

We report a highly precise and sensitive electrochemical sensor to detect 4-nitrophenol based on halloysite nanotubes with silver nanoparticles decorated on reduced graphene oxide.

Selective capturing of phenolic derivative by a binary metal oxide microcubes for its detection

Development of highly efficient and potential material for toxic p-nitrophenol is an important design for sensitive detection of hazardous species from ecology and environment. Here it is developed, an efficient as well as selective of p-nitrophenol using binary material by electrochemical performances, including good linearity, lower detection limit, good stability, higher reproducibility and extreme sensitivity. The prepared electrode was fabricated by immobilization of SnO₂/CdO microcubes (MCs) with conducting coating binders by using well-known glassy carbon electrode (GCE). The proposed MCs with SnO₂/CdO were well-functionalized and prepared by facile hydrothermal technique. The general instrumentation namely, FTIR, UV/vis, FESEM, XPS, TEM, EDS, and powder XRD were employed for the morphological evaluation of the prepared doped MCs, structural, optical and elemental analyses. The large dynamic range (LDR) from 1.0 to 0.01 mM with 0.13 pM detection limit (S/N = 3), limit of quantification (LOQ; 0.43 pM), and an excellent sensitivity of 7.12 µAµM⁻¹cm⁻² were exhibited by the fabricated binary material based on SnO₂/CdO MCs for selective p-nitrophenol capturing. In shortly, the SnO₂/CdO MCs can be employed as an efficient electron mediator with binary materials fabricated GCE for capturing the p-nitrophenol at ultra-trace amounts. Then the binary synthesized material of SnO₂/CdO MCs is used as potential and sensitive sensor layer by stable electrochemical approach for sensitive capturing of toxic p-nitrophenol from environmental samples.

Fabrication of Ag@Co-Al Layered Double Hydroxides Reinforced poly(o-phenylenediamine) Nanohybrid for Efficient Electrochemical Detection of 4-Nitrophenol, 2,4-Dinitrophenol and Uric acid at Nano Molar Level

In this paper, Co-Al layered double hydroxides (LDHs), Co-Al LDHs/poly(o-phenylenediamine) (PoPD) and Ag nanoparticles decorated Co-Al LDHs/PoPD (Ag@Co-Al LDH/PoPD) samples were prepared. The as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, Raman, XPS, FT-IR, DRS-UV-Vis, PL and TGA techniques. The salient features of morphology and size of the samples were determined using FESEM, and HR-TEM. Then, the samples were coated on glassy carbon electrode (GCE) and employed for sensing of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP), 2,4-dinitrophenol (2,4-DNP)) and uric acid (UA). It was found that Ag@Co-Al LDH/PoPD/GCE showed superior electrochemical sensing behaviour than other modified electrodes. It exhibits the detection limit (DL) of 63 nM, 50 nM and 0.28 µM for 4-NP, 2,4-DNP and UA respectively.

Asymmetric pseudo-capacitors based on dendrite-like MnO2 nanostructures

Dendrite-like MnO₂ nanostructures grown on carbon cloth are successfully prepared by a facile one-step route.

Sonochemical assisted synthesis MnO2/RGO nanohybrid as effective electrode material for supercapacitor

Manganese dioxide (MnO₂) needle-like nanostructures are successfully synthesized by a sonochemical method from an aqueous solution of potassium bromate and manganese sulfate. Also, hybride of MnO₂ nanoparticles wrapped with graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets are fabricated through an electrostatic coprecipitation procedure. With adjusting pH at 3.5, positive and negative charges are created on MnO₂ and on GO, respectively which can electrostatically attract to each other and coprecipitate. Then, MnO₂/GO pasted on stainless steel mesh is electrochemically reduced by applying -1.1V to obtain MnO₂/RGO nanohybrid. The structure and morphology of the MnO₂ and MnO₂/RGO nanohybrid are examined by Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic force microscopy (AFM), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX), and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The capacitive behaviors of MnO₂ and MnO₂/RGO active materials on stainless steel meshes are investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge/discharge test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) by a three-electrode experimental setup in an aqueous solution of 0.5M sodium sulfate in the potential window of 0.0-1.0V. The electrochemical investigations reveal that MnO₂/RGO exhibits high specific capacitance (C_s) of 375Fg^-1 at current density of 1Ag^-1 and good cycle stability (93% capacitance retention after 500 cycles at a scan rate of 200mVs^-1). The obtained results give good prospect about the application of electrostatic coprecipitation method to prepare graphene/metal oxides nanohybrids as effective electrode materials for supercapacitors.

Carbon Quantum Dot-Induced MnO2 Nanowire Formation and Construction of a Binder-Free Flexible Membrane with Excellent Superhydrophilicity and Enhanced Supercapacitor Performance

Manganese oxides (MnO₂) are regarded as typical and promising electrode materials for supercapacitors. However, the practical electrochemical performance of MnO₂ is far from its theoretical value. Nowadays, numerous efforts are being devoted to the design and preparation of nanostructured MnO₂ with the aim of improving its electrochemical properties. In this work, ultralong MnO₂ nanowires were fabricated in a process induced by carbon quantum dots (CQDs); subsequently, a binder-free flexible electrode membrane was easily obtained by vacuum filtration of the MnO₂ nanowires. The effects of the CQDs not only induced the formation of one-dimensional nanostructured MnO₂, but also significantly improved the wettability between electrode and electrolyte. In other words, the MnO₂ membrane demonstrated a superhydrophilic character in aqueous solution, indicating the sufficient and abundant contact probability between electrode and electrolyte. The binder-free flexible MnO₂ electrode exhibited a preeminent specific capacitance of 340 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1; even when the current density reached 20 A g^-1, it still maintained 260 F g^-1 (76% retention rate compared to that at 1 A g^-1). Moreover, it also showed good cycling stability with 80.1% capacity retention over 10 000 cycles at 1 A g^-1. Furthermore, an asymmetric supercapacitor was constructed using the MnO₂ membrane and active carbon as the positive and negative electrodes, respectively, which exhibited a high energy density of 33.6 Wh kg^-1 at 1.0 kW kg^-1, and a high power density of 10 kW kg^-1 at 12.5 Wh kg^-1.