Comparative Colorimetric Sensor Based on Bi-Phase γ-/α-Fe2O3 and γ-/α-Fe2O3/ZnO Nanoparticles for Lactate Detection

This work reports on Fe2O3 and ZnO materials for lactate quantification. In the synthesis, the bi-phase γ-/α-Fe2O3 and γ-/α-Fe2O3/ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) were obtained for their application in a lactate colorimetric sensor. The crystalline phases of the NPs were analyzed by XRD and XPS techniques. S/TEM images showed spheres with an 18 nm average and a needle length from 125 to 330 nm and 18 nm in diameter. The γ-/α-Fe2O3 and γ-/α-Fe2O3/ZnO were used to evaluate the catalytic activity of peroxidase with the substrate 3,3,5,5-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), obtaining a linear range of 50 to 1000 μM for both NPs, and a 4.3 μM and 9.4 μM limit of detection (LOD), respectively. Moreover, γ-/α-Fe2O3 and γ-/α-Fe2O3/ZnO/lactate oxidase with TMB assays in the presence of lactate showed a linear range of 50 to 1000 µM, and both NPs proved to be highly selective in the presence of interferents. Finally, a sample of human serum was also tested, and the results were compared with a commercial lactometer. The use of ZnO with Fe2O3 achieved a greater response toward lactate oxidation reaction, and has implementation in a lactate colorimetric sensor using materials that are economically accessible and easy to synthesize.

Gas sensing mechanisms of metal oxide semiconductors: a focus review

In recent years, gas sensors have been increasingly used in industrial production and daily life. Metal oxide semiconductor gas sensing materials are favoured for their outstanding physical and chemical properties, low cost and simple preparation methods. However, the gas sensing mechanisms of metal oxide semiconductors have not been considered by researchers, resulting in omissions and errors in the interpretation of gas sensing mechanisms in many articles. This review organizes and introduces several common gas sensing mechanisms of metal oxide semiconductors in detail and classifies them into two categories. The scope and relationship of these mechanisms are clarified. In addition, this review selects four strategies for enhancing the gas sensing properties of metal oxide semiconductors and analyses the gas sensing mechanisms to highlight the importance of the gas sensing mechanism. Finally, some perspectives for future investigations on the gas sensing mechanisms of metal oxide semiconductors are discussed as well.

An in Situ Template for the Synthesis of Tunable Hollow Carbon Particles for High-Performance Lithium-Sulfur Batteries

Nanostructured materials with hollow interior voids are gaining great attention due to their fantastic geometries and unique physicochemical properties competent for many applications. However, the development of a fast approach to prepare the hollow structured particles remains challenging. Herein, a new and efficient in situ hard-template method was developed to synthesize hollow carbon nano- and microparticles using the as-prepared SiO₂ particles as a hard template directly, without any separation, drying, or redispersion. In this way, the hollow carbon particles with tunable diameters and shell thickness can be synthesized readily, which is simpler and more efficient than the traditional ones. In addition, the universality of this strategy allows us to study the different behaviors of hollow carbon particles in lithium-sulfur batteries when the architectures of hollow particles (i.e., diameter, shell thickness, etc.) were changed. We believe that this in situ method is applicable for synthesizing other core-shell or hollow structured materials (e.g., metal oxide), and also, the high performance of hollow carbon particles in lithium-sulfur batteries and beyond can be further explored.

Iron oxides with a reverse spinel structure: impact of active sites on molecule adsorption

Fe₃O₄ and γ-Fe₂O₃ with the same crystal structure reflect different catalytically active sites leading to different catalyst properties.

Synthesis engineering of iron oxide raspberry-shaped nanostructures

Magnetic porous nanostructures consisting of oriented aggregates of iron oxide nanocrystals display very interesting properties such as a lower oxidation state of magnetite, and enhanced saturation magnetization in comparison with individual nanoparticles of similar sizes and porosity. However, the formation mechanism of these promising nanostructures is not well understood, which hampers the fine tuning of their magnetic properties, for instance by doping them with other elements. Therefore the formation mechanism of porous raspberry shaped nanostructures (RSNs) synthesized by a one-pot polyol solvothermal method has been investigated in detail from the early stages by using a wide panel of characterization techniques, and especially by performing original in situ HR-TEM studies in temperature. A time-resolved study showed the intermediate formation of an amorphous iron alkoxide phase with a plate-like lamellar structure (PLS). Then, the fine investigation of PLS transformation upon heating up to 500 °C confirmed that the synthesis of RSNs involves two iron precursors: the starting one (hydrated iron chlorides) and the in situ formed iron alkoxide precursor which decomposes with time and heating and contributes to the growth step of nanostructures. Such an understanding of the formation mechanism of RSNs is necessary to envision efficient and rational enhancement of their magnetic properties.

Template-free construction of hollow α-Fe2O3 hexagonal nanocolumn particles with an exposed special surface for advanced gas sensing properties

Hollow α-Fe2O3 hexagonal nanocolumn particles (HHCPs) with exposed (101[combining macron]0) and (112[combining macron]5) facets have been synthesized through a hydrothermal method in the absence of templates. The time-dependent experimental results demonstrate that the formation of HHCPs includes four main steps: (1) formation of nanowire precursors, (2) aggregation and conversion to Fe1.833(OH)0.5O2 solid ellipsoid particles (SEPs), (3) dehydration to form hollow ellipsoid particles (HEPs), and (4) recrystallization to HHCPs. Due to their advantages of the hollow structure and the exposed special external and internal surface on the pore structure, the HHCPs exhibit higher gas sensing ability than that of calcined SEPs (CSEPs) and HEPs.

A sustainable iron-based sodium ion battery of porous carbon–Fe3O4/Na2FeP2O7 with high performance

A new concept of an elemental iron-based sodium ion battery of PC–Fe₃O₄/Na₂FeP₂O₇ was reported, and it is the first example to introduce an element-rich configuration in the sodium ion battery from the viewpoint of sustainability.

Surfactant-assisted synthesis of Fe2O3 nanoparticles and F-doped carbon modification toward an improved Fe3O4@CFx/LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 battery

A simple surfactant-assisted reflux method was used in this study for the synthesis of cocklebur-shaped Fe2O3 nanoparticles (NPs). With this strategy, a series of nanostructured Fe2O3 NPs with a size distribution ranging from 20 to 120 nm and a tunable surface area were readily controlled by varying reflux temperature and the type of surfactant. Surfactants such as cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB), polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP), poly(ethylene glycol)-block-poly(propylene glycol)-block-poly(ethylene glycol) (F127) and sodium dodecyl benzenesulfonate (SDBS) were used to achieve large-scale synthesis of uniform Fe2O3 NPs with a relatively low cost. A new composite of Fe3O4@CFx was prepared by coating the primary Fe2O3 NPs with a layer of F-doped carbon (CFx) with a one-step carbonization process. The Fe3O4@CFx composite was utilized as the anode in a lithium ion battery and exhibited a high reversible capacity of 900 mAh g(-1) at a current density of 100 mA g(-1) over 100 cycles with 95% capacity retention. In addition, a new Fe3O4@CFx/LiNi(0.5)Mn(1.5)O4 battery with a high energy density of 371 Wh kg(-1) (vs cathode) was successfully assembled, and more than 300 cycles were easily completed with 66.8% capacity retention at 100 mA g(-1). Even cycled at the high temperature of 45 °C, this full cell also exhibited a relatively high capacity of 91.6 mAh g(-1) (vs cathode) at 100 mA g(-1) and retained 54.6% of its reversible capacity over 50 cycles. Introducing CFx chemicals to modify metal oxide anodes and/or any other cathode is of great interest for advanced energy storage and conversion devices.

High performance chemiresistive H2S sensors using Ag-loaded SnO2 yolk–shell nanostructures

Highly selective, sensitive, and reversible H₂S sensors were designed using Ag-loaded SnO₂ yolk–shell nanostructures prepared by one-pot ultrasonic spray pyrolysis.

Assembling metal oxide nanocrystals into dense, hollow, porous nanoparticles for lithium-ion and lithium-oxygen battery application

New dense hollow porous (DHP) metal oxide nanoparticles that are smaller than 100 nm and composed of Co3O4, FeOx, NiO and MnOx were prepared by densely assembling metal oxide nanocrystals based on the hard-template method using a carbon colloid as a sacrificial core. These nanoparticles are quite different from the traditional particles as their hollow interior originates from the stacking of nanocrystals rather than a spherical shell. The DHP nanoparticles preserve the intriguing properties of nanocrystals and possess desirable surface area and pore volume that enhance the active surface, which ultimately benefits applications such as lithium-ion batteries. The DHP Co3O4 nanoparticles demonstrated an enhanced capacity of 1168 mA h g(-1) at 100 mA g(-1)vs. 590 mA h g(-1) of powders and stable cycling performance greater than 250 cycles when used as an anode material. Most importantly, the electrochemical performance of DHP Co3O4 nanoparticles in a lithium-O2 battery was also investigated for the first time. A low charge potential of ∼4.0 V, a high discharge voltage near 2.74 V and a long cycle ability greater than 100 cycles at a delivered capacity of 2000 mA h g(-1) (current density, 200 mA g(-1)) were observed. The performances were considerably improved compared to recent results of mesoporous Co3O4, Co3O4 nanoparticles and a composite of Co3O4/RGO and Co3O4/Pd. Therefore, it would be promising to investigate such properties of DHP nanoparticles or other hollow metal (oxide) particles for the popular lithium-air battery.

One-Step Synthesis and High-Efficiency Decoloration of Multifunctional Porous-C/Fe3 O4 Nanospheres by Using a Sandwich-Structured Precursor with Three Roles

A new strategy for the one-step synthesis of multifunctional porous-C/Fe₃ O₄ nanospheres has been successfully developed by using ferrocenyl formic acid as a precursor. Based on its special structure, this sandwich structural precursor of ferrocenyl formic acid plays three roles in the synthesis process: it simultaneously serves as the carbon and iron source, templating agent, and pore-forming agent. The proposed synthesis is corroborated by characterization through SEM, TEM, XRD, FTIR spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, BET surface area measurements, BJH distributions, and vibrating sample magnetometry. The average diameter of as-synthesized porous-C/Fe₃ O₄ nanospheres is about 400 nm. Because of the porous structure of carbon nanospheres and its surface plasmon resonance with attached Fe₃ O₄ nanoparticles, the as-synthesized porous-C/Fe₃ O₄ nanospheres exhibit high activity toward the decoloration of rhodamine B. In addition, the resultant composites present ferromagnetic behavior with a magnetization saturation of 13.76 emu g^-1 , can be easily separated and recycled by an external magnet field for use in a variety of applications.

Encapsulation of metal oxide nanocrystals into porous carbon with ultrahigh performances in lithium-ion battery

A simple and industrial scalable approach was developed to encapsulate metal oxide nanocrystals into porous carbon (PC) with a high distribution. With this method, the composite of PC-metal oxide were prepared in a large amount with a low cost; particularly they exhibit ultrahigh performances in lithium-ion battery applications. For example, the PC-CoOx and PC-FeOx show a high capacity around 1021 mA h g(-1) and 1200 mA h g(-1) at the current density of 100 mA g(-1) respectively, together with an excellent cycling ability (>400 cycles) and rate capacity even at the high current densities of 3 A g(-1) and 5 A g(-1).

Controlled growth of SnO₂@Fe₂O₃ double-sided nanocombs as anodes for lithium-ion batteries

A novel heterostructure is developed by grafting 1D SnO(2) nanorods onto both sides of pre-grown 2D Fe(2)O(3) nanoflakes, forming a comb-like rather than tree-like branched nanostructure. The SnO(2) nanorod branches are determined to grow along the [001] direction on the (±001) planes of Fe(2)O(3) nanoflakes. The resulting SnO(2)@Fe(2)O(3) nanocombs show stabilized cycling performance and improved volumetric energy density compared to pristine Fe(2)O(3) nanoflakes presumably due to the integration of SnO(2) branches as well as the 3D hierarchical structural features.