Cubic PdNP-based air-breathing cathodes integrated in glucose hybrid biofuel cells

Rational design of N-doped CNTs@C3N4 network for dual-capture of biocatalysts in enzymatic glucose/O2 biofuel cells

Carbonaceous materials are promising electrode materials for enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) due to their excellent electrical conductivity, chemical and physical stability and biocompatibility. Design and preparation of carbon materials with a hollow structure and a rough surface are of great significance for immobilization of enzymes both inside and outside the carbon materials for EBFC applications. We report herein the synthesis of novel carbonaceous materials consisting of bamboo-shaped hollow N-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) and C3N4 nanosheets (denoted as N-CNTs@C3N4) as electrode materials for dual-capture of enzymes in glucose/O2 EBFCs. The combination of one-dimensional N-CNTs with an open structure and two-dimensional C3N4 nanosheets forms a three-dimensional crosslinking network that significantly enhances the immobilization of enzymes, electrode stability, and mass transfer of substrates, thus boosting the EBFC performance. As a result, EBFCs equipped with N-CNTs@C3N4 can generate a high open circuit potential of 0.93 V and output a maximum power density of 0.57 mW cm-2 at 0.47 V. Additionally, the as-fabricated glucose/O2 EBFCs are capable of directly harvesting energy from various soft drinks, which indicates the promising applications of the N-CNTs@C3N4 nanocomposite as an electrode material for EBFCs.

Rhodium nanoparticles impregnated on TiO2: strong morphological effects on hydrogen production

Rhodium nanoparticles with different morphology were synthesized to assess the influence of the exposed facet towards hydrogen production in aqueous methanolic solution.

Self-powered fluorescence display devices based on a fast self-charging/recharging battery (Mg/Prussian blue)

Stimuli-responsive (such as voltage and/or light) fluorescence display systems have attracted particular attention in their promising fields of application. However, there are few examples of self-powered fluorescence display devices. Here we designed and fabricated a self-powered fluorescence display device based on a fast-charging/recharging battery. The specially designed battery was composed of a Prussian blue (PB) cathode and a magnesium metal anode with a high theoretical redox potential difference (∼2.8 V). Moreover, smartly adding a trace amount of NaClO in the electrolyte could realize oxidizing PW to PB ∼480 times faster than when oxidizing without NaClO, leading to the fast self-charging and high power density (maximum power density of 13.34 mW cm^-2, about two to three orders of magnitude larger than previous bio-fuel cells) of the Mg/PB battery. Most importantly, PB was used as not only the cathodic catalyst but also as an electrochromic material, making it possible to construct a self-powered and rechargeable electrochromic fluorescence display with only two electrodes. Besides, fluorescent [Ru(bpy)₃]²⁺-doped silica nanoparticles (Ru@SiO₂), were selected as the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) donor to match PB (FRET acceptor). To the best of our knowledge, we demonstrated a self-powered and rechargeable electrochromic fluorescence display with only two electrodes for the first time.