Construction of In2O3/ZnO yolk-shell nanofibers for room-temperature NO2 detection under UV illumination

Room-temperature gas sensors have emerged as effective platforms for sensing explosive or toxic gases in ambient environment. However, room-temperature gas sensor usually suffers from extremely poor sensitivity and sluggish response/recovery characteristics due to the low reacting activity at low temperature. Herein, we present a room-temperature NO₂ sensor with greatly enhanced sensitivity and rapid response/recovery speed under ultraviolet (UV) illumination. The sensor based on In₂O₃/ZnO yolk-shell nanofibers exhibits remarkable sensitivity (R_g/R_a = 6.0) to 1 ppm NO₂ and rapid response/recovery time (≤36, 68 s) under UV illumination, obviously better than negligible sensing performance and inefficient response/recovery properties in dark condition. Such excellent gas sensing properties of the In₂O₃/ZnO yolk-shell nanofibers were not only attributed to the improved photo-generated charge separation efficiency derived from the effect of heterojunction, but also related to the enhanced receptor function towards NO₂ endowed by increased reactive sites and gas adsorption. These proposed strategies will provide a reference for developing high-performance room-temperature gas sensors.

Nitrogen and phosphorus removals by the agar-immobilized Chlorella sacchrarophila with long-term preservation at room temperature

Immobilized microalgae have great potential on the nutrient removal during wastewater treatment. However, their applications are challenged by how to cost-effectively maintain and preserve large number of viable and active microalgal cells. In this study, the cells of Chlorella sacchrarophila were immobilized in the agar containing with algal nutrient, encapsulated in a transparent package and preserved at room temperature. After the preservation for 200 days, microalgal cells with viability of 47-52% were maintained and could be quickly revived after the cultivation in fresh algal medium. Based on the agar-immobilized microalgae, the NH₄⁺-N and PO₄^3--P were efficiently removed from batch and continuous cultures, with the highest removal efficiencies ranging from 96% to 99% were observed. Even being recycled for eight times, the agar-immobilized microalgae were still able to remove 94% of NH₄⁺-N and 66% of PO₄^3--P. Moreover, more than 60% of the nutrient removal efficiency was determined even the agar-immobilized microalgae being preserved for 120 days at room temperature. This work provides a simple, cost-effective and practicable method for the long-term preservation of microalgae at room temperature, which makes the application of microalgal species on the nutrient removal during wastewater treatment more convenient and useful.

Boosting room-temperature ppb-level NO2 sensing over reduced graphene oxide by co-decoration of α-Fe2O3 and SnO2 nanocrystals

As promising sensing materials, reduced graphene oxide (RGO)-based nanomaterials have drawn considerable attention in the fields of gas monitoring owing to their low operating temperature. However, constructing RGO-based room-temperature gas sensors possessing ppb-level limit of detection with high sensitivity remains challenging. In this work, a series of highly sensitive NO₂ sensors were fabricated using α-Fe₂O₃ and SnO₂ co-decorated RGO hybrids (designated as α-Fe₂O₃/SnO₂-RGO) as sensing materials. They were rationally synthesized by a one-pot hydrothermal method. Compared to SnO₂ modified RGO hybrids (SnO₂-RGO with bandgap of 3.88 eV), the bandgap energy of α-Fe₂O₃/SnO₂-RGO hybrids (3.53 eV) was reduced by adding α-Fe₂O_3; the narrower bandgap facilitated the sensing materials to release more electrons and form more oxygen ions at room temperature. Besides, the high carrier migration of RGO, which served as continuous phase, identical structure with ultrasmall particle size of α-Fe₂O₃ and SnO₂ (about 3-6 nm), and abundant chemisorbed oxygen species on the surface (20.8%) of the sensing materials, as well as their suitable bandgap (3.53 eV) in the sensing materials, significantly improved NO₂ response at room temperature. Among the sensors fabricated, α-Fe₂O₃/SnO₂-RGO-15-based NO₂ sensor had the highest response of 7.4 with a short response time of 59 s towards 1 ppm NO₂; it could even reach a response of 2.6 towards 100 ppb NO₂. Notably, α-Fe₂O₃/SnO₂-RGO-15 sample has excellent capability to recognize NO₂, where the response value (7.4) towards 1 ppm NO₂ is about 7 times higher than that of 100 ppm ammonia and common volatile organic compounds (formaldehyde, toluene, ethanol and acetone). Such NO₂ sensor has superior repeatability with negligible response deviation towards 1 ppm NO₂ for four reversible cycles. This makes it to have a great potential application in the field of NO₂ detection.

Mesoporous Ti0.5Cr0.5N for trace H2S detection with excellent long-term stability

Efficient, accurate and reliable detection and monitoring of H₂S is of significance in a wide range of areas: industrial production, medical diagnosis, environmental monitoring, and health screening. However the rapid corrosion of commercial platinum-on-carbon (Pt/C) sensing electrodes in the presence of H₂S presents a fundamental challenge for fuel cell gas sensors. Herein we report a solution to the issue through the design of a sensing electrode, which is based on Pt supported on mesoporous titanium chromium nitrides (Pt/Ti_0.5Cr_0.5N). Its desirable characteristics are due to its high electrochemical stability and strong metal-support interactions. The Pt/Ti_0.5Cr_0.5N-based sensors exhibit a much smaller attenuation (1.3%) in response to H₂S than Pt/C-sensor (40%), after 2 months sensing test. Furthermore, the Pt/Ti_0.5Cr_0.5N-based sensors exhibit negligible cross response to other interfering gases compared with hydrogen sulfide. Results of density functional theory calculation also verify the excellent long-term stability and selectivity of the gas sensor. Our work hence points to a new sensing electrode system that offers a combination of high performance and stability for fuel-cell gas sensors.

Facile room temperature deposition of gold nanoparticle-ionic liquid hybrid film on silica substrate

This work presents facile synthesis of gold nanoparticle (Au NP)-ionic liquid hybrid film of <10nm by a simple two-step process at room temperature by deposition of Au NPs suspended in 1-hexyl-1methyl-pyrolidinium bromide, on Si (111) substrates. FTIR results demonstrated that ionic liquid properties remain unaltered during and after Au NP synthesis, and even coating on Si (111) substrate. XRD, XPS, and XAS spectral data confirm the presence of Au(0) while EXAFS data indicated the presence of small particles or incomplete surface species. Cross-sectional analysis using FE-SEM and edge length measurement using AFM showed that the film thickness is ca 10nm.

Data of pink-beam serial synchrotron crystallography at the Pohang Light Source II

Serial synchrotron crystallography (SSX) helps to determine the room-temperature structure of macromolecules with minimal radiation damage. Pink-beam X-ray provides more photon flux than a monochromatic beam, which can increase the diffraction intensity of crystal samples and reduce the issue of partial reflection measurement compared with a monochromatic beam. The demonstration of pink-beam SSX at the 1C beamline at the Pohang Light Source II (PLS-II) was previously reported. The Bragg peaks observed in SSX diffraction data using a pink-beam exhibited a slightly stretched shape, unlike that from a monochromatic beam. Therefore, it is necessary to develop an indexing algorithm that can efficiently process the Bragg peak generated by pink-beam SSX. Therefore, the collected pink-beam SSX diffraction data can be tentatively used to develop an indexing program for Bragg peaks generated using the pink-beam. In this study, detailed information on the diffraction data of pink-beam SSX at PLS-II was reported to access the raw data and process the information.

Ultrahigh humidity-resistance ppb-level formaldehyde sensing at room temperature induced by fluorinated dipole based "umbrella" and "bridge"

Formaldehyde (HCHO) is a major indoor pollutant that is extremely harmful to human health even at ppb-level. Meanwhile, ppb-level HCHO is also a potential disease marker in the exhalation of patients with respiratory diseases. Higher humidity resistance and lower practical limit of detection (pLOD) both have to be pursued for practical HCHO sensors. In this work, by assembling indium oxide (In2O3) and fluorinated dipole modified reduced graphene oxide (rGO), we prepared a high-performance room temperature HCHO sensor (In2O3 @ATQ-rGO). Excellent sensing properties toward HCHO under visible illumination have been achieved, including ultra-low pLOD of 3 ppb and high humidity-resistance. By control experiments and density functional theory calculation, it is indicated that the introduced fluorinated dipoles act as not only an "umbrella" to improve the humidity resistance of the composite, but also a "bridge" to accelerate the electron transport, improving the sensitivity of the material. The significant practicality and reliability of the obtained sensors were verified by in-situ simulation experiments using a 3 m3 test chamber with a humidity control system and by detection of the simulated lung disease patient's exhalation. This work provides an effective strategy of simultaneously achieving high humidity-resistance and low pLOD of room temperature formaldehyde sensing materials.

Room-temperature synthesis of Fe3O4@MOF-5 magnetic hybrid as an efficient catalyst for the one-pot green synthesis of tetrahydropyridines

In recent two decades, considerable efforts have been devoted to the room-temperature green syntheses of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to reduce energy consumption and increase safety. It could improve some properties (e.g., catalysis, gas adsorption) and facilitate the utilities of sensitive compounds. Herein, the magnetic hybrid catalyst (Fe3O4@MOF-5) was synthesized through a mixing procedure at room temperature and confirmed by various techniques. The SEM images exhibit cubic crystals that were uniformly coated by the Fe3O4 cores. Then, the catalytic ability of Fe3O4@MOF-5 was studied in the green synthesis of tetrahydropyridines via a domino multi-component reaction, which led to the desired products with high yield. Magnetic solid properties make it easily separated from the reaction medium, so the proposed catalyst can be reused five times while maintaining the catalytic activity over 80%.