Carbon nanotube enhanced membrane distillation for salty and dyeing wastewater treatment by electrospinning technology.

Membrane distillation (MD) is considered as a promising and attractive technology due to its effective production of fresh water. However, the low permeability and easy wetting of MD membranes limit its practical applications. Herein carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PcH) were used to fabricate nanofiber membranes by electrospinning. Effects of heat-press temperature and CNTs concentration on the morphology and performance of the as-fabricated membranes were systematically investigated. Dye rejections of CNTs/PcH membranes were also studied and role of CNTs played in the as-prepared MD membranes were analyzed. Results suggest that heat-press treatment effectively improved the mechanical strength as well as liquid entry pressure of membranes, and the optimal heat-press temperature was 150 °C. CNTs were proved to be successfully blended in nanofibers. Hydrophobicity and mechanical strength of membranes increased with CNTs incorporation. The 0.5 wt % CNTs loaded membrane heat-pressed at 150 °C exhibited the highest permeate flux (16.5-18.5 L m-2 h-1), which signified an increase of 42-50 % compared to the commercial MD membrane (11-13 L m-2 h-1) when 35 and 70 g L-1 NaCl solutions were used as feed solutions, respectively. It was noteworthy that salt rejection efficiencies of tested membranes achieved more than 99.99 %. When CNTs/PcH nanofiber membrane was applied to the treatment of dyeing wastewater, the removal rates of acid red and acid yellow reached 100 %. The removal rates of methylene blue and crystal violet were 99.41 % and 99.91 %, respectively. The present study suggested that the as-prepared membranes showed high potential towards MD application.

Polypyrrole Whelk-Like Arrays toward Robust Controlling Manipulation of Organic Droplets Underwater.

Whelk-like polypyrrole (PPy) arrays film is successfully prepared by electropolymerization of pyrrole in the presence of low-surface-energy tetraethylammonium perfluorooctanesulfonate (TEAPFOS) as dopant. The underwater wettability of PPy whelk-like arrays can be successfully tuned by electrical doping/dedoping of PFOS ions. Interestingly, CCl4 droplets with microliter-size as a representative sample are gathered together to form a larger droplet underwater at the potential of +0.8 V (vs Ag/AgCl), because PPy is in its PFOS-doped states. Note that CCl4 droplet can climb uphill successfully on the inclined whelk-like arrays PPy film under the applied potential of -1.0 V (vs Ag/AgCl), which may be attributed to wettability gradient derived from different oxidation states of PPy induced by electrochemical potential. These results may provide a simple strategy for on-demand manipulation of organic droplets underwater at low voltage.

The Microstructure Evolution Process and Flexural Behaviours of SiC Matrix Ceramic Infiltrated by Aluminium Base Alloy.

In this paper, an infiltration approach was proposed to generate a Ti3Si(Al)C2 transition layer in SiC matrix composites to effectually strengthen SiC ceramics. The infiltration temperature played a significant role in the evolution of the microstructure, phase composition, and flexural behaviours. Molten aluminium base alloy fully penetrated SiC ceramic after infiltration at different experimental temperatures (800-1000 °C). The phases in the reaction layer on the surface of SiC ceramic samples varied with the infiltration temperature. When infiltrated at 800 °C, only SiC and Al phases can be found in SiC composites, whereas at 900 °C, a reaction layer containing Ti3Si(Al)C2 and SiC was produced. The Ti3Si(Al)C2 phase grew in situ on SiC. At 1000 °C, the Ti3Si(Al)C2 phase was unstable and decomposed into TiC and Ti5Si3. The cermet phase Ti3Si(Al)C2 was synthesized at a relatively low temperature. Consequently, the flexural modulus and three-point bending strength of samples infiltrated at 900 °C was enhanced by 1.4 and 2.4 times for the original SiC ceramic, respectively.

Bifunctional 3D n-doped porous carbon materials derived from paper towel for oxygen reduction reaction and supercapacitor.

Designing and fabricating cheap and active bifunctional materials is crucial for the development of renewable energy technologies. In this article, three-dimensional nitrogen-doped porous carbon materials (NDPC-X, in which X represents the pyrolysis temperature) were fabricated by simultaneous carbonization and activation of polypyrrole-coated paper towel protected by a silica layer followed by acid etching. The material had a high specific surface area (1,123.40 m2/g). The as-obtained NDPC-900 displayed outstanding activity as a catalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as well as an electrode with a high specific capacitance in a supercapacitor in an alkaline medium. The NDPC-900 catalyst for the ORR exhibited a more positive reduction peak potential of -0.068 V (vs. Hg|HgCl2) than that of Pt/C (-0.121 V), as well as better cycling stability and stronger methanol tolerance. Moreover, the NDPC-900 had a high specific capacitance of 379.50 F/g at a current density of 1 A/g, with a retention rate of 94.5% after 10,000 cycles in 6 mol/L KOH electrolyte when used as an electrode in a supercapacitor. All these results were attributed to the effect of a large surface area, which provided electrochemically active sites. This work introduces an effective way to use biomass-derived materials for the synthesis of promising bifunctional carbon material for electrochemical energy conversion and storage devices.

Label-free Paper-based Immunosensor with Graphene Nanocomposites for Electrochemical Detection of Follicle-stimulating Hormone.

Follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) is an important indicator of ovarian reserve function in women in clinical testing. In this work, a label-free paper-based immunosensor was developed for electrochemical rapid detection of FSH. A hydrophilic channel surrounded with hydrophobic barriers was firstly fabricated on the chromatography paper by wax printing technology. Then three electrodes were screen-printed on the circle zones of the channel, in which one carbon electrode further modified by reduced graphene-oxide /thionine /gold nanoparticles nanocomposites and FSH monoclonal antibody was used as the working electrode to provide sensitivity of the immunosensor. The detection of FSH is based on the decreased electrochemical current of Thi produced from the specific binding of the FSH and anti-FSH, and the decrease of the current is proportional to the concentration of the FSH. The experimental results exhibited that the immunosensor could be used to detect the standard FSH in range of 1-100 mIU/mL with the detection limit of 1 mIU/mL. And the proposed immunosensor had been successfully applied to detect FSH in serum samples.

Electrochemical integrated paper-based immunosensor modified with multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanocomposites for point-of-care testing of 17ß-estradiol.

17ß-estradiol (17ß-E2) plays a critical role in regulating reproduction in human, there is therefore an urgent need to detect it sensitively and precisely in a cost-effective and easy method. In this paper, a label-free integrated microfluidic paper-based analytical device was developed for highly sensitive electrochemical detection of 17ß-E2. The microfluidic channel of the paper-based sensor was fabricated with wax printing and the three electrodes, including working, counter and reference electrode were screen-printed. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/ thionine (THI)/ gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) Nano composites were synthesized and coated on screen-printed working electrode (SPWE) for the immobilization of anti-E2. In this electro-chemical system of paper-based immunoassay, THI molecules serving as an electrochemical mediator while MWCNTs and AuNPs, due to their excellent electrical conductivities, could accelerate electron transfer for the signal amplification. Experimental results revealed that the immunoassay is able to detect 17ß-E2 as low as 10 pg mL-1, with a linear range from 0.01 to 100 ng mL-1. This microfluidic paper-based immunosensor would provide a new platform for low cost, sensitive, specific, and point-of-care diagnosis of 17ß-E2.

Conducting-Polymer-Based Materials for Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage.

To alleviate the current energy crisis and environmental pollution, sustainable and ecofriendly energy conversion and storage systems are urgently needed. Due to their high conductivity, promising catalytic activity, and excellent electrochemical properties, conducting polymers have been attracting intense attention for use in electrochemical energy conversion and storage. Here, the latest advances regarding the utilization of conducting polymers for fuel cells and supercapacitors are introduced. The strategies employed to improve the electrocatalytic and electrochemical performances of conducting-polymer-based materials are presented. In addition, future research endeavors and possible directions for further progress in this field are outlined.