One-pot hydrothermal synthesis of orange fluorescent silver nanoclusters as a general probe for sulfides.

Water-soluble fluorescent silver nanoclusters (AgNCs) with almost seven and nine silver atoms and a quantum yield (QY) of 5.38 ± 0.25% were successfully prepared via one-pot hydrothermal synthesis using polymethacrylic acid sodium salt (PMAA-Na) as a template. The as-prepared PMAA-AgNCs displayed a mono-distribution, they were uniform in size and the color of the fluorescence, emitting at 579 nm, was orange when excited at 502 nm. What is more, we found that the as-prepared PMAA-AgNCs could be quenched by sulfides based on the formation of a metal-ligand bond Ag-S, and thus sulfides could be sensitively detected by spectrofluorometry. As proof of concept, thiourea (TU) and other sulfides including cysteine (Cys), glutathione (GSH) and dl-methionine could be detected. For example, the color of the orange fluorescent AgNCs solutions darkened upon the addition of TU and the fluorescence of PMAA-AgNCs was quenched. The detection limit for TU was 6.10 µM in the linear range from 8.57 µM to 2.29 mM.

Rational design of Janus nanofibrous membranes with novel under-oil superhydrophilic/superhydrophobic asymmetric wettability for water-in-diesel emulsion separation.

Endowing nanofibrous membranes with special wettability has always been the dominant strategy to improve the separation performance for water-in-oil emulsions. In this work, a rational design of deacetylated cellulose acetate/polyvinylidene fluoride (dCA/PVDF) Janus nanofibrous membrane, with asymmetric wettability in either air, water or diesel environment, was developed via sequential electrospinning PVDF and CA membranes followed by alkali treatment. In the process of water-in-diesel emulsion separation, the under-diesel superhydrophilic dCA layer is able to capture the emulsified water and strengthens the demulsification ability of the Janus membrane, while the under-diesel superhydrophobic PVDF layer acts as a water barrier and further improves the separation ability. The Janus membrane therefore exhibited prominent separation performance not only for the water/diesel mixture (separation efficiency 99.98%) but also for the surfactant-stabilized water-in-diesel emulsion with l vol% water (separation efficiency 97.74%). Moreover, the Janus membrane maintained high separation efficiency over 96% after repeated use for 50 times or soaking in corrosive solutions for 24 h. The Janus dCA/PVDF nanofibrous membrane possesses competitive efficiency, reusability and acid/alkali resistance, making it a promising candidate as the separation membrane for the surfactant-stabilized water-in-diesel emulsion.