Electrochemical Reduction-Assisted In Situ Fabrication of a Graphene/Au Nanoparticles@polyoxometalate Nanohybrid Film: High-Performance Electrochemical Detection for Uric Acid.

Nanohybrid films had attracted much attention owning to the enhancement of catalytic activity. However, the fabrication time took hours to days, no matter if it was the preparation of nanohybrids or the assembly process. Furthermore, the catalytic efficiency of the nanohybrid film still remained to improve. In this paper, a reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/gold nanoparticles (Au NPs)@polyoxometalate (POM) nanohybrid film was successfully fabricated by combining electrodeposition and electrochemical reduction in situ processes. The assembly process involving no organic or polymer linker molecules [except for a precursor poly(ethylenimine) (PEI) coating for indium tin oxide (ITO)] can be completed within 1 h. The reduced POM K6[P2W18O62]·19H2O (P2W18) was employed as reducing agents and bridging molecules for rGO and Au nanoparticles and the encapsulating molecules for the Au nanoparticles. The most interesting one is the {rGO/Au@P2W18} modified electrode loading only the monolayer catalyst of Au@P2W18 and exhibiting comparable, even better electrochemical detection performance toward uric acid than other sensors with three to eight layers of the catalyst. The amperometric detection displayed a great sensitivity, lower detection limit, wide linear range, good long-time stability, superior selectivity, and reproducibility. The enhanced catalytic property may attribute to the improved conductivity of the film without organic or polymer linker molecules (except for a precursor PEI coating) and the electron transfer in the process of film fabrication.

Influence of graphene on the multiple metabolic pathways of Zea mays roots based on transcriptome analysis.

Graphene reportedly exerts positive effects on plant root growth and development, although the corresponding molecular response mechanism remains to be elucidated. Maize seeds were randomly divided into a control and experimental group, and the roots of Zea mays L. seedlings were watered with different concentrations (0-100 mg/L) of graphene to explore the effects and molecular mechanism of graphene on the growth and development of Z. mays L. Upon evaluating root growth indices, 50 mg/L graphene remarkably increased total root length, root volume, and the number of root tips and forks of maize seedlings compared to those of the control group. We observed that the contents of nitrogen and potassium in rhizosphere soil increased following the 50 mg/L graphene treatment. Thereafter, we compared the transcriptome changes in Z. mays roots in response to the 50 mg/L graphene treatment. Transcriptional factor regulation, plant hormone signal transduction, nitrogen and potassium metabolism, as well as secondary metabolism in maize roots subjected to graphene treatment, exhibited significantly upregulated expression, all of which could be related to mechanisms underlying the response to graphene. Based on qPCR validations, we proposed several candidate genes that might have been affected with the graphene treatment of maize roots. The transcriptional profiles presented here provide a foundation for deciphering the mechanism underlying graphene and maize root interaction.

"Water-in-salt" electrolyte enhanced high voltage aqueous supercapacitor with carbon electrodes derived from biomass waste-ground grain hulls.

To design high specific surface area and optimize the pore size distribution of materials, we employ a combination of carbonization and KOH activation to prepare activated carbon derived from ground grain hulls. The resulting carbon material at lower temperature (800, BSAC-A-800) exhibits a porous structure with a high specific surface area of 1037.6 m2 g-1 and a pore volume of 0.57 m3 g-1. Due to the synergistic structural characteristics, BSAC-A-800 reveals preferable capacitive performance, showing a specific capacitance as high as 313.3 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1, good rate performance (above 73%), and particularly stable cycling performance (99.1% capacitance retention after 10 000 cycles at a current density of 10 A g-1). More importantly, the assembled symmetric supercapacitor using a water-in-salt electrolyte (17 m NaClO4) with high discharge specific capacitance (59 F g-1 at 0.5 A g-1), high energy density (47.2 W h kg-1) and high voltage (2.4 V) represents significant progress towards performance comparable to that of commercial salt-in-water electrolyte supercapacitors (with discharge specific capacitance of 50 F g-1, energy densities of ∼28.1 W h kg-1 and voltages of 2.0 V).

Room temperature phosphorescence of five PAHs in a synergistic mesoporous silica nanoparticle-deoxycholate substrate.

A synergistic mesoporous silica nanoparticle-sodium deoxycholate (mPS-NaDC) substrate was developed for room temperature phosphorimetry. The synergistic substrate exhibited rapid and strong RTP-inducing ability against temperature variation. NaDC might adsorb on the inner surface of mPS pore by possible hydrogen bonding and protected the triplet state of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) with different molecular sizes. Two mPSs named LPMS1 and LPMS2 with pore size of 3.05 and 3.83nm were synthesized and optimized in inducing RTP, and the latter, LPMS2, was selected as an ideal substrate because of its stronger protection ability to the triplet and good stability. Dibromopropane and cyclohexane were also used as assistant phosphorescence-inducers. All results demonstrated the feasibility and application potential of synergistic mPS-NaDC substrate in phosphorimetry. The interaction detail of NaDC and inner surface of selected mPS still needs to be explored in future.