Stability In Solvents Research Articles

Thermally-induced pore size tuning of multilayer nanoporous graphene for organic solvent nanofiltration

Graphene-based materials have been used for fabricating organic solvent nanofiltration membranes due to their excellent mechanical properties and chemical stability in organic solvents. However, graphene membranes exhibit low organic solvent permeation properties due to the large molecular size of the organic solvent molecules and their strong interactions with the graphene surface. Herein, a nanoporous graphene membrane was fabricated to enhance organic solvent permeation. Nanopores were generated on the basal plane of graphene by rapid thermal annealing of graphene oxide. The size of the nanopores was also tuned from micropores to nanopores by adjusting the activation temperatures. The optimized nanoporous graphene membrane showed ultrafast isopropyl alcohol permeance up to 295 Lm−2h−1bar−1 and a sharp molecular weight cut-off of 616 Da. The membrane showed excellent stability and diafiltration performance under cross-flow filtration with a separation factor of around 1000 for dye molecules mixed in isopropyl alcohol.

Oxalamide-Functionalized Metal Organic Frameworks for CO2 Adsorption.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have received great attention in recent years as potential adsorbents for CO2 capture due to their unique properties. However, the high cost and their tedious synthesis procedures impede their industrial application. A series of new CO2-philic oxalamide-functionalized MOFs have been solvothermally synthesized: {[Zn3(μ8-OATA)1.5(H2O)2(DMF)]·5/2H2O·5DMF}n (Zn-OATA), {[NH2(CH3)2][Cd(μ4-HOATA)]·H2O·DMF}n (Cd-OATA), and {[Co2(μ7-OATA)(H2O)(DMF)2]·2H2O·3DMF}n (Co-OATA) (H4OATA = N,N'-bis(3,5-dicarboxyphenyl)oxalamide). In Zn-OATA, the [Zn2(CO2)4] SBUs are connected by OATA4- ligands into a 3D framework with 4-connected NbO topology. In Cd-OATA, two anionic frameworks with a dia topology interpenetrated each other to form a porous structure. In Co-OATA, [Co2(CO2)4] units are linked by four OATA4- to form a 3D framework with binodal 4,4-connected 42·84 PtS-type topology. Very interestingly, Cu-OATA can be prepared from Zn-OATA by a facile metal ions exchange procedure without damaging the structure while the CO2 adsorption ability can be largely enhanced when Zn(II) metal ions are exchanged to Cu(II). These new MOFs possess channels decorated by the CO2-philic oxalamide groups and accessible open metal sites, suitable for highly selective CO2 adsorption. Cu-OATA exhibits a significant CO2 adsorption capacity of 25.35 wt % (138.85 cm3/g) at 273 K and 9.84 wt % (50.08 cm3/g) at 298 K under 1 bar with isosteric heat of adsorption (Qst) of about 25 kJ/mol. Cu-OATA presents a very high selectivity of 5.5 for CO2/CH4 and 43.8 for CO2/N2 separation at 0.1 bar, 298 K. Cd-OATA exhibits a CO2 sorption isotherm with hysteresis that can be originated from structural rearrangements. Cd-OATA adsorbs CO2 up to 11.90 wt % (60.58 cm3/g) at 273 K and 2.26 wt % (11.40 cm3/g) at 298 K under 1 bar. Moreover, these new MOFs exhibit high stability in various organic solvents, water, and acidic or basic media. The present work opens a new opportunity in the development of improved and cost-effective MOF adsorbents for highly efficient CO2 capture.

Robust superhydrophobic fabrics by infusing structured polydimethylsiloxane films

AbstractSuperhydrophobic coatings have large application potential in self‐cleaning textiles. Low durability, high cost of fabrication, and environmental concerns over the usage of chemicals such as fluorocarbons limit the utilization of superhydrophobic coatings. This study reports a convenient and inexpensive approach to fabricate robust and fluorine‐free superhydrophobic fabrics based on the transfer of structured polymer films and hydrophobic nanoparticles. In this approach, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is infused between sheets of fabric and paper, followed by curing and removal of the paper. This process results in a fabric infused with PDMS whose structure is a negative replica of the paper surface. Then, hydrophobic nanoparticles are sprayed onto the structured PDMS side of the fabric. The infusion of PDMS and subsequent deposition of the hydrophobic nanoparticles enables strong bonding, as shown by the excellent solvent stability of the superhydrophobic fabric under ultrasonication. The proposed approach is universal in that it can be applied to almost any textiles, which upon coating, exhibited superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 172° and a sliding angle of 3°. Furthermore, the superhydrophobic fabric showed robust durability against water spray impact and mechanical bending where it can keep superhydrophobicity for at least 200 cycles of each test.

Reinforcing the polybenzimidazole membrane surface by an ultrathin co-crosslinked polydopamine layer for organic solvent nanofiltration applications

Here, highly robust and tight PBI-based OSN membranes were developed by reinforcing the active layer with an ultrathin polydopamine (pDA) coating followed by the simultaneous co-crosslinking of the pDA-coated PBI membrane. Although the pDA layer thickness was just under 5 nm, the pDA layer can effectively improve the rejection properties of the pristine PBI membrane by reducing the overall pore size and filling the defects at the membrane surface. The chemical and physical changes clearly showed the effect of the ultrathin pDA layer and co-crosslinking on the membrane properties and separation performance. The modified PBI membranes showed the improved rejection property and excellent stability in various organic solvents, even in polar aprotic solvents. The co-crosslinked pDA-coated PBI membranes showed a very high rejection properties to low molecular weight solutes (97.6% for 236 Da styrene dimer and 99.9% for 308 Da PPG) with stable solvent permeance. Moreover, significantly improved solvent permeances were observed without a notable decrease in the rejection performance after the prefiltration of polar aprotic solvents. The results showed the effective separation performance enhancement of OSN membranes by ultrathin pDA coating and the potential applications of solvent purification, reuse and valuable chemical recovery in various fine chemical industries.

Preparation of chitosan-modified magnetic Schiff base network composite nanospheres for effective enrichment and detection of hippuric acid and 4-methyl hippuric acid

Chitosan-modified magnetic Schiff base network composite nanospheres (Fe3O4@SNW@Chitosan) were prepared for the enrichment and detection of hippuric acid (HA) and 4-methyl hippuric acid (4-MHA) via magnetic solid phase extraction (MSPE) connected with HPLC. The SNW was one of the covalent organic framework, which constructed through covalent bonds, shown comprising solvent stability, low density and accessible pores. The obtained Fe3O4@SNW@Chitosan has many merits as a magnetic sorbent, including a hydrophilic surface, uniform pore size, unique ordered channel structure, and superparamagnetism. The favourable linearity of this MSPE-HPLC method was in the range of 1-1000 μg L−1, and LODs of HA and 4-MHA were 0.3 μg L−1 and 0.2 μg L−1, respectively. The recoveries in urine samples were range from 95.3 to 109.0 % with the RSD less than 9.6 %. When employed for the enrichment of HA and 4-MHA, Fe3O4@SNW@Chitosan exhibited great potential as a candidate for preconcentration.

Synthesis of Chemically Stable Ultrathin SiO2-Coated Core-Shell Perovskite QDs via Modulation of Ligand Binding Energy for All-Solution-Processed Light-Emitting Diodes.

Recently, perovskite quantum dots (QDs) have attracted intensive interest due to their outstanding optical properties, but their extremely poor chemical stability hinders the development of the high-performance perovskite QD-based light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs). In this study, chemically stable SiO2-coated core-shell perovskite QDs are prepared to fabricate all-solution-processed PeLEDs. When the SiO2 shell thickness increases, the chemical stability of perovskite QDs is dramatically improved, while the charge injection efficiency is significantly decreased, which becomes the biggest obstacle for PeLED applications. Thus, controlling the SiO2 thickness is essential to obtain core-shell perovskite QDs optimal for PeLEDs in an aspect of chemical and optoelectrical properties. The 3-aminopropyl-triethoxysilane (APTES)/oleylamine (OAm) volume ratio is found to be a critical factor for obtaining an ultrathin SiO2 shell. Optimization of the APTES/OAm ratio affords A-site-doped CsPbBr3 QDs with an ultrathin SiO2 shell (A-CsPbBr3@SiO2 QDs) that exhibit longer radiative lifetimes and smaller shallow trap fraction than those without A-site doping, resulting in a higher photoluminescence quantum yield. A-CsPbBr3@SiO2 QDs also demonstrate long-term superior chemical stability in polar solvents without loss of optical properties due to passivation by the SiO2 shell and less defects via A-site doping. Consequently, all-solution-processed PeLED is successfully fabricated under ambient conditions, facilitating perovskite QD utilization in low-cost, large-area, flexible next-generation displays.

A naphthalene-chromophore-based luminescent Zn(II)-organic framework as efficient TNP sensor

Naphthalene-chromophore-based ligands (BPN = 1,4-Bis(4-pyridyl)naphthalene, H2NDC = 1,4-Naphthalenedicarboxylic acid) are exploited to fabricate a cluster-containing luminescent Zn(II)-organic framework [Zn2(BPN)(NDC)2]n (1). Structurally, 1 is composed of binuclear [Zn2(COO)4] paddlewheel clusters, BPN and NDC2− bridges, and features a 6-connected (6-c) 2-fold interpenetrated pcu framework. 1 shows excellent thermal and solvent stabilities, and exhibits stronger emission than BPN and H2NDC. Furthermore, luminescence performance tests demonstrate that 1 exhibits efficient sensing ability toward 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) by luminescence quenching response. Moreover, the quenching mechanism of 1 for TNP is discussed.

Stable and Highly Soluble Anolyte for Non-Aqueous Redox Flow Batteries

Redox flow batteries (RFBs), in which electric charge is stored in redox-active materials (redoxmer) dissolved in liquid electrolytes, show significant potential for grid-scale energy storage applications. Because of the liquid nature, RFBs feature remarkable flexibilities, including decoupled energy and power that is highly desired for adapting various scales of energy storage requirements. Aprotic organic solvents are extensively studied as they can significantly extend the electrochemical window, leading to higher cell voltage and energy density of RFBs. To that end, developing redoxmers with high solubility and stability in non-aqueous solvents are actively pursed in order to realize the full potentials. Inorganic-based redoxmer materials showed good cyclability in aqueous redox flow batteries. Designing non-aqueous compatible redoxmers based on traditional inorganic-based materials encounter critical technical and economic limitations such as low solubility, inferior electrochemical activity, and high cost. In this presentation, a ferrate(III) based low potential redoxmer (anolyte) will be discussed. The synthesized redoxmer showed high solubility in acetonitrile (>2 M) with redox potential of ~-1.36 V (vs Ag/Ag+) and deliver very stable cycling performance evidenced by the symmetric H-cell cycling. The design approach for non-aqueous compatible redoxmers based on traditional inorganic-based materials may represent a promising strategy for constructing high energy dense and stable RFBs.

Anodic Stability of Electrolyte Solvents and Additives at the Ni-Rich NMC Cathode-Electrolyte Interface in Li-Ion Batteries

One of the key challenges facing Li-ion batteries with Ni-rich layered cathodes is the poor interfacial stability at both electrodes. Several recent reports have investigated the reactivity of the electrolyte at the surface of LiNixMnyCo1-x-yO2 (NMC) as a function of Ni content and electrolyte composition,1,2 but many of the complex processes taking place are not fully understood. In this work, we use a rapid electrochemical-based screening protocol3 to quantify the anodic stability of single-solvent electrolytes and additive-containing electrolyte solutions with respect to the fraction of Ni in the NMC cathode. The current that flows during a high voltage hold at 4.6 V vs Li/Li+ is found to be sensitive to the NMC surface chemistry, the degree of delithiation, and the composition of the electrolyte. Post-test XPS, solution NMR, and online electrochemical mass spectroscopy (OEMS) are combined to study the electrode- and electrolyte-dependent degradation products that are insoluble on the surface of the electrode, soluble in the electrolyte, and released as gas. The insights from quantification of the electrolyte anodic stability and the degradation signatures identified through this work highlight the importance of developing unique solutions to lower the interfacial reactivity of Ni-rich cathodes, which is a critical step to prolong the cycle life of high-energy Li-ion batteries.References Y. Zhang, Y. Katayama, R. Tatara, L. Giordano, Y. Yu, D. Fraggedakis, J. G. Sun, F. Maglia, R. Jung, M. Z. Bazant, Y. Shao-Horn, Energy Environ. Sci., 13, 183, 2020.J. Wandt, A. T. S. Freiberg, A. Ogrodnik, H. A. Gasteiger, Mater. Today, 21, 825, 2018.A. Tornheim, S. E. Trask, Z. Zhang, J. Electrochem. Soc., 163, A1717, 2016.

Conjugation with inulin improves the environmental stability of haloalkane dehalogenase DhaA

Haloalkane dehalogenase DhaA catalyzes the hydrolytic cleavage of carbon-halogen bonds and produces alcohol, a proton and a halide. However, DhaA suffers from the poor environmental stability, such as sensitivity to high temperature, low pH, hypersaline and organic solvent. In order to improve the environmental stability of DhaA, DhaA was covalently conjugated with inulin, a hydrophilic polysaccharide in the present study. Each DhaA was averagely conjugated with 7∼8 inulin molecules. The conjugated inulin could form a hydration layer around DhaA, which increased the conformational rigidity and decreased the entropy of the enzyme. Conjugation of inulin maintained 75.5 % of the enzymatic activity of DhaA and slightly altered the structure of DhaA. As compared with DhaA, the conjugate (inu-DhaA) showed slightly different kinetic parameters (Km of 2.9 μmol/L and Kcat of 1.0 s−1). Inulin conjugation could delay the structural unfolding and/or slow the protonation process of DhaA under undesirable environment, including the long-term storage, low pH, hypersaline and organic solvent stability. As a result, the environmental stability of DhaA was markedly increased upon conjugation with inulin. Thus, inulin conjugation was an effective approach to enhance the environmental stability of DhaA.

Rapid exposure monitoring of six bisphenols and diethylstilbestrol in human urine using fabric phase sorptive extraction followed by high performance liquid chromatography – photodiode array analysis

A novel fabric phase sorptive extraction protocol is developed for rapid exposure monitoring of six bisphenol analogues, including bisphenol A, bisphenol S, bisphenol F, bisphenol E, bisphenol B, bisphenol C, and diethylstilbestrol (DES) from human urine prior to high-performance liquid chromatography-photodiode array analysis.FPSE sample pretreatment protocol ensures the harmonization of the proposed method with the principles of Green Analytical Chemistry (GAC). Among eighteen evaluated FPSE membranes, sol-gel poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) coated cellulose FPSE membrane resulted in the most efficient extraction. This polar FPSE membrane effectively exploits a number of advantageous features inherent to FPSE including sponge-like porous architecture of the sol-gel sorbent coating, favorable surface chemistry, flexibility and built-in permeability of cellulose fabric substrate, high primary contact surface area for rapid sorbent-analyte interaction, expanded pH, solvent and thermal stability as well as reusability of the FPSE membrane.Optimization was centered on the evaluation of critical parameters, namely the size of the FPSE membrane, the elution solvent mixture, the volume of the sample, the extraction time, the elution time, the kind of the external agitation mechanical stimulus, the ionic strength and the pH of the sample. The chromatographic separation was achieved on a Spherisorb C18 column and a gradient elution program with mobile phase consisted of 0.05 ammonium acetate solution and acetonitrile. The total analysis time was 17.4 min. The developed method was validated in terms of linearity, sensitivity, selectivity, precision, accuracy, stability, and ruggedness. The limits of detection and quantification varied from 0.26–0.62 ng/mL and 0.8–1.9 ng/mL, respectively. The relative recoveries were calculated between 90.6 and 108.8%, while the RSD values were <10% in all cases. The effectiveness of the proposed method was confirmed by its successful implementation in the bioanalysis of real urine samples.

Dual-Selective Catalysis in Dephosphorylation Tuned by Hf6-Containing Metal-Organic Frameworks Mimicking Phosphatase.

Selective dephosphorylation is full of great challenges in the field of biomimetic catalysis. To mimic the active sites of protein phosphatase, Hf-OH-Hf motif-containing metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) were obtained and structurally characterized, which are assembled from [Hf48Ni6] cubic nanocages and exhibit good stability in various solvents and acid/base solutions. Catalytic investigations suggest as-synthesized Hf–Ni and Hf–Ni–NH2 display accurate type-selectivity (selectively catalyzed P–O rather than S–O or C–O bonds) and position-selectivity (selectively catalyzed phosphomonoesters over phosphodiesters) for the hydrolysis of phosphoesters. Reaction kinetic studies further revealed the high activity of the catalytic sites in these catalysts, and the unique catalytic selectivity and high activity are comparable to phosphatase. Additionally, these MOF catalysts possess good recursivity and hypotoxicity. Control experiments (including Hf- and Zr-based isomorphous MOFs) and theoretical calculations indicate that both triplet nickel and Hf6 clusters play significant roles in the unique binding site and favorable binding energy. To our knowledge, this is the first example of selective dephosphorylation through MOF catalysts as mimic enzymes, which paves a potential way for the development of specific therapeutic MOFs.

2D Metal-Organic Framework-Based Thin-Film Nanocomposite Membranes for Reverse Osmosis and Organic Solvent Nanofiltration.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising candidates for membrane-based liquid separations due to their intrinsic microporosity, but many are limited by their insufficient stability. In this work, a copper-benzoquinoid (Cu-THQ) MOF was synthesized and demonstrated structural stability in water and organic solvents. After incorporation into the polyamide layer, the hydrophilicity of the membranes was enhanced. The resultant thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes broke the permeability-selectivity tradeoff by showing 242 % increase in water permeance and slightly enhanced salt rejection at MOF loading of 0.0192 mg cm-2 . The underlying mechanism was probed by different chemical and morphological characterizations. The membranes also showed improved tolerance to chlorine oxidation. With their excellent stability, the Cu-THQ MOF-based membranes further demonstrated impressive performance in organic solvent nanofiltration involving dimethylformamide.

Au-Au/IrO2@Cu(PABA) Reactor with Tandem Enzyme-Mimicking Catalytic Activity for Organic Dye Degradation and Antibacterial Application.

Herein, a Au-Au/IrO2 nanocomposite with tandem enzyme-mimicking activity was innovatively synthesized, which can show outstanding glucose oxidase (GOx)-like activity and peroxidase-like activity simultaneously under neutral conditions. Moreover, a Au-Au/IrO2@Cu(PABA) reactor was prepared via encapsulation of the Au-Au/IrO2 nanocomposite in a Cu(PABA) metal organic framework. The reactor not only exhibits excellent organic solvent stability, acid resistance, and reusability but also displays better cascade reaction catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km = 148.86 min-1 mM-1) than the natural free enzyme system (GOx/HRP) (kcat/Km = 98.20 min-1 mM-1) and Au-Au/IrO2 nanocomposite (kcat/Km = 135.24 min-1 mM-1). In addition, it is found that the reactor can catalyze glucose or dissolved oxygen to produce active oxygen species (ROS) including HO, 1O2, and O2-· through its enzyme-mimicking activity. Finally, the novel reactor was successfully used in organic dye degradation and antibacterial application. The results show that it can effectively degrade methyl orange, methylene blue, and rhodamine B, which all can reach a degradation rate of nearly 100% after interacting with Au-Au/IrO2@Cu (PABA) for 3.5 h. Furthermore, the reactor also exhibits excellent antibacterial activity, so as to achieve a complete bactericidal effect to Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli at a concentration of 12.5 μg mL-1.

MAPbBrxCl3-x quantum dots in Pb(OH)Br for stable blue light-emitting devices

Poor stability as an essential issue of metal halide perovskites (MHPs), limits their further applications in displaying and lighting. Among multicolor luminous MHPs, the development of blue luminous perovskite lags far behind that of red and green emission. Herein, a “MAPbBrxCl3-x quantum dots (QDs) in Pb(OH)Br” strategy is proposed, fabricating stable MAPbBrxCl3-x@Pb(OH)Br with the emission wavelength of 435–485 nm. Experimental characterizations indicate that cubic MAPbBrxCl3-x transforms into rectangular MAPbBrxCl3-x@Pb(OH)Br with the assistance of methylamine vapor. The as-prepared MAPbBrxCl3-x@Pb(OH)Br shows high stability of water, light, heat and organic solvents, which can emit bright emission even they are immersed in water for 6 months. In addition, anion exchange induced spectral shift of the MHPs are also suppressed due to the chemical inertness of Pb(OH)Br. Notably, this strategy is also applied to all inorganic halide perovskites. Blue light-emitting devices (LEDs) based on the MAPbBrxCl3-x@Pb(OH)Br have been demonstrated, which can run stably for over 8 h with brightness exceeding 1000 cd/m2 in a humid environment.

Amidoxime-functionalized polymer of intrinsic microporosity (AOPIM-1)-based thin film composite membranes with ultrahigh permeance for organic solvent nanofiltration

Advanced organic solvent nanofiltration (OSN) membranes with high permeance and stability are highly needed in petrochemical and pharmaceutical industries. Recently, polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIMs) have attracted significant attention for the development of advanced membranes, because of their high porosity and solution processability. In this study, a thin film composite membrane based on an amidoxime-functionalized PIM (AOPIM-1) was prepared by spin coating followed by solvent activation. The activation approach could dramatically improve the solvent permeance of the membrane without compromising its rejection performance. The changes in porosity of the AOPIM-1 layer before and after activation were confirmed by positron annihilation Doppler spectroscopy. The optimum membrane exhibited an impressively high ethanol permeance of 15.5 L m−2 h−1 bar−1, nearly one orders of magnitude higher than that of Starmem240 (a commercial polyimide-based OSN membrane) with a comparable rejection of Rose Bengal (MW 1017 Da). In addition, the present membrane exhibited outstanding stability in polar solvents and a remarkably high rejection of active pharmaceutical ingredients (vitamin B12) from ethanol. This work could provide a new avenue for developing highly permeable OSN membranes and is expected to stimulate the use of PIM membranes in OSN applications.

Turn-On Fluorescence Enantioselective Sensing of Hydroxyl Carboxylic Enantiomers by Metal-Organic Framework Nanosheets with a Homochiral Tetracarboxylate of Cyclohexane Diamide.

Two-dimensional (2D) metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted growing interest due to excellent performance in gas separation, energy conversion and storage, catalysis, and sensing, but their homochirality and exfoliation as well as related enantioselective catalysis and sensing remain a stage of pending exploration owing to the scarcity of homochiral MOFs and intrinsic aggregation of nanosheets. Herein, a homochiral 2D MOF (HMOF-3) with polymeric chirality, good thermostability, and solvent stability is designed and constructed by a homochiral organic ligand 5,5'-((1R,2R)-cyclohexane dicarbonyl bis(azanediyl)) diisophthalic acid (R,R-CHCAIP), a ditopic coligand 4,4'-bipyridine, and Zn salts. Remarkably, HMOF-3 can be exfoliated via solvent-assisted sonication to achieve 2D HMOF-3 nanosheets (HMOF-3-NS), which exhibit a sensitive turn-on effect with the fluorescence enhancement up to 63.5 times in the presence of R/S-mandelic acid, d/l-tartaric acid, d/l-lactic acid, d/l-alanine, and d/l-tryptophan. More importantly, the high surface area, polymeric chirality environment, and highly accessible functional sites on the surface of HMOF-3 nanosheets enable close contact with probed enantiomers, leading to highly enantioselective and sensitive sensing. The turn-on mechanism of host-guest-assisted electronic transfer is confirmed by DFT calculation and the relative experiment. This work highlights the promise of homochiral 2D MOF nanosheets for enantioselective sensing applications.

D–π–A chalcone analogue as metal ions selective turn-on-off-on fluorescent chemosensor with cellular imaging and corrosion protection

Novel naked eye optical chemosensor containing thiazole ring, namely; (2E,4E)-5-(4-(dimethylylamino)phenyl)-1-(thiazol-2-yl)penta-2,4-dien-1-one, DMAPTP was developed. The solvatochromic response was explored in different solvents of various polarities. The dipole moments in the ground (µg) and excited (µe) states were determined. The large excited state dipole moment demonstrates the excited state's stability in polar solvents. In an ethanolic solution, the sensing response and selectivity of the investigated chemosensor to various metal ions such as Na+, K+, Ca2+, Ba2+, Mn2+, Fe3+, Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Al3+, Hg2+, and Pb2+ were evaluated. The spectral changes suggest that DMAPTP is strongly complexed with the metal ions used. The ground and excited state binding constants, as well as the quenching constants, have been determined. The mechanism of fluorescence quenching was identified as static quenching due to the formation of a non-fluorescent ground state complex using the Stern-Volmer plot. DMAPTP can also be used as a powerful chemosensor, identifying all of the metal ions studied with high sensitivity and selectivity for Fe3+ ions. DMAPTP can serve as a Turn-on-off-on chemosensor, as well as a metallochromic predictor in complexometric titration. This is indicated by the ability of EDTA to decompose the formed complex with the formation of the stable metal-EDTA complex, which leads to fluorescence recovery. The analytical parameters, such as selectivity, sensitivity, and detection limit, were chosen. The fluorescence imaging experiments in living cells demonstrated the biological chemosensing applications of DMAPTP to Fe3+ ions. Furthermore, weight loss, potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy techniques were used to investigate DMAPTP as a corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel in 1.0 M HCl. The collected data reveal that as DMAPTP concentrations increased, its inhibition performance increased as well. On the basis of strong adsorption of inhibitor molecules on the surface of carbon steel and the formation of large protection films, the inhibition efficiencies were determined.

A high-conductivity n-type polymeric ink for printed electronics

Conducting polymers, such as the p-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), have enabled the development of an array of opto- and bio-electronics devices. However, to make these technologies truly pervasive, stable and easily processable, n-doped conducting polymers are also needed. Despite major efforts, no n-type equivalents to the benchmark PEDOT:PSS exist to date. Here, we report on the development of poly(benzimidazobenzophenanthroline):poly(ethyleneimine) (BBL:PEI) as an ethanol-based n-type conductive ink. BBL:PEI thin films yield an n-type electrical conductivity reaching 8 S cm−1, along with excellent thermal, ambient, and solvent stability. This printable n-type mixed ion-electron conductor has several technological implications for realizing high-performance organic electronic devices, as demonstrated for organic thermoelectric generators with record high power output and n-type organic electrochemical transistors with a unique depletion mode of operation. BBL:PEI inks hold promise for the development of next-generation bioelectronics and wearable devices, in particular targeting novel functionality, efficiency, and power performance.

Recyclable Luminescence Sensor for Dinotefuran in Water by Stable Cadmium-Organic Framework.

Due to the widespread use of dinotefuran around the world, its impact on food and environmental safety has aroused great concern, and the establishment of a rapid and convenient approach for dinotefuran detection is necessary but challenging. Herein, we synthesized a unique three-dimensional framework {[(CH3)2NH2]2[Cd3(BCP)2]·10H2O·3.5DMF}n (1). Single-crystal X-ray analysis indicates that 1 possesses a 4,8-connected anion framework that corresponds to alb topology, with a one-dimensional rectangular channel along the c-axis with the size of 4 Å × 10 Å. Compound 1 displays satisfactory solvent and thermal stability. Luminescent investigations reveal that 1 can selectively detect dinotefuran by fluorescence quenching among other pesticides, displaying excellent anti-interference performance with common ions in water. Importantly, the limit of detection is as low as 2.09 ppm, which is far below the residual concentration of the U.S. food standard. A fluorescence quenching mechanism study shows that there exists competitive energy absorption and static quenching processes. To our knowledge, 1 is the first MOF-based fluorescence probe for dinotefuran detection.