Removal of copper(II) from aqueous solution using chemically modified fruit peels as efficient low-cost biosorbents

Fruit peels, which are common agricultural byproducts, have been extensively used as abandoned or low-cost biosorbents to remove heavy metals. In this study, dragon fruit peel (DFP), rambutan peel (RP), and passion fruit peel (PFP) were used to remove Cu(II) ions from an aqueous solution. Concentrations of the adsorbed metal ions were determined using the atomic absorption spectroscopic method. Adsorption experiments were performed with different adsorbent dosages, pH values, contact times, and initial copper concentrations. The optimum set of conditions for biosorption of Cu(II) ions was found to be an adsorbent dosage of 0.25 g, a contact time of 180 min, an initial concentration of 100 mg/L, a pH value of 4 for RP and PFP, and a pH value of 5 for DFP. The adsorption conformed with the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. The adsorption data were consistent with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models, but the best fit was with the Langmuir model. The Langmuir monolayer adsorption capacity values of DFP, RP, and PFP were calculated to be 92.593, 192.308, and 121.951 mg/g, respectively. RP showed a higher adsorption capacity of Cu(II) ions than PFP and DFP for all parameters. The results indicate that these biosorbents might be used to effectively adsorb Cu(II) ions from wastewater treatment plants.     

Synthesis of strontium (Sr) doped hydroxyapatite (HAp) nanorods for enhanced adsorption of Cr (VI) ions from wastewater

The development of high-efficiency adsorbents for heavy metal ion removal from wastewater is highly desirable and challenging due to their synthesis complexity and low adsorption capacities. Herein, we reported the synthesis of strontium (Sr) doped hydroxyapatite (HAp) for the increased Cr (VI) adsorption. The effects of pH, temperature, and time on adsorption performances were studied. As a result, the Sr-HAp nanorods can achieve a Cr (VI) adsorption capacity of 443 mg/g, which is significantly higher than that of HAp nanorods (318 mg/g). To better understand the adsorption mechanism, the Langmuir isotherm model was established. The modeling results indicated that Langmuir monolayer chemical adsorption contributed to the efficient Cr (VI) ion removal for Sr-HAp nanorods adsorbents. The surface area and surface functional groups (O–H) contributed to the different Cr (VI) adsorption capacities between HAp and Sr-HAp.     

Nacre-Inspired,Liquid Metal-Based Ultrasensitive Electronic Skin by Spatially Regulated Cracking Strategy

The realization of liquid metal-based wearable systems will be a milestone toward high-performance, integrated electronic skin. However, despite the revolutionary progress achieved in many other components of electronic skin, liquid metal-based flexible sensors still suffer from poor sensitivity due to the insufficient resistance change of liquid metal to deformation. Herein, a nacre-inspired architecture composed of a biphasic pattern (liquid metal with Cr/Cu underlayer) as “bricks” and strain-sensitive Ag film as “mortar” is developed, which breaks the long-standing sensitivity bottleneck of liquid metal-based electronic skin. With 2 orders of magnitude of sensitivity amplification while maintaining wide (>85%) working range, for the first time, liquid metal-based strain sensors rival the state-of-art counterparts. This liquid metal composite features spatially regulated cracking behavior. On the one hand, hard Cr cells locally modulate the strain distribution, which avoids premature cut-through cracks and prolongs the defect propagation in the adjacent Ag film. On the other hand, the separated liquid metal cells prevent unfavorable continuous liquid-metal paths and create crack-free regions during strain. Demonstrated in diverse scenarios, the proposed design concept may spark more applications of ultrasensitive liquid metal-based electronic skins, and reveals a pathway for sensor development via crack engineering.     

Impact of defects on the decomposition of chemical warfare agent simulants in Zr-based metal organic frameworks

Metal organic frameworks (MOFs) containing zirconium secondary building units (SBUs) in UiO-67 and related MOFs, are highly active for neutralizing both the chemical warfare agents and simulants, such as dimethyl methylphosphonate (DMMP). However, two recent publications gave conflicting reports of DMMP reaction with UiO-67 under ultra high vacuum (UHV) conditions, with one reporting chemisorption and reaction (Wang et al., J Phys Chem C, 2017, 121, 11261–11272) and the other reporting only physisorption and reversible desorption (Ruffley et al., J Phys Chem C, 2019, 123, 19748–19758) from very similar temperature programmed desorption experiments. We show that the discrepancy between these experiments may be explained by different levels of missing linker defects in the UiO-67 samples. We present density functional theory calculations showing that SBU sites having two-adjacent missing linkers exhibit reaction barriers that are about 30 kJ/mol lower than SBU sites having a single missing linker. We also show that topology of the undercoordinated sites plays an important role in the reaction barrier under UHV conditions.     

Re-Looking into the Active Moieties of Metal X-ides (X- = Phosph-, Sulf-, Nitr-, and Carb-) Toward Oxygen Evolution Reaction

Non-precious metal-based catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) have been extensively studied, among which the transition metal X-ides (including phosph-ides, sulf-ides, nitr-ides, and carb-ides) materials are emerging as promising candidates to replace the benchmark Ir/Ru-based materials in alkaline media. However, it is controversial whether the metal Xides host the real active sites since these metal Xides are thermodynamically unstable under a harsh OER environment—it has been reported that the initial metal Xides can be electrochemically oxidized and transformed into corresponding oxides and (oxy)hydroxides. Therefore, the metal Xides are argued as “pre-catalysts”; the electrochemically formed oxides and (oxy)hydroxides are believed as the real active moieties for OER. Herein, the recent advances in understanding the transformation behavior of metal Xides during OER are re-looked; importantly, hypotheses are provided to understand why the electrochemically formed oxides and (oxy)hydroxides catalysts derived from metal Xides are superior for OER to the as-prepared metal oxides and (oxy)hydroxides catalysts.     

Thermal stability of the nanolayered Fe2AlB2 in nitrogen and argon atmospheres

The thermal stability and decomposition mechanisms of Fe₂AlB₂ powders, synthesized by reactive powder metallurgy, were studied under nitrogen (N₂) or argon (Ar) atmospheres. The effects of using different FeB precursors to synthesize the Fe₂AlB₂ and hydrochloric acid (HCl) purification treatments on the thermal stability were also investigated. When as-synthesized Fe₂AlB₂ powders are treated in dilute HCl to dissolve impurity phases, decomposition in N₂ atmospheres occurs readily above 1200 K. The decomposition reaction involves β-FeB precipitation and the liberated Al atoms reacting with the ambient N₂ to form AlN. Under Ar environments, HCl-treated Fe₂AlB₂ powders decompose and precipitate β-FeB, by the out-diffusion of Al from the nanolaminated structure. Interestingly, isothermal annealing under N₂ atmospheres revealed that Fe₂AlB₂ was more thermally stable when synthesized from lab-synthesized, instead of commercially available, FeB precursors and when the HCl treatment was avoided. The effects of the various factors on the decomposition temperature and decomposition mechanisms are discussed herein.     

In vitro and in vivo degradability,biocompatibility and antimicrobial characteristics of Cu added iron-manganese alloy

In recent years,iron(Fe)based degradable metal is explored as an alternative to permanent fracture fixation devices.In the present work,copper(Cu)is added in Fe-Mn system to enhance the degradation rate and antimicrobial properties.Fe-Mn-xCu(x=0.9,5 and 10 wt.％)alloys are prepared by the melting-casting-forging route.XRD analysis confirms austenite phase stabilization due to the presence of Mn and Cu.As predicted by Thermo-Calc calculations,Cu rich phase precipitations are noticed along the austen-ite grain boundaries.Degradation behaviours of Cu added Fe-Mn alloys are investigated through static immersion and electrochemical polarization where enhanced degradation is found for higher Cu added alloys.When challenged against E.Coli bacteria,the Fe-Mn-Cu alloy media extract shows a significant bac-tericidal effect compare to the base alloy.In vitro cytocompatibility studies,as determined using MG63 and MC3T3-E1 cell lines,indicate increased cell density as a function of time for all the alloys.When implanted in rabbit femur,the newly developed alloy does not show any kind of tissue necrosis around the implants.Better osteogenesis and higher new bone formation are observed with Fe-Mn-10Cu alloy as evident from micro-computed tomography(μ-CT)and fluorochrome labelling.     

Excellent destabilization effect and ideal desorption temperature in the hydride Mg2FeH6 substituted with yttrium; a first principles study

We investigated some properties of the hydride Mg₂FeH₆ substituted with yttrium by a first principles calculation. Some experimental results showed that 4d transition metal, yttrium serves as a good catalyst for magnesium based hydrogen storage alloys, but there are a few theoretical studies about magnesium based hydrides substituted with it. Mg₂FeH₆ is regarded as a cheaper material than pure MgH₂, while it is crystalized into Fm3m structure (space group 225). Although it has high hydrogen storage capacity, many investigations have not been devoted to it due to its extremely high thermodynamic stability. The yttrium substituted Mg₂FeH₆ exhibits very low energy of formation, and its desorption temperature, 75 °C is very suitable for practical hydrogen storage applications. Our results showed that Mg₂FeH₆ is destabilized effectively by yttrium substitution and introducing vacancy defects has additive effect to the improvement of dehydrogenation performance.     

Trimetallic NiFeCr-LDH/MoS2composites as novel electrocatalyst for OER

The development of efficient and stable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts is an ongoing challenge. In order to solve the problem of low oxygen evolution efficiency of the current OER catalysts, a novel material was synthesized by the incorporation of NiFeCr-LDH and MoS₂, and its structural and electrochemical properties were also investigated. The introduction of MoS₂ improves the electrochemical performance of NiFeCr-LDH. The polarization curve shows that the potential of composite material is only 1.50 V at a current density of 10 mA cm^?2, which is far superior to commercial precious metal catalysts. In addition, the stability experiment shows that the composite material has excellent stability, and the current density has little change after 500 cycles. Furthermore, we found that some metal ions, such as Ni, Cr and Mo, exist in the form of high valence on the surface of NiFeCr-LDH@MoS₂, which is also conducive to the occurrence of oxygen evolution reaction.     

Template confined construction of Fe–NiCoP/NiCoP/NF heterostructures for highly efficient electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction

Rational design of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts with advance nanostructures and composition superiority is an urgent need to promote electrocatalytic property. In this research, we fabricate Fe–NiCoP/NiCoP/NF electrocatalyst for OER via the interfacial scaffolding strategy with Prussian-blue-analogue (PBA) followed by low-temperature phosphating. The cube-on-sheet multimetallic-TMPs-based nanoarchitecture of Fe–NiCoP/NiCoP/NF exhibits outstanding OER performance, which only requires the overpotential of 201 mV to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² and possesses good durability up to 50 h in 1.0 M KOH solution. The superior OER property of Fe–NiCoP/NiCoP/NF is mainly characteristic to the rich composition that optimizes the electronic structure and the cube-on-sheet multimetallic-TMPs-based nanoarchitecture which can facilitate more effective active sites exposure and ultimately promote charge transfer at the same time. This research provides a new strategy for the construction of advanced nanoarrays structure and the improvement of the electrocatalytic performance of polymetallic phosphides, which offers its promising applications especially in energy storage and conversion technology.