Electrochemical detectors prepared by electroless deposition for microfabricated electrophoresis chips

Microfabricated capillary electrophoresis (CE) chips with integrated electrochemical detection have been developed on glass substrates. An electroless deposition procedure was used to deposit a gold film directly onto the capillary outlet to provide high-sensitivity electrochemical detection for catechol and several nitroaromatic explosives. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that the electroless gold film contains nanoscopic gold aggregates (100-150 nm) with an average thickness of 79 nm. The electroless deposition procedure can be easily and routinely performed in any wet-chemistry laboratory, and electroless gold can be deposited onto complex and internal surfaces. Intimate coupling of electrochemical detection and CE chips obviates the need for a coupling mechanism or tedious alignment procedures. With nitroaromatic compounds as a working model, microchip capillary electrophoresis equipped with electroless gold has proven to provide high sensitivity and fast response times for sensor applications. The CE microchip system was capable of separation and determination of explosive compounds including TNT in less than 130 s with detection limits ranging from 24 to 36 microg/L, i.e., 4-fold enhancements in detection efficiency in comparison to thick-film technology.     

Stabilization/solidification of lead-contaminated soil using cement and rice husk ash

This paper presents the findings of a study on solidification/stabilization (S/S) of lead-contaminated soil using ordinary Portland cement (OPC) and rice husk ash (RHA). The effects of varying lead concentrations (in the form of nitrates) in soil samples on the physical properties of their stabilized forms, namely unconfined compressive strength (UCS), setting times of early mixtures and changes in crystalline phases as well as chemical properties such as leachability of lead, pH and alkalinity of leachates are studied. Results have indicated that usage of OPC with RHA as an overall binder system for S/S of lead-contaminated soils is more favorable in reducing the leachability of lead from the treated samples than a binder system with standalone OPC. On the other hand, partial replacement of OPC with RHA in the binder system has reduced the UCS of solidified samples.     

An experimental and theoretical examination of the effect of sulfur on the pyrolytically grown carbon nanotubes from sucrose-based solid state precursors

Multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were synthesized through pyrolysis of the sulfuric acid-carbonized byproduct of sucrose. While the presence of sulfur in the reaction media has a key role in the formation and population density of MWCNTs, we have not observed the formation of Y-junctions or encountered other novel carbon nanotube formations. Results indicate the presence of sulfur in catalyst particles trapped inside nanotubes, but failed to find sulfur in the side-walls of the CNTs. In order to verify and explain these findings, we analyzed the behavior of sulfur and its possible effects on the side-wall structure of CNTs by using density functional theory-based calculations on various atomic models depicting sulfur inclusion in the side-walls. The results of the computational study were in line with the experimental results and also provided a new perspective by suggesting that the defects such as pentagons may act as nucleation sites for the Y-branches. The results indicated that sulfur prefers to adsorb on these defective regions, but it is not responsible for the formation of these structures or defects.     

Highly Stable,Near‐Unity Efficiency Atomically Flat Semiconductor Nanocrystals of CdSe/ZnS Hetero‐Nanoplatelets Enabled by ZnS‐Shell Hot‐Injection Growth

Colloidal semiconductor nanoplatelets (NPLs) offer important benefits in nanocrystal optoelectronics with their unique excitonic properties. For NPLs, colloidal atomic layer deposition (c‐ALD) provides the ability to produce their core/shell heterostructures. However, as c‐ALD takes place at room temperature, this technique allows for only limited stability and low quantum yield. Here, highly stable, near‐unity efficiency CdSe/ZnS NPLs are shown using hot‐injection (HI) shell growth performed at 573 K, enabling routinely reproducible quantum yields up to 98%. These CdSe/ZnS HI‐shell hetero‐NPLs fully recover their initial photoluminescence (PL) intensity in solution after a heating cycle from 300 to 525 K under inert gas atmosphere, and their solid films exhibit 100% recovery of their initial PL intensity after a heating cycle up to 400 K under ambient atmosphere, by far outperforming the control group of c‐ALD shell‐coated CdSe/ZnS NPLs, which can sustain only 20% of their PL. In optical gain measurements, these core/HI‐shell NPLs exhibit ultralow gain thresholds reaching ≈7 µJ cm^?2. Despite being annealed at 500 K, these ZnS‐HI‐shell NPLs possess low gain thresholds as small as 25 µJ cm^?2. These findings indicate that the proposed 573 K HI‐shell‐grown CdSe/ZnS NPLs hold great promise for extraordinarily high performance in nanocrystal optoelectronics.     

Peptide-mediated constructs of quantum dot nanocomposites for enzymatic control of nonradiative energy transfer

A bottom-up approach for constructing colloidal semiconductor quantum dot (QDot) nanocomposites that facilitate nonradiative Fo?rster-type resonance energy transfer (FRET) using polyelectrolyte peptides was proposed and realized. The electrostatic interaction of these polypeptides with altering chain lengths was probed for thermodynamic, structural, and morphological aspects. The resulting nanocomposite film was successfully cut with the protease by digesting the biomimetic peptide layer upon which the QDot assembly was constructed. The ability to control photoluminescence decay lifetime was demonstrated by proteolytic enzyme activity, opening up new possibilities for biosensor applications.     

Discrete singular convolution method for the analysis of Mindlin plates on elastic foundations

The method of discrete singular convolution (DSC) is used for the bending analysis of Mindlin plates on two-parameter elastic foundations for the first time. Two different realizations of singular kernels, such as the regularized Shannon's delta (RSD) kernel and Lagrange delta sequence (LDS) kernel, are selected as singular convolution to illustrate the present algorithm. The methodology and procedures are presented and bending problems of thick plates on elastic foundations are studied for different boundary conditions. The influence of foundation parameters and shear deformation on the stress resultants and deflections of the plate have been investigated. Numerical studies are performed and the DSC results are compared well with other analytical solutions and some numerical results.     

Mechanosynthesis of polymer-stabilized lead bromide perovskites: insight into the formation and phase conversion of nanoparticles

The application of polymers to replace oleylamine(OLA)and oleic acid(OA)as ligands for perovskite nanocrystals is an effective strategy to improve their stability and durability especially for the solution-based processing.Herein,we report a mechanosynthesis of lead bromide perovskite nanoparticles(NPs)stabilized by partially hydrolyzed poly(methyl methacrylate)(h-PMMA)and highmolecular-weight highly-branched poly(ethylenimine)(PEI-25K).The as-synthesized NP solutions exhibited green emission centered at 516 nm,possessing a narrow full-width at half-maximum of 17 nm and as high photoluminescence quantum yield(PL QY)as 85%,while showing excellent durability and resistance to polar solvents,e.g.,methanol.The colloids of polymer-stabilized NPs were directly processable toform stable and strongly-emitting thin films and solids,making them attractive as gain media.Furthermore,the roles of h-PMMA and PEI-25K in the grinding process were studied in depth.The h-PMMA can form micelles in the grinding solvent of dichloromethane to act as size-regulating templates for the growth of NPs.The PEI-25K with large amounts of amino groups induced significant enrichment of PbBr₂in the reaction mixture,which in turn caused the formation of CsPb₂Br₅-mPbBr₂and CsPbBr₃-Cs₄PbBr₆-nCsBr NPs.The presence of CsPbBr₃-Cs₄PbBr₆-nCsBr NPs was responsible for the high PL QY,as the Cs₄PbBr₆phase with a wide energy bandgap can passivate the surface defects of the CsPbBr₃phase.This work describes a direct and facile mechanosynthesis of polymer-coordinated perovskite NPs and promotes in-depth understanding of the formation and phase conversion for perovskite NPs in the grinding process.