Synthesis and electrochemical characterization of PEO-based polymer electrolytes with room temperature ionic liquids

New gel polymer electrolytes containing 1-butyl-4-methylpyridinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (BMPyTFSI) ionic liquid are prepared by solution casting method. Thermal and electrochemical properties have been determined for these gel polymer electrolytes. The addition of BMPyTFSI to the P(EO)₂₀LiTFSI electrolyte results in an increase of the ionic conductivity, and at high BMPyTFSI concentration (BMPy⁺/Li⁺ = 1.0), the ionic conductivity reaches the value of 6.9 × 10⁻⁴ S/cm at 40 °C. The lithium ion transference numbers obtained from polarization measurements at 40 °C were found to decrease as the amount of BMPyTFSI increased. However, the lithium ionic conductivity increased with the content of BMPyTFSI. The electrochemical stability and interfacial stability for these gel polymer electrolytes were significantly improved due to the incorporation of BMPyTFSI.     

Partial nickel plating using organic gel electrolyte

A partial nickel plating method was developed by using the organic gel electrolyte. The gel electrolyte was made from polyvinylchloride as a gelling agent and tetrahydrofuran as an organic solvent. The suitable conditions for nickel plating were investigated by the measurements of polarization curve and electrochemical impedance. The pattern electroplating using thin layer of gel electrolyte was carried out on the copper substrate. The substrate surface could be plated by nickel with high uniformity and sharp edge line. The present method will be widely used for the surface patterning without masking.     

Nanosized α-Fe2O3 and Li-Fe composite oxide electrodes for lithium-ion batteries

Nanosized α-Fe₂O₃ (ca. 50 nm) and Li-Fe composite oxides (ca. 29 nm) powders were synthesized via gel polymer route. The gels were obtained with thermal polymerization of acrylic acid solutions of iron and lithium nitrates. The calcination of these gels at temperatures from 300 °C to 500 °C results in α-Fe₂O₃ from Fe(NO₃)₃ precursor and Li-Fe composite oxides Li₂O-Fe₃O₄-LiFeO₂ from a mixed precursors of Fe(NO₃)₃ and LiNO₃. Thermal gravimetric analysis, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were used to investigate the precursors and products. The electrochemical performance of the Fe-based oxides was also evaluated. After 200 cycles, their capacity can be as high as 1300 mAh/g for α-Fe₂O₃ and 1400 mAh/g for Li-Fe oxide while the initial capacity loss is as low as 21.8%. The Li-Fe oxide electrodes exhibit better capacity retention than the α-Fe₂O₃ electrodes. They are interesting negative electrodes for high energy density lithium-ion batteries.     

Dielectric dispersion study of coexisting phases of aqueous polymeric solution: Poly(vinyl alcohol) + poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) two-phase systems

The complex dielectric constant ?^∗(ω)=?^′−j?^″, electric modulus M^∗(ω)=M^′+jM^″, impedance Z^∗(ω)=Z^′−jZ^″ and ac conductivity dispersion behaviour of 5, 10 and 15 wt% concentration aqueous solutions of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) (14?000 and 77?000 g mol⁻¹) and poly(vinyl pyrrolidone) (PVP) (24?000, 40?000 and 360?000 g mol⁻¹) and their binary mixtures were investigated in the frequency range 20 Hz to 1 MHz at 25 °C. Analysis of dielectric constant values confirms that hydrophilic effect of PVA in aqueous solution increases the real part of dielectric constant ?′, whereas for aqueous PVP solutions the hydrophobic effect masks the hydrophilic effect, which reduces ?′ values below 10 kHz. Low-frequency dielectric constant of these aqueous polymeric systems is sensitive to ionic conduction and electrode polarization. The monotonous change in various electrical properties with change in volume percentage of mixture constituents indicates that individual aqueous polymer system retains their own electrical properties in the aqueous two-phase polymeric system.     

Determination of green fluorescent protein by ultraviolet-excited gel imaging

The green fluorescent protein has gained interest in bioanalytical applications due to its visible fluorescence. As the usage of green fluorescent protein increases, more appropriate fluorescence instrumentation is required. Most fluorescence instrumentation uses ultraviolet light as the excitation source for the determination of green fluorescent protein. However, ultraviolet radiation may damage biological molecules and affect the quantitative analysis. In this study, the effects of the ultraviolet radiation period and the mass of green fluorescent protein on the fluorescence determination were characterized using gel imaging. The ultraviolet illumination period affected the green fluorescent protein fluorescence intensity. The fluorescence increased with the ultraviolet illumination time from 30–90 s. However, the fluorescence intensity decreased when the excitation period was longer, probably due to photobleaching. The photobleaching decreased when a higher concentration of enhanced green fluorescent protein was employed. This gel imaging study has provided a better understanding of the optimum conditions for the determination of green fluorescent protein.     

壳聚糖固定化酶和细胞研究新进展

分析评价了壳聚糖作为固定化酶和细胞载体的特性,概述了壳聚糖凝胶固定化酶和细胞的形态及制备方法,着重介绍了近年来壳聚糖固定化酶和细胞的改进方法,并指出今后壳聚糖固定化酶和细胞的发展方向。     

Gel polymer electrolyte based on poly(acrylonitrile-co-styrene) and a novel organic iodide salt for quasi-solid state dye-sensitized solar cell

A gel polymer electrolyte based on poly(acrylonitrile-co-styrene) as polymer matrix and N-methyl pyridine iodide salt as I⁻ source was prepared. Controlling the concentration of polymer matrix of poly(acrylonitrile-co-styrene) at 17.5 wt.%, mixing the binary organic solvents mixture ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate with 6:4 (w/w), and the concentration of N-methyl pyridine iodide and iodine with 0.5 and 0.05 M, respectively, the gel polymer electrolyte attains the maximum ionic conductivity (at 30 °C) of 4.63 mS cm⁻¹. Based on the gel polymer electrolyte, a quasi-solid state dye-sensitized solar cell was fabricated and its overall energy conversion efficiency of light-to-electricity of 3.10% was achieved under irradiation of 100 mW cm⁻².     

Theoretical investigation of catalytic HCO3 hydrogenation in aqueous solutions

Density functional theory along with a dielectric continuum solvation model has been applied to identify possible reaction intermediates for the catalytic hydrogenation of HCO₃⁻ anion into HCO₂⁻ that occurs in aqueous solutions in the presence of water-soluble ruthenium complexes. Bicarbonate ion is shown to coordinate to a Ru-dihydride species, which then undergoes a protonation process that yields a CO₂ complex. The CH bond formation is found to take place via CO₂ insertion into a RuH bond and the direct elimination of the formate product is shown to be an energetically favored step, which is assisted by the water medium. We find that water is directly involved in the reaction as a protonating/deprotonating agent and also acts as a coordinating ligand.     

Flaking and extrusion as mechanical treatments for enzyme-assisted aqueous extraction of oil from soybeans

Flaking and extruding dehulled soybeans were evaluated as a means of enhancing oil extraction efficiency during enzyme-assisted aqueous processing of soybeans. Cellulase, protease, and their combination were evaluated for effectiveness in achieving high oil extraction recovery from extruded flakes. Aqueous extraction of extruded full-fat soy flakes gave 68% recovery of the total available oil without using enzymes. A 0.5% wt/wt protease treatment after flaking and extruding dehulled soybeans increased oil extraction recovery to 88% of the total available oil. Flaking and extruding enhanced protease hydrolysis of proteins freeing more oil. Treating extruded flakes with cellulase, however, did not enhance oil extraction either alone or in combination with protease. Discrepancies in oil extraction recoveries were encountered when merely considering crude free fat because some oil became bound to denatured protein during extrusion and/or sample drying. Bound fat was unavailable for determination by using the hexane extraction method, but was accounted for by using the acid hydrolysis method for total oil determination. Oil extraction recovery from extruded soybean flakes was affected by oil determination methods, which was not the case for unextruded full-fat soy flour.     

Advanced synthesis for monodisperse polymer nanoparticles in aqueous media with sub-millimolar surfactants

Highly monodisperse polystyrene nanoparticles with mean diameters of less than 100 nm are synthesized via aqueous emulsion polymerization using an amphoteric initiator (VA-057) in the presence of sub-millimolar concentrations of anionic surfactant. Since the net charge on the initiator is almost zero at neutral pH, the resultant latex particle size is mainly determined by surfactant adsorption. Polymerizations were performed in the presence of a range of anionic surfactants with differing critical micelle concentrations (CMC) by varying the concentrations of surfactant, initiator and monomer, and also the ionic strength. Sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), sodium hexadecyl sulfate (SHS), and sodium octadecyl sulfate (SOS) have relatively low CMCs and so enable formation of highly monodisperse nanoparticles at relatively low (sub-millimolar) surfactant concentrations, C_S (i.e. below the CMC in each case). Empirically, it was found that the particle number, N_p, and coefficient of variation of the particle size, C_V, were strongly dependent on the C_S/CMC ratio: N_p increased almost in proportion with the square of this ratio, while the C_V exhibited a minimum at approximately C_S/CMC = 0.20. Higher ionic strength reduced the particle size, which is consistent with the above relationship because the addition of salt lowers the CMCs of ionic surfactants. Polymer latex particles produced using such formulations form highly regular, close-packed colloidal arrays.