Preparation of copper nanoparticles by chemical reduction method using potassium borohydride

High dispersive copper nanoparticles were prepared by chemical reduction method using potassium borohydride as reducing agent.The effects of reactant ratio,concentration of CuSO4,reaction temperature,and dispersant on the size of product and conversion rate were studied.The morphologies of copper nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy.The results show that the optimum process conditions are as follows:the molar ratio of KBH4 to CuSO4 is 0.75(3:4),concentration of CuSO4 is 0.4 mol/L,reaction temperature is 30℃,and dispersant is n-butyl alcohol.The average particles size of copper powders with spherical shape gained is about 100 nm.

Microwave enhanced chemical reduction process for nitrite-containing wastewater treatment using sulfaminic acid

High-concentration nitrite-containing wastewater that presents extreme toxicity to human health and organisms is difficult to be treated using traditional biological process. In this study, a novel microwave-enhanced chemical reduction process （MECRP） using sulfarninic acid （SA） was proposed as a new manner to treat such type of wastewater. Based on lab-scale experiments, it was shown that 75%-80% nitrite （NO2-） could be removed within time as short as 4 min under 50 W microwave irradiation in pH range 5-10 when molar ratio of SA to nitrite （SA/NO2-） was 0.8. Pilot-scale investigations demonstrated that MECRP was able to achieve nitrite and chemical oxygen demand （COD） removal with efficiency up to 80% and 20%, respectively under operating conditions of SA concentration 80 kg/m3, SA/NO2- ratio 0.8, microwave power 3.4 kW, and stirring time 3 min. Five-day biological oxygen demand （BODs）/COD value of treated effluent after MECRP was increased from 0.05 to 0.36 （by 620%）, which clearly suggested a considerable improvement of biodegradability for subsequent biological treatment. This study provided a demonstration of using microwave irradiation to enhance reaction between SA and nitrite in a short time, in which nitrite in wastewater was completely converted into nitrogen gas without leaving any sludge and secondary pollutants.

The Preparation of Nano Silver by Chemical Reduction Method

A silver nanostructures prepared by using chemical reduction method. The silver nanoparticles were prepared with diameters of about (20 nm). Numerous techniques had been used to study the optical, structural like the UV-Vis absorption spectrometer, Ttransmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), Field-Emission Scanning Electron microscope (FESEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The practical results exhibited the absorption spectrum of the prepared nanoparticles at (357 nm), it was found that there is a relationship between the positions of the optical absorption peak and the size of the silver nanoparticles. The analysis of TEM results showed the presence of nanoparticles in the range (20 nm). The analyzing of XRD results explained the crystal structure for silver nanoparticles. It is found a cubic unit cell have a lattice constants (a = 4.0855 Å), with the Miller indices were (111), (002), (002), and (113).

Investigation of Fe-Ni-B and Fe-Cr-B Ultrafine Amorphous Alloy Powders Prepared by Chemical Reduction

Ultrafine amorphous alloy powders of spherical shape with diameters from 10 to 50nm for Fe-Ni-B and Fe-Cr-B were prepared by chemical reduction. The amorphous structure of two powders was identified by X-ray diffraction. The B concentrations for the two alloy systems did not change dramatically, as the preparation condition changed. An oxide film covered up the powders. The maximum magnetization decreased as increasing the content of Ni or Cr.

Fe3O4 and Fe Nanoparticles by Chemical Reduction of Fe(acac)3 by Ascorbic Acid: Role of Water

Nanoparticles of Fe3O4 and Fe are chemically synthesized by reduction of Fe(acac)3 using ascorbic acid in controlled condition. It was observed that addition of water during the chemical synthesis process yields Fe3O4 nanoparticles, whereas if the reaction is carried out in absence of water yields Fe nanoparticles—which get oxidized upon exposure to air atmosphere. Fe3O4 (15 ± 5 nm) and Fe/iron oxide nanoparticles (7 ± 1 nm) were successfully synthesized in the comparative study reported herewith. Mechanism for formation/synthesis of Fe3O4 and Fe/iron oxide nanoparticles is proposed herewith in which added water acts as an oxygen supplier. Physico-chemical characterization done by SEM, TEM, EDAX, and XPS supports the proposed mechanism.

Preparation of Monodispersed Copper Nanoparticles by an Environmentally Friendly Chemical Reduction

In this paper, highly dispersive nanosized copper particles with a mean particle size of less than 6 nm are prepared by an environmentally friendly chemical reduction method. Non-toxic L-ascorbic acid acts as both reducing agent and antioxidant in ethylene glycol in the absence of any other capping agent. Transmission electron microscopy （TEM） is used to characterize the size and morphology of Cu nanoparticles. The results of UV-Vis spectroscopy （UV-Vis）, energy dispersive spectroscopy （EDS） and high resolution TEM （HRTEM） illustrate that the resultant product is pure Cu nanocrystals. The size of Cu nanoparticles is remarkably impacted by the order of reagent addition, and the investigation reveals the reaction procedure of Cu^2＋ ions and L-ascorbic acid.

Growth-controlled synthesis of polymer-coated colloidal-gold nanoparticles using electrospray-based chemical reduction

In this study,the controlled nucleation and growth of gold nanoparticles(GNPs)were investigated using a self-repelled mist in a liquid chemical reaction environment.An electrospray-based chemical reduction method was conducted in the aqueous region and at room temperature to synthesize the polymeric-stabilized gold nanoparticles.The electrospray technique was used to atomize a hydrogen tetrachloraurate(III)(HAuCl4)precursor solution into electrostatically charged droplets.The atomized droplets were dispersed in an aqueous reaction bath containing L-ascorbic acid as a reducing agent and polyvinylpyrrolidone(PVP)as a stabilizer.The effect of the electrospray parameters,specifically the flow rate and electrospray droplet size,as well as the reaction conditions such as the concentration of reactants,pH,and stabilizer(PVP),were investigated.The mean diameter of the GNPs increased from around 4 to 9 nm with an increase in the electrospray flow rate,droplet size,and current passing through the electrospray jet.Spherical and monodispersed GNPs were synthesized at a relatively high flow rate of 2 mL/h and a moderate concentration of 2 mM of precursor solution.The smallest-sized GNP with a high monodispersity was obtained in the reaction bath at a high pH of 10.5 and in the presence of PVP.It is expected that continuous and mass production of the engineered GNPs and other noble metal nanoparticles could be established for scaling up nanoparticle production via the proposed electrospray-based chemical reduction method.

Absence of superconductivity in Nd0.8Sr0.2NiOx thin films without chemical reduction

The recently reported 9-15 K superconductivity in Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2/SrTi03 heterostructures that were fabricated by a soft-chemical topotactic reduction approach based on precursor Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO3 thin films deposited on SrTiO3 substrates,has excited an immediate surge of research interest.To explore an alternative physical path instead of chemical reduction to realizing superconductivity in this compound,using pulsed laser deposition,we systematically fabricated 63 Nd0.8Sr0.2NiOx(NSNO)thin films at a wide range of oxygen partial pressures on various oxide substrates.Transport measurements did not find any signature of superconductivity in all the 63 thin-film samples.With the oxygen content reducing in the NSNO films by lowering the deposition oxygen pressure,the NSNO films are getting more resistive and finally become insulating.Furthermore,we tried to cap a 20-nm-thick amorphous LaAlO3 layer on a Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO3 thin film deposited at a high oxygen pressure of 20 Pa to create oxygen vacancies on its surface and did not succeed in obtaining higher conductivity either.Our experimental results together with the recent report on the absence of superconductivity in synthesized bulk Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2 crystals suggest that the chemical reduction approach could be unique for yielding superconductivity in NSNO/SrTiO3 heterostructures.However,SrTiO3 substrates could be reduced to generate oxygen vacancies during the chemical reduction process as well,which may thus partially contribute to conductivity.

Synthesis and electrochemical performance of a novel nano sized Sn_2SbNi composite

Chemical reduction method was employed to prepare nano-sized Sn2SbNi alloy composites used as anode material for rechargeable lithium ion batteries.This strategy was adopted to combine the virtues of both active/inactive and active/active alloys to fabricate a Sn2SbNi alloy powder with two active components and one inactive component.The two active components can realize the high capacity feature of electrode and can make the volume change of electrode take place in a stepwise manner due to the different lithiation potentials of two active components,leading to a stable cycling performance.Sn2SbNi alloy provides a reversible specific capacity over 640 mA·h/g with an excellent cyclic ability.The Sn-Sb-Ni alloy composite material shows to be a good candidate anode material for the lithium ion batteries.

Comparison Between Electrolysis and Reduction for Treatment of Spent Electroless Nickel Plating Bath

There are lots of residual nickel and organic compounds in the spent electroless nickel plating bath. It not only wastes resource but also causes environmental pollution if the wastewater is discharged without treatment. In this paper, electrolytic method and reduction method for treating spent electroless nickel plating bath were compared. The factors studied included reaction time, pH, temperature, effectiveness and cost. It was found that the recovery rate of nickel by reduction was 99.9% under the condition ofpH 6, 50℃ for 10 min. The purity of reclaimed nickel was 66.1%. This treatment needed about 16 g NaBH4 for a liter spent solution, which cost RMB 64 Yuan. For electrolysis method, with pH 7.6, 80℃, 0.45 A （current intensity） for 2 h, the recovery rate reached 97.3%. The purity was 88.5% for the reclaimed nickel. Moreover, it was found that through electrolysis, the value of TOC （Total Organic Carbon） decreased from 114 to 3.08 g·L^-1 with removal rate of 97.3%. The main cost of electrolysis came from electric energy. It cost about 0.09 kWh （less than RMB 0.1 Yuan） per liter wastewater. Compared with reduction, electrolysis had more advantages, so the priority of selection should be given to the electrolysis method for the treatment of spent electroless nickel plating bath.

Effective exposure of nitrogen heteroatoms in 3D porous graphene framework for oxygen reduction reaction and lithium–sulfur batteries

The introduction of nitrogen heteroatoms into carbon materials is a facile and efficient strategy to regulate their reactivities and facilitate their potential applications in energy conversion and storage. However,most of nitrogen heteroatoms are doped into the bulk phase of carbon without site selectivity, which significantly reduces the contacts of feedstocks with the active dopants in a conductive scaffold. Herein we proposed the chemical vapor deposition of a nitrogen-doped graphene skin on the 3D porous graphene framework and donated the carbon/carbon composite as surface N-doped grapheme（SNG）. In contrast with routine N-doped graphene framework（NGF） with bulk distribution of N heteroatoms, the SNG renders a high surface N content of 1.81 at%, enhanced electrical conductivity of 31 S cm^（-1）, a large surface area of 1531 m^2 g^（-1）, a low defect density with a low I_D/I_G ratio of 1.55 calculated from Raman spectrum, and a high oxidation peak of 532.7 ℃ in oxygen atmosphere. The selective distribution of N heteroatoms on the surface of SNG affords the effective exposure of active sites at the interfaces of the electrode/electrolyte, so that more N heteroatoms are able to contact with oxygen feedstocks in oxygen reduction reaction or serve as polysulfide anchoring sites to retard the shuttle of polysulfides in a lithium–sulfur battery. This work opens a fresh viewpoint on the manipulation of active site distribution in a conductive scaffolds for multi-electron redox reaction based energy conversion and storage.

Advances in Measures of Reducing Chemical Pesticides to Control Plant Diseases

In order to provide the technological support for further implementing measures of reducing chemical pesticide to control plant diseases,the research progress on non-chemical pesticide measures to control plant diseases are reviewed from the aspects of agricultural control,botanical pesticide control and microbial pesticide control,and the development prospects are proposed,including accelerating innovative research on botani-cal pesticide control such as Chinese herb extracts,and screening microbial pesticides from valuable bio-control bacteria or plant endophyte metabolites for commercial production and utilization.

Characterization and Microstructure of PLZT RAINBOW Ceramics

A new type of large-displacement actuating materials called RAINBOW (Reduced and Internally Biased Oxide Wafer) ceramics is fabricated by a chemical reduction of PLZT piezoelectric ceramics. It is found that PLZT is easily reduced and the thickness of reduced layer has a linear relationship with the reduction time. The optimal conditions for producing RAINBOW samples from PLZT are determined to be 950℃ for 1-1.5 hours. SEM micrograph shows that the RAINBOW ceramics are composed of reduced and unreduced layer obviously. And the reduced layer is transgranularly fractured while the unreduced ceramic is intergranularly fractured. Metallic lead and refractor oxides (PbO, ZrO_2, ZrTiO_4, etc.) are found in the reduced layer by XRD analyses, however, the crystal structure of PLZT is not found. The analysis of the reduction mechanism is in good accordance with experimental data.

Preparation of fine copper powders and their application in BME-MLCC

The preparation of fine copper powders by chemical reduction method was investigated. The reaction of [Cu（NH3）4]2^＋ complex with hydrazine hydrate gives spherical monodispersed fine copper powders. The spherical copper powder with a uniform size of 3.5 ± 0.5 μtm was processed to obtain flake copper powder having a uniform size of 8-10 μm, excellent dispersibility and uniform shape. The spherical copper powder of 2.5 ±0.3 μm in size, flake copper, glass frit and vehicle were mixed to prepare copper paste, which was fired in 910-920℃ to obtain BME-MLCC （base metal multilayer ceramic capacitor） with a dense surface of end termination, high adhesion and qualified electrical behavior. Polarized light photo and SEM were employed to observe the copper end termination of BME-MLCC. The rough interface from the interracial reaction between glass and chip gives high adhesion.

Effects of PVP on the preparation and growth mechanism of monodispersed Ni nanoparticles

Monodispersed Ni nanoparticles were successfully prepared by chemical reduction with hydrazine hydrate in ethylene glycol. The effect of the amount of polyvinylpyrrolidone （PVP-K30） on the preparation of Ni nanoparticles was investigated. X-ray diffraction （XRD）, transmission electron microscopy （TEM）, and high resolution transmission electron microscopy （HRTEM） were employed to characterize the nickel powders. The average nickel particle size can be controlled from 103 nm to 46 ran with increasing the mass ratio of PVP to NiCl2·6H2O. The particles are spherical in shape and are not agglomerated. A possible extensive mechanism of nickel nanoparticle formation has been suggested.

Insights into depolymerization pathways and mechanism of alkali lignin over a Ni_(1.2)-ZrO_(2)/WO_(3)/γ-Al_(2)O_(3)catalyst

This study performed catalytic depolymerization of alkali lignin over Ni-based catalysts.Effects of different promoters(Zr and W),Ni loadings,reaction temperatures,and the addition of formic acid and catalyst on lignin conversion and products distribution were all investigated.The result showed that the highest oil yield(40.1%(mass))was obtained at 240℃over Ni_(1.2)/γ-Al_(2)O_(3) promoted by Zr and W species.Quantitative analysis indicates that Zr and W species prefer to lignin depolymerization while Ni active phase prefer to hydrodeoxygenation and hydrogenation.The interconversion of products derived from lignin depolymerization was determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometer,which demonstrated that phenolic compounds were dominant products in all lignin derived bio-oils,wherein the proportion of vanillin was highest(65.7%)at 180℃,while that of alkyl guaiacols increased with the increase of temperature(from 12.45%at 180℃ to 66.67%at 240℃).Residual lignin obtained after lignin depolymerization was also investigated for detecting differences on functional groups,wherein the disappearing peaks at 1511 cm^(-1)(stretching of aromatic rings),1267,1215 and 1035 cm^(-1)(vibrations of guaiacyl and syringyl units)were detected by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry.Additionally,the higher O/C ratio measured by elemental analysis also confirmed that alkali lignin was depolymerized effectively under mild conditions.

Chemical reductive technologies for the debromination of polybrominated diphenyl ethers: A review

Polybrominated diphenyl ethers(PBDEs)are widely used as brominated flame retardants,which had attracted amounts of attention due to their harmful characteristics of high toxicity,environmental persistence and potential bioaccumulation.Many chemical reductive debromination technologies have been developed for the debromination of PBDEs,including photolysis,photocatalysis,electrocatalysis,zero-valent metal reduction,chemically catalytic reduction and mechanochemical method.This review aims to provide information about the degradation thermodynamics and kinetics of PBDEs and summarize the degradation mechanisms in various systems.According to the comparative analysis,the rapid debromination to generate bromine-free products in an electron-transfer process,of which photocatalysis is a representative one,is found to be relatively difficult,because the degradation rate of PBDEs depended on the Br-rich phenyl ring with the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital(LUMO)localization.On the contrary,the complete debromination occurs easily in other systems with active hydrogen atoms as the main reactive species,such as chemically catalytic reduction systems.The review provides the knowledge on the chemical reductive technique of PBDEs,which would greatly help not only clarify the degradation mechanism but also design the more efficient system for the rapid and deep debromination of PBDEs in the future.

Hydrochemistry of Salt Lakes in Southeastern Transbaikalia(Russia) in the Time of Arid Phase of Climate Change at the Beginning of the XXI Century

1 Introduction In the south of Eastern Transbaikalia in the border area with China and Mongolia,there are at least 300 saline without outlet lakes.They are confined to the semi-arid zone Daurian steppes with pronounced continental salinization processes and are mostly located on the bottoms of the intermountain basins.Their origin is related to evaporative concentration of fresh waters lakes filling.

Chemical synthesis and coercivity enhancement of Nd2Fe14B nanostructures mediated by non-magnetic layer

High-performance Nd2Fei4B magnets have been widely required in various fields recently due to the lightweight and miniaturization of devices.In this work,we synthesize Nd2Fei4B nanostructures with tunable magnetic properties through surfactant-assisted high energy ball milling(SAHEBM)process,achieving prominently enhanced coercivity by forming non-magnetic layers as grain boundary phase.When the reduction annealing process was carried out as pellet with Ca,the coercivity increased from 0.8 kOe to over 3 kOe as Nd2Fei4B powder,which is proved to be the contribution of the chemical diffusion of Nd elements and the formation of Nd-rich layer as magnetic insulating medium.In addition,two-dimensional graphene oxide(GO)was employed to build extra grain boundary,by which the coercivity of the core@dual-shell structure can achieve up to 8 kOe,tenfold of the original sample.The intrinsic mechanism indicated that the Nd-diffusion induced Nd-rich phase along with the reduced GO in the system could form non-magnetic layer as grain boundary and magnetically isolate the adjacent grains,significantly enhancing the exchange coupling effect.This work markedly opens up an effective approach for the chemical preparation of high-performance Nd2Fe14B nanostructured magnets,especially after post treatment,and gives an insight on the interactions at nanoscale.

Simultaneous Functionalization and Reduction of Graphene Oxide with Polyetheramine and Its Electrically Conductive Epoxy Nanocomposites

Simultaneous functionalization and reduction of graphene oxide （GO） is realized by refluxing of GO suspension with polyetheramine （D2000） followed by thermal treatment at 120℃. Compared to GO, the D2000-treated GO （GO- D2000） becomes hydrophobic, thermally stable and highly conductive with an electrical conductivity of 11 S/m, which is almost 8 orders of magnitude higher than that of GO. Due to the high conductivity and improved dispersion of GO-D2000, its epoxy nanocomposites exhibit a sharp transition from electrically insulating to conducting with a low percolation threshold of 0.71 vol%. With 3.6 wt% GO-D2000, the glass transition temperature of the epoxy nanocomposite is 27 K higher than that of neat epoxy.