Room Temperature Synthesis of Vertically Aligned Amorphous Ultrathin NiCo-LDH Nanosheets Bifunctional Flexible Supercapacitor Electrodes

Developing a simple scalable method to fabricate electrodes with high capacity and wide voltage range is desired for the real use of electrochemical supercapacitors.Herein,we synthesized amorphous NiCo-LDH nanosheets vertically aligned on activated carbon cloth substrate,which was in situ transformed from Co-metal-organic framework materials nano-columns by a simple ion exchange process at room temperature.Due to the amorphous and vertically aligned ultrathin structure of NiCo-LDH,the NiCo-LDH/activated carbon cloth composites present high areal capacities of 3770 and 1480 mF cm^(-2)as cathode and anode at 2 mA cm^(-2),and 79.5%and 80%capacity have been preserved at 50 mA cm^(-2).In the meantime,they all showed excellent cycling performance with negligible change after>10000 cycles.By fabricating them into an asymmetric supercapacitor,the device achieves high energy densities(5.61 mWh cm^(-2)and 0.352 mW cm^(-3)).This work provides an innovative strategy for simplifying the design of supercapacitors as well as providing a new understanding of improving the rate capabilities/cycling stability of NiCo-LDH materials.

Effects of hierarchical structure on the performance of tin oxide-supported platinum catalyst for room-temperature formaldehyde oxidation

Flower-like tin oxide-supported platinum（Pt/SnOx） with a hierarchical structure was synthesized by a hydrothermal method and characterized by XRD,SEM,TEM,high resolution TEM,XPS and nitrogen adsorption.The flower-like Pt/SnOx microspheres of 1 μm in diameter were composed of staggered petal-like nanosheets with a thickness of 20 nm.Pt nanoparticles（NPs） of 2-3 nm were well dispersed on the SnOx nanosheets.The catalyst was tested in the catalytic oxidation of gaseous formaldehyde（HCHO） at room temperature,and exhibited enhanced activity compared to Pt NPs supported on commercial SnO and ground SnOx.HCHO removal of 87%was achieved over the hierarchical Pt/SnOx after 1 h of reaction,which was 1.5 times that over the ground SnOx-supported Pt（Pt/g-SnOx）,and the high activity was maintained after six recycles,showing the high stability of this catalyst.HCHO decomposition kinetics was modeled as a second order reaction.The reaction rate constant for Pt/SnOx was 5.6 times higher than Pt/g-SnOx.The hierarchical pore structure was beneficial for the diffusion and adsorption of HCHO molecules,and the highly dispersed Pt NPs on the SnOx nanosheets were the active sites for the oxidative decomposition of HCHO into CO2 and H2O.This study provided a promising approach for designing efficient catalysts for indoor HCHO removal at ambient temperature.

Oxidative Desulfurization of Fuel Oil at Room Temperature Catalyzed by Ordered Meso-macroporous HPW/SiO2

A serial of ordered meso-macroporous phosphotungstic acid(HPW) supported on SiO2 nanocomposites were successfully prepared by a homogeneous precipitation method, using monodispersed polystyrene(PS) microspheres and cationic surfactant as structure directing agent. These nanocomposites were used as catalysts for oxidative desulfurization(ODS) of model fuel. The materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy(SEM), transmission electron microscopy(TEM), N2 adsorption-desorption isothrem, X-ray diffraction(XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectra(FTIR). The characterization results suggested that the as-prepared material possessed ordered meso-macroporous architectures with Keggin type phosphotungstic acid dispersed homogeneously in SiO2 matrix. Under the selected reaction conditions, dibenzothiophene(DBT) in model fuel can be removed within 2 h at room temperature(30 ℃). In addition, only 1.2% of efficiency lose than the fresh catalyst even after 5 cycles.

Preparation of nano-sized cerium and titanium pyrophosphates via solid-state reaction at room temperature

Nano-sized cerium-titanium pyrophosphates Ce1-xTixP2O7 （with x = 0, 0.2, 0.5, 0.7, 0.9, and 1.0） were obtained by grinding a mixture of Ce（SO4）2·4H2O, Ti（SO4）2, and Na4P2O7·10H2O in the presence of surfactant PEG-400 at room temperature, washing the mixture with water to remove soluble inorganic salts, and drying at 100℃. The products and their calcined samples were characterized using ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy （UV-vis）, thermogravimetry and differential thermal analyses （TG/DTA）, X-ray powder diffraction （XRD）, and transmission electron microscopy （TEM）. The results show that nano-sized Ce1-xTixP2O7 behave as an excellent UV-shielding material. Thereinto, the CeP2O7 has the most excellent UV-shielding effect, and the amorphous state of Ce0.8Ti0.2P2O7 can keep at a higher temperature than CeP2O7. Therefore, the stabilization of the amorphous state of the cerium pyrophosphates was carded out by doping titanium. This stabilization is a significant improvement, which enables to apply these amorphous pyrophosphates not only to cosmetics and paints, but also plastics and films.

Development of permanent magnetic refrigerator at room temperature

A reciprocating magnetic refrigerator was developed based on the active magnetic regeneration technology. Rare earth metal Gd and intermetallic compound LaFe11.2Co0.7Si1.1 were used as the magnetic operating materials in the machine. The particles of the magnetic operating materials, with diameter of 0.5-2 mm and total mass of 950 g, were mounted in the cooling bed. A magnetic field was assembled using NdFeB rare earth permanent magnets. It had the magnetic field space of Φ 34×200 and the magnetic induction of 1.5 T. The water at pH=10 is used as a heat transfer fluid. When the ambient temperature is 296 K, a temperature span of 18 K was achieved after operation of 45 min at a frequency of 0.178 Hz. The temperature span and the output power increase significantly with the increasing velocity of heat transfer.

Synthesis and characterization of CePO_4 nanowires via microemulsion method at room temperature

Uniform CeVO4 nanowires with diameter of about 25 nm were synthesized by the water-in-oil microemulsion method at room temperature from cerous chloride, sodium orthophosphate, sodium chloride, cyclohexane, Triton X-100 and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide （CTAB）. The crystal structure and morphology of the nanowires were characterized by XRD and TEM, respectively. The UV-vis absorption was detected by UV-vis spectrophotometer techniques. The results showed that as-prepared nanowires with the hexagonal phase have obvious quantum confinement effect and semiconductor characteristics. Little sodium chloride could play a positive role on the formation of CePO4 nanowires at room temperature. The size of the nanowires can be controlled through the joining of sodium chloride. C 2009 Yi Bin Yin. Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

Preparing Nano-ZnS by Solid State Reaction at Room Temperature

ZnS nanoparticles were prepared by using solid-state reaction method at room temperature in agate mortar for the first time. The average particle size was about 20nm. This reaction is affected by the structure of reactant, crystal water and defects.

Room-Temperature Gas Sensors Under Photoactivation:From Metal Oxides to 2D Materials

Room-temperature gas sensors have aroused great attention in current gas sensor technology because of deemed demand of cheap,low power consumption and portable sensors for rapidly growing Internet of things applications.As an important approach,light illumination has been exploited for room-temperature operation with improving gas sensor's attributes including sensitivity,speed and selectivity.This review provides an overview of the utilization of photoactivated nanomaterials in gas sensing field.First,recent advances in gas sensing of some exciting different nanostructures and hybrids of metal oxide semiconductors under light illumination are highlighted.Later,excellent gas sensing performance of emerging two-dimensional materialsbased sensors under light illumination is discussed in details with proposed gas sensing mechanism.Originated impressive features from the interaction of photons with sensing materials are elucidated in the context of modulating sensing characteristics.Finally,the review concludes with key and constructive insights into current and future perspectives in the light-activated nanomaterials for optoelectronic gas sensor applications.

Improvement of strength and ductility synergy in a room-temperature stretch-formable Mg-Al-Mn alloy sheet by twin-roll casting and low-temperature annealing

Strength and ductility synergy in an Mg-3mass%Al-Mn(AM30)alloy sheet was successfully improved via twin-roll casting and annealing at low-temperature.An AM30 alloy sheet produced by twin-roll casting,homogenization,hot-rolling,and subsequent annealing at 170℃ for 64 h exhibits a good 0.2%proof stress of 170 MPa and a large elongation to failure of 33.1%along the rolling direction.The sheet also shows in-plane isotropic tensile properties,and the 0.2%proof stress and elongation to failure along the transverse direction are 176 MPa and 35.5%,respectively.Though the sheet produced by direct-chill casting also shows moderate strengths if the annealing condition is same,the direct-chill casting leads to the deteriorated elongation to failure of 23.9%and 30.0%for the rolling and transverse directions,respectively.As well as such excellent tensile properties,a high room-temperature stretch formability with an Index Erichsen value of 8.3 mm could be obtained in the twin-roll cast sheet annealed at 170℃ for 64 h.The annealing at a higher temperature further improves the stretch formability;however,this results in the decrease of the tensile properties.Microstructure characterization reveals that the excellent combination of strengths,ductility,and stretch formability in the twin-roll cast sheet annealed at the low-temperature annealing is mainly attributed to the uniform recrystallized microstructure,fine grain size,and circular distribution of(0001)poles away from the normal direction of the sheet.

La-doped Pt/TiO_2 as an efficient catalyst for room temperature oxidation of low concentration HCHO

Catalytic oxidation of formaldehyde (HCHO) is the most efficient way to purify indoor air of HCHO pollutant. This work investigated rare earth La‐doped Pt/TiO2 for low concentration HCHO oxidation at room temperature. La‐doped Pt/TiO2 had a dramatically promoted catalytic performance for HCHO oxidation. The reasons for the La promotion effect were investigated by N2 adsorption, X‐raydiffraction, CO chemisorption, X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy(TEM) and high‐angle annular dark field scanning TEM. The Pt nanoparticle size was reduced to 1.7nm from 2.2 nm after modification by La, which led to higher Pt dispersion, more exposed activesites and enhanced metal‐support interaction. Thus a superior activity for indoor low concentrationHCHO oxidation was obtained. Moreover, the La‐doped TiO2 can be wash‐coated on a cordieritemonolith so that very low amounts of Pt (0.01 wt%) can be used. The catalyst was evaluated in asimulated indoor HCHO elimination environment and displayed high purifying efficiency and stability.It can be potentially used as a commercial catalyst for indoor HCHO elimination.

Recent Progress on Flexible Room-Temperature Gas Sensors Based on Metal Oxide Semiconductor

With the rapid development of the Internet of Things,there is a great demand for portable gas sensors.Metal oxide semiconductors(MOS)are one of the most traditional and well-studied gas sensing materials and have been widely used to prepare various commercial gas sensors.However,it is limited by high operating temperature.The current research works are directed towards fabricating high-performance flexible room-temperature(FRT)gas sensors,which are effective in simplifying the structure of MOS-based sensors,reducing power consumption,and expanding the application of portable devices.This article presents the recent research progress of MOS-based FRT gas sensors in terms of sensing mechanism,performance,flexibility characteristics,and applications.This review comprehensively summarizes and discusses five types of MOS-based FRT gas sensors,including pristine MOS,noble metal nanoparticles modified MOS,organic polymers modified MOS,carbon-based materials(carbon nanotubes and graphene derivatives)modified MOS,and two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides materials modified MOS.The effect of light-illuminated to improve gas sensing performance is further discussed.Furthermore,the applications and future perspectives of FRT gas sensors are also discussed.

Dissolution of Konjac Glucomannan with Room Temperature Ionic Liquids

Two kinds of new room temperature ionic liquids （RTILs）, 1-allyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride （AMIMCl） and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride （BMIMCl）, were synthesized and used for the dissolution of konjac glucomannan （KGM）. The experimental results showed that the solubility of KGM in AMIMCl was better than that in BMIMCl. Regenerated KGM were obtained by adding anhydrous alcohol to the KGM / ionic liquids solutions. Solubility, molecular weight, structure, and thermal property of the regenerated KGM were investigated by polarized optical microscopy （POM）, viscosimetry, infrared spectroscopy （IR）, X-ray diffraction technique （XRD）, thermogravimetry （TG） and differential scanning calorimetry （DSC）. It was demonstrated that the viscosity-averaged molecular weight of the KGM samples decreased after regeneration because of the molecular degradation of KGM. Results from IR and XRD indicated that the chemical structure and the crystalline form of regenerated KGM were not changed. Results from TG and DSC showed that the thermal stability of the regenerated KGM samples only slightly decreased. These results suggest that AMIMCl and BMIMCl are direct and effective solvents for KGM.

Greener approach towards the facile synthesis of 1,4-dihydropyrano[2,3-c]pyrazol-5-y1 cyanide derivatives at room temperature

This report describes triethylammonium acetate （TEAA） ionic liquid catalyzed one pot synthesis of 6-amino-4-aryl-5-cyano-3- methyl-1-phenyl-1,4-dihydropyrano [2,3-c]pyrazoles by the reaction of aromatic aldehyde, malononitrile and 3-methyl-1-phenyl-2- pyrazolin-5-one at room temperature. TEAA plays dual role as reaction media and catalyst. It can also be easily recovered and reused in several runs. TEAA provides greener reaction protocol to present methodology which obviates the need of organic solvents, expensive and toxic catalyst.

Highly Thermally Conductive Polymer/Graphene Composites with Rapid Room‑Temperature Self‑Healing Capacity

Composites that can rapidly self-healing their structure and function at room temperature have broad application prospects.However,in view of the complexity of composite structure and composition,its self-heal is facing challenges.In this article,supramolecular effect is proposed to repair the multistage structure,mechanical and thermal properties of composite materials.A stiff and tough supramolecular frameworks of 2-[[(butylamino)carbonyl]oxy]ethyl ester(PBA)–polydimethylsiloxane(PDMS)were established using a chain extender with double amide bonds in a side chain to extend prepolymers through copolymerization.Then,by introducing the copolymer into a folded graphene film(FGf),a highly thermally conductive composite of PBA–PDMS/FGf with self-healing capacity was fabricated.The ratio of crosslinking and hydrogen bonding was optimized to ensure that PBA–PDMS could completely self-heal at room temperature in 10 min.Additionally,PBA–PDMS/FGf exhibits a high tensile strength of 2.23±0.15 MPa at break and high thermal conductivity of 13±0.2 W m^(−1)K^(−1);of which the self-healing efficiencies were 100%and 98.65%at room temperature for tensile strength and thermal conductivity,respectively.The excellent self-healing performance comes from the efficient supramolecular interaction between polymer molecules,as well as polymer molecule and graphene.This kind of thermal conductive self-healing composite has important application prospects in the heat dissipation field of next generation electronic devices in the future.

MoS2 Nanosheets Sensitized with Quantum Dots for Room-Temperature Gas Sensors

The Internet of things for environment monitoring requires high performance with low power-consumption gas sensors which could be easily integrated into large-scale sensor network.While semiconductor gas sensors have many advantages such as excellent sensitivity and low cost,their application is limited by their high operating temperature.Two-dimensional(2D)layered materials,typically molybdenum disulfide(MoS2)nanosheets,are emerging as promising gas-sensing materials candidates owing to their abundant edge sites and high in-plane carrier mobility.This work aims to overcome the sluggish and weak response as well as incomplete recovery of MoS2 gas sensors at room temperature by sensitizing MoS2 nanosheets with PbS quantum dots(QDs).The huge amount of surface dangling bonds of QDs enables them to be ideal receptors for gas molecules.The sensitized MoS2 gas sensor exhibited fast and recoverable response when operated at room temperature,and the limit of NO2 detection was estimated to be 94 ppb.The strategy of sensitizing 2D nanosheets with sensitive QD receptors may enhance receptor and transducer functions as well as the utility factor that determine the sensor performance,offering a powerful new degree of freedom to the surface and interface engineering of semiconductor gas sensors.

Substitution Reactions by Azide and Thiocyanide Anions in Room Temperature Ionic Liquids

Conducted in the ionic liquids, activated and inactivated halides, acyl chlorides, tosylate, and bezotriazolyl acylates were converted to corresponding azide and thiocyanide compounds in high yields under mild conditions.

Green catalytic oxidation of benzyl alcohol over Pt/ZnO in base‐free aqueous medium at room temperature

The selective oxidation of alcohol using molecular oxygen as an oxidant and water as a green sol‐vent is of great interest in green chemistry. In this work, we present a systematic study of a Pt/ZnO catalyst for the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol at room temperature under base‐free aqueous conditions. Experimental observations and density functional theory calculations suggest that ZnO as a support can facilitate the adsorption of benzyl alcohol, which subsequently reacts with the activated oxygen species on the Pt catalyst, producing benzaldehyde. The resulting solid achieves a high conversion（94.1 ± 5.1% in 10 h） of benzyl alcohol and nearly 100% selectivity to benzalde‐hyde with ambient air as the oxidant. In addition, by introducing a small amount of Bi（1.78 wt%） into Pt/ZnO, we can further enhance the activity by 350%.

Enhancement of room-temperature magnetoresistance in La_(0.6)Dy_(0.1)Sr_(0.3)MnO_3/Ag_x

The samples of La0.6Dy0.1Sr0.3MnO3/（Ag2O）x/2（x = 0.00, 0.02, 0.04, 0.06, 0.08, 0.10, 0.20, 0.25, and 0.30） were prepared by using the solid-state reaction method.Their magnetic property, transport behavior, transport mechanism and magnetoresistance effect were studied through the measurements of magnetization-temperature（M-T） curves, ρ-T curves and the fitting of ρ-T curves.The results indicated that Ag could take part in the reaction when the doping amount is small.However, when the doping amount is comparatively large, Ag as metallic state mainly deposits on the grain boundary of La0.6Dy0.1Sr0.3MnO3, and then the system forms a two-phase composite.When the Ag doping amount is 30% mole ratio, the resistivity of the sample is one order of magnitude smaller than that of low doped samples, and its peak of magnetoresistance at 292 K and in the magnetic field of 0.2 T strengthens apparently and reaches 16.3%, which is over 7 times as large as 2.2% of La0.6Dy0.1Sr0.3MnO3.The two-phase composite system of magnetoresistance based on perovskite manganite consists of two parts：intrinsic magnetoresistance and extrinsic magnetoresistance.However, extrinsic magnetoresistance comes from spin-dependent scattering（SDS） and spin-polarized tunneling（SPT）.Magnetoresistance near TC increases due to the contribution of intrinsic magnetoresistance and extrinsic magnetoresistance formed by SDS, and magnetoresistance at low temperature is extrinsic magnetoresistance formed by SPT.

Berlin Green Framework‑Based Gas Sensor for Room‑Temperature and High‑Selectivity Detection of Ammonia

Ammonia detection possesses great potential in atmosphere environmental protection,agriculture,industry,and rapid medical diagnosis.However,it still remains a great challenge to balance the sensitivity,selectivity,working temperature,and response/recovery speed.In this work,Berlin green(BG)framework is demonstrated as a highly promising sensing material for ammonia detection by both density functional theory simulation and experimental gas sensing investigation.Vacancy in BG framework offers abundant active sites for ammonia absorption,and the absorbed ammonia transfers sufficient electron to BG,arousing remarkable enhancement of resistance.Pristine BG framework shows remarkable response to ammonia at 50–110°C with the highest response at 80°C,which is jointly influenced by ammonia’s absorption onto BG surface and insertion into BG lattice.The sensing performance of BG can hardly be achieved at room temperature due to its high resistance.Introduction of conductive Ti3CN MXene overcomes the high resistance of pure BG framework,and the simply prepared BG/Ti3CN mixture shows high selectivity to ammonia at room temperature with satisfying response/recovery speed.

TOUGHENING OF IN SITU SYNTHESIZED MoSi_2-SiC COMPOSITE AT ROOM TEMPERATURE

The in situ synthesized MoSi2-SiC composite is proved to be of higher fracture toughness than the monolithic MoSi2. The TEM and HREM study reveals that the interface between MoSi2/SiC is of direct atomic bonding without any amorphous glassy phase, such the SiO2 structure. Based on the fractography and the observation of crack propagation path from indentation, it is concluded that the toughening of such composite at room temperature can be attributed to the high interfacial binding energy, the refinement of the MoSi2 matrix and the deflection and bridging behavior in the crack propagation.