Effect of Carbon Layer Thickness on the Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Glucose in a Ni/BDD Composite Electrode.

High-performance non-enzymatic glucose sensor composite electrodes were prepared by loading Ni onto a boron-doped diamond (BDD) film surface through a thermal catalytic etching method. A carbon precipitate with a desired thickness could be formed on the Ni/BDD composite electrode surface by tuning the processing conditions. A systematic study regarding the influence of the precipitated carbon layer thickness on the electrocatalytic oxidation of glucose was conducted. While an oxygen plasma was used to etch the precipitated carbon, Ni/BDD-based composite electrodes with the precipitated carbon layers of different thicknesses could be obtained by controlling the oxygen plasma power. These Ni/BDD electrodes were characterized by SEM microscopies, Raman and XPS spectroscopies, and electrochemical tests. The results showed that the carbon layer thickness exerted a significant impact on the resulting electrocatalytic performance. The electrode etched under 200 W power exhibited the best performance, followed by the untreated electrode and the electrode etched under 400 W power with the worst performance. Specifically, the electrode etched under 200 W was demonstrated to possess the highest sensitivity of 1443.75 µA cm-2 mM-1 and the lowest detection limit of 0.5 µM.

Fluorescence detection platform of metal-organic frameworks for biomarkers.

Sensitive and selective detection of biomarkers is crucial in the study and early diagnosis of diseases. With the continuous development of biosensing technologies, fluorescent biosensors based on metal-organic frameworks have attracted increasing attention in the field of biomarker detection due to the combination of the advantages of MOFs, such as high specific surface area, large porosity, and structure with tunable functionality and the technical simplicity, sensitivity and efficiency and good applicability of fluorescent detection techniques. Therefore, researchers must understand the fluorescence response mechanism of such fluorescent biosensors and their specific applications in this field. Of all biomarkers applicable to such sensors, the chemical essence of nucleic acids, proteins, amino acids, dopamine, and other small molecules account for about a quarter of the total number of studies. This review systematically elaborates on four fluorescence response mechanisms: metal-centered emission (MC), ligand-centered emission (LC), charge transfer (CT), and guest-induced luminescence change (GI), presenting their applications in the detection of nucleic acids, proteins, amino acids, dopamine, and other small molecule biomarkers. In addition, the current challenges of MOFs-based fluorescent biosensors are also discussed, and their further development prospects are concerned.

Thickness Effects on Boron Doping and Electrochemical Properties of Boron-Doped Diamond Film.

As a significant parameter in tuning the structure and performance of the boron-doped diamond (BDD), the thickness was focused on the mediation of the boron doping level and electrochemical properties. BDD films with different thicknesses were deposited on silicon wafers by the hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) method. The surface morphology and composition of the BDD films were characterized by SEM and Raman, respectively. It was found that an increase in the BDD film thickness resulted in larger grain size, a reduced grain boundary, and a higher boron doping level. The electrochemical performance of the electrode equipped with the BDD film was characterized by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in potassium ferricyanide. The results revealed that the thicker films exhibited a smaller peak potential difference, a lower charge transfer resistance, and a higher electron transfer rate. It was believed that the BDD film thickness-driven improvements of boron doping and electrochemical properties were mainly due to the columnar growth mode of CVD polycrystalline diamond film, which led to larger grain size and a lower grain boundary density with increasing film thickness.

Recent advances in the electrochemical applications of Ni-based metal organic frameworks (Ni-MOFs) and their derivatives.

Nickel-based metal-organic skeletal materials (Ni-MOFs) are a new class of inorganic materials that have aroused attention of investigators during past couple of years. They offer advantages such as high specific surface area, structural diversity, tunable framework etc. This assorted class of materials exhibited catalytic activity and electrochemical properties and display wide range of applications in the fields of electrochemical sensing, electrical energy storage and electrocatalysis. In this context, the presented review focuses on strategies to improve the electrochemical performance and stability of Ni-MOFs through the optimization of synthesis conditions, the construction of composite materials, and the preparation of derivatives of precursors. The review also presents the applications of Ni-MOFs and their derivatives as electrochemical sensors, energy storage devices, and electrocatalysts. In addition, the challenges and further electrochemical development prospects of Ni-MOFs have been discussed.

Photocatalytic TiO2 Nanoparticles Activated by Dielectric Barrier Discharge Plasma Assisted Ball Milling.

Developing defects on the surface of TiO2 nanoparticles by mechanical treatment is a fascinating approach to enhance photocatalytic efficiency. However, it poses risks to producing bulk defects and phase transformation, which seriously deteriorates photocatalytic performance. Here, activating TiO2 nanoparticles was elaborately fulfilled by using dielectric barrier discharge plasma assisted ball milling (DBDP-milling) as it imposes plasma to nano-scaled particles along with soft mechanical impact. The evolution of surface properties of TiO2 nanoparticles with DBDP-milling durations was inspected using a Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and an X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS), while the morphology and structure were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Results showed that DBDP-milling developed a considerable number of oxygen vacancies in TiO2 nanoparticles as well as bulk defects free. These TiO2 nanoparticles formed agglomerates with BET surface area of 37.40 m2/g and exhibited enhanced photocatalytic efficiency.

Nanocrystalline diamond matrix deposited on copper substrate by radical species restricted diffusion.

Nanocrystalline diamond matrix (or patterned nanocrystalline diamond) have been grown by hot filament chemical vapor deposition (HFCVD) on copper substrates, which were masked by a copper template filled with through-holes. The influence of the mixing ratio for CH4/H2 source gases, total gas pressure and the aspect ratio (the ratio of hole depth to its diameter) on the morphology, grain size and quality of diamond films were investigated. Continuous diamond films were obtained under 2.0 kpa. When increasing the aspect ratio from 0.67 to 2.0, a gradual reduction of diamond grain size from micrometer to nanometers scale was observed. The formation of nanocrystalline diamond (NCD) matrix can be attributed to the restricted diffusion of radical species and the diamond nucleation kinetics on copper substrates. By through-holes of templates on copper substrates to restrict the diffusion and transport of radical species, NCD matrix was successfully deposited on copper substrates.