CTAB-Assisted Synthesis of FeNi Alloy Nanoparticles: Effective and Stable Electrocatalysts for Urea Oxidation Reactions.

Development of highly efficient electrocatalysts for treating urea-rich wastewater is an important problem in environmental management and energy production. In this work, an iron-nickel alloy (Fe-Ni alloy) was synthesized via soft-template cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB)-assisted precipitation using low-temperature calcination. The as-synthesized nanoalloy was characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), which revealed the formation of a face-centered cubic (FCC) structure of the Fe-Ni alloy; field emission-scanning electron microscopic (FE-SEM) analysis revealed the spherical shape of the Fe-Ni alloy; high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) revealed the average size to be ∼33.09 nm; and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) showed the presence of Fe, Ni, C, and O components and their chemical composition and valence states in the Fe-Ni alloy. The electrochemical urea oxidation reaction (UOR) was investigated by conducting linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) tests on the synthesized electrocatalysts with different Ni/Fe ratios in alkaline electrolytes with urea. The potential required to reach a current density of 10 mA cm-2 is 1.27 V vs RHE, which demonstrates the higher electrochemical activity of the Fe-Ni alloy compared to other individual compounds. This could be due to CTAB which improved the structural stability and synergetic and electronic effects in the nanoscale. This study will further contribute to renewable energy generation technology with long-term energy sustainability and also opens up great potential for reducing water pollution.

Bismuth-Oxide-Decorated Graphene Oxide Hybrids for Catalytic and Electrocatalytic Reduction of CO2.

Global warming challenges are fueling the demand to develop an efficient catalytic system for the reduction of CO2 , which would contribute significantly to the control of climate change. Herein, as-synthesized bismuthoxide-decorated graphene oxide (Bi2 O3 @GO) was used as an electro/thermal catalyst for CO2 reduction. Bi2 O3 @GO is found to be distributed uniformly, as confirmed by scanning electron and transmission electron microscopic analysis. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern shows that the Bi2 O3 has a ß-phase with 23.4 m2 g-1 BET surface area. Significantly, the D and G bands from Raman spectroscopic analysis and their intensity ratio (ID /IG ) reveal the increment in defective sites on GO after surface decoration. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis shows clear signals for Bi, C, and O, along with their oxidation states. An ultra-low onset potential (-0.534 V vs. RHE) for the reduction of CO2 on Bi2 O3 @GO is achieved. Furthermore, potential-dependent (-0.534, -0.734, and -0.934 vs. RHE) bulk electrolysis of CO2 to formate provides Faradaic efficiencies (FE) of approximately 39.72, 61.48, and 83.00 %, respectively. Additionally, in time-dependent electrolysis at a potential of -0.934 versus RHE for 3 and 5 h, the observed FEs are around 84.20 % and 87.17 % respectively. This catalyst is also used for the thermal reduction of CO2 to formate. It is shown that the thermal reduction provides a path for industrial applications, as this catalyst converts a large amount of CO2 to formate (10 mm).

Bi2O3 Nanoparticles Decorated Carbon Nanotube: An Effective Nanoelectrode for Enhanced Electrocatalytic 4-Nitrophenol Reduction.

4-Nitrophenol (4-NP) is present in most industrial waste water resources as an organic pollutant, and is a highly toxic and environmentally hazardous pollutant. Herein, we report that bismuth oxide (Bi2O3) decorated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (Bi2O3@MWCNTs) are the most prominent electrocatalyst for 4-NP electroreduction in acidic conditions. The electrocatalyst is synthesized by a simple chemical reduction method using ethylene glycol as a capping agent. The synthesized Bi2O3@MWCNTs electrocatalyst has been well-characterized by Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Raman spectroscopy. Bi2O3@MWCNTs have a cubic structure which is confirmed by XRD. TEM imaging reveals Bi2O3 NPs are ~2 nm in size, are grown on MWCNTs and that these nanoparticles are active toward 4-NP electroreduction. The electrochemical studies by cyclic voltammetry measurements show that the Bi2O3@MWCNTs electrocatalyst can sense 4-NP at a very low potential i.e., -0.17 vs. saturated calomel electrode (SCE). Furthermore, electroanalytical parameters like scan rate and concentration dependence were studied with electrochemcial impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and the effect of pH on cathodic current was examined under experimental conditions. The lower limit of detection (LOD) was found to be 0.1 µM for the Bi2O3@MWCNTs nanomaterial and is excellent toward 4-NP. The present study has applications for reducing water pollution and for sorting out related issues.

Enhanced oxygen evolution reaction on amine functionalized graphene oxide in alkaline medium.

Development of highly efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts is a critical challenge in the cost-effective generation of clean fuels. Here, a metal-free tyramine functionalized graphene oxide (T-GO) electrocatalyst is proposed to use in alkaline electrolytes for enhanced OER. Moreover, the T-GO and GO nanomaterials are well characterized by SEM, XRD, FTIR, XPS and Raman spectroscopy. T-GO exhibits an electrocatalytic OER with a current density of 2 mA cm-2 at a low onset potential of ∼1.39 V and a small Tafel slope of about 69 mV dec-1 and GO exhibits an onset potential of 1.51 V and Tafel slope of about 92 mV dec-1. Additionally, the current stability and RRDE based diffusion controlled response of the T-GO electrocatalyst are outstanding compared to GO. This study establishes metal free T-GO as an efficient electrocatalyst for the OER and used for cathodic production of hydrogen as a counter reaction in the field of water splitting.

Graphene oxide-based electrochemical activation of ethionamide towards enhanced biological activity.

The electrochemical behavior of ethionamide (ETO) was investigated on GO (∼500 nm) using the linear sweep voltammetric (LSV) technique at the sweep rate of 10 mV s-1 in 1 M PBS buffer solution, and the characteristic anodic signal was examined at 0.240 V over the potential range of -0.4 to 1 V vs. SCE. However, linearity was observed with the increase in scan rate (2-300 mV s-1) and concentration of ETO (1 µM to 100 mM), suggesting that the process involved diffusion-controlled electron transfer. The results also exhibited excellent current and potential stability, limit of detection (LOD 1.33) and limit of quantification (LOQ 4.4) at optimized experimental conditions. This electrochemical oxidation method was successfully applied in the complete oxidation of ETO to its oxidized form, which was further confirmed by high resolution mass spectroscopy (HRMS) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopic measurements. Interestingly, the comparative biological evaluation of ETO and ETO-O (oxidised form) showed good enhancement in the activity of oxidised ETO against some Gram-negative pathogens, such as E. aerogenes, S. abony, S. boydii, and E. coli.