Layer-by-layer growth of Cu3(HHTP)2 films on Cu(OH)2 nanowire arrays for high performance ascorbic acid sensing.

Growing three-dimensional (3D) metal organic frameworks (MOFs) via heterogeneous epitaxial growth on metal hydroxide arrays are effective for constructing electrochemical sensor. However, the growth of MOFs is difficult to control, resulting in thick and irregular morphologies and even damage the metal hydroxide template. In this work, Cu3(HHTP)2 (HHTP = 2, 3, 6, 7, 10, 11-hexahydroxytriphenylene) films with controllable thickness and morphology were successfully prepared on Cu(OH)2 nanowire arrays (NWAs) through layer-by-layer (LBL) growth method. We have discovered that the LBL cycle and the reaction solvent composition are crucial for growing homogenous MOF thin films. The Cu3(HHTP)2 based ascorbic acid (AA) sensor, fabricated in ethanol within 10 LBL cycles, generated an ultrahigh sensitivity of 821.64 µA mM-1 cm-2 in the range of 6-981.41 µM, a low detection limit of 60 nM as well as the great selectivity, stability and reproducibility. Moreover, the relative deviation for AA detection in two fruit juices were 3.22 % and 3.71 %, and the test result for human sweat fall within the normal AA concentration range, verifying the feasibility of as-prepared sensor for practical application.

Tuning the morphology of Cu-MOFs nanostructures for sensitive ascorbic acid sensing.

Metal organic frameworks are an attractive platform to develop fascinating electrocatalysts for the oxidation of ascorbic acid (AA), and their different morphologies have been hinted in literature to impact their sensing performance. In this work, by varying the reaction medium of metal source and organic ligand, copper 2-hydroxybenzene-1,4-dicarboxylate (CuBDC-OH) nanosheets (NSs), nanorods (NRs) and bulk were generated. Thereinto, CuBDC-OH-NSs displayed the highest sensitivity of 151.99µA mM-1cm-2in the linear range of 12-1074µM, which is 1.5 times greater than that of CuBDC-OH NRs and 3.5 times greater than that of CuBDC-OH bulk. The electrochemical analyzes manifested that the superiority of nanosheets originated from higher oxidative current, larger electrochemical active surface area and lower charge transfer resistance, which enabling the efficient electro-oxidation of AA. Additionally, satisfactory selectivity, stability and reproducibility were obtained.

Control and regulation of skyrmionic topological charge in a novel synthetic antiferromagnetic nanostructure.

Skyrmionium is a combination of a skyrmion with a topological charge (Q is +1 or -1), resulting in a magnetic configuration with a total topological charge of Q = 0. Skyrmionium has distinctive characteristics, including a slightly higher velocity, motion restricted to the middle of the track without the skyrmion Hall effect (SkHE), and absence of an acceleration phase. However, there is little stray field due to the zero net magnetization, the topological charge Q is zero due to the magnetic configuration, and detecting skyrmionium is still challenging. In the present work, we propose a novel nanostructure composed of triple nanowires with a narrow channel. It was found that the skyrmionium is converted into a DW pair or skyrmion by the concave channel. It was also found that the topological charge Q can be regulated by Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) antiferromagnetic (AFM) exchange coupling. Moreover, we analyzed the mechanism of the function based on the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert (LLG) equation and energy variation and constructed a deep spiking neural network (DSNN) with a recognition accuracy of 98.6% with supervised learning via the spike timing dependent plasticity rule (STDP) by considering the nanostructure as an artificial synapse device corresponding to the electrical properties of the nanostructure. These results provide the means for skyrmion-skyrmionium hybrid application and neuromorphic computing applications.

Hierarchical copper-based metal-organic frameworks nanosheet assemblies for electrochemical ascorbic acid sensing.

Noninvasive human health monitoring requires the development of efficient electrochemical sensors for the quantitative analysis of infinitesimal biomolecules. In this work, we reported a novel hierarchical nanosheet assemblies (HSA) of copper-based metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) as an electrochemical sensor for ascorbic acid (AA) detection. Copper 1,4-benzenedicarboxylate (CuBDC) HSA was constructed by three steps of in situ growth on stone paper, including hydrolysis, anion exchange, and heteroepitaxy growth. The monodispersed two-dimensional MOFs nanosheet units were aligned in an orderly manner and arranged into three-dimensional hierarchical assemblies. The CuBDC HSA-based AA sensor displayed a high sensitivity of 396.8 µA mM-1 cm-2 and a low detection limit of 0.1 µM. Excellent selectivity, stability and reproducibility were also obtained. Benefiting from the advantages of ultrathin nanosheets and nature-inspired hierarchy, this unique architecture facilitated reactant dispersion and maximized the accessible active sites and charge-transport capability and thus had superior catalytic ability for the electro-oxidation of ascorbic acid compared to bulk MOFs. Moreover, the CuBDC HSA sensor performed AA level detection in juice samples with acceptable accuracy and verified the feasibility for sweat AA sensing. This novel MOFs architecture holds great potential as an electrochemical sensor to detect AA for noninvasive human health monitoring in the future.

In-situ construction of Au/Cu2O nanowire arrays for sensitive glucose sensing.

Architecture design is widely regarded as a rational strategy to enhance the sensing performance of electrocatalysts. Herein, the novel three-dimensional hybrids based on Au and Cu2O were successfully synthesized via steps of in-situ growth, including anodic oxidation, annealing and galvanic displacement. Cu2O appeared in the morphology of nanowire array on conductive substrate, and was decorated by Au nanoparticles. Benefiting from the unique architecture and binder-free fabrication process, the Au/Cu2O nanowire arrays possessed high conductivity and abundant exposed active sites, as well as facilitated the direct electron transfer among detection object, electrocatalyst and current collector. Moreover, Au/Cu2O particles as contrast were fabricated to clarify the effect of structure on sensing ability. The Au/Cu2O nanowire arrays drove the glucose electro-oxidation reaction with great catalytic activity, in which a potential as low as 0.4 V was needed to reach a high sensitivity of 2.098 mA mM-1 cm-2. The excellent selectivity, stability and reproducibility were also obtained by the sensor. Furthermore, the quantitative detection of glucose level in diluted human serum were performed and the satisfactory result make the obtained sensor have the potential for practical applications.

Domain wall motion driven by a wide range of current in coupled soft/hard ferromagnetic nanowires.

Racetrack memory with the advantages of small size and high reading speed is proposed based on current-induced domain wall (DW) motion in a ferromagnetic (FM) nanowire. Walker breakdown that restricts the enhancement of DW velocity in a single FM nanowire can be depressed by inter-wire magnetostatic coupling in a double FM nanowire system. However, this magnetostatic coupling also limits the working current density in a small range. In the present work, based on micromagnetic calculation, we have found that when there is a moderate difference of magnetic anisotropy constant between two FM nanowires, the critical current density for triggering the DW motion can be reduced while that for breaking the inter-wire coupling can be enhanced significantly to a magnitude of 1013 A m-2, which is far above the working current density in current electronic devices. The manipulation of working current density is relevant to the modification of DW structure and inter-wire magnetostatic coupling due to the difference of the anisotropy constants between the two nanowires and paves a way to develop racetrack memory that can work in a wide range of current.

Ag nanosheets grown on Cu nanowire-based flexible films for sensitive non-enzymatic glucose sensors.

Cu nanowire (Cu NW) and Ag nanosheet (Ag NS) bimetallic nanocomposites were fabricated on a flexible polyethylene terephthalate (PET) slice for non-enzymatic glucose sensing via a facile two-step approach, vacuum filtration, and galvanic displacement. Low-cost Cu NW-based conductive films were employed as the conductive substrates to substitute the traditional glassy carbon electrodes or indium tin oxide electrodes. The highly stable Ag NSs grow directly on the surface of Cu NWs without additional binders. The AgNO3 concentration and displacement time were adjusted to control the consumption of Cu NWs and the growth of Ag nanostructures. With the large load of Ag and the great connection of Cu NWs, a high sensitivity of 2033 µA mM-1cm-2, a fast amperometric response of 2 s, a wide linear range of 0.0015-4.02 mM, and a satisfactory result in human serum analysis were obtained by this novel Ag NS/Cu NW/PET sensor. Especially the sensitivity of the sensor was over four-fold higher than that of pure Cu NWs/PET, benefiting from the synergistic effect of bimetals. Furthermore, the Ag NS/Cu NW/PET sensor demonstrated a stable amperometric signal against mechanical bending. The material holds promise to use to fabricate flexible electrochemical devices.

Readable High-Speed Racetrack Memory Based on an Antiferromagnetically Coupled Soft/Hard Magnetic Bilayer.

The current-induced domain wall (DW) motion in a racetrack memory with a synthetic antiferromagnets (SAFs) structure has attracted attention because of the ultrahigh velocity of the DW. However, since there is little stray field due to the zero net magnetization in a pair of antiferromagnetically (AFM) coupled domains, how to read the information stored in the pair of domains is still challenging. In the present work, we propose a readable SAF racetrack memory composed of two ferromagnetic (FM) layers with distinct uniaxial-anisotropy constants. As a result, a region of staggered domains formed between two neighboring DWs in the two layers. In this region, there is a parallel alignment of the moments in the two FM layers. This parallel magnetization is readable and can be exploited to label the structure of the nearby AFM-coupled domains for the racetrack with DWs moving in a fixed direction. This function can be realized by connecting a Schmitt Trigger to a sensor for reading. The stability and the length of the staggered region can be well-tuned by changing the magnetic parameters, such as the interlayer exchange coupling constants, the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction (DMI) constants, and the uniaxial-anisotropy constants of the two FM layers, in a range that is experimentally achievable.

Post-functionalization of UiO-66-NH2 by 2,5-Dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole for the high efficient removal of Hg(II) in water.

A new MOFs adsorbent was prepared by post-functionalization of UiO-66-NH2 with 2,5-Dimercapto-1,3,4-thiadiazole and utilized to remove the Hg(II) in water selectively. The UiO-66-types were detected by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and zeta potential instruments. The adsorption properties of the new MOFs adsorbent were investigated by batch experiments. The actual maximum adsorption amount was 670.5 mg/g at the optimal pH of 3. Adsorption kinetic and isotherm models were exceedingly fitted to pseudo-second-order and Langmuir/Dubinin-Radushkevich, respectively. The adsorption process and mode were geared to monolayer and chemisorption, the removal rate was directly proportional to the square of mercury ions concentration. The UiO-66-DMTD adsorbent was easy to be regenerated and the removal rate decreased by only 13.5% after ten consecutive cycles. The results of FTIR, XRD and XPS suggested that the adsorption mechanism lay on the complexation reaction between Hg(II) and thiol/nitrogen-containing groups. Moreover, compared with other competitive metal ions, viz., Zn(II), Co(IV), Ni(II), Cd(II), Mg(II), Fe(III), Ca(II) and Cu(II), the UiO-66-DMTD demonstrated an outstanding selective adsorption for Hg(II). These results manifested that the UiO-66-DMTD was a latent adsorbent for the efficient and selective removal of Hg(II) in wastewater.

Electrochemical deposition of layered copper thin films based on the diffusion limited aggregation.

In this work layered copper films with smooth surface were successfully fabricated onto ITO substrate by electrochemical deposition (ECD) and the thickness of the films was nearly 60 nm. The resulting films were characterized by SEM, TEM, AFM, XPS, and XRD. We have investigated the effects of potential and the concentration of additives and found that 2D dendritic-like growth process leaded the formation of films. A suitable growth mechanism based on diffusion limited aggregation (DLA) mechanism for the copper films formation is presented, which are meaningful for further designing homogeneous and functional films.