Surface modifications are established well as efficient methodologies to enhance comprehensive Li-storage behaviors of the cathodes and play a significant role in cutting edge innovations toward ...lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, we first logically devised a pilot-scale coating strategy to integrate solid-state electrolyte NaTi2(PO4)3 (NTP) and layered LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2 (NMC) for smart construction of core–shell NMC@NTP cathodes. The Nasicon-type NTP nanoshell with exceptional ion conductivity effectively suppressed gradual encroachment and/or loss of electroactive NMC, guaranteed stable phase interfaces, and meanwhile rendered small sur-/interfacial electron/ion-diffusion resistance. By benefiting from immanently promoting contributions of the nano-NTP coating, the as-fabricated core–shell NMC@NTP architectures were competitively endowed with superior high-voltage cyclic stabilities and rate capacities within larger electrochemical window from 3.0 to 4.6 V when utilized as advanced cathodes for advanced LIBs. More meaningfully, the appealing electrode design concept proposed here will exert significant impact upon further constructing other high-voltage Ni-based cathodes for high-energy/power LIBs.
Wear and friction are two unavoidable failures in mechanical systems with moving components. Hence, the invention of new materials to curtail material losses and frictional energy remains a ...formidable obstacle in modern times. High entropy alloys (HEAs) introduce a revolutionary alloy design concept focused on several primary elements and vast compositional space. They offer considerable promise for the development of materials with exceptional wear resistance and reduced friction owing to their exceptional thermal stability, high hardness, good corrosion resistance, and superior mechanical strength. Therefore, researchers have shown a growing interest in HEAs over the last decade to obtain outstanding tribological properties that are unachievable with traditional alloys. This review focuses on various aspects of HEAs tribology such as alloying, heat treatment, surface alterations, coatings, and composites under dry and lubricated conditions. A critical assessment of the microstructure developments, manufacturing processes, and parametric variables that govern the tribo-behavior of HEAs also falls under the span of this review. Finally, this review not only highlights the major findings of the preceding research but also proposes future recommendations on the manufacturing and required advancement of HEAs for diverse tribological applications.
Cold plasma (CP) is an emerging technology, which has attracted the attention of scientists globally. It was originally developed for ameliorating the printing and adhesion properties of polymers ...plus a variety of usage domains in electronics. In the last decade, its applications were extended into the food industry as a powerful tool for non-thermal processing, with diverse forms for utilization.
This review presents an overview of recent studies on the application of cold plasma in the food industry. Specific areas discussed include microbial decontamination of food products, packaging material processing, functionality modification of food materials and dissipation of agrochemical residues. The application of CP has also been expanded into areas, such as hydrogenation of edible oils, mitigation of food allergy, inactivation of anti-nutritional factors, tailoring of seed germination performance and effluent management. In addition, the paper provides a summary of plasma chemistry and sources, factors influencing plasma efficiency and strategies for augmentation. Furthermore, key areas for future research are highlighted and salient drawbacks are discussed.
The recent studies conducted on the interaction of reactive species with food contact surfaces establish plasma processing as an eco-friendly technique with minimal changes to food products, making it a befitting alternative to traditional techniques. Active researches focused on up-scaling for commercial applications are urgently required.
•Cold plasma technology has continued to gain positive ratings in the food industry.•Interaction of reactive species with food materials minimally affects quality parameters.•New pathways for their utilization during food processing were highlighted.•Future research pathways to facilitate their recognition were proposed.
Surface modification, which is simply about the end-capping of the reactive silanol groups located in silica wet gel to satisfy hydrophobic behavior, has great importance in the production of silica ...aerogels in ambient conditions. In this study, silica aerogels were synthesized with a sol-gel method via ambient pressure drying. A two-step surface modification was performed on wet gels by using various silanes with different contents (6%, 10% or 20% by vol in n-hexane) to control the extent of irreversible shrinkage during drying. Mono-functional (TMCS) and three-functional silanes (MTMS, MTES and MEMO) were selected for this purpose. The impact of the type and amount of the silylating agents on the microstructure, pore characteristics and hygroscopic nature of resulting aerogels were identified by conducting FTIR, SEM and BET analyses and contact angle measurements. According to characterization results, MTES exhibits a competitive performance compared to classically used TMCS, as the silica aerogels modified with 10% of MTES was obtained in a well-developed with mesoporous structure with very high specific surface area (SBET = 964m2/g) and high hydrophobicity (Θ = 137°). On the other hand, organically functionalized silane MEMO and MTMS, also display noteworthy results (monolithical structure with highly developed porous network and high degree of hydrophobicity) at the low contents (at 6% and 10%). These outcomes are crucial as they may encourage the future attempts on introducing three-functional silanes during surface modification, as these silanes yield high silylation performance and causes the synthesis of well-qualified silica aerogel in ambient conditions.
•B,Cs co-doped g-C3N4 nanosheets successfully were synthesized.•B,Cs co-doped g-C3N4 nanosheets showed H2 evolution rate of 1120 μmolg-1h−1.•The optimized structure showed H2O2 production rate of 113 ...μmolg-1h−1.•B and Cs doping increased charge carrier mobility in g-C3N4 structure.•Thin nanosheets decreased diffusion distance for the charge carriers and reactants.
This study reports the synthesis of a highly efficient visible-light-driven photocatalyst for hydrogen evolution and H2O2 production by manipulating the electronic band structure and surface properties of g-C3N4. Boron and caesium co-doped g-C3N4 porous and wrinkled nanosheets were nobly synthesized by using recrystallization of melamine in water in the presence of boric acid and CsCl followed by calcination and thermal etching. The prepared nanosheets showed an extremely porous and wrinkled structure with high surface area and edge sites. The optimized B, Cs co-doped g-C3N4 nanosheets exhibited a stable hydrogen evolution rate of 1,120 μmolg-1h−1 in the presence of triethanolamine, which is 7.7 times higher than that of the bulk. Moreover, this optimized structure showed a greatly increased hydrogen peroxide production rate of 113 μmolg-1h−1 compared to that (19 μmolg-1h−1) of the bulk GCN-B. Meanwhile, the optimized structure showed a high photooxidation ability toward RhB oxidation. This outstanding improvement in photocatalytic performance is attributed to the enhanced charge carrier mobility in the π-conjugated structure and increased accessible reaction sites for photocatalytic reactions originated from the synergetic effect of co-doping and formation of the porous and wrinkled nanosheets.
Although membrane technology has demonstrated outstanding pathogen removal capabilities, current commercial membranes are insufficient for removing small viruses at trace levels due to certain ...limitations. The theoretical and practical significance of developing a new form of hydrophilic, anti-fouling, and virus-specific ultra-purification membrane with high capturing and separation efficiency, stability, and throughput for water treatment is of the utmost importance. In this study, molecularly imprinted membranes (MIMs) were fabricated from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membranes utilizing novel surface hydrophilic modification techniques, followed by the immobilization of virus-specific molecularly imprinted nanoparticles (nanoMIPs) as synthetic receptors. Three distinct membrane functionalization strategies were established and optimized for the first time: membrane functionalization with (i) polyethyleneimine (PEI) and dopamine (DOP), (ii) PEI and 3-(chloropropyl)-trimethoxysilane (CTS), and (iii) chitosan (CS). Hydrophilicity was enhanced significantly as a result of these modification strategies. Additionally, the modifications enabled spacer arms between the membrane surface and the nanoMIPs to decrease steric hindrance. The surface chemistry, morphology, and membrane performance results from the characterization analysis of the MIMs demonstrated excellent hydrophilicity (e.g., the functionalized membrane presented 37.84° while the unmodified bare membrane exhibited 128.94° of water contact angle), higher permeation flux (145.96 L m−2 h−1 for the functionalized membrane), excellent uptake capacity (up to 99.99 % for PEI-DOP-MIM and CS-MIM), and recovery (more than 80 % for PEI-DOP-MIM). As proof of concept, the cutting-edge MIMs were able to eliminate the model adenoviruses up to 99.99 % from water. The findings indicate that the novel functionalized PVDF membranes hold promise for implementation in practical applications for virus capture and separation.
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•Three distinct surface modification strategies established for PVDF membranes.•Integration of synthetic receptors on functionalized membranes using spacer arms.•High performance virus capturing and separation using functionalized membranes.•Membrane modification optimized by AFM, SEM, contact angle & surface energy analyses.•99.99 % elimination of pathogenic viruses from water samples.
Since their first synthesis, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) gained remarkable research interest owing to their astonishing mechanical properties and extensive range of potential applications in various ...sectors, such as aerospace, automobile, biomedical, defence, energy, etc. This paper covers numerous characterization techniques, synthesis approaches and properties of the CNTs, reported by earlier researchers in the past. The technological and industrial needs for the development of lightweight nanocomposites have led to the significant advancements in the preparation of CNT-reinforced composites. In preliminary sections, the properties and applications of the CNT-reinforced nanocomposites are elaborated along with the issues related to their preparation. Here, various nanotubes synthesis processes, such as arc discharge, laser ablation and chemical vapour deposition, are exemplified with the support of published works. Furthermore, we have also addressed the several surface modification techniques of CNTs, such as purification, functionalization and dispersion, which make this review novel and exhaustive. In order to address the limitations and challenges incurred during the preparation of various CNT-reinforced polymer/metal matrix composites, an extensive collection of the published literature is reported and discussed, thoroughly. Based on this exhaustive review, some specific observations are made which would facilitate upcoming researches to explore the research opportunities in the preparation of CNTs and CNT-reinforced composites and their potential applications for the high-performance structures/components.
•Metal-based nanoparticles exert a diverse range of inactivation mechanisms, limiting the development of viral resistance.•Antiviral mechanisms include oxidative damage and binding protein inhibition ...to effectively disable a broad range of viruses.•Nanoparticles can be integrated into materials such as polymers and gels to confer sterilizing properties.•The efficacy of nanoparticles for inactivating structurally similar viruses demonstrates potential for inhibiting SARS-CoV-2.
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Nanoparticles provide new opportunities in merging therapeutics and new materials, with current research efforts just beginning to scratch the surface of their diverse benefits and potential applications. One such application, the use of inorganic nanoparticles in antiseptic coatings to prevent pathogen transmission and infection, has seen promising developments. Notably, the high reactive surface area to volume ratio and unique chemical properties of metal-based nanoparticles enables their potent inactivation of viruses. Nanoparticles exert their virucidal action through mechanisms including inhibition of virus-cell receptor binding, reactive oxygen species oxidation and destructive displacement bonding with key viral structures. The prevention of viral outbreaks is one of the foremost challenges to medical science today, emphasizing the importance of research efforts to develop nanoparticles for preventative antiviral applications. In this review, the use of nanoparticles to inactivate other viruses, such as influenza, HIV-1, or norovirus, among others, will be discussed to extrapolate broad-spectrum antiviral mechanisms that could also inhibit SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis. This review analyzes the published literature to highlight the current state of knowledge regarding the efficacy of metal-based nanoparticles and other antiviral materials for biomedical, sterile polymer, and surface coating applications.
The interlayer assembled electrode modified with surface functionalized Ti3C2Cl2 MXene nanodots exhibit excellent pseudocapacitor storage performance (2010.8F g−1 at 1.0 A g−1, 94.1% capacity ...retention after 10,000 cycles).
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Although electrodes based on two dimensional hybrids with interstratification-assemble have been widely studied for supercapacitors, the performance enhancement still remains challenge mainly due to the random dispersion of surface passivated two dimensional nanosheets. Herein, a new covalent surface functionalization of MXene-based Ti3C2Cl2 nanodots-interspersed MXene@NiAl-layered double hydroxides (QD-Ti3C2Cl2@NiAl-LDHs) hybrid electrode with superior pseudocapacitor storage performance has been elaborately designed by electrostatic-assembled. As a result, the QD-Ti3C2Cl2@NiAl-LDHs electrode exhibits a super specific capacitance of 2010.8F g−1 at 1.0 A g−1 and high energy density of 100.5 Wh kg−1 at a power density of 299.8 W kg−1. In addition, 94.1% capacitance retention is achieved after cycling for 10,000 cycles at 1.0 A g−1, outperforming previously reported of two dimensional hybrids electrode for supercapacitor. Furthermore, density functional theory (DFT) calculations show that the superior pseudocapacitor storage performance of the QD-Ti3C2Cl2@NiAl-LDHs may be attributed to the creation of numerous electrochemical active sites and the enhancement of electrical conductivity by the QD-Ti3C2Cl2 MXene. This work provides new strategy for developing excellent pseudocapacitor supercapacitor based on two dimensional hybrid electrode.
Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE) is used in biomedical applications due to its high wear-resistance, ductility, and biocompatibility. A great deal of research in recent decades has ...focused on further improving its mechanical and tribological performances in order to provide durable implants in patients. Several methods, including irradiation, surface modifications, and reinforcements have been employed to improve the tribological and mechanical performance of UHMWPE. The effect of these modifications on tribological and mechanical performance was discussed in this review.
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