Search

The development of photocatalysts with a wide spectral response and effective carrier separation capability is essential for the green degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride. In this study, a magnetic recyclable Z-scheme ZnO/ZnFe2O4 heterojunction (ZZF) was successfully constructed via the solid phase method, using MIL-88A(Fe)@Zn as the precursor. An appropriate band gap width and Z-scheme charge transfer mechanism provide ZZF with excellent visible light absorption performance, efficient charge separation, and a strong redox ability. Under visible light irradiation, the degradation efficiency of tetracycline hydrochloride for the optimal sample can reach 86.3% within 75 min in deionized water and 92.9% within 60 min in tap water, exhibiting superior stability and reusability after five cycles. Moreover, the catalyst in the water can be conveniently recovered by magnetic force. After visible light irradiation for 70 min, the temperature of the reaction system increased by 21.9 °C. Its degradation constant (35.53 × 10−3 min−1) increased to 5.1 times that at room temperature (6.95 × 10−3 min−1). Using thermal energy enhances the kinetic driving force of the reactants and facilitates carrier migration, meaning that more charge is available for the production of •O2− and •OH. This study provides a potential candidate for the efficient degradation of tetracycline hydrochloride by combining thermal catalysis with a photocatalytic heterojunction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, silicone rubber (SiR) with 0, 90, and 180 parts of aluminum hydroxide (Al(OH)3, ATH) contents prepared in the laboratory was treated in a certain concentration of NO2 for 0, 12, 24, and 36 h. Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and thermogravimetry (TG) were used to study the changes in the surface structure and thermal stability of SiR, as well as the influence of Al(OH)3 on the properties of SiR. According to AFM, the root-mean-square roughness of ATH-90 SiR was 192 nm, which was 2.7 times of ATH-0 SiR. With the incorporation of ATH, the surface of SiR became more susceptible to corrosion by NO2. According to FT-IR and XPS, with the increase in aging time, the side chain Si-CH3 of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was oxidized gradually and a few of nitroso -NO2 groups were formed. According to TG, the incorporation of ATH caused the maximum decomposition rate temperature of PDMS to advance from 458.65 °C to 449.37 and 449.26 °C, which shows that the thermal stability of SiR degraded by adding ATH. After NO2 aging, a new decomposition stage appeared between 75 and 220 °C (stage Ⅰ), and this decomposition trend was similar to aluminum nitrate, which was proven to reduce the thermal stability of PDMS. The effects of NO2 on the surface structure and thermal stability of different ATH contents of silicone rubber were preliminarily clarified by a variety of characterization methods, which provided ideas for the development of silicone rubber resistant to NO2 aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, functional graphene oxide (f-GO) nanosheets were prepared to enhance the NO2 resistibility of room-temperature-vulcanized (RTV) silicone rubber. A nitrogen dioxide (NO2) accelerated aging experiment was designed to simulate the aging process of nitrogen oxide produced by corona discharge on a silicone rubber composite coating, and then electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to test the process of conductive medium penetration into silicone rubber. After exposure to the same concentration (115 mg·L−1) of NO2 for 24 h, at an optimal filler content of 0.3 wt.%, the impedance modulus of the composite silicone rubber sample was 1.8 × 107 Ω·cm2, which is an order of magnitude higher than that of pure RTV. In addition, with an increase in filler content, the porosity of the coating decreases. When the content of the nanosheet increases to 0.3 wt.%; the porosity reaches a minimum value 0.97 × 10−4%, which is 1/4 of the porosity of the pure RTV coating, indicating that this composite silicone rubber sample has the best resistance to NO2 aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The organic piezoelectric polymer polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) has attracted extensive research because of its excellent flexibility and mechanical energy-harvesting properties. Here, the electrospinning technique was taken to fabricate synthesized fiber membranes of a PVDF/cellulose acetate (CA) composite. The obtained PVDF/CA electrospun fiber membranes (EFMs) were employed to prepare a flexible nanogenerator. XRD and FTIR spectroscopy revealed the enhancement of piezoelectric behavior due to an increase in β-phase in PVDF/CA EFMs compared with cast films. The PVDF/CA fibers (mass ratio of PVDF to CA = 9:1) showed an output voltage of 7.5 V and a short-circuit current of 2.1 μA under mechanical stress of 2 N and frequency of 1 Hz, which were 2.5 and two times greater than those of the pure PVDF fibers, respectively. By charging a 4.7 µF capacitor for 15 min with the voltage generated by the PVDF/CA EFMs, nine LED lamps could be lit. The work provides an effective approach to enhancing the piezoelectric effects of PVDF for low-power electronic loading of macromolecule polymers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Silicone rubber is widely used as an insulating material. In this article, silicone rubber samples were prepared by varying the content of crosslinker (2,5-bis(tert-butyl-peroxy)-2,5-dimethylhexane, DBPMH), and the free volume holes in the samples were investigated by means of positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) measurement. The surface chemical structure, surface micromorphology and water diffusion of the samples after corona discharge treatment were studied by FTIR, SEM and EIS measurements, respectively. As the crosslinker weight ratio increased from 0.2 wt.% to 1.5 wt.%, the mean free volume hole size first decreased and then remained unchanged. However, the concentration of free volume holes did not vary as the crosslinker weight ratio increased. SEM morphologies show that surface cracks were produced on samples having high crosslinking levels after corona treatment. The water diffusion coefficient of samples after corona treatment increased from 3.13 × 10−10 cm2 s−1 to 17.68 × 10−10 cm2 s−1 in the initial immersion period, as the crosslinker weight ratio increased from 0.2 wt.% to 3.0 wt.%. The results indicated that deterioration of samples with high crosslinking levels were more serious and water repellency more easily lost. The corona resistance ability of low crosslinking level silicone rubber stems from internal low molecular weight molecules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uniform polyaniline (PANI) nanotubes were synthesized by a self-assembly method under relatively dilute hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and UV-Vis-NIR spectroscopy were employed to characterize the morphology and molecular structure of the PANI products. SEM images show that the PANI nanotubes have uniform morphology and form compact coating on the substrate surface. For comparison, aggregated PANI was also synthesized by conventional polymerization method. The performance of the PANI products on carbon steel was studied using eletrochemical measurement and immersion corrosion experiment in 3.5 wt% NaCl aqueous solution. The corrosion potentials of carbon steel samples increase by 0.196 V and 0.060 V after coated with PANI nanotubes and aggregated PANI, respectively, and the corrosion currents density decrease by about 76.32% and 36.64%, respectively. The 6-day immersion experiment showed that the carbon steel samples coated by PANI nanotubes showed more excellent anticorrosion performance, because the more compact coating formed by PANI nanotubes may inhibit the corrosion process between the anodic and cathodic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy (PALS) were used to probe the changes of oligomers and the polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) network in silicone rubber, after different durations of UVA/UVB irradiation. At the early stage (<300 h) of UVA/UVB irradiation, the concentration of D 4 -D 9 decreases. The o-Ps intensity of the extracted silicone rubber increases in the stage after UVB irradiation. These results indicate the crosslinking of oligomers into the PDMS network. After a long duration (>300 h) of UVB irradiation, D 4 was generated and the lifetime of τ 3 also increased, indicating the rupture of the Si-O bond in the PDMS network. These two aging processes were termed the post curing process and the chain session process. The new finding was that UVA could only induce the post curing process; UVB causes the rupture of the chemical bond in silicone rubber. Photons of UVB could break the C-H bond, and then trigger the backbiting decomposition of PDMS, breaking the Si-O bond, while the photons of UVA cannot. The fact that D 4 was generated after UVB irradiation can be used to evaluate the UVB stability of silicone rubber in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vaccines against Porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) have been studied intensely and found to be effective in decreasing mortality and improving growth in swine populations. In this study, interleukin-23 (IL-23) gene was cloned from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of Tibetan pigs and inserted into a eukaryotic VR1020 expression vector-VRIL23. Coated with chitosan (CS), the VRIL23-CS was intramuscularly injected into 3-week-old piglets with PCV2 vaccine. The blood was collected after vaccination at 0, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 12 weeks, respectively, to detect the immunological changes. The IgG2a and specific PCV2 antibodies were detected using ELISA, and blood CD4+ and CD8+ T cells were quantified by flow cytometry. Quantitative fluorescence PCR was used to evaluate the expression of immune genes. The results indicate that leukocytes, erythrocytes, and CD4+ and CD8+ T cells increased significantly in the blood of VRIL23-CS inoculated piglets in comparison with the control (p < 0.05) and so did the IgG2a and PCV2 antibodies. In addition, the expressions of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2, TLR7, cluster of differentiation (CD) 45, IL-15, IL-12, signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)1, STAT2, STAT3, STAT4, and B-cell lymphoma (Bcl)-2 genes were also obviously higher in the VRIL23-CS inoculated pigs at different time points (p < 0.05). Overall, the results demonstrated that VRIL23-CS can enhance the comprehensive immune responses to PCV2 vaccine in vivo and has the promising potential to be developed into a safe and effective adjuvant to promote the immunity of pig against PCV disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improving the electrocatalytic performance of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is essential for oxygen-involved electrochemical devices, including water splitting and rechargeable metal–air batteries. In this work, we report that the OER performance of commercial catalysts of IrO2, Co3O4, and Pt-C can be improved by replacing the traditional Nafion® ionomer with newly synthesized copolymers consisting of protonated imidazolium moieties such as ion conductors and binders in electrodes. Specifically, such an improvement in OER performance for all the tested catalysts is more significant in basic and neutral environments than that under acidic conditions. We anticipate that the results will provide new ideas for the conceptual design of electrodes for oxygen-involved electrochemical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to multiple charge transport pathways, adjustable layer spacing, compositional flexibility, low manufacturing cost, and absorption of visible light, layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are a promising material for wastewater treatment. In this study, LDH films and Fe-doped LDH films with different metal ions (Ni, Al, Fe) on the surface of conductive cloth were successfully prepared and applied for the photocatalytic degradation of wastewater containing methyl orange and Ag ions under visible-light irradiation. The chemical state of Fe ions and the composition of LDHs on methyl orange photodegradation were investigated. The experimental results showed that LDH films exhibited high photocatalytic activity. The photocatalytic activity of LDH films on methyl orange improved in the mixed wastewater, and the Fe-doped NiAl–LDH films exhibited best visible-light photocatalytic performance. The analysis showed that Ag ions in the mixed wastewater were reduced by the LDH films and subsequently deposited on the surface of the LDH films. The Ag nanoparticles acted as electron traps and promoted the photocatalytic activity of the LDH films on methyl orange. Thus, we have demonstrated that prepared LDH films can be used in the treatment of mixed wastewater and have broad application prospects in environmental remediation and purification processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]