Spherical Polydopamine-Modified Carbon-Felt Cathode with an Active Indole Structure for Efficient Hydrogen Peroxide Electroproduction

As one of the most promising methods for H2O2 production, H2O2 electroproduction has received increasingly more attention. In this study, a spherical particle polydopamine (pDA) modified carbon felt (noted as ht-pDA/ACF) for H2O2 production was fabricated. At a constant potential of 2.0 V and pH of 1.0, the H2O2 production of the ht-pDA/ACF cathode reached 220 mg/L after 6 h of electrolyzing, compared to the 30 mg/L H2O2 production of raw carbon felt. Firstly, the spherical pDA exposes more active sites that are favorable to the 2e− ORR compared to pDA film. Secondly, the ring cleavage and re-cyclization of indole structure in the pDA during electrolyzing could form the radicals that act as the intermediate to the H2O2 formation. This research exhibits a low-cost method to modify carbon materials for effective H2O2 electroproduction. The ht-pDA/ACF cathode is promising for green H2O2 production and wastewater treatment.

Electro-catalytic amplified sensor for determination of N-acetylcysteine in the presence of theophylline confirmed by experimental coupled theoretical investigation

The 1,l/-bis(2-phenylethan-1-ol)ferrocene, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluoro phosphate (BMPF6) and NiO-SWCNTs were used to modify carbon paste electrode (BPOFc/BMPF6/NiO-SWCNTs/CPE), which could act as an electro-catalytic tool for the analysis of N-acetylcysteine in this work. The BPOFc/BMPF6/NiO-SWCNTs/CPE with high electrical conductivity showed two completely separate signals with oxidation potentials of 432 and 970 mV for the first time that is sufficient for the determination of N-acetylcysteine in the presence of theophylline. The BPOFc/BMPF6/NiO-SWCNTs/CPE showed linear dynamic ranges of 0.02–300.0 μM and 1.0–350.0 μM with the detection limit of ~ 8.0 nM and 0.6 μM for the measurement of N-acetylcysteine and theophylline, respectively. In the second part, understanding the nature of interaction, quantum conductance modulation, electronic properties, charge density, and adsorption behavior of N-acetylcysteine on NiO–SWCNTs surface from first-principle studies through the use of theoretical investigation is vital for designing high-performance sensor materials. The N-acetylcysteine molecule was chemisorbed on the NiO–SWCNTs surface by suitable adsorption energies (− 1.102 to − 5.042 eV) and reasonable charge transfer between N-acetylcysteine and NiO–SWCNTs.

Phosphorus-doped inverse opal g-C3N4 for efficient and selective CO generation from photocatalytic reduction of CO2

In this work, inverse opal (IO) structure construction and phosphorus doping were combined to modify carbon nitride (g-C3N4) for the photocatalytic reduction of CO2.

Polyethyleneimine Modified Carbon Cloth Anode for Self-Pumping Enzymatic Glucose Biofuel Cell

This paper proposes a simplified process that immobilizes enzymes onto carbon cloth electrodes to increase biofuel cell functionality. Polyethyleneimine (PEI) is used to modify carbon cloth electrodes to reduce the processing time and increase self-pumping enzymatic glucose biofuel cell (self-pumping EGBC) electricity. PEI is usually used in biochemical engineering gene transfection as GOx support to enhance enzyme immobilization. PEI is a good candidate for increasing enzymatic biofuel cell (EBC) redox current. PEI and GOx have been successfully immobilized onto carbon cloth electrodes through FT-IR analysis. A UV/Vis spectrophotometer was used to investigate the best PEI support concentration. PEI was proven to improve redox current by cyclic voltammetry analysis. The results show that the GOx/PEI electrode has excellent hydrophilicity on the GOx/PEI electrode surface using contact angle measurement. The optical and electrochemical analysis result shows that GOx/PEI was successfully immobilized onto carbon cloth electrodes. Experimental analysis showed that self-pumping EGBC achieved a power output of 0.609 mW/cm2 (126.9 mW/cm3). PEI contributes to the shortening of the process from a few hours to 5–10 minutes and enhances GOx fuel cell performance.

Biomimetic structure of carbon fiber cloth grafted with poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) for water collection and smart gates

An eco-friendly, facile, and efficient method was developed to modify carbon fiber cloth (CFC) having superhydrophobic or hydrophilic properties.