Macro-/meso-porous NiCo2O4 synthesized by template-free solution combustion to enhance the performance of a nonenzymatic amperometric glucose sensor

Plasma-Engineering of Oxygen Vacancies on NiCo2O4 Nanowires with Enhanced Bifunctional Electrocatalytic Performance for Rechargeable Zinc-air Battery

Designing an efficient, durable, and inexpensive bifunctional electrocatalyst toward oxygen evolution reactions (OER) and oxygen reduction reactions (ORR) remains a significant challenge for the development of rechargeable zinc-air batteries (ZABs). The generation of oxygen vacancies plays a vital role in modifying the surface properties of transition-metal-oxides (TMOs) and thus optimizing their electrocatalytic performances. Herein, a H2/Ar plasma is employed to generate abundant oxygen vacancies at the surfaces of NiCo2O4 nanowires. Compared with the Ar plasma, the H2/Ar plasma generated more oxygen vacancies at the catalyst surface owing to the synergic effect of the Ar-related ions and H-radicals in the plasma. As a result, the NiCo2O4 catalyst treated for 7.5 min in H2/Ar plasma exhibited the best bifunctional electrocatalytic activities and its gap potential between Ej = 10 for OER and E1/2 for ORR is even smaller than that of the noble-metal-based catalyst. In situ electrochemical experiments are also conducted to reveal the proposed mechanisms for the enhanced electrocatalytic performance. The rechargeable ZABs, when equipped with cathodes utilizing the aforementioned catalyst, achieved an outstanding charge-discharge gap, as well as superior cycling stability, outperforming batteries employing noble-metal catalyst counterparts.

Controlled synthesis of transition metal oxide multi-shell structures andin situstudy of the energy storage mechanism

Multi-shell transition metal oxide hollow spheres show great potential for applications in energy storage because of their unique multilayered hollow structure with large specific surface area, short electron and charge transport paths, and structural stability. In this paper, the controlled synthesis of NiCo2O4, MnCo2O4, NiMn2O4multi-shell layer structures was achieved by using the solvothermal method. As the anode materials for Li-ion batteries, the three multi-shell structures maintained good stability after 650 long cycles in the cyclic charge/discharge test. Thein situtransmisssion electron microscope characterization combined with cyclic voltammetry tests demonstrated that the three anode materials NiCo2O4, MnCo2O4and NiMn2O4have similar charge/discharge transition mechanisms, and the multi-shell structure can effectively buffer the volume expansion and structural collapse during lithium embedding/delithiation to ensure the stability of the electrode structure and cycling performance. The research results can provide effective guidance for the synathesis and charging/discharging mechanism of multi-shell metal oxide lithium-ion battery anode materials.

Ultrasmall nitrogen-doped Cu0·92Co2·08O4 nanocrystal-decorated cerium dioxide nanoparticles for fast and complete degradation of ranitidine via permonosulfate activation

A simple and efficient coagulation method was used for the rapid preparation of nitrogen-doped copper-cobalt oxide (N-Cu_0.92Co_2·08O₄) supported on cerium dioxide (CeO₂), that is, N-Cu_0.92Co_2·08O₄@CeO₂. A low concentration of N-Cu_0.92Co_2·08O₄@CeO₂ (0.15 g L^-1) was shown to rapidly activate permonosulfate (PMS) (0.15 g L^-1) to achieve 100% degradation of ranitidine within 10 min. A 100% degradation of ranitidine enabled by the catalyst was achieved over a wide range of pH (5.5-9.0), which could be completed within 8 min in the presence of anionic H₂PO₄^-. Moreover, the N-Cu_0.92Co_2·08O₄@CeO₂ catalyst enabled more than 90% degradation of various typical antibiotics within 30 min, including tetracycline, sulfaixoxazole, and chloramphenicol, with degradation rates of 100%, 93.51%, and 90.01%, respectively. Even after four catalytic cycles, N-Cu_0.92Co_2·08O₄@CeO₂ could be regenerated to achieve 100% degradation of ranitidine. Electrochemical analysis demonstrated that the combination of N-Cu_0.92Co_2·08O₄@CeO₂ and PMS immediately produced a strong current density, thereby rapidly producing reactive oxygen species (ROS) with high performance for the degradation of the target pollutant. Combined ion quenching and electron paramagnetic resonance analyses indicated that the main ROS was the non-free radical ¹O₂. Finally, a plausible ranitidine degradation pathway was deduced based on liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis, wherein the toxic substance N-nitrosodimethylamine was not produced during the degradation process. In short, this study provides a new perspective for preparing ternary metal catalysts for advanced oxidation processes with practical application significance.

Defect Surface Engineering of Hollow NiCo2S4 Nanoprisms towards Performance-Enhanced Non-Enzymatic Glucose Oxidation

Transition metal sulfides have been explored as electrode materials for non-enzymatic detection. In this work, we investigated the effects of phosphorus doping on the electrochemical performances of NiCo₂S₄ electrodes (P-NiCo₂S₄) towards glucose oxidation. The fabricated non-enzymatic biosensor displayed better sensing performances than pristine NiCo₂S₄, with a good sensitivity of 250 µA mM^-1 cm^-2, a low detection limit (LOD) of 0.46 µM (S/N = 3), a wide linear range of 0.001 to 5.2 mM, and high selectivity. Moreover, P-NiCo₂S₄ demonstrated its feasibility for glucose determination for practical sample testing. This is due to the fact that the synergetic effects between Ni and Co species, and the partial substitution of S vacancies with P can help to increase electronic conductivity, enrich binary electroactive sites, and facilitate surface electroactivity. Thus, it is found that the incorporation of dopants into NiCo₂S₄ is an effective strategy to improve the electrochemical activity of host materials.

Prism-like bimetallic (Ni-Co) alkaline carboxylate-based non-enzymatic sensor capable of exceptionally high catalytic activity towards glucose

In this study, we fabricated a novel non-enzymatic glucose sensor based on prism-like bimetallic alkaline carboxylate (CoNi-MIM). The morphology and structure of CoNi-MIM were carefully investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The electrochemical glucose oxidation of the synthesized sensor was then explored by cyclic voltammetry (CV) and chronoamperometry in alkaline medium. It was found that CoNi-MIM is the optimal choice with a remarkably high sensitivity of 5024.4 μA mM^-1 cm^-2, low detection limit of 56.1 nM (S/N = 3), linear response of up to 14.3 mM and excellent selectivity compared to Co-MIM, CoFe-MIM and CoMn-MIM. Furthermore, the as-fabricated sensor demonstrated appreciable practicality for the determination of glucose in real samples. These results indicate that CoNi-MIM holds a good application prospect in non-enzymatic glucose sensing.

Copper Cobalt Sulfide Structures Derived from MOF Precursors with Enhanced Electrochemical Glucose Sensing Properties

Nonenzymatic electrochemical detection of glucose is popular because of its low price, simple operation, high sensitivity, and good reproducibility. Co-Cu MOFs precursors were synthesized via the solvothermal way at first, and a series of porous spindle-like Cu-Co sulfide microparticles were obtained by secondary solvothermal sulfurization, which maintained the morphology of the MOFs precursors. Electrochemical studies exhibit that the as-synthesized Cu-Co sulfides own excellent nonenzymatic glucose detection performances. Compared with CuS, Co (II) ion-doped CuS can improve the conductivity and electrocatalytic activity of the materials. At a potential of 0.55 V, the as-prepared Co-CuS-2 modified electrode exhibits distinguished performance for glucose detection with wide linear ranges of 0.001–3.66 mM and high sensitivity of 1475.97 µA·mM⁻¹·cm⁻², which was much higher than that of CuS- and Co-CuS-1-modified electrodes. The constructed sulfide sensors derived from MOF precursors exhibit a low detection limit and excellent anti-interference ability for glucose detection.

Co/CoO nanoparticles armored by N-doped nanoporous carbon polyhedrons towards glucose oxidation in high-performance non-enzymatic sensors

The Co/CoO nanoparticles armored by porous N-doped carbon polyhedrons were successfully prepared from ZIF-67 via a pyrolysis-reorganization method, demonstrating excellent sensing performance towards glucose oxidation.

Efficient improvement in non-enzymatic glucose detection induced by the hollow prism-like NiCo2S4 electrocatalyst

Hollow prism-like NiCo₂S₄ materials (NiCo₂S₄ HNPs) were successfully fabricated by a two-step method. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed the morphology and structure of the as-prepared NiCo₂S₄ nanoprisms. A non-enzymatic sensor based on NiCo₂S₄ HNPs was constructed with outstanding electrochemical activity towards glucose oxidation in alkaline medium. The sensor showed a rapid response time (∼0.1 s), a high sensitivity of 82.9 μA mM^-1 cm^-2, a wide linear range (0.005-20.2 mM) and a detection limit of 0.8 μM (S/N = 3) with a good selectivity and reproducibility. Additionally, the proposed electrode also confirmed the feasibility in practical blood serum. These results indicate that NiCo₂S₄/ITO has great potential in the development of non-enzymatic glucose sensor applications.

A facile method for the fabrication of hierarchically structured Ni2CoS4 nanopetals on carbon nanofibers to enhance non-enzymatic glucose oxidation

Unique Ni₂CoS₄-carbon nanofiber (CNF) composite nanostructures were fabricated using a simple electrospinning-assisted hydrothermal route and used for the rapid and accurate electrochemical oxidation of glucose in real samples at the trace level. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry of unmodified and modified electrodes revealed low charge-transfer resistance and the excellent electrocatalytic sensing of glucose when using the Ni₂CoS₄-CNF at a low potential due to the combined benefits of the highly conductive Ni₂Co₂S₄ anchored to the large surface area of the CNFs. Amperometric analysis of the fabricated sensor has shown an extremely low limit of detection (0.25 nM) and a large linear range (5-70 nM) for glucose at a working potential of 0.54 V (vs. Hg/HgO). The practicability of the Ni₂CoS₄-CNF for use in glucose determination was tested withl human saliva, blood plasma, and fruit juice samples. The Ni₂CoS₄-CNF/GCE showed acceptable recovery values for human saliva (99.1-100.8%), blood plasma (98.6-101.5%), and fruit juice (95.1-105.7%) samples. The proposed sensor also exhibited outstanding electroanalytical characteristics for glucose oxidation in these samples, including reusability, repeatability, and interference resistance, even in the presence of other biological substances and organic and inorganic metal ions.