Newly synthesized functional nanoparticles, 3-amino-1,2,4-triazole (ATA)/SiO₂–TiO₂ were introduced to the polyurethane (PU) matrix. Electrochemical techniques were used to investigate the barrier properties of the synthesized PU–ATA/SiO₂–TiO₂ nanocomposite coated steel specimen. In natural seawater, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy experiments indicated outstanding protective behaviour for the PU–ATA/SiO₂–TiO₂ coated steel. The coating resistance (R_coat) of PU–ATA/SiO₂–TiO₂ was determined to be 2956.90 kΩ·cm^–2. The R_coat of the PU–ATA/SiO₂–TiO₂ nanocomposite coating was found to be over 50% higher than the PU coating. The current measured along the scratched surface of the PU–ATA/SiO₂–TiO₂ coating was found to be very low (1.65 nA). The enhanced ATA/SiO₂–TiO₂ nanoparticles inhibited the entry of electrolytes into the coating interface, as revealed by scanning electron microscopy/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction analysis of the degradation products. Water contact angle testing validated the hydrophobic nature of the PU–ATA/SiO₂–TiO₂ coating (θ = 115.4°). When the concentration of ATA/SiO₂−TiO₂ nanoparticles was 2 wt %, dynamic mechanical analysis revealed better mechanical properties. Therefore, the newly synthesised PU–ATA/SiO₂–TiO₂ nanocomposite provided excellent barrier and mechanical properties due to the addition of ATA/SiO₂–TiO₂ nanoparticles to the polyurethane, which inhibited material degradation and aided in the prolongation of the coated steel’s life.

Recently, various semiconductor/metal composites have been developed to fabricate surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates. However, low metal loading on semiconductors is still a challenge. In this study, cystine was introduced to increase the accumulation of gold nanoparticles on zinc oxide, owing to the biomineralization property of cystine. Morphological analysis revealed that the obtained ZnO/Au/cystine composite not only had a higher metal loading but also formed a porous structure, which is beneficial for Raman performance. Compared with ZnO/Au, the ZnO/Au/cystine substrate displayed a 40-fold enhancement in the Raman signal and a lower limit of detection (10^–11 mol·L⁻¹) in the detection of rhodamine 6G. Moreover, the substrate has favorable homogeneity and stability. Finally, ZnO/Au/cystine displayed excellent performance toward crystal violet and methylene blue in a test based on river water samples. This study provided a promising method to fabricate sensitive semiconductor/noble metal-based surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy substrates for Raman detection.

Hydrazine is extremely toxic and causes severe harm to human body. Herein, a novel fluorescent probe 4-oxo-2-styryl-4H-chromen-3-yl thiophene-2-carboxylate (FHT) was synthesized for detecting hydrazine by using natural cinnamaldehyde as starting material. This probe exhibited significantly enhanced fluorescence response towards hydrazine over various common metal ions, anions, and amine compounds. The detection limit of probe FHT for hydrazine was as low as 0.14 μmol·L^–1, significantly lower than that of the threshold value of 0.312 μmol·L^–1, imposed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Moreover, the proposed probe was able to detect hydrazine within wide pH (5–10) and linear detection ranges (0–110 μmol·L^–1). This probe was employed for determining trace hydrazine in different environmental water samples. The probe FHT-loaded filter paper strips were able to conveniently detect hydrazine of low concentration through distinct naked-eye and fluorescent color changes. Importantly, the probe FHT with low cytotoxicity was successfully applied to visualize hydrazine in living Hela cells and zebrafish.

In the traditional extractive distillation process, organic solvents are often used as entrainers. However, environmental influence and high energy-consumption are significant problems in industrial application. In this study, a systematic screening strategy and innovative energy-saving design for ionic liquid-based extractive distillation process was proposed. The innovative energy-saving design focused on the binary minimum azeotrope mixtures isopropanol and water. Miscibility, environmental impact and physical properties (e.g., melting point and viscosity) of 30 ionic liquids were investigated. 1-Ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium dicyanamide and 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium dicyanamide were selected as candidate entrainers. Feasibility analysis of these two ionic liquids was further performed via residue curve maps, isovolatility line and temperature profiles. An innovative ionic liquid-based extractive distillation process combining distillation column and stripping column was designed and optimized with the objective function of minimizing the total annualized cost. The results demonstrate that the total annualized cost was reduced by 19.9% with 1-ethyl-3-methyl-imidazolium dicyanamide as the entrainer and by 24.3% with 1-butyl-3-methyl-imidazolium dicyanamide, compared with that of dimethyl sulfoxide. The method proposed in this study is conducive to the green and sustainable development of extractive distillation process.

Because of the increasing amount of oily wastewater produced each day, it is important to develop superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic oil/water separation membranes with ultrahigh flux and high separation efficiency. In this paper, a superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic N-isopropylacrylamide-coated stainless steel mesh was prepared through a simple and convenient graft polymerization approach. The obtained mesh was able to separate oil/water mixtures only by gravity. In addition, the mesh showed high-efficiency separation ability (99.2%) and ultrahigh flux (235239 L∙m^–2∙h^–1). Importantly, due to the complex cross-linked bilayer structure, the prepared mesh exhibited good recycling performance and chemical stability in highly saline, alkaline and acidic environments.

Separation of vanadium from black shale leaching solution at low pH is very meaningful, which can effectively avoid the generation of alkali neutralization slag and the resulting vanadium loss. In this study, coordination mechanism of vanadium in acid leaching solution at low pH was investigated with the intervention of chloride ions. Under the conditions of pH 0.8, di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid concentration of 20%, phase ratio of 1:2, and extraction time of 8 min, the vanadium extraction could reach 80.00%. The Fourier transform infrared and electrospray ionization results reveal that, despite the fact that the chloride ion in the leachate could significantly promote vanadium extraction, the chloride ion does not enter the organic phase, indicating an intriguing phenomenon. Among Cl⁻–V, SO₄²⁻–V, and H₂O–V, the V–Cl bond is longer and the potential difference between coordinate ions and vanadium is smaller. Therefore, VO²⁺ gets easily desorbed with chloride ions and enter the organic phase. At the same time, the hydrogen ions of di-(2-ethylhexyl)phosphoric acid also enter the water phase more easily, which reduces the pH required for the extraction reaction.

Benzimidazole derivatives have wide-spectrum biological activities and pharmacological effects, but remain challenging to be produced from biomass feedstocks. Here, we report a green hydrogen transfer strategy for the efficient one-pot production of benzimidazoles from a wide range of bio-alcohols and o-nitroanilines enabled by cobalt nitride species on hierarchically porous and recyclable nitrogen-doped carbon catalysts (Co/CN_x-T, T denotes the pyrolysis temperature) without using an external hydrogen source and base additive. Among the tested catalysts, Co/CN_x-700 exhibited superior catalytic performance, furnishing 2-substituted benzimidazoles in 65%–92% yields. Detailed mechanistic studies manifest that the coordination between Co²⁺ and N with appropriate electronic state on the porous nitrogen-doped carbon having structural defects, as well as the remarkable synergetic effect of Co/N dual sites contribute to the pronounced activity of Co/CN_x-700, while too high pyrolysis temperature may cause the breakage of the catalyst Co–N bond to lower down its activity. Also, it is revealed that the initial dehydrogenation of bio-alcohol and the subsequent cyclodehydrogenation are closely correlated with the hydrogenation of nitro groups. The catalytic hydrogen transfer-coupling protocol opens a new avenue for the synthesis of N-heterocyclic compounds from biomass.

The amination of alkyl alcohols is one of the most promising paths in synthesis of aliphatic amines. Herein, cerium doped nickel-based catalysts were synthesized and tested in a gas-phase amination of n-hexanol to n-hexylamine. It was found that the activity of the Ni/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst is significantly improved by doping an appropriate amount of cerium. The presence of cerium effectively inhibits the agglomeration of nickel particle, resulting in better Ni dispersion. As Ni particle size plays critical role on the catalytic activity, higher turnover frequency of n-hexanol amination was achieved. Cerium doping also improves the reduction ability of nickel and enhances the interactions between Ni and the catalyst support. More weak acid sites were also found in those cerium doped catalysts, which promote another key step—ammonia dissociative adsorption in this reaction system. The overall synergy of Ni nanoparticles and acid sites of this Ni–Ce/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst boosts its superior catalytic performance in the amination of n-hexanol.

Defect construction and heteroatom doping are effective strategies for improving photocatalytic activity of carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄). In this work, N defects were successfully prepared via cold plasma. High-energy electrons generated by plasma can produce N defects and embed sulfur atoms into g-C₃N₄. The N defects obviously promoted photocatalytic degradation performance that was 7.5 times higher than that of pure g-C₃N₄. The concentration of N defects can be tuned by different power and time of plasma. With the increase in N defects, the photocatalytic activity showed a volcanic trend. The g-C₃N₄ with moderate concentration of N defects exhibited the highest photocatalytic activity. S-doped g-C₃N₄ exhibited 11.25 times higher photocatalytic activity than pure g-C₃N₄. It provided extra active sites for photocatalytic reaction and improved stability of N defects. The N vacancy-enriched and S-doped g-C₃N₄ are beneficial for widening absorption edge and improving the separation efficiency of electron and holes.

High-performance and stable electrocatalysts are vital for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, via a one-pot hydrothermal method, Ni/Fe/V ternary layered double hydroxides (NiFeV-LDH) derived from Ni foam are fabricated to work as highly active and durable electrocatalysts for OER. By changing the feeding ratio of Fe and V salts, the prepared ternary hydroxides were optimized. At an Fe:V ratio of 0.5:0.5, NiFeV-LDH exhibits outstanding OER activity superior to that of the binary hydroxides, requiring overpotentials of 269 and 274 mV at 50 mA·cm^–2 in the linear sweep voltammetry and sampled current voltammetry measurements, respectively. Importantly, NiFeV-LDH shows extraordinary long-term stability (≥ 75 h) at an extremely high current density of 200 mA·cm^–2. In contrast, the binary hydroxides present quick decay at 200 mA·cm^–2 or even reduced current densities (150 and 100 mA·cm^–2). The outstanding OER performance of NiFeV-LDH benefits from the synergistic effect of V and Fe while doping the third metal into bimetallic hydroxide layers: (a) Fe plays a crucial role as the active site; (b) electron-withdrawing V stabilizes the high valence state of Fe, thus accelerating the OER process; (c) V further offers great stabilization for the formed intermediate of FeOOH, thus achieving superior durability.

In recent times there has been a great deal of interest in the conversion of carbon dioxide into more useful chemical compounds. On the other hand, the translation of these developments in electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide from the laboratory bench to practical scale remains an underexplored topic. Here we examine some of the major challenges, demonstrating some promising strategies towards such scale-up, including increased electrode area and stacking of electrode pairs in different configurations. We observed that increasing the electrode area from 1 to 10 cm² led to only a 4% drop in current density, with similarly small penalties realised when stacking sub-cells together.