Copper oxide nanostructures are widely used for various applications due to their unique optical and electrical properties. In this work, we demonstrate an atmospheric laser-induced oxidation technique for the fabrication of highly electrochemically active copper oxide hierarchical micro/nano structures on copper surfaces to achieve highly sensitive non-enzymatic glucose sensing performance. The effect of laser processing power on the composition, crystallinity, microstructure, wettability, and color of the laser-induced oxide on copper (LIO-Cu) surface was systematically studied using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GI-XRD), Raman spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), EDX-mapping, water contact angle measurements, and optical microscopy. Results of these investigations showed a remarkable increase in copper oxide composition by increasing the laser processing power. The pore size distribution and surface area of the pristine and LIO-Cu sample estimated by N 2 adsorption–desorption data showed a developed mesoporous LIO-Cu structure. The size of the generated nano-oxides, crystallinity, and electroactivity of the LIO-Cu were observed to be adjustable by the laser processing power. The electrocatalytic activity of LIO-Cu surfaces was studied by means of cyclic voltammetry (CV) within a potential window of −0.8 to +0.8 V and chronoamperometry in an applied optimized potential of +0.6 V, in 0.1more »
Vapor-Phase-Infiltrated AlO x /PIM-1 “Hybrid Scaffolds” as Solution-Processable Amine Supports for CO 2 Adsorption
Energy-efficient adsorptive CO2 capture requires both adsorbent materials with high CO2 capacity and structured adsorption contactors possessing fast mass transfer kinetics and low pressure drop. The state-of-the-art research primarily focuses on “hard” adsorbents such as mesoporous zeolites and metal–organic frameworks, which exhibit high CO2 capacities but are challenging to translate into structured contactors. Polymer of intrinsic microporosity 1 (PIM-1), a solution-processable microporous polymer, is a “softer” alternative that can be easily fabricated into structured adsorption contactors. In prior research, PIM-1 has been utilized as a “molecular basket” for poly(ethylene imine) (PEI). Despite nanoscale amine dispersion and excellent processability, PEI/PIM-1 composites possess an unstable micropore structure, which collapses at high PEI loadings (∼30%) and results in lower CO2 adsorption capacity than PEI-loaded hard oxides. Here, we applied a post-fabrication polymer stabilization method, vapor phase infiltration (VPI), to improve the CO2 capacity of the PEI/PIM-1 composite without sacrificing its processibility. PIM-1 is fabricated into structured adsorption contactors and then reinforced with amorphous aluminum oxyhydroxide (AlOx) nanostrands via VPI. The resulting AlOx/PIM-1 is a stable, hierarchically porous support, which can be loaded with 40% PEI without pore collapse. Owing to the combination of processibility, comparable CO2 capacity, and high amine efficiency, PEI/AlOx/PIM-1 composites more »
- Award ID(s):
- 1921873
- Publication Date:
- NSF-PAR ID:
- 10293254
- Journal Name:
- ACS Applied Polymer Materials
- ISSN:
- 2637-6105
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Publisher's Version of Record
- https://doi.org/10.1021/acsapm.1c00452
