[en] Designed a new readout electronics, base on PLD (Programmable Logic Device), is used for the life-time measurement of Muon from cosmic rays. The experimental setup has been proved to be effectual and convenient and can also be used in other life-time measured experiment. (authors)

[en] Fenton reagent oxidation experiments were conducted to test its feasibility in pre- treatment of radioactive spent ion exchange resin. The effects of reaction conditions such as the dosage of H₂O₂ and Fe²⁺ , reaction time(t) and reaction temperature(θ) were studied in term of chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal efficiency. The optimum operating conditions determined by the orthogonal experiments are as follows: c₀(H₂O₂)=4.0 mol/L, c₀(Fe²⁺)=20 mmol/L, θ=95 degree C and t=4 h at pH=2.5. Under optimum operating conditions, approximately 100K decomposition efficiencies can be achieved for three 50 g uranium-containing wet resin samples. The COD is reduced from 8.0-10.0 g/L in the initial solution to 0.2-0.3 g/L in the residual solution. At the same time, the concentration of uranium in the tail-gas absorption solution don't remarkably increase. The study results show that the pre-treatment of industrially generated radioactive spent ion exchange resin by Fenton's reagent can entail very effective degradation of the resin. (authors)

[en] Sargassum fusiforme was immobilized with calcium alginates and its biosorption property to ²³⁹Pu was studied by batch and column methods. Biosorption equilibrium time of immobilized Sargassum fusiforme biosorbent to ²³⁹Pu is 120 min and biosorption efficiency is over 99.2% when the initial concentration of ²³⁹Pu is 21.5 kBq/L and pH is 2.5-5.0. After five times repetition biosorption-desorption cycles biosorption efficiency is still over 98.0% when the velocity of flow is 2 ml/min in column experiment. Immobilized Sargassum fusiforme biosorbent is better to ²³⁹Pu due to its better chemical stability, mechanical strength, lower cost, high biosorption efficiency and repeated biosorption-desorption cycles. (authors)

[en] Monolithic alumina aerogels were prepared with inorganic aluminum salts as raw material by epoxide-assisted sol–gel method. The structure and morphology of the monolithic alumina aerogels doped with different lanthanum oxide concentration were investigated by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, N₂ adsorption–desorption method and field emission scanning electron microscope. The results indicate that the pure alumina aerogel is translucent and sky blue in color. Alumina aerogels gradually changes into opaque blocks of ivory with increasing the amount of lanthanum oxide. The addition of lanthanum oxide can increase the specific surface area of alumina aerogels and improve their thermal stability at high calcination temperature. After calcination at 1000 °C for 2 h, alumina aerogel doped with 10 wt% lanthanum oxide is still amorphous phase and its specific surface area can reach 282 m²/g, which is much higher than pure alumina aerogel.

[en] Yolk-shell structured TiO₂ microspheres were synthesized by using a facile hydrothermal method with ammonium chloride (NH₄Cl) as additive. Ostwald ripening mechanism was proposed to explain the growth of yolk-shell structured TiO₂ by conducting a series of time-dependent experiments, where the solid microspheres, narrow-band-like structured, wide-band-like structured and shedding structured samples were obtained. The as-synthesized samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis (BET) and UV–Vis spectra. BET results showed that the as-synthesized powders displayed bimodal pore size distributions and the wide-band-like structured sample had the largest specific surface area. The photocatalytic efficiency of Rhodamine B (RhB) achieved 99.24% for wide-band-like structured TiO₂ photocatalyst, under 500 W Xe lamp irradiation, indicating that the increase of 28.0%, 11.3%, 12.2% and 7.41% was achievd compared to the photocatalytic efficiency of solid microspheres (77.53%), narrow-band-like structured (89.17%), shedding-shell structured TiO₂ (88.42%) and Degussa P25 (91.89%) as photocatalysts, respectively.

[en] A series of nano/micro-structured CoTiO₃ powders were synthesized using a facile mixed-solvothermal method, by adjusting the volume ratio of ethylene glycol (EG) to anhydrous ethanol in the mixed solvent. Nitrogen adsorption–desorption and electron microscopic analyses revealed that the as-prepared CoTiO₃ products possess a bimodal porous structure with interconnected pore channels, which have great advantages for the diffusion of target gas and the effective utilization of active sites. The porous CoTiO₃ obtained at the volume ratio of EG to anhydrous ethanol of 1:2 in the mixed solvent demonstrated the highest sensitivity (20.3) and rapid response time (7 s) to low concentration ethanol (20 ppm) at working temperature 300 °C. Moreover, excellent reproducibility and stability can be achieved within six cycles. Photoluminescence (PL) results illustrated that the porous CoTiO₃ with the best sensing performance has more abundant surface defects than other samples. These defects can act as reactive sites to facilitate more O₂ adsorption, leading to the enhanced accumulation of positive holes on the surface and an increase in the gas sensitivity. In view of the excellent sensing characteristics to low concentration ethanol and the facile preparation method, the obtained porous CoTiO₃ products are promising candidates for fabricating effective ethanol sensors.

[en] Copper phosphate hybrid nanoflowers (Cu₃(PO₄)₂HNFs) were demonstrated to produce cathodic ECL emission in the presence of potassium persulfate (K₂S₂O₈) and then used as a carrier due to their large specific surface area. AgNPs modified on Cu₃(PO₄)₂HNFs provided more binding sites for immobilizing secondary antibodies and accelerating the electron transfer rate to enhance the ECL signal. In addition, FONDs-Au was used to capture primary antibodies due to its good biocompatibility and large specific surface area. A sandwich electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor based on copper phosphate hybrid nanoflower/Ag nanoparticle (Cu₃(PO₄)₂HNFs@Ag) composite and Au NPs-functionalized Fe₂O₃ nanodendrites (FONDs-Au) was constructed to detect prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in real samples. Under optimal conditions, the constructed sandwich ECL immunosensor was sensitive to PSA with a detection limit of 0.037 pg/mL (S/N = 3), a linear detection concentration range of 0.0001–50 ng/mL, and a recovery range of 97.33–102.5%. This immunosensor is expected to provide a method to detect PSA or other biomarkers. Graphical

[en] Highlights: • (4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇ powder can be synthesized by sol-gel method. • (4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇ ceramics can be prepared by liquid phase sintering of Y-Si-Al-O. • (4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇ ceramics showed good thermal stability and corrosion resistance. With the increasing demand for high thrust-weight ratio aero-engines, the development of environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) for SiC-based ceramics is an enormous challenge, which requires both high temperature stability and resistance to molten calcium-magnesium-aluminosilicate (CMAS) corrosion. In this work, a novel high-entropy disilicate (Y_0.25Yb_0.25Er_0.25Sc_0.25)₂Si₂O₇ ((4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇) EBC materials was prepared by a two-step process. The high-entropy disilicate powder was synthesized by sol-gel method, and then Y-Si-Al-O silicate glass was used as sintering aids to facilitate densification of the (4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇ ceramic by liquid sintering. The results of XRD, SEM and EDS showed that as-synthesized powders were pure high-entropy disilicate (4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇, and bulk (4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇ ceramic exhibited a dense structure, in which (4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇ grains were uniformly distributed into Y-Si-Al-O glass. Compared with single disilicate RE₂Si₂O₇ (RE = Y and Er) ceramics, the high entropy (4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇ ceramic showed a good phase stability and almost no change in grain size during sintering at 1600 °C for in the holding time range of 5–15 h, suggesting a good high temperature stability. During molten CMAS corrosion, Ca²⁺ ions can diffuse into the Y-Si-Al-O glass phase wrapped on the surface of (4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇ grains, and then corrode (4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇ grains, thereby forming the corrosion zone consisting of reaction layer and diffusion layer. The Y-Si-Al-O glass can play a blocking layer role to suppress Ca²⁺ diffusion and mitigate molten CMAS corrosion, so that as-prepared (4RE_0.25)₂Si₂O₇ ceramic showed a relatively good ability for resisting molten CMAS corrosion. After molten CMAS corrosion at 1500 °C for 48 h, thickness of the reaction layer was only 73 µm. The results will be a solid foundation for the application of environmental barrier coating materials in long-period high temperature molten silicate environment.

[en] This study aimed to design a sandwich electrochemiluminescence (ECL) immunosensor with double co-reaction accelerators for sensitively detecting squamous cell carcinoma antigen (SCCA). First, silver orthophosphate (Ag₃PO₄) nanoparticles were modified on the surface of EuPO₄ nanowires to improve their poor dispersibility/solubility. At the same time, EuPO₄ was used as a co-reaction accelerator to catalyze S₂O₈²⁻ to produce more intermediates (SO₄^{• −}), significantly enhancing the ECL signal of Ag₃PO₄. Ag nanoparticles (AgNP) modified on Ag₃PO₄@EuPO₄ composite nanomaterials were used not only as linkers of luminescence groups and biomarkers but also as a co-reaction accelerator to effectively enhance ECL signal. The designed ECL immunosensor displayed several advantages, including good stability and reproducibility. Under the optimal conditions, its linear range in detecting SCCA was 0.0001–50 ng·mL⁻¹, the detection limit was 25 fg·mL⁻¹ (S/N = 3), the recovery was 96.6–100.4%, and the relative standard deviation was less than 4.8%. It was successfully applied to detect SCCA in human serum. Graphical

[en] An efficient electrochemiluminescence resonance energy transfer (ECL-RET) method is proposed which combines the luminescent materials of tris(4,4′-dicarboxylicacid-2,2′-bipyridyl) ruthenium(II) (energy donor) and tin dioxide and tin disulfide quantum dots (SnO₂/SnS₂QDs) (energy acceptor) into the isoreticular metal − organic framework-3 (IRMOF-3) material to form a composite. In this mode, the distance between the energy donor and the acceptor was greatly shortened, reducing the energy loss, and thereby effectively improving RET efficiency and further significantly improving the ECL signal. The obtained composite (SnO₂/SnS₂QDs-Ru@IRMOF-3) was combined with sandwich immunoreaction to construct an ECL immunosensor for the sensitive detection of procalcitonin (PCT). Under the optimized experimental conditions with a working potential of − 1.48 V (vs Ag/AgCl), the proposed PCT biosensor exhibited a linear concentration range of 1 × 10⁻⁴–200 ng mL⁻¹, with a detection limit of 0.029 pg mL⁻¹ (S/N = 3). The biosensor was used to detect PCT in actual samples. The biosensor has broad application prospects in biological analysis and clinical diagnosis due to its high sensitivity, good selectivity, and good stability. Graphical abstract