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The present work focuses on the preparation and characterisation of various nanoplastic reference material candidates. Nanoplastics are plastic particles in a size range of 1 − 1000 nm. The term has emerged in recent years as a distinction from the larger microplastic (1 − 1000 μm). Since the properties of the two plastic particles differ significantly due to their size, it is important to have nanoplastic reference material. This was produced for the polymer types polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) as well as poly(lactic acid) (PLA).
A top-down method was used to produce the nanoplastic for the polyolefins PP and PE (Section 3.1). The material was crushed in acetone using an Ultra-Turrax disperser and then transferred to water. This process produces reproducible results when repeated, making it suitable for the production of a reference material candidate. The resulting dispersions were investigated using dynamic and electrophoretic light scattering. The dispersion of PP particles gave a mean hydrodynamic diameter Dh = 180.5±5.8 nm with a PDI = 0.08±0.02 and a zeta potential ζ = −43.0 ± 2.0 mV. For the PE particles, a diameter Dh = 344.5 ± 34.6 nm, with a PDI = 0.39 ± 0.04 and a zeta potential of ζ = −40.0 ± 4.2 mV was measured. This means that both dispersions are nanoplastics, as the particles are < 1000 nm. Furthermore, the starting material of these polyolefin particles was mixed with a gold salt and thereby the nanoplastic production was repeated in order to obtain nanoplastic particles doped with gold, which should simplify the detection of the particles.
In addition to the top-down approach, a bottom-up method was chosen for the PLA (Section 3.2). Here, the polymer was first dissolved in THF and stabilised with a surfactant. Then water was added and THF evaporated, leaving an aqueous PLA dispersion. This experiment was also investigated using dynamic light scattering and, when repeated, yielded reproducible results, i. e. an average hydrodynamic diameter of Dh = 89.2 ± 3.0 nm. Since the mass concentration of PLA in the dispersion is known due to the production method, a Python notebook was tested for these samples to calculate the number and mass concentration of nano(plastic) particles using the MALS results. Similar to the plastic produced in Section 3.1, gold was also incorporated into the particle, which was achieved by adding a dispersion of gold clusters with a diameter of D = 1.15 nm in an ionic liquid (IL) in the production process. Here, the preparation of the gold clusters in the ionic liquid 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium dicyanamide ([Emim][DCA]) represented the first use of an IL both as a reducing agent for gold and as a solvent for the gold clusters. Two volumes of gold cluster dispersion were added during the PLA particle synthesis. The addition of the gold clusters leads to much larger particles. The nanoPLA with 0.8% Au has a diameter of Dh = 198.0 ± 10.8 nm and the nanoPLA with 4.9% Au has a diameter of Dh = 259.1 ± 23.7 nm. First investigations by TEM imaging show that the nanoPLA particles form hollow spheres when gold clusters are added. However, the mechanism leading to these structures remains unclear.
In dieser Dissertation konnten erfolgreich mechanisch stabile Hydrogele über eine freie radikalische Polymerisation (FRP) in Wasser synthetisiert werden. Dabei diente vor allem das Sulfobetain SPE als Monomer. Dieses wurde mit dem über eine nukleophile Substitution erster bzw. zweiter Ordnung hergestellten Vernetzer TMBEMPA/Br umgesetzt.
Die entstandenen Netzwerke wurden im Gleichgewichtsquellzustand im Wesentlichen mittels Niederfeld-Kernresonanzspektroskopie, Röntgenkleinwinkelstreuung (SAXS), Rasterelektronenmikroskopie mit Tieftemperaturtechnik (Kryo-REM), dynamisch-mechanische Analyse (DMA), Rheologie, thermogravimetrische Analyse (TGA) und dynamische Differenzkalorimetrie (DSC) analysiert.
Das hierarchisch aufgebaute Netzwerk wurde anschließend für die matrixgesteuerten Mineralisation von Calciumphosphat und –carbonat genutzt. Über das alternierende Eintauchverfahren (engl. „alternate soaking method“) und der Variation von Mineralisationsparametern, wie pH-Wert, Konzentration c und Temperatur T konnten dann verschiedene Modifikationen des Calciumphosphats generiert werden. Das entstandene Hybridmaterial wurde qualitativ mittels Röntgenpulverdiffraktometrie (XRD), abgeschwächte Totalreflexion–fouriertransformierte Infrarot Spektroskopie (ATR-FTIR), Raman-Spektroskopie, Rasterelektronenmikroskopie (REM) mit energiedispersiver Röntgenspektroskopie (EDXS) und optischer Mikroskopie (OM) als auch quantitative mittels Gravimetrie und TGA analysiert.
Für die potentielle Verwendung in der Medizintechnik, z.B. als Implantatmaterial, ist die grundlegende Einschätzung der Wechselwirkung zwischen Hydrogel bzw. Hybridmaterial und verschiedener Zelltypen unerlässlich. Dazu wurden verschiedene Zelltypen, wie Einzeller, Bakterien und adulte Stammzellen verwendet. Die Wechselwirkung mit Peptidsequenzen von Phagen komplettiert das biologische Unterkapitel.
Hydrogele sind mannigfaltig einsetzbar. Diese Arbeit fasst daher weitere Projektperspektiven, auch außerhalb des biomedizinischem Anwendungsspektrums, auf. So konnten erste Ansätze zur serienmäßige bzw. maßgeschneiderte Produktion über das „Inkjet“ Verfahren erreicht werden. Um dies ermöglichen zu können wurden erfolgreich weitere Synthesestrategien, wie die Photopolymerisation und die redoxinitiierte Polymerisation, ausgenutzt. Auch die Eignung als Filtermaterial oder Superabsorber wurde analysiert.
The importance of carbohydrate structures is enormous due to their ubiquitousness in our lives. The development of so-called glycomaterials is the result of this tremendous significance. These are not exclusively used for research into fundamental biological processes, but also, among other things, as inhibitors of pathogens or as drug delivery systems. This work describes the development of glycomaterials involving the synthesis of glycoderivatives, -monomers and -polymers. Glycosylamines were synthesized as precursors in a single synthesis step under microwave irradiation to significantly shorten the usual reaction time. Derivatization at the anomeric position was carried out according to the methods developed by Kochetkov and Likhorshetov, which do not require the introduction of protecting groups. Aminated saccharide structures formed the basis for the synthesis of glycomonomers in β-configuration by methacrylation. In order to obtain α-Man-based monomers for interactions with certain α-Man-binding lectins, a monomer synthesis by Staudinger ligation was developed in this work, which also does not require protective groups. Modification of the primary hydroxyl group of a saccharide was accomplished by enzyme-catalyzed synthesis. Ribose-containing cytidine was transesterified using the lipase Novozym 435 and microwave irradiation. The resulting monomer synthesis was optimized by varying the reaction partners. To create an amide bond instead of an ester bond, protected cytidine was modified by oxidation followed by amide coupling to form the monomer. This synthetic route was also used to isolate the monomer from its counterpart guanosine. After obtaining the nucleoside-based monomers, they were block copolymerized using the RAFT method. Pre-synthesized pHPMA served as macroCTA to yield cytidine- or guanosine-containing block copolymer. These isolated block copolymers were then investigated for their self-assembly behavior using UV-Vis, DLS and SEM to serve as a potential thermoresponsive drug delivery system.
Complex emulsions are dispersions of kinetically stabilized multiphasic emulsion droplets comprised of two or more immiscible liquids that provide a novel material platform for the generation of active and dynamic soft materials. In recent years, the intrinsic reconfigurable morphological behavior of complex emulsions, which can be attributed to the unique force equilibrium between the interfacial tensions acting at the various interfaces, has become of fundamental and applied interest. As such, particularly biphasic Janus droplets have been investigated as structural templates for the generation of anisotropic precision objects, dynamic optical elements or as transducers and signal amplifiers in chemo- and bio-sensing applications. In the present thesis, switchable internal morphological responses of complex droplets triggered by stimuli-induced alterations of the balance of interfacial tensions have been explored as a universal building block for the design of multiresponsive, active, and adaptive liquid colloidal systems. A series of underlying principles and mechanisms that influence the equilibrium of interfacial tensions have been uncovered, which allowed the targeted design of emulsion bodies that can alter their shape, bind and roll on surfaces, or change their geometrical shape in response to chemical stimuli. Consequently, combinations of the unique triggerable behavior of Janus droplets with designer surfactants, such as a stimuli-responsive photosurfactant (AzoTAB) resulted for instance in shape-changing soft colloids that exhibited a jellyfish inspired buoyant motion behavior, holding great promise for the design of biological inspired active material architectures and transformable soft robotics.
In situ observations of spherical Janus emulsion droplets using a customized side-view microscopic imaging setup with accompanying pendant dropt measurements disclosed the sensitivity regime of the unique chemical-morphological coupling inside complex emulsions and enabled the recording of calibration curves for the extraction of critical parameters of surfactant effectiveness. The deduced new "responsive drop" method permitted a convenient and cost-efficient quantification and comparison of the critical micelle concentrations (CMCs) and effectiveness of various cationic, anionic, and nonionic surfactants. Moreover, the method allowed insightful characterization of stimuli-responsive surfactants and monitoring of the impact of inorganic salts on the CMC and surfactant effectiveness of ionic and nonionic surfactants. Droplet functionalization with synthetic crown ether surfactants yielded a synthetically minimal material platform capable of autonomous and reversible adaptation to its chemical environment through different supramolecular host-guest recognition events. Addition of metal or ammonium salts resulted in the uptake of the resulting hydrophobic complexes to the hydrocarbon hemisphere, whereas addition of hydrophilic ammonium compounds such as amino acids or polypeptides resulted in supramolecular assemblies at the hydrocarbon-water interface of the droplets. The multiresponsive material platform enabled interfacial complexation and
thus triggered responses of the droplets to a variety of chemical triggers including metal ions, ammonium compounds, amino acids, antibodies, carbohydrates as well as amino-functionalized solid surfaces.
In the final chapter, the first documented optical logic gates and combinatorial logic circuits based on complex emulsions are presented. More specifically, the unique reconfigurable and multiresponsive properties of complex emulsions were exploited to realize droplet-based logic gates of varying complexity using different stimuli-responsive surfactants in combination with diverse readout methods. In summary, different designs for multiresponsive, active, and adaptive liquid colloidal systems were presented and investigated, enabling the design of novel transformative chemo-intelligent soft material platforms.
Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurden Energie induzierte Nanopartikel-Substrat Interaktionen untersucht. Dazu wurden Goldnanopartikelanordnungen (AuNPA) auf verschiedenen Silizium-basierten Substraten hergestellt und der Einfluss eines Energieeintrages, genauer gesagt einer thermischen Behandlung oder des Metall-assistierten chemischen Ätzens (MaCE) getestet. Die Nanopartikelanordnungen, welche für die thermische Behandlung eingesetzt wurden, wurden nass-chemisch in Toluol synthetisiert, mit Thiol-terminiertem Polystyrol funktionalisiert und mittels Schleuderbeschichtung auf verschiedenen Substraten (drei Gläser und ein Siliziumwafer) in quasi-hexagonalen Mustern angeordnet. Diese AuNP-Anordnungen wurden mit Temperaturen zwischen 475 °C – 792 °C über verschiedene Zeiträume thermisch behandelt. Generell sanken die Nanopartikel in die Substrate ein, und es wurde festgestellt, dass mit Erhöhung der Glasübergangstemperatur der Substrate die Einsinktiefe der Nanopartikel abnahm. Die AuNPA auf Siliziumwafern wurden auf Temperaturen von 700 °C – 900 °C erhitzt. Die Goldnanopartikel sanken dabei bis zu 2,5 nm in das Si-Substrat ein. Ein Sintern der Nanopartikel fand ab einer Temperatur über 660 °C statt. Welcher Sintermechanismus der dominante ist konnte abschließend nicht eindeutig geklärt werden.
Für die Untersuchung des Einflusses des zweiten Energieeintrages mittels MaCE wurden AuNPA sowie Goldkern-Silberschale-Anordnungen auf Siliziumsubstraten genutzt. Die AuNPA wurden mit Hilfe von Poly-N-Isopropylacrylamid Mikrogelen und Natriumcitrat-stabilisierten Goldnanopartikeln (Na-AuNP) bzw. Tetrachloridogoldsäure (TCG) präpariert. Es ergaben sich Nanopartikelanordnungen mit hemisphärischen Partikeln (aus Na-AuNP) und zum anderen Nanopartikelanordnungen mit sphärischen Partikeln (aus TCG). Durch eine anschließende Silberwachstumsreaktion konnten dann die dazugehörigen Goldkern-Silberschale Nanopartikelanordnungen erhalten werden. Beim MaCE konnten signifikante Unterschiede im Verhalten dieser vier Nanopartikelanordnungen festgestellt werden, z.B. mussten bei den hemisphärischen Partikelanordnungen höhere Wasserstoffperoxidkonzentrationen (0,70 M – 0,91 M) als bei den sphärischen Partikelanordnungen (0,08 M – 0,32 M) für das Ätzen eingesetzt werden, um ein Einsinken der Nanopartikel in das Substrat zu erreichen.
Technologically important, environmentally friendly InP quantum dots (QDs) typically used as green and red emitters in display devices can achieve exceptional photoluminescence quantum yields (PL QYs) of near-unity (95-100%) when the-state-of-the-art core/shell heterostructure of the ZnSe inner/ZnS outer shell is elaborately applied. Nevertheless, it has only led to a few industrial applications as QD liquid crystal display (QD–LCD) which is applied to blue backlight units, even though QDs has a lot of possibilities that able to realize industrially feasible applications, such as QD light-emitting diodes (QD‒LEDs) and luminescence solar concentrator (LSC), due to their functionalizable characteristics.
Before introducing the main research, the theoretical basis and fundamentals of QDs are described in detail on the basis of the quantum mechanics and experimental synthetic results, where a concept of QD and colloidal QD, a type-I core/shell structure, a transition metal doped semiconductor QDs, the surface chemistry of QD, and their applications (LSC, QD‒LEDs, and EHD jet printing) are sequentially elucidated for better understanding. This doctoral thesis mainly focused on the connectivity between QD materials and QD devices, based on the synthesis of InP QDs that are composed of inorganic core (core/shell heterostructure) and organic shell (surface ligands on the QD surface). In particular, as for the former one (core/shell heterostructure), the ZnCuInS mid-shell as an intermediate layer is newly introduced between a Cu-doped InP core and a ZnS shell for LSC devices. As for the latter one (surface ligands), the ligand effect by 1-octanethiol and chloride ion are investigated for the device stability in QD‒LEDs and the printability of electro-hydrodynamic (EHD) jet printing system, in which this research explores the behavior of surface ligands, based on proton transfer mechanism on the QD surface.
Chapter 3 demonstrates the synthesis of strain-engineered highly emissive Cu:InP/Zn–Cu–In–S (ZCIS)/ZnS core/shell/shell heterostructure QDs via a one-pot approach. When this unconventional combination of a ZCIS/ZnS double shelling scheme is introduced to a series of Cu:InP cores with different sizes, the resulting Cu:InP/ZCIS/ZnS QDs with a tunable near-IR PL range of 694–850 nm yield the highest-ever PL QYs of 71.5–82.4%. These outcomes strongly point to the efficacy of the ZCIS interlayer, which makes the core/shell interfacial strain effectively alleviated, toward high emissivity. The presence of such an intermediate ZCIS layer is further examined by comparative size, structural, and compositional analyses. The end of this chapter briefly introduces the research related to the LSC devices, fabricated from Cu:InP/ZCIS/ZnS QDs, currently in progress.
Chapter 4 mainly deals with ligand effect in 1-octanethiol passivation of InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs in terms of incomplete surface passivation during synthesis. This chapter demonstrates the lack of anionic carboxylate ligands on the surface of InP/ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots (QDs), where zinc carboxylate ligands can be converted to carboxylic acid or carboxylate ligands via proton transfer by 1-octanethiol. The as-synthesized QDs initially have an under-coordinated vacancy surface, which is passivated by solvent ligands such as ethanol and acetone. Upon exposure of 1-octanethiol to the QD surface, 1-octanthiol effectively induces the surface binding of anionic carboxylate ligands (derived from zinc carboxylate ligands) by proton transfer, which consequently exchanges ethanol and acetone ligands that bound on the incomplete QD surface. The systematic chemical analyses, such as thermogravimetric analysis‒mass spectrometry and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, directly show the interplay of surface ligands, and it associates with QD light-emitting diodes (QD‒LEDs).
Chapter 5 shows the relation between material stability of QDs and device stability of QD‒LEDs through the investigation of surface chemistry and shell thickness. In typical III–V colloidal InP quantum dots (QDs), an inorganic ZnS outermost shell is used to provide stability when overcoated onto the InP core. However, this work presents a faster photo-degradation of InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs with a thicker ZnS shell than that with a thin ZnS shell when 1-octanethiol was applied as a sulfur source to form ZnS outmost shell. Herein, 1-octanethiol induces the form of weakly-bound carboxylate ligand via proton transfer on the QD surface, resulting in a faster degradation at UV light even though a thicker ZnS shell was formed onto InP/ZnSe QDs. Detailed insight into surface chemistry was obtained from proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis–mass spectrometry. However, the lifetimes of the electroluminescence devices fabricated from InP/ZnSe/ZnS QDs with a thick or a thin ZnS shell show surprisingly the opposite result to the material stability of QDs, where the QD light-emitting diodes (QD‒LEDs) with a thick ZnS shelled QDs maintained its luminance more stable than that with a thin ZnS shelled QDs. This study elucidates the degradation mechanism of the QDs and the QD light-emitting diodes based on the results and discuss why the material stability of QDs is different from the lifetime of QD‒LEDs.
Chapter 6 suggests a method how to improve a printability of EHD jet printing when QD materials are applied to QD ink formulation, where this work introduces the application of GaP mid-shelled InP QDs as a role of surface charge in EHD jet printing technique. In general, GaP intermediate shell has been introduced in III–V colloidal InP quantum dots (QDs) to enhance their thermal stability and quantum efficiency in the case of type-I core/shell/shell heterostructure InP/GaP/ZnSeS QDs. Herein, these highly luminescent InP/GaP/ZnSeS QDs were synthesized and applied to EHD jet printing, by which this study demonstrates that unreacted Ga and Cl ions on the QD surface induce the operating voltage of cone jet and cone jet formation to be reduced and stabilized, respectively. This result indicates GaP intermediate shell not only improves PL QY and thermal stability of InP QDs but also adjusts the critical flow rate required for cone-jet formation. In other words, surface charges of quantum dots can have a significant role in forming cone apex in the EHD capillary nozzle. For an industrially convenient validation of surface charges on the QD surface, Zeta potential analyses of QD solutions as a simple method were performed, as well as inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) for a composition of elements.
Beyond the generation of highly emissive InP QDs with narrow FWHM, these studies talk about the connection between QD material and QD devices not only to make it a vital jumping-off point for industrially feasible applications but also to reveal from chemical and physical standpoints the origin that obstructs the improvement of device performance experimentally and theoretically.
Facing the environmental crisis, new technologies are needed to sustain our society. In this context, this thesis aims to describe the properties and applications of carbon-based sustainable materials. In particular, it reports the synthesis and characterization of a wide set of porous carbonaceous materials with high nitrogen content obtained from nucleobases. These materials are used as cathodes for Li-ion capacitors, and a major focus is put on the cathode preparation, highlighting the oxidation resistance of nucleobase-derived materials. Furthermore, their catalytic properties for acid/base and redox reactions are described, pointing to the role of nitrogen speciation on their surfaces. Finally, these materials are used as supports for highly dispersed nickel loading, activating the materials for carbon dioxide electroreduction.
The increasing demand for energy in the current technological era and the recent political decisions about giving up on nuclear energy diverted humanity to focus on alternative environmentally friendly energy sources like solar energy. Although silicon solar cells are the product of a matured technology, the search for highly efficient and easily applicable materials is still ongoing. These properties made the efficiency of halide perovskites comparable with silicon solar cells for single junctions within a decade of research. However, the downside of halide perovskites are poor stability and lead toxicity for the most stable ones.
On the other hand, chalcogenide perovskites are one of the most promising absorber materials for the photovoltaic market, due to their elemental abundance and chemical stability against moisture and oxygen. In the search of the ultimate solar absorber material, combining the good optoelectronic properties of halide perovskites with the stability of chalcogenides could be the promising candidate.
Thus, this work investigates new techniques for the synthesis and design of these novel chalcogenide perovskites, that contain transition metals as cations, e.g., BaZrS3, BaHfS3, EuZrS3, EuHfS3 and SrHfS3. There are two stages in the deposition techniques of this study: In the first stage, the binary compounds are deposited via a solution processing method. In the second stage, the deposited materials are annealed in a chalcogenide atmosphere to form the perovskite structure by using solid-state reactions.
The research also focuses on the optimization of a generalized recipe for a molecular ink to deposit precursors of chalcogenide perovskites with different binaries. The implementation of the precursor sulfurization resulted in either binaries without perovskite formation or distorted perovskite structures, whereas some of these materials are reported in the literature as they are more favorable in the needle-like non-perovskite configuration.
Lastly, there are two categories for the evaluation of the produced materials: The first category is about the determination of the physical properties of the deposited layer, e.g., crystal structure, secondary phase formation, impurities, etc. For the second category, optoelectronic properties are measured and compared to an ideal absorber layer, e.g., band gap, conductivity, surface photovoltage, etc.
The present thesis focuses on the synthesis of nanostructured iron-based compounds by using β-FeOOH nanospindles and poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) vesicles as hard and soft templates, respectively, to suppress the shuttle effect of lithium polysulfides (LiPSs) in Li-S batteries. Three types of composites with different nanostructures (mesoporous nanospindle, yolk-shell nanospindle, and nanocapsule) have been synthesized and applied as sulfur host material for Li-S batteries. Their interactions with LiPSs and effects on the electrochemical performance of Li-S batteries have been systematically studied.
In the first part of the thesis, carbon-coated mesoporous Fe3O4 (C@M-Fe3O4) nanospindles have been synthesized to suppress the shuttle effect of LiPSs. First, β-FeOOH nanospindles have been synthesized via the hydrolysis of iron (III) chloride in aqueous solution and after silica coating and subsequent calcination, mesoporous Fe2O3 (M-Fe2O3) have been obtained inside the confined silica layer through pyrolysis of β-FeOOH. After the removal of the silica layer, electron tomography (ET) has been applied to rebuild the 3D structure of the M-Fe2O3 nanospindles. After coating a thin layer of polydopamine (PDA) as carbon source, the PDA-coated M-Fe2O3 particles have been calcinated to synthesize C@M-Fe3O4 nanospindles. With the chemisorption of Fe3O4 and confinement of mesoporous structure to anchor LiPSs, the composite C@M-Fe3O4/S electrode delivers a remaining capacity of 507.7 mAh g-1 at 1 C after 600 cycles.
In the second part of the thesis, a series of iron-based compounds (Fe3O4, FeS2, and FeS) with the same yolk-shell nanospindle morphology have been synthesized, which allows for the direct comparison of the effects of compositions on the electrochemical performance of Li-S batteries. The Fe3O4-carbon yolk-shell nanospindles have been synthesized by using the β-FeOOH nanospindles as hard template. Afterwards, Fe3O4-carbon yolk-shell nanospindles have been used as precursors to obtain iron sulfides (FeS and FeS2)-carbon yolk-shell nanospindles through sulfidation at different temperatures. Using the three types of yolk-shell nanospindles as sulfur host, the effects of compositions on interactions with LiPSs and electrochemical performance in Li-S batteries have been systematically investigated and compared. Benefiting from the chemisorption and catalytic effect of FeS2 particles and the physical confinement of the carbon shell, the FeS2-C/S electrode exhibits the best electrochemical performance with an initial specific discharge capacity of 877.6 mAh g-1 at 0.5 C and a retention ratio of 86.7% after 350 cycles.
In the third part, PILs vesicles have been used as soft template to synthesize carbon nanocapsules embedded with iron nitride particles to immobilize and catalyze LiPSs in Li-S batteries. First, 3-n-decyl-1-vinylimidazolium bromide has been used as monomer to synthesize PILs nanovesicles by free radical polymerization. Assisted by PDA coating route and ion exchange, PIL nanovesicles have been successfully applied as soft template in morphology-maintaining carbonization to prepare carbon nanocapsules embedded with iron nitride nanoparticles (FexN@C). The well-dispersed iron nitride nanoparticles effectively catalyze the conversion of LiPSs to Li2S, owing to their high electrical conductivity and strong chemical binding to LiPSs. The constructed FexN@C/S cathode demonstrates a high initial discharge capacity of 1085.0 mAh g-1 at 0.5 C with a remaining value of 930.0 mAh g-1 after 200 cycles.
The results in the present thesis demonstrate the facile synthetic routes of nanostructured iron-based compounds with controllable morphologies and compositions using soft and hard colloidal templates, which can be applied as sulfur host to suppress the shuttle behavior of LiPSs. The synthesis approaches developed in this thesis are also applicable to fabricating other transition metal-based compounds with porous nanostructures for other applications.
Health effects, attributed to the environmental pollution resulted from using solvents such as benzene, are relatively unexplored among petroleum workers, personal use, and laboratory researchers. Solvents can cause various health problems, such as neurotoxicity, immunotoxicity, and carcinogenicity. As such it can be absorbed via epidermal or respiratory into the human body resulting in interacting with molecules that are responsible for biochemical and physiological processes of the brain.
Owing to the ever-growing demand for finding a solution, an Ionic liquid can use as an alternative solvent. Ionic liquids are salts in a liquid state at low temperature (below 100 C), or even at room temperature. Ionic liquids impart a unique architectural platform, which has been interesting because of their unusual properties that can be tuned by simple ways such as mixing two ionic liquids.
Ionic liquids not only used as reaction solvents but they became a key developing for novel applications based on their thermal stability, electric conductivity with very low vapor pressure in contrast to the conventional solvents.
In this study, ionic liquids were used as a solvent and reactant at the same time for the novel nanomaterials synthesis for different applications including solar cells, gas sensors, and water splitting.
The field of ionic liquids continues to grow, and become one of the most important branches of science. It appears to be at a point where research and industry can work together in a new way of thinking for green chemistry and sustainable production.