This feature article illustrates the potential of polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy(PM IRRAS)to provide molecular-level information about the structure,orientation and conformation of...This feature article illustrates the potential of polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy(PM IRRAS)to provide molecular-level information about the structure,orientation and conformation of constituents of thin films at electrode surfaces.PM IRRAS relies on the surface selection rules stating that the p-polarized IR beam is enhanced,while the s-polarized beam is attenuated at the metal surface.The difference between p-and s-polarized beams eliminates the background of the solvent and provides IR spectra at a single electrode potential.In contrast,two other popular in situ IR spectroscopic techniques,namely,subtractively normalized interfacial Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(SNIFTIRS)and surface-enhanced infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy(SEIRAS),provide potential difference spectra to remove the signal from the bulk solution.In this feature article,we provide a brief tutorial on how to run the PM IRRAS experiment and describe the methods used for background elimination first.The application of the PM IRRAS in the biomimetic research is then illustrated by three examples:construction of a tethered bilayer,reconstitution of colicin into a phospholipid bilayer and determination of the orientation of nucleolipids in a monolayer assembled at a gold electrode surface.Finally,the structural changes of graphene oxide during its electrochemical reduction are described to highlight the promising application of PM IRRAS in materials science.展开更多
Tailoring tire pore structure and surface chemistry of graphene-based laminates is essentially important for their applications as separation membranes. Usually, pure graphene oxide (GO) and completely reduced GO (...Tailoring tire pore structure and surface chemistry of graphene-based laminates is essentially important for their applications as separation membranes. Usually, pure graphene oxide (GO) and completely reduced GO (rGO) membranes suffer florn low water permeance because of the lack of pristine graphitic sp2 domains and very small interlayer spacing, respectively. In this work, we studied the influence of reduction degree on the structure and separation pertornrance of rGO membranes, tt was found that weak reduction retains the good dispersion and hydrophilicity of GO nanosheets. More importantly, it increases the number of pristine graphitic sp2 domains in rGO nanosheets while keeping the large interlayer spacing of the GO membranes in most regions at the same time. The resultant mernbranes show a high water permeance of 56.3 L m^-2 h^ -1 bar^ -1, which is about 4 times and over 10^4 times larger tban those of the GO and completely reduced rGO membranes, respectively, and high rejection over 95700 for various dyes. Furthermore, they show better structure stability and more superior separation perfor- mance than GO membranes in acid and alkali environments.展开更多
基金This research was funded by Discovery Grants from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada(JL:RGPIN-2022-03958AC:RGPIN-2022-04238).
文摘This feature article illustrates the potential of polarization modulation infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy(PM IRRAS)to provide molecular-level information about the structure,orientation and conformation of constituents of thin films at electrode surfaces.PM IRRAS relies on the surface selection rules stating that the p-polarized IR beam is enhanced,while the s-polarized beam is attenuated at the metal surface.The difference between p-and s-polarized beams eliminates the background of the solvent and provides IR spectra at a single electrode potential.In contrast,two other popular in situ IR spectroscopic techniques,namely,subtractively normalized interfacial Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(SNIFTIRS)and surface-enhanced infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy(SEIRAS),provide potential difference spectra to remove the signal from the bulk solution.In this feature article,we provide a brief tutorial on how to run the PM IRRAS experiment and describe the methods used for background elimination first.The application of the PM IRRAS in the biomimetic research is then illustrated by three examples:construction of a tethered bilayer,reconstitution of colicin into a phospholipid bilayer and determination of the orientation of nucleolipids in a monolayer assembled at a gold electrode surface.Finally,the structural changes of graphene oxide during its electrochemical reduction are described to highlight the promising application of PM IRRAS in materials science.
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China(2016YFA0200101)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(51325205,51290273,and51521091)Chinese Academy of Sciences(KGZD-EW-303-1,KGZDEW-T06,174321KYSB20160011,and XDPB06)
文摘Tailoring tire pore structure and surface chemistry of graphene-based laminates is essentially important for their applications as separation membranes. Usually, pure graphene oxide (GO) and completely reduced GO (rGO) membranes suffer florn low water permeance because of the lack of pristine graphitic sp2 domains and very small interlayer spacing, respectively. In this work, we studied the influence of reduction degree on the structure and separation pertornrance of rGO membranes, tt was found that weak reduction retains the good dispersion and hydrophilicity of GO nanosheets. More importantly, it increases the number of pristine graphitic sp2 domains in rGO nanosheets while keeping the large interlayer spacing of the GO membranes in most regions at the same time. The resultant mernbranes show a high water permeance of 56.3 L m^-2 h^ -1 bar^ -1, which is about 4 times and over 10^4 times larger tban those of the GO and completely reduced rGO membranes, respectively, and high rejection over 95700 for various dyes. Furthermore, they show better structure stability and more superior separation perfor- mance than GO membranes in acid and alkali environments.