Black phosphorus (BP) is incorporated in the electrochemical detection of uric acid (UA) to form few layers of BP nanosheets (BPNS)-modified glassy carbon electrodes (BPNS/GCE), investigated by means of ultrasound-assisted liquid-phase exfoliation. We find a significant increase in the peak current magnitude and positive potential shift in the electrochemical response of BPNS/GCE, which may be attributed to the larger specific surface area and good charge transfer ability of BPNS. Further, the electrochemical response of BPNS/GCE is evaluated under different conditions to achieve the optimal conditions. UA detection using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) shows linear response within the range of 1–1000 μM with a detection limit of 0.33 μM. This work reveals new applications of BP nanomaterials in the electrochemical sensing, thereby promoting further advancement in terms of practical applications of two-dimensional nanomaterials.

Renewed interest in the reinforced carbon graphite composites has intrigued the community in the advanced materials fields. In this work, we present a simple carbon nanofibers reinforced carbon graphite composites synthetic method by incorporating mixture of coal tar pitch, synthetic graphite, pitch coke and the dispersion liquid of carbon nanofibers via liquid-phase mixing process. The impact of carbon nanofiber utilization on the microstructures and mechanical properties of carbon graphite composites are studied systematically. The covalent surface modification of carbon nanofibers effectively improves its microstructure and thereby promotes the carbon graphite composites’ dispersion behavior. We propose that a small amount of carbon nanofibers could promote the carbonization process of carbon graphite composites, facilitating the densification of carbon graphite composites and reducing the undesired open porosity. The amount of 0.7 wt % of carbon nanofiber concentration allows the enhancement of bend and compressive strength of carbon graphite composites up to 36.50 MPa and 60.46 MPa, increased by 167.9% and 146.9% compared with the pure carbon graphite composite, respectively. Our findings can be rationalized due to the improvement in the mechanical strength of carbon graphite composites could be attributed due to pull-out of carbon nanofibers from the matrix and bridging effect across the crack pores within the matrix.

Pentachlorophenol (PCP), as one of the common pesticide and preservatives, is easily accumulated in living organisms. Considering the high toxicity of PCP, the development of an effective and sensitive inspection method to determine the residual trace amounts of PCP continues to be a significant challenge. Herein, a convenient and sensitive electrochemical sensor is constructed by modifying glassy carbon electrode with cerium dioxide ( CeO2) nanoparticles anchored graphene ( CeO2-GR) to detect trace PCP. Benefiting from the two-dimensional lamellar structural advantages, the extraordinary electron-transfer properties, as well as the intensive coupling effect between CeO2 nanoparticles and graphene, the afforded CeO2- GR electrode nanomaterial possesses excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of PCP. Under the optimum synthetic conditions, the PCP oxidation peak currents of developed CeO2– GR sample exhibit a wide linear range of 5–150 μM. Moreover, the corresponding detection limit of PCP on the CeO2– GR electrode is as low as 0.5 μM. Apart from providing a promising electrochemical sensor, this work, most importantly, promotes an efficient route for the construction of highly active sensing electrode materials.

The KVN(Korean VLBI Network)-style simultaneous multi-frequency receiving mode is demonstrated to be promising for mm-VLBI observations. Recently, other Very long baseline interferometry (VLBI) facilities all over the globe start to implement compatible optics systems. Simultaneous dual/multi-frequency VLBI observations at mm wavelengths with international baselines are thus possible. In this paper, we present the results from the first successful simultaneous 22/43 GHz dualfrequency observation with KaVA(KVN and VERA array), including images and astrometric results. Our analysis shows that the newly implemented simultaneous receiving system has brought a significant extension of the coherence time of the 43 GHz visibility phases along the international baselines. The astrometric results obtained with KaVA are consistent with those obtained with the independent analysis of the KVN data. Our results thus confirm the good performance of the simultaneous receiving systems for the non-KVN stations. Future simultaneous observations with more global stations bring even higher sensitivity and micro-arcsecond level astrometric measurements of the targets.

Compared with traditional analog system, the Chinese VLBI Data Acquisition System (CDAS) is a digital one with better bandpass and wider bandwidth which allow weaker sources to be detected and measured by VLBI techniques. After optimizing and verifying the performance of CDAS in wide bandwidth observing mode, we performed an experiment by observing 85 weak sources along the ecliptic with Chinese VLBI stations located at Shanghai, Kunming and Urumqi. The capability of CDAS has been demonstrated for the detection of weak sources with improved sensitivity.