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Since the proposal of the concept of semi-solid flow batteries (SSFBs), SSFBs have gained increased attention as an alternative for large-scale energy storage applications. As a new type of high energy density flow battery system, lithium-ion semi-solid flow batteries (Li-SSFBs) combine the features of both flow batteries and lithium-ion batteries and show the advantages of decoupling power and capacity. Moreover, Li-SSFBs typically can achieve much higher energy density while maintaining a lower cost. Therefore, Li-SSFBs are some of the most promising technologies for future energy storage. Despite these advantages, a significant gap towards the commercialization of Li-SSFBs still exists. In this article, we have reviewed the research progress of Li-SSFBs in aqueous and non-aqueous systems in recent years. We have further discussed the future research trends and application prospects of Li-SSFBs, providing guidelines for future research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the practical application of microwave absorbing materials, traditional powder materials need to be mixed with the matrix to fabricate composite coatings. However, the complex preparation process of composite coatings and the uneven dispersion of powders in the matrix limit their application. To solve these problems, two-dimensional (2D) F-WS2/CP composite films were prepared by using carbon paper (CP) as a dispersion matrix and loading flower-like WS2 on its surface through a simple hydrothermal method. The morphology and microwave absorption (MA) performance of the composite films are easily regulated by adjusting the amount of reaction precursors. The combination of WS2 and CP facilitates impedance matching and improves the electromagnetic wave attenuation performance based on the synergistic effect of different loss mechanisms including multiple reflections and scattering, interfacial polarization, dipolar polarization, and conduction loss. At a low filler content (5 wt%), the maximum reflection loss (RL) of the composite film is up to -50 dB (99.999% energy absorption) at 12.5 GHz with 2.8 mm thickness. Moreover, at a relatively thin 1.8 mm thickness, its maximum RL remains -35 dB (>99.9% energy absorption). The as-prepared composite film shows excellent MA properties at a thinner thickness and lower filling content, providing inspiration for the preparation of light weight and efficient 2D thin-film microwave absorbers in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a new approach of C18-coated stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) coupled with high performance liquid chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HPLC-ICP-MS) was developed for the speciation of butyltins in environmental samples. The butyltin compounds, including monobutyltin trichloride (MBT), dibutyltin dichloride (DBT) and tributyltin chloride (TBT), were first extracted with a C18-coated stir bar, and then desorbed with 40% (v/v) methanol for subsequent HPLC-ICP-MS analysis. The factors affecting C18-SBSE were systematically studied. To reduce the percentage of organic solvents in the mobile phase loaded on the plasma and to improve the separation resolution, a CN column with carboxylic acids as the mobile phase additives was used for butyltin separation. Quick separation (<8 min) was accomplished using a methanol-formic acid-water (16:8:76, v/v/v) mobile phase containing 5 mmol L-1 mercaptoacetic acid, and the mobile phase was compatible with the conventional quadrupole ICP-MS detector without addition of oxygen gas or desolvation and post-column dilution systems. Under the optimal conditions, the limits of detection for three target butyltins ranged from 15.6 to 29.4 ng L-1, with a linear range of 0.05-50 µg L-1. The enrichment factors (EFs) were 85- to 127-fold (the theoretical EF is 200-fold). The developed method is simple and rapid, with no derivatization involved, and is successfully applied to the speciation of butyltins in the Certified Reference Material of PACS-2 sediment and real water as well as sediment samples from the East Lake, Yangtze River and Bohai Sea in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbohydrate biomolecules are difficult targets for analysis due to their branched structure and diverse modifications of saccharidic monomers. The variety of biochemical functions of carbohydrate biomolecules have attracted great and extensive attention, which has spurred a pressing need for rapid development of analytical methods for absolute quantification of glycoproteins in recent years. Herein a sensitive and selective method using magnetic separation coupled with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection is proposed for simultaneous determination of multiple glycoproteins. Haptoglobin (HP), hemopexin (HPX) and ovalbumin (OVA) were selected as target glycoproteins. They were firstly selected by lectin conjugated magnetic particles due to the glycol-structure, and then immunoreacted with antibodies labeled with Cd, Hg, Pb through poly(acrylic acid), respectively. The metal ions, corresponding to the concentration of glycoproteins, were released from antibody with an acid-dissolution step and subjected to subsequent ICP-MS detection. With consumption of only 50 µL sample solution, the established method presents a limit of detection of 0.032, 0.027 and 0.13 ng mL-1 for HP, HPX and OVA, with the relative standard deviation of 7.4%, 6.8% and 7.6% (c = 5 ng mL-1, n = 7), respectively. The response of magnetic immuno-ICP-MS assay for HP, HPX and OVA was linear over a dynamic range of 0.1-100 ng mL-1, 0.1-100 ng mL-1 and 0.5-100 ng mL-1, respectively. The recoveries for HP, HPX and OVA in spiked human serum samples are in the range of 97.6-105%. The developed method is demonstrated to be versatile to multiple glycoproteins quantification in complicated samples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study which investigated gold nanoparticles and gold ions in water samples by combining magnetic solid phase extraction with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Topics covered include the various applications of gold nanoparticles, application areas of silver nanoparticles such as medical products, catalysts and biocides, and methods that have been developed for the separation and preconcentration of metal nanoparticles from aqueous solutions.

A sensitive and selective on chip magnetic immunoassay method, based on a sandwich-type immunoreaction with PbS nanoparticle (NPs) labels in combination with electrothermal vaporization-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS), was proposed for the determination of carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA). We designed and fabricated a microfluidic chip for magnetic immunoassay, and the prepared iminodiacetic acid modified silica coated magnetic nanoparticles (IDA-SCMNPs) were packed into the central microchannel to form a solid phase column by self-assembly under the magnetic field. After completion of the immunoreaction involving a primary antibody, CEA and a secondary antibody labeled with PbS NPs on a magnetic solid phase packed-column, ETV-ICP-MS was used to determine the concentration of Pb that was released from the captured PbS NPs using an acid-dissolution step. The concentrations of CEA can be correlated with that of Pb. The established method demonstrated a limit of detection of 0.058 μg L−1for CEA, with a relative standard deviation (RSD) of 6.7% (c= 10 μg L−1, n= 7). A linearity ranging from 0.2 μg L−1to 50 μg L−1and a 2-fold enrichment factor (from 60 μL sample solution to 30 μL eluent) were achieved. The proposed method was further validated by analyzing CEA in human serum. The results were in good agreement with those obtained by chemiluminescent immunoassay, which is currently used as a clinical method. Overall, this method offers the advantages of high speed, high sensitivity, high selectivity, low sample/reagents consumption, high integrity and versatility. Moreover, it can be easily applied to other biological and medical assays. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A sensitive and selective method of immunoaffinity monolithic capillary microextraction (CME) based on a sandwich immunoreaction with quantum dots (QDs) labels coupled with micro-concentric nebulizer inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MCN-ICP-MS) was proposed for the determination of antigen human IgG in human serum. Aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES)-silica hybrid monolithic capillary which was prepared by room temperature ionic liquid (RTIL)-mediated sol–gel method was immobilized with primary goat-anti-human antibody. After a complete immunoreaction among primary antibody, IgG antigen and secondary antibody labeled with CdSe QDs in monolithic capillary, the concentration of IgG was quantified by MCN-ICP-MS simultaneous analysis of Cd and Se released from captured QDs labels with an acid-dissolution (pH 2.0) step. With consumption of only 50 μL sample solution, the established method presented a limit of detection of 0.058 μg L−1based on the Cd signal and 0.097 μg L−1based on the Se signal for human IgG antigen, with the relative standard deviations (RSDs) of 7.2% based on the Cd signal and 13% based on the Se signal (chumanIgGantigen= 5 μg L−1, n= 7), respectively. The response of CME-MCN-ICP-MS method for human IgG was linear over a dynamic range from 0.2 to 10 μg L−1based on the Cd signal and from 0.5 to 10 μg L−1based on the Se signal, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied for the determination of IgG in real human serum with good recoveries. For validation, the same sample was also analyzed by the commonly used clinical method of immunoturbidimetry, and the analytical result obtained by the proposed method is in good agreement with that the result obtained by immunoturbidimetry. By using CdSe QDs labels, the quantification of human IgG antigen could be performed by ICP-MS determination of both Cd and Se, and the analytical results for human IgG antigen could be validated in one run. The developed method was fast, sensitive, selective, versatile and could be easily extended to other protein quantification schemes as well as in DNA analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel method of polymer monolith microextraction (PMME) using a poly(acrylamide-vinylpyridine-N,N′-methylene bisacrylamide) (AA-VP-Bis) monolithic column combined with electrothermal vaporization inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ETV-ICP-MS) for the determination of trace Cd, Tl, and Pb with Pd as chemical modifier has been proposed. Several factors that influence the microextraction efficiency including pH value, sample flow rate, extraction time, sample volume, eluent volume, and coexisting ions, were investigated and the optimal microextraction conditions were established. The chemical modification of Pd in ETV-ICP-MS has been studied and the results indicated that the pyrolysis temperature for the target analytes could be increased up to 600 °C and the signal intensities were increased by 4.1, 2.1, and 13.8 times for Cd, Tl, and Pb, respectively. Under the optimized conditions, with a consumption of 0.4 mL sample, the limits of detection (LODs) were 1.1, 0.5, and 0.2 ng L−1for Cd, Tl, and Pb, and the relative standard deviations (RSDs) were 10.3, 9.7, and 9.2% (C = 0.05 µg L−1, n = 5) for Cd, Tl, and Pb, respectively. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of trace Cd, Tl, and Pb in human serum and urine samples, and the recovery for the spiked samples were in the range of 90–110%. In order to validate the proposed method, certified reference material of GBW09103 human urine was analyzed, and the determined values were in good agreement with the certified values. The poly(AA-VP-Bis) monolith can be used more than 40 times without decrease in the extraction efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]