Lead ions (Pb) contamination in drinking water, a major source of lead poisoning to the general population, is typically detected by bulky and costly laboratory analytical instrument. A mobile analytical device for rapid Pb sensing is a growing demand. Herein, we report smartphone nanocolorimetry (SNC) as a new technique to detect and quantify dissolved Pb in drinking water. Specifically, we have employed a single-step sedimentation approach by mixing a controlled quantity of chromate ion (CrO) to react with Pb containing solutions to form highly insoluble lead chromate (PbCrO) nanoparticles as vivid yellow precipitates. This is followed by microscopic color detection and intensity quantitation at nanoscale level using dark-field smartphone microscopy. The sum of the intensity of yellow pixels bears a highly reproducible relationship with Pb concentration between 1.37 and 175 ppb in deionized water and 5-175 ppb in city tap water. In contrast to traditional colorimetric techniques analyzing bulk color changes, SNC achieves unparalleled sensitivity by combining nanocolorimetry with dark-field microscopy and mobilized the metal ions detection by integrating the detection into the smartphone microscope platform. SNC is rapid and low-cost and has the potential to enable individual citizens to examine Pb content in drinking water on-demand in virtually any environmental setting.
An easy and environmentally friendly method was developed for the preparation of a stabilized carbon nanotube–crystalline nanocellulose (CNT–CNC) dispersion and for its deposition to generate self-standing CNT–CNC composite films. The composite films were carbonized at different temperatures of 70 °C, 800 °C, and 1300 °C. Structural and morphological characteristics of the CNT–CNC films were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), which revealed that the sample annealed at 800 °C (CNT–CNC800) formed nano-tree networks of CNTs with a high surface area (1180 m2·g−1) and generated a conductive CNC matrix due to the effective carbonization. The carbonized composite films were applied as anodes for lithium-ion batteries, and the battery performance was evaluated in terms of initial voltage profile, cyclic voltammetry, capacity, cycling stability, and current rate efficiency. Among them, the CNT–CNC800 anode exhibited impressive electrochemical performance by showing a reversible capacity of 443 mAh·g−1 at a current density of 232 mA·g−1 after 120 cycles with the capacity retention of 89% and high rate capability.
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