Self-assembly of α-MoO3 flower as a highly effective organics adsorbent for water purification

We report α-MoO₃ flowers as a highly effective organics adsorbent for the first time. With α-MoO₃ microfibers (MFs), α-MoO₃ flowers uniformly self-assemble on a carbon cloth, serving as a great organics scavenger. They not only provide a high specific surface area but also possess van der Waals force, both of which guarantee a high adsorption efficiency for multiple organics. Nearly 100% of Rhodamine B (RhB), methylene blue (MB), and crystal violet (CV) are rapidly adsorbed while flowing through the designed α-MoO₃ flower-based filtration device. Even after five recycling times, its high adsorption efficiency toward RhB remains unaffected. The adsorption capacity of α-MoO₃ flowers for RhB, MB, and CV reaches up to 4974, 6217, and 3886 mg/m², respectively. Additionally, this novel adsorbent can adapt to a wide pH range, maintaining the excellent capacity of 4774 and 4473 mg/m² toward RhB at pH of 2.0 and 12.0. The α-MoO₃ flowers can also adsorb other organics, including MO, noroxin, and tetracycline hydrochloride. Moreover, the free-standing α-MoO₃ flowers on a carbon cloth realize the adsorptive filtration for organics removal, which not only require no conditions and no energy consumption but also avoid secondary pollution to the water as compared to the powdery adsorbents.     

Decoration of carbon cloth by manganese oxides for flexible asymmetric supercapacitors

Here we describe the production of carbon cloth coated with MnO₂ nanosheets or MnOOH nanorods through a normal temperature reaction or a hydrothermal approach, respectively. Of note, the electrochemical performance of MnO₂-coated carbon cloth was better (429.2 F g⁻¹) than that of MnOOH-coated carbon cloth. When the MnO₂-coated carbon cloth is introduced as the positive electrode and the Fe₂O₃-coated carbon cloth as the negative electrode, a flexible asymmetric supercapacitor was obtained with an energy density of 22.8 Wh kg⁻¹ and a power density of 159.4 W kg⁻¹. Therefore, such a hierarchical MnO₂-coated carbon cloth nanocomposite is a promising high-performance electrode for flexible supercapacitors.     

Three-dimensional hierarchical ZnCo2O4 flower-like microspheres assembled from porous nanosheets: Hydrothermal synthesis and electrochemical properties

In this work, three-dimensional hierarchical ZnCo₂O₄ flower-like microspheres have been synthesized on a large scale via a facile and economical citrate-mediated hydrothermal method followed by an annealing process in air. The as-synthesized ZnCo₂O₄ flower-like microspheres are constructed by numerous interweaving porous nanosheets. According to the experimental results, a formation mechanism involving the assembly of the nanosheets from nanoparticles into flower-like microsphere is proposed. As a virtue of their beneficial structural features, the ZnCo₂O₄ flower-like microspheres exhibit a high lithium storage capacity and excellent cycling stability (1136 mA h g⁻¹ at 100 mA g⁻¹ after 50 cycles). This remarkable electrochemical performance can be ascribed to the hierarchical structure and porous structures in the nanosheets, which effectively increases the contact area between the active materials and the electrolyte, shortening the Li⁺ diffusion pathway and buffering the volume variation during cycling.     

One-step solution synthesis and formation mechanism of flower-like ZnO and its structural and optical characterization

The regular hierarchical flower-like ZnO nanostructures assembled by nanosheets were successfully synthesized by one-step solution route with citrate assistance at room temperature. It was demonstrated that the concentration of citrate and the molar ratio of Zn²⁺/OH⁻ had strong effect on the formation of nanosheets and self-assembly flower-like nanostructures. A reasonable formation mechanism of the flower-like nanostructures was proposed. According to UV–vis spectrum, the flower-like ZnO nanostructures exhibited strong light absorption, and the value of band gap of the obtained ZnO was estimated to be 3.26 eV. Moreover, the room-temperature photoluminescence (PL) spectrum of the sample presented only a near-band edge emission at 382 nm.     

One-Step Synthesis of g-C3N4 Nanosheets with Enhanced Photocatalytic Performance for Organic Pollutants Degradation Under Visible Light Irradiation

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) has received much interest as a visible-light-driven photocatalyst for degrading pollutants such as organic dyes and antibiotics. However, g-C₃N₄ bulk activity could not meet expectations due to its rapid recombination of photogenerated electron–hole pairs and low specific surface area. In our study, melamine was thermally treated one-step in the presence of NH₄Cl to produce g-C₃N₄ nanosheets. The characterizations of surface morphology and optical properties of all g-C₃N₄ samples were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. Compared to bulk g-C₃N₄, g-C₃N₄ nanosheets demonstrated excellent photocatalytic activities, with approximately 98% RhB removal after 210 min of visible light irradiation. Furthermore, the effect of catalyst dosage, pH, and RhB concentration on the removal percentage dye of g-C₃N₄ nanosheets was also investigated. h⁺ and ^?O₂^? species were demonstrated as the key reactive species for the RhB. Besides, ECN exposed a tetracycline degradation efficiency of 80.5% under visible-light irradiation for 210 min, which is higher than BCN (60.8%). The improved photocatalytic activity of g-C₃N₄ nanosheets is due to the restriction of the recombination of photogenerated electrons/hole pairs, as provided by photoluminescence spectra and Nyquist plot. As a result, our research may offer an effective approach to fabricating g-C₃N₄ nanosheets with high photocatalytic activity and high stability for environmental decontamination.

     

Self-Assembled 3D Flower-Like Hierarchical β-Ni(OH)2 Hollow Architectures and their In Situ Thermal Conversion to NiO

Three-dimensional (3D) flower-like hierarchical β-Ni(OH)₂ hollow architectures were synthesized by a facile hydrothermal route. The as-obtained products were well characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM (HRTEM), SAED, and DSC-TGA. It was shown that the 3D flower-like hierarchical β-Ni(OH)₂ hollow architectures with a diameter of several micrometers are assembled from nanosheets with a thickness of 10–20 nm and a width of 0.5–2.5 μm. A rational mechanism of formation was proposed on the basis of a range of contrasting experiments. 3D flower-like hierarchical NiO hollow architectures with porous structure were obtained after thermal decomposition at appropriate temperatures. UV–Vis spectra reveal that the band gap of the as-synthesized NiO samples was about 3.57 eV, exhibiting obviously red shift compared with the bulk counterpart.     

Visible light induced photocatalytic activity of MnO2/BiVO4 for the degradation of organic dye and tetracycline

In this work, α-MnO₂/BiVO₄ nanocomposites with varying MnO₂ contents (0–7 wt%) were successfully prepared via the simple chemical method. The structure, morphology, and optical properties of prepared nanocomposites were studied by various analytical techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV–visible absorption spectroscopy, and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy. The photocatalytic efficiency of α-MnO₂/BiVO₄ nanocomposites was studied via decomposition of rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline (TC) under exposure to visible light (λ ≥ 420 nm). Due to good structure and composite advantages, 5%MnO₂/BiVO₄ (MnBV-5) photocatalyst exhibited superior RhB and TC degradation efficiency to all other samples. In addition, the MnBV-5 photocatalyst showed good stability, and no apparent reduction in photocatalysis efficiency was noted after five testing cycles. Therefore, the MnO₂/BiVO₄ nanocomposite demonstrated a good potential for photocatalytic decomposition of new water contaminants.     

A nest-like hierarchical porous V2O5 as a high-performance cathode material for Li-ion batteries

In this article, V₂O₅ with a novel nest-like hierarchical porous structure has been synthesized by a facile solvothermal method and investigated as cathode material for lithium-ion batteries. The nest-like V₂O₅ with a diameter of about 1.5 µm, was composed of interconnected nanosheets with a highly porous structure. Without other modification, the as-prepared V₂O₅ electrode exhibited superior capacity. An initial discharge capacity of 330 mAh g⁻¹ (at a current density of 100 mA g⁻¹) could be delivered and a stable discharge capacity of 240 mAh g⁻¹ after 50 cycles is maintained. The excellent performance was attributed to the hierarchical porous structure that could buffer against the local volume change and shorten the lithium-ions diffusion distance.     

Synthesis and Visible-Light Photocatalytic Property of Bi2WO6 Hierarchical Octahedron-Like Structures

A novel octahedron-like hierarchical structure of Bi₂WO₆ has been fabricated by a facile hydrothermal method in high quantity. XRD, SEM, TEM, and HRTEM were used to characterize the product. The results indicated that this kind of Bi₂WO₆ crystals had an average size of ~4 μm, constructed by quasi-square single-crystal nanosheets assembled in a special fashion. The formation of octahedron-like hierarchical structure of Bi₂WO₆ depended crucially on the pH value of the precursor suspensions. The photocatalytic activity of the hierarchical Bi₂WO₆ structures toward RhB degradation under visible light was investigated, and it was found to be significantly better than that of the sample fabricated by SSR. The better photocatalytic property should be strongly associated with the high specific surface area and the abundant pore structure of the hierarchical octahedron-like Bi₂WO₆.     

Promising carbon nanosheets decorated by self-assembled MoO2 nanoparticles: Controllable synthesis,boosting performance and application in symmetric coin cell supercapacitors

A composite containing self-assembled MoO₂ nanoparticles and functional carbon nanosheets was obtained via a facile and controllable strategy. Two-dimensional functional carbon nanosheets as matrices have close contact with MoO₂ nanoparticles, which assists in the improvement of electronic conductivity, provides efficient pathways and accelerates electron transfer. The carbon nanosheets have functional groups on the surface, which could serve as the nucleation sites for MoO₂. The MC-0.12 composite shows optimal specific capacitance (190.9 F g^-1 at 1 A g^-1) and excellent cycle stability between monomers and composites with different constituents. The assembled symmetrical coin cell supercapacitor using MC-0.12 possesses the maximum energy density of 10.3 Wh kg^-1 at a power density of 378 W kg^-1 and still maintains the energy density of 7.9 Wh kg^-1 at 1682 W kg^-1 with a larger potential window. The capacitance retention (92%) of the assembled device is maintained after 2000 cycles, showing outstanding cycle life. Therefore, the integration of self-assembled MoO₂ nanoparticles with 2D functional carbon nanosheets provides the composite superior electrochemical performance for supercapacitor applications.     

Construction of hierarchical NiMoO4@MnO2 nanosheet arrays on titanium mesh for supercapacitor electrodes

Hierarchical NiMoO₄@MnO₂ nanosheet arrays supported on titanium mesh are synthesized by cost effective hydrothermal methods for binder-free electrode. High specific area of porous MnO₂nanosheets and exceptionally high pseudocapacitive behavior of NiMoO₄nanosheets lead to a specific capacitance of 976 F g⁻¹at a current density of 1 A g⁻¹ with pleasurable rate characteristic in three electrode configuration. The excellent electrochemical performances of the integrated electrode can be ascribed to the unique core-shell nanostructure and synergic interaction. It is believed that the hierarchical NiMoO₄@MnO₂ nanosheet arrays supported on titanium mesh can provide great prospect for energy storage applications.     

S-scheme g-C3N4/TiO2/CFs heterojunction composites with multi-dimensional through-holes and enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity

A novel multi-dimensional through-holes structure of g-C₃N₄ with adjustable pore size was prepared by controlling the mass ratio of oxamide (OA, structure guiding agent) to urea during one-step calcination process, and a break-rearrangement mechanism was explored. Then, a series of porous g-C₃N₄/TiO₂ (CT) composites with uniformly deposited TiO₂ nanoparticles were prepared based on the multi-dimensional framework by a facile hydrothermal method. The results show that a new S-scheme heterojunction with multi-dimensional through-channel structure was obtained, which is particularly desired for enhancing the visible-light utilization, reducing the carrier recombination rate and enhancing redox capacity. The CT composite obtained at hydrothermal treatment time of 2 h has a specific surface area of 180.15 m² g^-1, which shows high degradation capability (99.99%) for tetracycline hydrochloride (TC·HCl) under 350 W Xe lamp irradiation for 90 min. In addition, CT nanostructures was in-situ growth on carbon fiber (CFs), the degradation rate constant is 0.1566 min^-1, and 90% of the degradation efficiency can be maintained even after 5 consecutive cycles. It is expected to provide an effective reference for solving the problems of recovery difficulty and low reuse rate of powder photocatalytic materials.     

Electrospun porous carbon nanofibers/TiO2 composite coated over carbon cloth- A flexible electrode for capacitive deionization

The combination of porous carbon matrix and metal oxide is trending for capacitive deionization (CDI) due to their synergistic electrochemical behaviour and properties. In this research, a flexible electrode based on electrospun porous carbon nanofibers and TiO₂ nanoparticles (particle size ～7 nm) i.e., PCNFs/TiO₂ composite coated over carbon cloth is developed. A facile in-situ activation procedure using sacrificial polymer is adopted over typical chemical activation treatment to synthesize PCNFs/TiO₂ composite. PCNFs/TiO₂ composite is prepared in two steps, possessing a high specific surface area of ～343 m² g^?1 and pore volume of 0.038 cm³ g^?1. Interestingly, CDI unit assembled with PCNFs/TiO₂ composite based flexible electrodes delivers the large salt electrosorption capacity of 204.8 mg g^?1 at voltage 1.2 V in a salt solution of concentration 500 ppm and conductivity 880 μS cm^?1. The excellent adsorption capacity retention of 96.4% up to ten adsorption-regeneration cycles can be a tempting option for future flexible CDI applications.     

Amino group-rich porous g-C3N4 nanosheet photocatalyst: Facile oxalic acid-induced synthesis and improved H2-evolution activity

The reasonable modulation of tri-s-triazine structure units of g-C₃N₄ is an effective method to optimize its intrinsic electronic and optical properties, thus boosting its photocatalytic hydrogen-evolution activity. Herein, amino groups are successfully introduced into the tri-s-triazine structure units of g-C₃N₄ nanosheets to improve their H₂-evolution activity via a facile oxalic acid-induced supramolecular assembly strategy. In this case, the resulting amino group-rich porous g-C₃N₄ nanosheets display a loose and fluffy structure with a large specific surface area (70.41 m² g^?1) and pore volume (0.50 cm³? g^??1), and enhanced visible-light absorption (450–800 nm). Photocatalytic tests reveal that the amino group-rich porous g-C₃N₄ nanosheets (AP-CN1.0 nanosheets) exhibit a significantly elevated photocatalytic H₂-production activity (130.7 μmol h^?1, AQE = 5.58%), which is much greater than that of bulk g-C₃N₄ by a factor of 4.9 times. The enhanced hydrogen-generation performance of amino group-rich porous g-C₃N₄ nanosheets can be mainly attributed to the introduction of more amino groups, which can reinforce the visible-light absorption and work as the interfacial hydrogen-generation active centers to boost the photocatalytic hydrogen production. The present facile and effective regulation of tri-s-triazine structure units may provide an ideal route for the exploitation of novel and highly efficient g-C₃N₄ photocatalysts.     

Optimization of thermal insulation performance of porous geopolymers under the guidance of thermal conductivity calculation

Porous geopolymers are energy saving, environment-friendly and simple in preparation. However, the thermal conductivity (TC) of present porous geopolymers as well as other inorganic thermal insulation materials can be hardly below 0.050 W m^-1 K^-1 in the markets. In order to further decrease the TC of porous geopolymers, it is vital to understand the heat transfer mechanism of this type of materials. In this work, we made a comparison among the main heat transfer models for porous two-component system reported so far including series model, parallel model, geometric mean model, Maxwell-Eucken equation, Hashin spherical structure model and novel effective medium theory (NEMT) based on the data reported in references and obtained by our group for porous geopolymers, and found that NEMT could describe the heat transfer mechanism of porous geopolymers better. Then we systematically studied the relationship among the effective TC (k_e), porosity (ε), TC of solid skeleton (k_s) and TC of the uniform medium reflecting the heat conduction of the solid skeleton to air (k_m) based on the calculations with NEMT. It was found that it is essential to increase ε and decrease k_s and k_m for reducing the TC of porous geopolymers. Under the guidance of above calculations, we successfully designed and obtained some porous geopolymers with TC as low as 0.040 W m^-1 K^-1. This paper offers not only several porous geopolymers with low TC, but also an idea to design novel thermal insulation materials.     

Fast preparation of porous anatase material via CuO-mediated glass crystallization and acid-leaching

As an attempt to facilitate the mass production of porous anatase catalysts in industry, in this work, frits with molar ratios of MgO:TiO₂:P₂O₅ = 20:32:24 and an extra addition of CuO (0, 8, 16, and 24 mol%) were first prepared by melt water-quenching method. The frits were further heat- and acid-treated, forming porous anatase consisting of nanosheets. The study showed that the CuO-containing samples had increasing crystallization of anatase and even the crystallization of CuO nano-rods. The easy dissolution of CuO nano-rods and the abundant grain boundaries in the heat-treated samples provided path for the acid-leaching and greatly accelerated the selective dissolution of the crystallized samples, reducing the acid-leaching time from 48 h for the CuO-free sample to 3 h for the sample containing 24 mol% CuO to form a similar porous structure. The preformed anatase acted as nucleus to induce the in situ growth of anatase nanosheets. As a result, CuO greatly fastened the formation of porous anatase, making the industrial production of porous anatase possible.     

Development of bifunctional Mo doped ZnAl2O4 spinel nanorods array directly grown on carbon fiber for supercapacitor and OER application

Electrochemical energy storage and water splitting strategies may be greatly improved with proper structural design and doping techniques. In the present study, molybdenum-doped ZnAl₂O₄ loaded on carbon fiber (Mo–ZnAl₂O₄/CF) was fabricated via a simple hydrothermal synthetic approach. Due to its unique hierarchical nanostructures and enhanced electrical, structural topologies, Mo-doped ZnAl₂O₄ demonstrates exceptional supercapacitor performance and electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction activity. The Mo-doped ZnAl₂O₄ electrode material exhibited 1477.63 F g^?1 specific capacitance, 46.57 Wh Kg^?1 specific energy and specific power of 476.4 W kg^?1 at 1 A g^?1. After 5000 cycles, the pseudo supercapacitor retains 97.46% of its capacitance and displays stable behavior over 50 h. During the OER reaction, the Mo–ZnAl₂O₄/CF as an electrocatalyst rapidly self-reconstructs, resulting in many oxygen vacancies, and causes a lower 38 mV dec^?1 Tafel slope and overpotential potential of 255 mV to achieved 10 mA cm^?2 current flow and responsible for the excellent stability of the electrocatalyst. These findings suggest that multifunctional materials based electrode for electrical energy conversion and storage become more efficient and stable by using Mo for doping to generate porous hierarchical structures and local amorphous phases.     

Ultra-high specific capacitance of self-doped 3D hierarchical porous turtle shell-derived activated carbon for high-performance supercapacitors

The turtle shell of biomass waste is used as raw material, and the natural inorganic salt contained in it is used as a salt template in combination with a chemical activation method to successfully prepare a high-performance activated carbon with hierarchical porous structure. The role of hydroxyapatite (HAP) and KOH in different stages of preparation was investigated. The prepared turtle shell-derived activated carbon (TSHC-5) has a well-developed honeycomb pore structure, which gives it a high specific surface area (SSA) of 2828 m² g^?1 with a pore volume of 1.91 cm³ g^?1. The excellent hierarchical porous structure and high heteroatom content (O 6.88%, N 5.64%) allow it to have an ultra-high specific capacitance of 727.9 F g^?1 at 0.5 A g^?1 with 92.27% of capacitance retention even after 10,000 cycles. Excitingly, the symmetric supercapacitor assembled from TSHC-5 activated carbon exhibits excellent energy density and cycling stability in a 1 M Na₂SO₄ aqueous solution. The energy density is 45.1 Wh·kg^?1 at a power density of 450 W kg^?1, with 92.05% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles. Therefore, turtle shell-derived activated carbon is extremely competitive in sustainable new green supercapacitor electrode materials.     

Bio-template synthesis of CeO2 ultrathin nanosheets for highly selective and sensitive detection of ppb-level p-xylene vapor

Highly selective of carcinogenic and flammable p-xylene vapor and its sensing detection through metal oxides-based sensors has recently attracted much attention. In this work, mesoporous CeO₂ nanosheets were synthesized by simple cerium nitrate impregnation and air calcination using rose petals as bio-template. The effect of calcination temperature on its microstructure, Ce³⁺/Ce⁴⁺ mole ratio, as well as sensing performance was investigated. The CeO₂-650 ultrathin nanosheets calcined at 650 °C are assembled by cross-linking nanoparticles with small size, which possess homogeneous mesoporous distribution and relatively large specific surface area. At 217 °C, the sensor fabricated from CeO₂-650 ultrathin nanosheets shows short response time (T_res = 5 s), high selectivity and response (S = 22.1) towards 100 ppm p-xylene vapor, and its limit of detection (30 ppb) is the lowest among reported sensors based on pure metal oxides. The good sensing performance mainly originate from the synergistic effect of intrinsic features of mesoporous CeO₂-650 ultrathin nanosheets, surface adsorbed oxygen control, oxygen vacancy defects induced by Ce³⁺ and biotemplate imprinting. Therefore, mesoporous CeO₂-650 ultrathin nanosheets could be utilized as candidate for the detection of trace p-xylene vapor.     

α-Bi2O3 nanosheets: An efficient material for sunlight-driven photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B

Herein, we report the sunlight driven photocatalytic degradation of toxic organic dye, Rhodamine B using α-Bi₂O₃ nanosheets as an effective photocatalyst. The α-Bi₂O₃ nanosheets were prepared by simple annealing assisted thermal decomposition method and characterized by several techniques in order to understand its morphological, compositional, structural and optical properties. Morphological, structural and compositional investigations confirmed the formation of sheet-like morphologies, high-crystalline monoclinic crystal structure, and pure α-Bi₂O₃, respectively. The synthesized α-Bi₂O₃ nanosheets exhibited a high photocatalytic degradation of a toxic organic dye, i.e. Rhodamine B (RhB). Under optimal reaction conditions, ～95% photocatalytic degradation of RhB (10 mg/L, pH 10) was observed in 180 min using 0.75 g/L catalyst dosage under sunlight irradiation. According to the findings, the synthesized catalyst had outstanding photocatalytic properties and can be used to cleanse textile wastewater under direct sunlight.