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Two-dimensional MoS 2 nanosheets were in situ grown on TiO 2 nanosheets to form two-dimensional (2D) hybrid nanojunctions, with which MoS 2 nanosheets compactly contact with TiO 2 to increase the interfacial area. MoS 2 was identified as a promising cost-effective substitute for noble metal cocatalysts such as Pt, Au, and Ag, and shows superior activity and selectivity for reducing CO 2 to CH 3 OH in aqueous solution to these metal cocatalysts under UV-vis light irradiation. The photo-luminescence (PL) spectra and transient time-resolved PL decay measurements reveal that the fast electron transfer from TiO 2 to MoS 2 can minimize charge recombination losses to improve the conversion efficiency of photoreduction. It reveals that Mo-terminated edges of MoS 2 nanosheets possess the metallic character and a high d-electron density, and the Mo cation sites may benefit the stabilization of CH x O y intermediates via electrostatic attraction to enhance the CH 3 OH formation from the reduction of CO 2 in aqueous solution.

PtAg alloyed nanostructural catalysts were firstly prepared by co-reduction of AgNO3 and H2PtCl6 precursors in growth solution using a seed-mediated method. By simply changing the molar ratio of the metal precursors, the morphologies of the porous alloyed nanocrystals can be tuned from multipetals to multioctahedra. Simultaneously, the alloy composition can be varied from Pt76Ag24 to Pt66Ag34. The catalytic properties of the prepared PtAg alloyed nanocrystals with a tunable structure and composition were tentatively examined by choosing the reduction of 4-nitrophenol with NaBH4. The reaction rate normalized to the concentration of catalysts was calculated to be 318.9 s(-1) mol(-1) L and 277.4 s(-1) mol(-1) L for Pt70Ag30 and Pt66Ag34 porous catalysts, which is much higher than the pure Pt catalysts. Moreover, PtAg nanostructures can also serve as efficient electrocatalysts toward the methanol oxidation reaction, especially for Pt70Ag30 and Pt66Ag34 porous nanocrystals. The electrocatalytic activity and the durability were both highly enhanced compared to the commercial Pt/C catalyst. In addition, we also investigated the enhancement mechanism.

In this work, a general, facile, successive and eco-friendly method for multilayer nanostructures has been established for the first time. We take full advantage of the structural and compositional character of M1@M2 (M1 = Co, Ni, M2 = Pt/Pd, Pt, Pd and Au) core-shell nanostructures to prepare a series of reusable tremella-like M1@M2@M1(OH)2 three layer core-shell or yolk-shell nanocomposites with a magnetic core, a porous noble metal shell, and an ultrathin cobalt or nickel hydroxide shell. We evaluated their catalytic performance using a model reaction based on the reduction of 4-nitrophenol. These novel M1@M2@M1(OH)2 nanomaterials with a unique internal micro environment promoted the efficiency of the catalytic reaction, prolonged the service life of the catalyst and enhanced the overall activity of the catalyst in the catalytic process. The novel three layer core-shell nanocomposites can be extended to other applications such as biomedical detection, energy conversion and storage systems.

Pt-based nanocomposites have been of great research interest. In this paper, we design an efficient MO/rGO/Pt sandwich nanostructure as an anodic electrocatalyst for DMFCs with combination of the merits of rigid structure of metallic oxides (MOs) and excellent electronic conductivity of reduced oxidized graphene (rGO) as well as overcoming their shortcomings. In this case, the CeO(2)/rGO/Pt sandwich nanostructure is successfully fabricated through a facile hydrothermal approach in the presence of graphene oxide and CeO(2) nanoparticles. This structure has a unique building architecture where rGO wraps up the CeO(2) nanoparticles and Pt nanoparticles are homogeneously dispersed on the surface of rGO. This novel structure endows this material with great electrocatalytic performance in methanol oxidation: it reduces the overpotential of methanol oxidation significantly and its electrocatalytic activity and stability are much enhanced compared with Pt/rGO, CeO(2)/Pt and Pt/C catalysts. This work supplies a unique MO/rGO/Pt sandwich nanostructure as an efficient way to improve the electrocatalytic performance, which will surely shed some light on the exploration of some novel structures of electrocatalyst for DMFCs.

Pt-filled porous LaNiO₃ cubes are prepared through a facile route. The characterizations reveal that large numbers of pores (9-10 nm) are distributed homogeneously in porous LaNiO₃ cubes. The Pt nanoparticles residing in the pores of porous LaNiO₃ cubes are about 5 nm in size. The investigation on the electrocatalytic activity reveals that electrocatalytic activity of the obtained Pt loaded porous LaNiO₃ nanocubes exhibit a significantly improved electrochemical active surface area (EASA) and a remarkably enhanced electrocatalytic performance toward methanol oxidation. The results are significant for improving the efficiency of Pt-based catalysts for DMFCs as well as the applications of perovskite compounds.

In this paper, single-crystalline α-Fe2O3 oblique nanoparallelepipeds are fabricated in high yield via a facile surfactant-free hydrothermal method, which involves oriented aggregation and Ostwald ripening. The obtained nanocrystals have exposed facets of {012}, {01-4} and {-210} with a rhombohedral α-Fe2O3 structure. The gas sensors based on the as-synthesized α-Fe2O3 nanostructures exhibit high sensitivity, short recovery time, and good reproducibility in ethanol and acetone. The superiority of the gas-sensing properties of the obtained nanostructures should be attributed to the surface structure of the nanocrystals. The as-prepared α-Fe2O3 nanocrystals are significant for exploiting their other applications in the future.