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Doped nitrogen significantly increased the nitrobenzene conversion and selectivity for aniline. Graphitic nitrogen is conducive to the adsorption of nitrobenzene and basic pyridinic nitrogen has a positive effect on the activation of formic acid.

CeO2-promoted Co–N–C hybrids were prepared by the strategy of solid solution construction for the deoxygenation of sulfoxide.

In BOC-BS-x, the highly exposed {001} facets of BiOCl have more oxygen vacancies, which can facilitate the migration of carriers.

Photocatalytic technology is a potential technology to meet energy and environmental requirements. Herein, the solvothermal method was used for the first time to synthesize a Bi2O2CO3/TiO2 hybrid with 0D/1D nanostructure, and the obtained materials were characterized systematically. In the architecture of the composite, Bi2O2CO3 quantum dots (QDs) (1.40–1.50 nm) uniformly grew on the surface of TiO2 nanobelts (NBs). The degradation efficiency of Rhodamine B under visible light irradiation was applied to evaluate the photocatalytic performance of the obtained materials. Of them, TB-3 exhibited the best photocatalytic performance, and more than 95.43% RhB was degraded under visible light. The reaction rate constant is 18.51 × 10−3 min−1, which is nine times larger than that of TiO2 NBs. Moreover, it exhibited remarkable stability and recyclability in a recycling experiment. According to the photoelectric characterization, the excellent performance may be attributed to the construction of a heterojunction and hybrid structure with 0D Bi2O2CO3 QDs and 1D TiO2 NBs, which endows the catalyst with faster migration of photo-generated carriers and less recombination of electron/hole pairs. Our work provides a promising method to build novel visible light-driven photocatalysts with a 0D/1D hybrid structure.

A novel dual-site fluorescent probe (CTPA) was rationally designed and synthesized for the detection of hypochlorite (ClO−) and polarity. CTPA displayed an excellent sensitivity (LOD = 11.9 nM) and selectivity as well as a rapid response within 30 s to ClO−. Besides, it is worth noting that the introduction of triphenylamine into the D–π–A structure is beneficial to monitor the fluctuation of polarity. It was found that CTPA could respond to polarity fluctuation via the two channels of fluorescence intensity and maximum emission wavelength. In addition, CTPA exhibited low toxicity and was successfully applied to detect the endogenous and exogenous ClO− in HeLa cells and HIN-3T3 cells and distinguish the two kinds of cells by ClO− and polarity. Furthermore, this work provides a promising strategy for the development of dual-site fluorescent probes aiming at the detection of biologically relevant analytes by the collocation of recognizing groups.

Synthesis of an easily separable and efficient catalyst is of great significance for selective hydrogenation of unsaturated functional groups. In this work, novel magnetic flower-like carbonaceous Pd catalysts are constructed for the selective reduction of the CC bond. According to the characterization results, a flower-like architecture is observed in the catalysts containing both Fe3O4 and Pd NPs, which is constructed by the secondary self-assembly in the preparation process due to the interaction between Pd and magnetic nitrogen-doped graphene (Fe3O4-NG). More flower-like structures are formed by increasing the Pd loading amount, further enhancing the specific surface area of the catalyst. The specific surface area of Pd-FONG-3 is the highest (521.17 m2 g−1). Combining the results of characterization and experiments, it is found that the catalytic activity is positively related to the flower-like architecture and the interaction between Pd NPs (6.0 nm) and Fe3O4 NPs (6.7 nm). Fe3O4 is not only beneficial to the magnetic recovery of the catalyst, but also acts as a cocatalyst, which can significantly improve the reactant conversion. Moreover, N species play an important role in protecting the CO bond, resulting in the selective hydrogenation of the CC group. Herein, Pd-FONG-3 exhibits excellent activity in the selective hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde (CAL) with 99.5% conversion and 96.5% hydrocinnamaldehyde (HCAL) selectivity, and its catalytic performance is much better than that of the commercial 5% Pd/C catalyst (100% conversion and 69.1% HCAL selectivity). This work provides a new strategy to construct highly active catalysts with magnetic recovery properties for selective hydrogenation of CC bonds, and Pd-FONG-3 shows tremendous application foreground.

Herein, a series of 3D nitrogen-doped graphene gels (NG) were synthesized for the removal of dyes from wastewater. Their structures were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, elemental analysis, BET analysis, and XPS. It was found that the distribution of functional groups on the NG surface could be significantly affected using different nitrogen sources, which could further influence their adsorption behaviors. Among them, the hybrid prepared from hexamethylenediamine as the nitrogen source shows best adsorbability for acidic dyes, whereas the hybrid obtained from ethylenediamine displays largest adsorption capacity for basic dyes. Adsorption isotherms and kinetics were also investigated. The results indicate that the best interpretation is provided by the Langmuir isotherm equation, and the adsorption dynamic behavior is fit for the pseudo-first-order model. In addition, intra-particle diffusion kinetics manifest rate-controlling steps including external diffusion and intra-particle diffusion. Moreover, all adsorbents exhibit excellent reusability. Therefore, NG adsorbents show potential applicative value in the treatment of dye wastewater.

Correction for ‘3D nitrogen-doped graphene gels as robust and sustainable adsorbents for dyes’ by Jiyu Geng et al., New J. Chem., 2017, 41, 15447–15457.