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Metal nitrides are broadly applicable in the field of electrochemistry due to their excellent electrical properties. In this study, a 3D nanostructured Ni 3 N-Co 3 N catalyst was prepared by using a versatile urea glass method, and was tested as an anode catalyst for a glucose fuel cell. The synthesized Ni 3 N-Co 3 N exhibits uniform particle dispersion in structure, morphology, and composition, and has a interpenetrating three-dimensional network structure. Notably, the Ni 3 N-Co 3 N significantly improved the catalytic activity of glucose oxidation compared to Ni 3 N, Co 3 N, and conventional activated carbon electrodes. The superior electrochemical performance could be attributed to its porous structure and unique properties, which provided a fast transport network for charge and mass transfer as well as good synergetic effect. The glucose fuel cell equipped with a Ni 3 N-Co 3 N anode achieved 30.89 W m -2 power and 97.66 A m -2 current densities at room temperature. This investigation provides potential directions for the design of cost-effective bimetallic catalysts for a wide range of glucose fuel cell applications., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)

In this study, we report a simple method to controllably synthesize Cu 2 O-Cu nanocomposites by using a low-power CO 2 laser, and application of these nanomaterials for photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue (MB). Our experiments demonstrate that efficient tailoring of the Cu 2 O-Cu nanocomposites can be realized by accurate control and optimization of the ambient parameters, such as laser energy and NaOH concentration. Compared to hydrothermally fabricated Cu 2 O-Cu catalysts, the laser-reduced composites exhibit better visible-light photocatalytic activity for MB degradation, which could be attributed to the formation of special catalytically active structures on the nanocomposite surface. Under the conditions of 10 mA laser irradiation and 5 M NaOH addition, the fabricated Cu 2 O-Cu composites had the highest catalytic activity. The degradation rate of MB is 90.10% after visible-light irradiation for 50 min under the optimum conditions. The as-synthesized Cu 2 O-Cu composites showed selective dye degradation, and exhibit relatively higher photocatalytic efficiency for positively charged dyes. This work could lead to facile synthesis of high-performance photocatalysts for fast removal of environmentally hazardous dyes from aqueous solution., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)