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Heterostructured reduced-CuNiFe-MMOs nanosheets with multiphases have been fabricated and applied as a Fenton-like photocatalyst, exhibiting efficient, environmentally friendly tetracycline degradation without additional oxidants.

The grain boundary defect engineered Ni nanoparticles has been explored for boosting selective nitrate electroreduction to ammonia, and its NH3 generation rate is much higher than those of the reported copper or noble metal-based catalysts.

Schematic diagram of the Mn3O4/PANI nanocomposite synthesis.

With the increasing use of green energy resource, energy storage device has become one of the key issues in energy production. Supercapacitors have attracted great attention because of their advantages in energy storage. The electrode material is the core part of the supercapacitor and determines the performance of the supercapacitor. Cobalt-based nanomaterials (such as cobalt oxide, cobalt hydroxide, and cobaltous sulfide) have attracted extensive attention in recent years due to high theoretical capacity, low cost, and abundant natural resources. This review briefly introduces the recent report of cobalt-based materials in the field of supercapacitors and divides them into several groups according to their chemical composition. Some important problems related to the preparation, properties, and improvement of these materials have been discussed, and some synergistic effects have been observed. Finally, the research and development prospects of cobalt-based materials are prospected.

Antibiotic pollution is one of the major issues confronting human. The photocatalytic technology has been focused due to its energy conservation and environmental protection. However, semiconductor photocatalysts have some problems, such as low light utilization, carrier recombination and so on. Constructing a heterojunction can effectively solve these problems. Herein, a new heterostructure of WO3/Bi2MoO6 with core-shell structure were successfully synthesized. The properties of the heterojunction were fully characterized. Subsequently, the visible light catalytic effect of the complex was studied by degrading antibiotics. Compared with other antibiotics, this heterojunction has the best photocatalytic degradation effect on tetracycline hydrochloride. The photodegradation efficiency for tetracycline hydrochloride of complex is 157 times and 5 times than that of pure WO3 and Bi2MoO6 respectively. This is due to the combination of materials that promotes the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes, and extends their lifetime. Finally, a possible photocatalytic mechanism is proposed.

Summary The further development of flexible electronics inevitably requires conductive materials to have numerous foldable properties; however, that has not been realized. Here, inspired by silkworm cocooning processes, we prepare a super-foldable conductive carbon material with layered nanofiber network structures through an improved electrospinning/carbonization technique. It can remarkably bear 1,000,000 times repeated true-folding without structural damage and conductivity fluctuations. The root of such performance breakthrough is revealed through real-time SEM folding observation and mechanical simulations. Its structures featuring appropriate pores, non-crosslinked junctions, slidable nanofibers, separable layers, and a compressible network can act synergistically to generate a e-like folding construction at crease under true-folding, which can completely disperse stress via bulged layers, dispersed arcs, and slidable grooves in e. Consequently, each nanofiber avoids directly facing with 180° folding when the whole material is true-folded. This work embodies structure innovation, performance breakthrough, and mechanism reveal, which has great scientific significance and application prospects.

A key issue for enhancing performance of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) by utilizing seawater for sustainable clean energy is to develop a highly efficient, stable and economical electrocatalyst. Herein, a uniquely hierarchical nanostructure of CoNiSe2 nanorod-arrays (NRAs) integrated onto N-doped sea-sponge-carbon spheres (CoNiSe2/N-SSCSs) was designed and synthesized using successive ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) and solvothermal - hydrothermal selenization (SHS) processes. Attributed to intrinsic HER activity of CoNiSe2 NRAs together with effective electron-transfer and ion-diffusion pathways of N-SSCSs, the CoNiSe2/N-SSCSs nanocomposites exhibited highly stable HER electrocatalytic performances in both alkaline electrolytes and alkaline simulated seawater. The required overpotential is as low as 88 mV with a Tafel slope of 83 mV dec−1 at 10 mA cm−2 in 1.0 M KOH, which are comparable to the electrode of commercial Pt/C (η10 = 35 mV & b = 58 mV dec−1).

Silica aerogels with prominent physical, thermal, optical, and acoustic properties are considered to be highly promising materials. However, owing to the high cost and the complex production processes associated with existing drying technologies, the application of silica aerogels is limited in many fields. In this study, a novel combustion drying method (CDM) was successfully used in the synthesis of superhydrophobic silica aerogels for the first time. It was confirmed that silica aerogel prepared by CDM has a typical aerogel structure with low density, high porosity, high specific surface area, high total pore volume, superhydrophobicity and high thermal stability. Compared with supercritical fluid drying, freeze drying and ambient pressure drying, CDM possesses significant advantages in the drying efficiency and low-cost production due to its active drying mode. Finally, the mechanism of the combustion drying method is proposed based on the combustion of organic solvents. The results will be meaningful for the design and production of aerogel materials in the future.

Manganese dioxide (MnO2) is a promising electrode material for supercapacitors due to its high capacitance, environment friendly, and low cost. However, it shows low specific capacitance and poor circulation in practice because of the disintegration of MnO2 in charge–discharge process. In this review, the synthesis and electrochemical properties of MnO2 and MnO2-based composites with various structures have been discussed in detail. In addition, the development prospect of MnO2-based composites has been discussed.

Magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT) is noninvasive and features excellent tissue penetration for deep-seated tumors, but unfortunately, it suffers the low therapeutic efficacy due to the limited magneto-thermal efficiency and insufficient intratumor accumulation of conventional intravenous-injected magnetic nanoparticles, which are actually mostly sequestered by the mononuclear phagocyte system, especially the liver. Such a disadvantageous characteristic of preferential liver uptake is here exploited, for the first time as far as we know, to treat orthotopic liver cancer by mild MHT using specially designed composite magnetic nanoparticles. A kind of core-shell-structured and Zn2+-doped Zn-CoFe2O4@Zn-MnFe2O4 superparamagnetic nanoparticles (ZCMF) has been synthesized which exhibits excellent and highly controllable magnetic hyperthermia performance owing to an exchange-coupled magnetism between the core and shell, and Zn2+ doping. The controllable mild MHT at 43-44 °C based on ZCMF demonstrates almost complete inhibition of liver cancer cell proliferation and tumor growth, which is associated with the suppression of heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) expression. More importantly, the mild MHT-treated liver cancer cells are capable of activating natural killer (NK) cells by dramatically upregulating the expression of UL16-binding proteins (ULBPs), ligands of natural killer group 2 member D (NKG2D). As a result, the growth of both xenograft tumors and orthotopic liver tumors were almost completely suppressed under mild MHT via induced NK-cell-related antitumor immunity in vivo. This work not only evidences the great potential of mild MHT but also reveals the underlying immunity activation mechanism in liver cancer treatment by mild MHT.

The electrochemical performance of supercapacitor has been determined by the electrode material, which has become the key point of research. Due to its advantages of low cost, easy attainment, environmental friendliness, NiCo2S4 has been an attractive candidate for fabricating supercapacitors. In this review, the development and electrochemical performance of NiCo2S4 and its composites in the field of supercapacitors are summarized specifically from morphological structure, synthesis method, and action mechanism. In addition, the challenges and future development tendency of NiCo2S4-based composites have been discussed.

Transition metal sulfides and oxides with high theoretical capacities have been regarded as promising anode candidates for a sodium-ion battery (SIB); however, they have critical issues including sluggish electrochemical kinetics and poor long-term stability. Herein, a dual carbon design strategy is proposed to integrate with highly active heterojunctions to overcome the above issues. In this new design, CoS2/CoO hollow dodecahedron heterojunctions are sandwiched between open framework carbon-spheres (OFCs) and a reduced graphene oxide (rGO) nanomembrane (OFC@CoS2/CoO@rGO). The CoS2/CoO heterojunctions effectively promote electron transfer on their surface and provide more electrochemical active sites through their hierarchical hollow structures assembled by nanodots. Meanwhile, the dual-carbon framework forms a highly conductive network that enables a better rate capability. More importantly, the dual carbon can greatly buffer volume expansion and stable reaction interfaces of electrode material during the charge/discharge process. Benefitting from their synergistical effects, the OFC@CoS2/CoO@rGO electrode achieves a high reversible capacity of 460 mAh g–1 at 0.05 A g–1 and still maintains 205.3 mAh g–1 even when current density is increased by 200 times when used as an anode material for SIBs. Their cycling property is also remarkable with a maintained capacity of 161 mAh g–1 after 3500 charging/discharging cycles at a high current density of 1 A g–1. The dual-carbon strategy is demonstrated to be effective for enhanced reaction kinetics and long-term cycling property, providing siginificant guidance for preparing other high-performance electrode materials.

Transition metal sulfides and oxides with high theoretical capacities have been regarded as promising anode candidates for a sodium-ion battery (SIB); however, they have critical issues including sluggish electrochemical kinetics and poor long-term stability. Herein, a dual carbon design strategy is proposed to integrate with highly active heterojunctions to overcome the above issues. In this new design, CoS

For achieving high-resolution nanostructures for next-generation diffractive optical elements (DOEs) using an environmentally friendly process, an electrochemical development strategy is proposed and developed using AgInSbTe-based laser heat-mode resist (AIST-LHR). Based on the electrical resistivity difference of amorphous and crystalline phases for this resist, an etching selectivity ratio of ≈30:1 (i.e., the etch ratio between the amorphous and crystalline ones) is achieved through the oxidation of Fe3+ ions with the assisted pitting activation etching using Cl− ions in an acid medium. Nanostructures with a minimum feature size down to 41 nm are successfully generated, including grating patterns, meta-surface optical structures, gears, and English characters. Using a post-plasma etching process, the nanostructures are successfully transferred from the AIST-HLR onto silica substrate, and X-ray grating patterns with a line space of 80 nm are created as a demonstration for its potential applications in DOEs.

In order to well arrange active sites and avoid byproducts, the reasonable structured carrier nanocatalyst plays a crucial role in high catalytic performance, but still remains a challenge. Herein, the layered CuNi-Cu2O/NiAlOx nanosheets have been constructed through hydrothermal synthesis followed by calcination and H2 reduction treatment process. The in-situ formed CuNi nanoalloys (NAs) and nano-Cu2O were evenly distributed on the bilateral surface of layered NiAlOx nanosheets. Based on the planar structure of nanosheet, the synergy between catalytic active CuNi NAs and photocatalytic active nano-Cu2O endows CuNi-Cu2O/NiAlOx nanosheets with rapid conversion efficiency for catalyzing p-nitrophenol (p-NP, 14 mg·L−1) to p-aminophenol (p-AP) in 32 s with the reaction rate constant k up to 0.1779 s−1, and no obvious performance decay can be observed even over 27 cycles. Moreover, high concentration of p-NP at 10 and 20 g·L−1 could be reduced to p-AP within 14 and 20 min, respectively. Such designed nanoalloy/bimetal-oxide heterostructure can provide a solution for rapid conversion of aminoaromatics from nitroaromatics wastewater even at a large concentration range.

In order to solve two issues of chlorine-resistant bacteria (CRB) and disinfection byproducts (DBPs) in tap water after the chlorine-containing treatment process, an innovative core–sheath nanostru...

Suppressing the polysulfide shuttle effect and promoting the conductivity of electrode materials have become efficient ways to achieve high cycling stability for Li–S batteries. However, this still remains a challenge. New multicore closely packed ultrathin-MnO2@N-doped carbon-gear yolk–shell micro-nanostructures are explored as the S host material to trap polysulfides and enhance conductivity. Such composites can accommodate S mass-loading up to 80 wt% via a valid sulfur solution infiltration approach. The cooperation of ultrathin-MnO2 yolks with N-doped carbon internal gear shells can well suppress the polysulfide shuttle effect by strong chemical interactions and physical confinement as well as enhanced conductivity for excellent Li–S battery properties, which enable an initial gravimetric capacity of 1245 mA h g−1 and a low decay rate of 0.03% per cycle over 1000 cycles at 1C. In particular, the composite delivers an initial gravimetric capacity of 1097.8 mA h g−1 and volumetric capacity of 1059.6 mA h cm−3 at 2C rate. Specifically, the electrochemical performance of the designed composite at different electrolyte/S ratios is firstly investigated in this study, and is a promising approach with the high-performance cathode material for Li–S batteries.

Prussian blue analogues, Ni3[Fe(CN)6]2-Co3[Fe(CN)6]2-derived flower-like Ni-Co hydroxides coupled with eggplant-derived macroporous carbon tubes, have been prepared by chemical replacement method at room temperature. The composite electrode exhibits high specific capacitance (801 F g-1), rate stability (68.5 %), and cycle stability. It is indicted that the synergistic effect of the high conductivity of macroporous carbon tubes and flower-like structures contributes to the abundant active redox sites, thus delivering high electrochemical performance. Then, the prepared material in this study could be an ideal candidate as electrode materials for supercapacitor.

At present, various strategies are utilized to improve the specific capacity of electrode materials to overcome the low energy density problem of aqueous battery, while their specific capacity is still far away from the theoretical value, especially for anode materials. Herein, we designed and synthesized nanoparticles assembled hollow hexagonal prism Bi2O3 (HHP Bi2O3) through template inducing synthesis. When used as an anode material for aqueous battery, it demonstrated a remarkable specific capacity of 327 mAh/g at 1 A/g, which reaches 94.8% of its theoretical capacity and is the highest value of its kind. Besides the high specific capacity, the as-fabricated HHP Bi2O3 also exhibits superior rate capability (220 mAh/g at 20 A/g) and long-term stability (~80%, 3000 cycles). Such high performance originates from high atom utilization and fast reaction kinetics for electrochemical reaction brought by its unique structures. Notably, when the HHP Bi2O3 is paired with the cathode material NixCo1-x (OH)2 to form an aqueous alkaline battery, its high electrochemical property is well exhibited. The designed HHP Bi2O3 with scalable synthesis process provides guidance for the preparation of other high capacity energy-storage materials, and paves the way to promote their practicality.

Nickel dichalcogenides have received extensive attention as promising noble-metal-free nanocatalysts for a hydrogen evolution reaction. Nonetheless, their catalytic performance is restricted by the sluggish reaction kinetics, limited exposed active sites, and poor conductivity. In this work, we report on an effective strategy to solve those problems by using an as-designed new porous-C/Ni2SeS nanocatalyst with the Ni2SeS nanostubs anchored on with porous-carbon skeletons process. On the basis of three advantages, as the enhancement of the intrinsic activity using the ternary sulfoselenide, increased number of exposed active sites due to the 3D hollow substrate, and increased conductivity caused by porous-carbon skeletons, the resulting porous-C/Ni2SeS requires an overpotential of only 121 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm–2 with a Tafel slope of 78 mV dec–1 for hydrogen evolution in acidic media and a good long-term stability. Density functional theory calculations also show that the Gibbs free energy of hydrogen adsorption of the Ni2SeS was −0.23 eV, which not only is close to the ideal value (0 eV) and Pt reference (−0.09 eV) but also is lower than those of NiS2 and NiSe2; large electrical states exist in the vicinity of the Fermi level, which further improves its electrocatalytic performance. This work provides new insights into the rational design of ternary dichalcogenides and hollow structure materials for practical applications in HER catalysis and energy fields.

A functionalized carbon nanotube (FCNT)/Ni(HCO3)2-Ni nanostructures were synthesized by decorating nanoflaky and mesoporous Ni(HCO3)2 onto FCNT along with in situ formed reduced metallic Ni for the...

Cancer immunotherapy shows promising potential in future cancer treatment but unfortunately is clinically unsatisfactory due to the low therapeutic efficacy and the possible severe immunotoxicity. Here we show a combined magnetic hyperthermia therapy (MHT) and checkpoint blockade immunotherapy for both primary tumor ablation and mimetic metastatic tumor inhibition. Monodispersed, high-performance superparamagnetic CoFe2O4@MnFe2O4 nanoparticles were synthesized and used for effective MHT-induced thermal ablation of primary tumors. Simultaneously, numerous tumor-associated antigens were produced to promote the maturation and activation of dendritic cells (DCs) and cytotoxic T cells for effective immunotherapy of distant mimetic metastatic tumors in a tumor-bearing mice model. The combined MHT and checkpoint blockade immunotherapy demonstrate the great potentials in the fight against both primary and metastatic tumors.

Ultra-thin Ni-membranes were prepared by a biomimetic method, and then the ZnO nanorods were in situ grown on the Ni-membranes via a hydrothermal method to form a Ni-membrane/ZnO-nanorod grass clump-like composite. The morphology and structure of the samples were characterized via X-ray diffraction, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. Results showed that the ZnO nanorods growing on Ni-membranes form an array structure. The presence of the Ni-membranes not only promotes the separation efficiency of electron–hole pairs but also increases the photoabsorption efficiency. Photocatalytic degradation results show that the degradation efficiencies of rhodamine B (RhB) and methyl orange (MO) with the Ni-membrane/ZnO-nanorod composite are 1.78 and 1.48 times higher, respectively, than that with pure ZnO. ⋅OH radicals and ⋅O2−radicals were proved as the main reactive species in the catalytic degradation of MO.

MOF (Co3[Fe(CN)6]2)-derived porous nanocube-like CoS2 is coupled with GO via solution-precipitation and chemical replacement method. Due to the proper loading and structure adjusting of CoS2, the prepared nanocomposites show a maximum specific capacitance of 842 F g−1 at 0.5 A g−1, high-rate stability (capacity retention of 77% from 0.5 up to 10 A g−1), and long-cycle life stability (capacity retention of 95% over 2000 cycles).

High-performance, cost-effective and stable electrocatalysts are critical for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) via water splitting in alkaline media. Herein a unique hetero-nanostructured Ni/NiFe-layered double oxide (Ni/NiFe-LDO) on Ni foam (NF) has been successfully constructed through phase-transition and controlled in-situ reduction process. Because the two-dimensional (2D) morphology of NiFe-LDO nanosheets can stabilize uniform in-situ formed nano-Ni sites, the prepared Ni/NiFe-LDO on NF displays a high catalytic activity for HER in 1.0 M KOH solution, which requires an extremely low overpotential of 29 mV to afford a current density at 10 mA cm−2, achieves a Tafel slope of 82 mV dec-1 and maintains an excellent stability of electrolysis for at least 24 h. Detail characterizations reveal that the synergistic effect between nano-Ni and NiFe-LDO nanosheets contributes to the prominent HER activity. In NiFe-LDO, Fe2O3 facilitates the adsorption of H2O on the interface region of Ni-Fe2O3, which is beneficial for water activation, then NiO offers the active sites for hydroxyl adsorption (*OH), meanwhile nano-Ni sites are active to adsorb hydrogen intermediates (H*). All of the above accelerates the water dissociation in Volmer-step reaction.

Recent progress in flexible electronics has attracted tremendous attention. However, it is still difficult to prepare superfoldable conductive materials with good biocompatibility, high sensing sensitivities, and large specific surface areas. It is expected that biomimetic methods and water-soluble precursors like poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) for electrospinning will be utilized to solve the above problems. Inspired by the multistage water management process of a spider spinning dragline silk, we have established a combined biomimetic technique, hydrocolloid electrospinning coupled with temperature gradient dehydration, with a carbonization technique. PVA-driven superfoldable carbon nanofiber membranes (PVA-SFCNFMs) have been prepared that not only possess a >60% micropore ratio and a 1368.8 m2/g specific surface area but also can withstand 180° real folding for 100 000 cycles, approaching the thickness limit without structure fracture. Furthermore, these membranes provide highly sensitive sensing and superior biocompatible interfaces. The molecular mechanism to improve carbon conversion and the folding mechanism to obtain "three-level dispersing stress" for the PVA-SFCNFMs have been proposed.

Trifunctional Cu-mesh/Cu2O@FeO-nanoarrays heterostructure is designed and fabricated by integrating Cu2O@FeO-nanoarrays onto Cu-mesh (CM) via an in situ growth and phase-transformation process. It is successfully applied to efficiently mitigate the antibiotic pollution, including degradation of antibiotics, inactivation of antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARB) and damage of antibiotics resistance genes (ARGs). Under visible-light irradiation, CM/Cu2O@FeO-nanoarrays exhibits a superior degradation efficiency on antibiotics (e.g., up to 99% in 25 min for tetracycline hydrochloride, TC), due to the generated reactive oxygen species (ROS), especially the dominant ·O2−. It can fully inactivate E. coli (HB101) with initial number of ~108 CFU·mL-1 in 10 min, which is mainly attributed to the synergistic effects of 1D nanostructure, dissolved metal ions and generated ROS. Meanwhile it is able to damage ARGs after 180 min of photodegradation, including tetA (vs. TC) of 3.3 log10, aphA (vs. kanamycin sulfate, KAN) of 3.4 log10, and tnpA (vs. ampicillin, AMP) of 4.4 log10, respectively. This work explores a green way for treating antibiotic pollution under visible-light.

In flexible electronics, appropriate inlaid structures for stress dispersion to avoid excessive deformation that can break chemical bonds are lacking, which greatly hinders the fabrication of super‐foldable composite materials capable of sustaining numerous times of true‐folding. Here, mimicking the microstructures of both cuit cocoon possessing super‐flexible property and Mimosa leaf featuring reversible scatheless folding, super‐foldable C‐web/FeOOH‐nanocone (SFCFe) conductive nanocomposites are prepared, which display cone‐arrays on fiber structures similar to Mimosa leaf, as well as non‐crosslinked junctions, slidable nanofibers, separable layers, and compressible network like cuit cocoon. Remarkably, the SFCFe can undergo over 100 000 times of repeated true‐folding without structural damage or electrical conductivity degradation. The mechanism underlying this super‐foldable performance is further investigated by real‐time scanning electron microscopy folding characterization and finite‐element simulations. The results indicate its self‐adaptive stress‐dispersion mechanism originating from multilevel biomimetic structures. Notably, the SFCFe demonstrates its prospect as a super‐foldable anode electrode for aqueous batteries, which shows not only high capacities and satisfactory cycling stability, but also completely coincident cyclic voltammetry and galvanostatic charge–discharge curves throughout the 100 000 times of true‐folding. This work reports a mechanical design considering the self‐adaptive stress dispersion mechanism, which can realize a scatheless super‐foldable electrode for soft‐matter electronics., Bioinspired C‐web/FeOOH‐nanocone nanocomposites are for the first time prepared, and achieve a scatheless super‐foldable property. They can bear over 100 000 times repeated true‐folding without structure fracture, conductivity degradation, or electrochemical property change. Such breakthrough performance results from their self‐adaptive stress dispersion mechanism of biomimetic structures, which is unveiled through real‐time scanning electron microscopy (SEM) folding observation and corresponding mechanical simulations.

Antibiotic pollution is one of the major issues confronting human. The photocatalytic technology has been focused due to its energy conservation and environmental protection. However, semiconductor photocatalysts have some problems, such as low light utilization, carrier recombination and so on. Constructing a heterojunction can effectively solve these problems. Herein, a new heterostructure of WO