Self-powered completely synthetic nanorotors have been prepared from barcoded gold-nickel nanorods having the gold end anchored to the surface of a silicon wafer; constant velocity circular movements are observed when hydrogen peroxide fuel is catalytically decomposed to oxygen at the unattached nickel end of the nanorod.

Herein we introduce a straightforward, low cost, scalable, and technologically relevant method to manufacture an all-carbon, electroactive, nitrogen-doped nanoporous-carbon/carbon-nanotube composite membrane, dubbed "HNCM/CNT". The membrane is demonstrated to function as a binder-free, high-performance gas diffusion electrode for the electrocatalytic reduction of CO to formate. The Faradaic efficiency (FE) for the production of formate is 81 %. Furthermore, the robust structural and electrochemical properties of the membrane endow it with excellent long-term stability.

Tin sulfide-based materials can exist in many forms, ranging from discrete molecular species, to 1D chains, 2D dense and porous sheets and 3D open frameworks. The local coordination geometry around a tin center may vary from trigonal pyramidal, to tetrahedral, trigonal bipyramidal and octahedral, and around sulfur from terminal, v-shaped to trigonal pyramidal. The oxidation state may take +2 and +4 for tin and −2, −1, 0 for sulfur. The tin sulfide chemistry is further enriched by the catenation ability of sulfur. In addition, other elements (metal and non-metal) can be incorporated into the tin sulfide structures to yield ternary and quaternary materials. More importantly, using the recent developed 'soft chemistry' synthetic approach, various novel porous tin (poly)sulfide materials have emerged that display interesting optical, electrical and adsorption properties. Representative tin sulfide materials will be presented and discussed in this review to demonstrate the development of tin sulfide chemistry in the last three decades. monomeric8 (SnS 4)4−, dimeric9,10 (Sn 2 S 6 )4− and (Sn 2 S 7 )6−

Ammonia, a key precursor for fertilizer production, convenient hydrogen carrier, and emerging clean fuel, plays a pivotal role in sustaining life on Earth. Currently, the main route for NH synthesis is by the heterogeneous catalytic Haber-Bosch process (N +3 H →2 NH ), which proceeds under extreme conditions of temperature and pressure with a very large carbon footprint. Herein we report that a pristine nitrogen-doped nanoporous graphitic carbon membrane (NCM) can electrochemically convert N into NH in an acidic aqueous solution under ambient conditions. The Faradaic efficiency and rate of production of NH on the NCM electrode reach 5.2 % and 0.08 g m h , respectively. Functionalization of the NCM with Au nanoparticles dramatically enhances these performance metrics to 22 % and 0.36 g m h , respectively. As this system offers the potential to be scaled to industrial levels it is highly likely that it might displace the century-old Haber-Bosch process.

The main goal of this research news article is to describe how different kinds of topological defects that exist in a silicate liquid crystal seed can initiate and direct the growth of particular forms of mesoporous silica. This avenue of investigation emerged from the results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and polarized optical microscopy (POM) studies of hexagonal mesoporous silica fibers, films, and curved shapes, which delineated the essential relations between synthesis conditions, morphology, bulk and surface mesostructure, and optical birefringence textures. [1±3] While SEMs of faceted mesoporous silica first appeared in 1992, [4] the recognition, understanding, and significance of morphogenesis of mesoporous silica with curved shapes emerged in a series of papers from our laboratory.

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