A simple and efficient approach is developed for the synthesis of copper oxide nanorods with different morphology and crystallographic structure. Polycrystalline fine rods 10−20 nm thick and several hundred nanometers long and single crystalline thick rods 60−100 nm thick and up to 1 μm long were obtained from the reactions of copper hydrate with caustic soda solution at room temperature and 100 °C, respectively. The fine CuO nanorods as anode materials for Li ion battery exhibit a high electrochemical capacity of 766 mA h/g and relatively poor capacity retention as compared to thick nanorods with the single crystalline structure. The correlation between the structural features of the nanorods and their electrode performance is discussed in detail.

Shedding light: Nitroaromatic compounds on gold nanoparticles (3 wt %) supported on ZrO2 can be reduced directly to the corresponding azo compounds when illuminated with visible light or ultraviolet light at 40 °C (see picture). The process occurs with high selectivity and at ambient temperature and pressure, and enables the selection of intermediates that are unstable in thermal reactions.

Phthalates (diesters of phthalic acid) are widely used as plasticizers and additives in many consumer products. Laboratory animal studies have reported the endocrine-disrupting and reproductive effects of phthalates, and human exposure to this class of chemicals is a concern. Several phthalates have been recognized as substances of high concern. Human exposure to phthalates occurs mainly via dietary sources, dermal absorption, and air inhalation. Phthalates are excreted as conjugated monoesters in urine, and some phthalates, such as di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP), undergo secondary metabolism, including oxidative transformation, prior to urinary excretion. The occurrence of phthalates and their metabolites in urine, serum, breast milk, and semen has been widely reported. Urine has been the preferred matrix in human biomonitoring studies, and concentrations on the order of several tens to hundreds of nanograms per milliliter have been reported for several phthalate metabolites. Metabolites of diethyl phthalate (DEP), dibutyl- (DBP) and diisobutyl- (DiBP) phthalates, and DEHP were the most abundant compounds measured in urine. Temporal trends in phthalate exposures varied among countries. In the United States (US), DEHP exposure has declined since 2005, whereas DiNP exposure has increased. In China, DEHP exposure has increased since 2000. For many phthalates, exposures in children are higher than those in adults. Human epidemiological studies have shown a significant association between phthalate exposures and adverse reproductive outcomes in women and men, type II diabetes and insulin resistance, overweight/obesity, allergy, and asthma. This review compiles biomonitoring studies of phthalates and exposure doses to assess health risks from phthalate exposures in populations across the globe.

The titanium oxides with one-dimensional (1D) nanostructure are of significance in electrochemical lithium insertion owing to their high specific surface area and pore volume. In this study, nanorods with diameters of ca. 3−5 nm and lengths of 40−60 nm were prepared through the hydrothermal treatment of a hydrolysate obtained from TiCl4 with caustic soda as demonstrated by HRTEM. These nanorods are protonated titanate and can be converted into the anatase (TiO2) nanorods by a calcination at 400 °C. The anatase nanorods have a large specific surface area of 314 m2/g and a high pore volume of 1.514 cm3/g, respectively. The anatase TiO2 nanorods exhibit a large initial electrochemical lithium insertion capacity of 206 mAh/g and good reversibility. The splitting and multi peaks in cyclic voltammograms associated with differing site occupations are ascribed to the formation of the imperfection of the TiO2 nanorod lattice, which facilitates the transport of lithium in surface defects and bulk materials.

The formation mechanism of uniform CeO2 structure at the nanometer scale via a wet-chemical reaction is of great interest in fundamental study as well as a variety of applications. In this work, large-scale well-crystallized CeO2 nanorods with uniform diameters in the range of 20-30 nm and lengths up to tens of micrometers are first synthesized through a hydrothermal synthetic route in 5 M KOH solution at 180 degrees C for 45 h without any templates and surfactants. The nanorod formation involves dehydration of CeO2 nanoparticles and orientation growth along the 110 direction in KOH solution. Subsequently, gold nanoparticles with crystallite sizes between 10 and 20 nm are loaded on the surface of CeO2 nanorods using HAuCl4 solution as the gold source and NaBH4 solution as a reducing agent. The synthesized Au/CeO2 nanorods demonstrate a higher catalytic activity in CO oxidation than the pure CeO2 nanorods.

A synthesis route to mesoporous titania with remarkable thermal stability was developed using an amine or cetyltrimethylammonium-templating procedure. By a treatment of the titania hybrids in aqueous ammonia, a method has been developed to overcome the lack of thermal stability above 350 °C. As for most mesoporous titanias described in the literature, this thermal instability originates from the uncontrolled phase transformation of amorphous template-free titania into massive anatase grains. In situ Raman spectroscopy, X-ray Diffraction, Differential Scanning Calorimetry and Thermogravimetrical Analysis demonstrated that parts of the amorphous titania walls of the NH 3 -treated titania hybrids were transferred into walls built up of rutile nanobuilding blocks before the template was thermally removed. We further found that, after a subsequent increase of temperature to remove the template, the remaining amorphous particles were transformed into anatase in such a way that this crystallographic transformation is accompanied by a retention of the pore structure without massive segregation of anatase nuclei. This leads to ordered high surface area (up to 600 m 2 g -1 ) mesostructured titania having pore volumes up to 0.28 cm 3 g -1 . XRD and N 2 adsorption-desorption data showed an outstanding thermal stability; the mesoscale order of NH 3 -treated titanias was retained after thermal treatment up to 600 °C.

Shedding light: Nitroaromatic compounds on gold nanoparticles (3 wt %) supported on ZrO2 can be reduced directly to the corresponding azo compounds when illuminated with visible light or ultraviolet light at 40 °C (see picture). The process occurs with high selectivity and at ambient temperature and pressure, and enables the selection of intermediates that are unstable in thermal reactions.

It is known that boehmite (AlOOH) nanofibers formed in the presence of nonionic poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) surfactant at 373 K. A novel approach is proposed in this study for the growth of the boehmite nanofibers: when fresh aluminum hydrate precipitate was added at regular interval to initial mixture of boehmite and PEO surfactant at 373 K, the nanofibers grow from 40 to 50 nm long to over 100 nm. It is believed that the surfactant micelles play an important role in the nanofiber growth: directing the assembly of aluminum hydrate particles through hydrogen bonding with the hydroxyls on the surface of aluminum hydrate particles. Meanwhile a gradual improvement in the crystallinity of the fibers during growth is observed and attributed to the Ostwald ripening process. This approach allows us to precisely control the size and morphology of boehmite nanofibers using soft chemical methods and could be useful for low temperature, aqueous syntheses of other oxide nanomaterials with tailorable structural specificity such as size, dimension and morphology.The synthesis of inorganic structures with nanoscale dimensions and morphological specificity is of great importance and interest in materials science and nanotechnology. 1,2 An emerging synthesis strategy is to construct delicate inorganic nanostructured materials by employing surfactants in so-called "soft chemistry" approaches. 3,4 Ultrathin γ-alumina fibers possessing nanoscale thicknesses have potential for applications including advanced catalysts, adsorbents, composite materials, and ceramics. 5-7 Therefore, numerous studies on boehmite nanofibers have been undertaken in recent years. [8][9][10][11][12][13] We reported recently that boehmite nanofibers can be formed from a precipitate of aluminum hydrous oxide in the presence of poly-(ethylene oxide) (PEO) surfactant at 373 K. 9 The boehmite nanofibers undergo an isomorphous transformation to nanocrystalline γ-alumina by calcination at 723 K and do retain the fibril morphology. In this communication, we report an interesting finding that the boehmite nanofibers grow rapidly when fresh precipitate of aluminum hydrate was supplied at regular intervals. The growth progress of the boehmite fiber is as follows: White precipitate is prepared by dropping 50 mL of NaAlO 2 solution containing 18.8 g of NaAlO 2 ‚(0.2 mol of Al) into 50 mL of 5 N acetic acid solution with vigorous stirring. The white precipitate is recovered by centrifugation and washed with water four times to remove the sodium ions. PEO surfactant (40 g, Tergitol 15S-7 from Aldrich), with a general chemical formula C 12-14 H 25-29 O(CH 2 CH 2 O) 7 H and average molecular weight of about 508, is mixed with the washed aluminum hydrate cake. The sticky mixture is stirred for at least 1 h and then transferred into a closed autoclave and kept in an oven at 373 K. The molar ratio of Al(OH) 3 :PEO:H 2 O in the mixture is 0.2:0.08:3.2. The autogenous pressure in the closed autoclave is about 1 atm. Fresh aluminum hydrate precipitate (prepared as described above a...