Novel WO3/g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts were prepared by a calcination process with different mass contents of WO3. The photocatalysts were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TG), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), UV-vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), photoluminescence (PL) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The photocatalytic activity of the photocatalysts was evaluated by degradation of methylene blue (MB) dye and 4-chlorophenol (4-CP) under visible light. The results indicated that the WO3/g-C3N4 composite photocatalysts showed higher photocatalytic activity than both the pure WO3 and pure g-C3N4. The optimum photocatalytic activity of WO3/g-C3N4 at a WO3 mass content of 9.7% under visible light irradiation was up to 4.2 times and 2.9 times as high as that of the pure WO3 and pure g-C3N4, respectively. The remarkably increased performance of WO3/g-C3N4 was mainly attributed to the synergistic effect between the interface of WO3 and g-C3N4, including enhanced optical absorption in the visible region, enlarged specific surface areas and the suitable band positions of WO3/g-C3N4 composites.

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Hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets (h-BNNs) with rather high specific surface area (SSA) are important two-dimensional layer-structured materials. Here, a solvent-mediated synthesis of h-BNNs revealed a template-free lattice plane control strategy that induced high SSA nanoporous structured h-BNNs with outstanding aerobic oxidative desulfurization performance.

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Engineering strong metal–support interactions (SMSI) is an effective strategy for tuning structures and performances of supported metal catalysts but induces poor exposure of active sites. Here, we demonstrate a strong metal–support interaction via a reverse route (SMSIR) by starting from the final morphology of SMSI (fully-encapsulated core–shell structure) to obtain the intermediate state with desirable exposure of metal sites. Using core–shell nanoparticles (NPs) as a building block, the Pd–FeOx NPs are transformed into a porous yolk–shell structure along with the formation of SMSIR upon treatment under a reductive atmosphere. The final structure, denoted as Pd–Fe3O4–H, exhibits excellent catalytic performance in semi-hydrogenation of acetylene with 100% conversion and 85.1% selectivity to ethylene at 80 °C. Detailed electron microscopic and spectroscopic experiments coupled with computational modeling demonstrate that the compelling performance stems from the SMSIR, favoring the formation of surface hydrogen on Pd instead of hydride.