The amorphous TiO2 derived from hydroxylation has become an effective approach for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity of TiO2 since a kind of special black TiO2 was prepared by engineering disordered layers on TiO2 nanocrystals via hydrogenation. In this contribution, we prepared totally amorphous TiO2 with various degrees of blackness by introducing hydroxyls via ultrasonic irradiation, through which can we remarkably enhance the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 with improved light harvesting and narrowed band gap.

Reversible redox reactions on the oxygen-containing functional groups of an electrochemically modified graphite electrode (GE) by recurrent galvanic pulses in 2.3 M H 2 SO 4 solution are investigated. The crystal morphology, surface composition and electrochemical performance of electrochemically modified GE are monitored by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, nitrogen adsorption, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetry, Boehm's titration, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetry (CV) tests. After the electrochemical modification, the material shows a turbostratic structure with many small domains consisting of multi-layered graphene sheets in parallel, and presents a high specific capacitance of 179.7 F g À1 , as well as a good stability after 10000 CV cycles. The high specific capacitance is mainly attributed to the continuous reversible redox reactions of the active groups among the hydroxyl (reduced state), carbonyl (half-oxidized state) and carboxyl (fully oxidized state) groups; a redox mechanism is obtained consequently. The amount of active groups on the modified GE surface is about 848-875 mmol g À1 by the Boehm titration. Their contribution to the pseudocapacitance according to the redox mechanism is about 130-140 F g À1 , which is consistent with the results of electrochemical measurements.

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Graphene oxide (GO-ene), the two-dimensional carbon lattice decorated by abundant oxygen functionalities, is demonstrated as an efficient green catalyst towards selective hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose. The synergy of its carboxylic/phenolic groups and its layered, soft structure rendered GO-ene superior hydrolytic activity.

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Exploring the potential catalytic applications of boron-doped carbon materials is a fascinating challenge. Here we describe that boron-doped onion-like carbon and carbon nanotubes as metal-free catalysts exhibit excellent catalytic activity and stability in nitroarene reduction under a stoichiometric amount of reductant.

MoFe-PC exhibits a high yield rate and faradaic efficiency for NH3 electrosynthesis in acidic electrolytes due to the multicomponent active sites and inherent porous structure.