A Cu O superstructure is constructed through a recrystallization-induced self-assembly strategy. Single Cu O superstructure particle exhibits an outstanding surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy performance with the limit of detection as low as 10 mol L and metal comparable enhancement factor (8 × 10 ) due to the synergetic effect of vacancies defect-facilitated charge-transfer process and copper vacancies defect-induced electrostatic adsorption.

The practical implementation of lithium–sulfur batteries is obstructed by poor conductivity, sluggish redox kinetics, the shuttle effect, large volume variation, and low areal loading of sulfur electrodes. Now, amorphous N‐doped carbon/MoS3 (NC/MoS3) nanoboxes with hollow porous architectures have been meticulously designed as an advanced sulfur host. Benefiting from the enhanced conductivity by the N‐doped carbon, reduced shuttle effect by the strong chemical interaction between unsaturated Mo and lithium polysulfides, improved redox reaction kinetics by the catalytic effect of MoS3, great tolerance of volume variation and high sulfur loading arising from flexible amorphous materials with hollow‐porous structures, the amorphous NC/MoS3 nanoboxes enabled sulfur electrodes to deliver a high areal capacity with superior rate capacity and decent cycling stability. The synthetic strategy can be generalized to fabricate other amorphous metal sulfide nanoboxes.

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) dispersed on a high-surface-area support are normally used as heterogeneous catalysts. Recent in situ experiments have shown that structure reconstruction of the NP occurs in real catalysis. However, the role played by supports in these processes is still unclear. Supports can be very important in real catalysis because of the new active sites at the perimeter interface between nanoparticles and supports. Herein, using a developed multiscale model coupled with in situ spherical aberration-corrected (Cs-corrected) TEM experiments, we show that the interaction between the support and the gas environment greatly changes the contact surface area between the metal and support, which further leads to the critical change in the perimeter interface. The dynamic changes of the interface in reactive environments can thus be predicted and be included in the rational design of supported metal nanocatalysts. In particular, our multiscale model shows quantitative consistency with experimental observations. This work offers possibilities for obtaining atomic-scale structures and insights beyond the experimental limits.

A facile NaBH4-cooperative GRR strategy generating composition-adjustable Ag–Au substitutional alloy microcages enabling tunable plasmon resonance for ultrasensitive SERS.

We demonstrate an atomic scale TEM observation of shape evolutions of Pd nanocrystals under oxygen and hydrogen environments at atmospheric pressure. Combined with multi-scale structure reconstruction model calculations, the reshaping mechanism is fully understood.

Improving photo-induced charge transfer (PICT) efficiency is the key factor for boosting surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) performance of semiconductor nanomaterials. Introducing plentiful surface defect states in porous ZnO nanosheets (d-ZnO...

Acquiring the kinetics of gas-nanoparticle fast reactions under ambient pressure is a challenge owing to the lack of appropriate in situ techniques. Now an approach has been developed that integrates time-resolved in situ electron diffraction and an atmospheric gas cell system in transmission electron microscopy, allowing quantitative structural information to be obtained under ambient pressure with millisecond time resolution. The ultrafast oxidation kinetics of Ni nanoparticles in oxygen was vividly obtained. In contrast to the well-accepted Wagner and Mott-Cabrera models (diffusion-dominated), the oxidation of Ni nanoparticles is linear at the initial stage (<0.5 s), and follows the Avrami-Erofeev model (n=1.12) at the following stage, which indicates the oxidation of Ni nanoparticles is a nucleation and growth dominated process. This study gives new insights into Ni oxidation and paves the way to study the fast reaction kinetics of nanoparticles using ultrafast in situ techniques.

Supported metal nanoparticle catalysts are one of the most important classes of heterogeneous catalysts but suffer from agglomeration in many cases. Particle redispersion is of great importance for restoring the activity. We report this phenomenon happening at Mo catalysts, in which small-sized Mo species can be achieved from the original large-sized Mo oxide on a carbon support (carbon cloth) in H2 atmosphere. Detailed characterizations of the specific process were done with ex situ and in situ techniques. Additionally, the small-sized Mo species expose a large number of active sites, which exhibit a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) in the electrocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions. Our discovery of the formation process of small-sized Mo species gives more deep understanding of the redispersion phenomenon and provides potential application in industry.