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Photoelectrocatalytic performance of a system is fundamentally determined by the full absorption of sunlight and high utilization of photoexcited carriers, but efficiency of the latter is largely limited by inefficient charge transfer from the absorber to reactive sites. Here, we propose to construct directional charge transfer channels in a monolithically integrated electrode, taking carbon dots/carbon nitride (CCN) nanotubes and FeOOH/FeCo layered double hydroxide (FFC) nanosheets as a representative, to boost the photoassisted overall water splitting performance. Detailed experimental investigations and DFT calculations demonstrate that the interfacial C–O–Fe bonds between CCN and FFC act as charge transfer channels, facilitating the directional migration of the photogenerated carriers between CCN and FFC surfaces. Moreover, the in situ oxidized Fe/Co species by photogenerated holes trigger lattice oxygen activation, realizing the construction of the Fe–Co dual-site as the catalytic center and efficiently lowering the barrier energy for water oxidation. As a result, the CCN@FFC electrode shows multiple functionalities in photoelectrocatalysis: only a low overpotential of 68 mV, 182 mV, and 1.435 V is required to deliver 10 mA cm–2 current densities for the photoassisted HER, OER, and overall water splitting, respectively. This directional charge transfer modulation strategy may facilitate the design of highly active and cost-effective multifunctional catalysts for energy conversion and storage.

A novel nonprecious Fe2O3 nanoparticle decorated NiO nanosheet (Fe2O3 NPs@NiO NSs) composite has been obtained by a rapid one-pot electrochemical exfoliation method and can be used as an efficient oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalyst. In the nanocomposite, the Fe2O3 NPs are uniformly anchored on the ultrathin graphene-like NiO nanosheets. At the same time, we also studied the influence of the Fe/Ni molar ratio on the morphology and catalytic activity. The Fe2O3 NPs@NiO NSs nanocomposite possessed a high BET surface area (194.1 m2 g–1), which is very conducive to the charge/mass transfer of electrolyte ions and O2. Owing to the unique two-dimensional (2D) heterostructures and rational Fe content, the as-prepared Fe2O3 NPs@NiO NSs show high catalytic performance, a low overpotential at 10 mA cm–2 (221 mV), a small Tafel slope (53.4 mV dec–1), and 2000 cycle and 20 h long-term durability. The introduction of Fe2O3 NPs is beneficial to accelerating charge transport, increasing the electrochemically active surface area (ECSA), and thus improving the release of oxygen bubbles from the electrode surface.

Nitric oxide NO is one of the major targets for environmental monitoring, but the existing NO sensors are limited by their low sensitivity and narrow test range. Here, a NO gas sensor employing multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was fabricated, and its properties in NO–N2 mixture were investigated from both emission and ionization. The current Ie passing through the nanotubes cathode was found to decrease with increasing NO concentration and increase linearly in different slopes with the extracting voltage Ue. It is shown that the Schottky barrier of the MWCNTs calculated by Ie increased with NO concentration due to the adsorption of NO gas, which restrained the electron emission and consequently weakened the ionization. The positive ion currents Ic passing through the collecting electrode at different voltages of Ue were found to monotonically decrease with increasing NO concentration, which was induced by both of the reduced electron emission and the consumption of the two excited metastable states N2(A3∑u+) and N2(a′1∑u−) by NO. The sensor exhibited high sensitivity at the low temperature of 30 °C. The calculated conductivity was found to be able to take place of Ic for NO detection in a wide voltage range of 80–150 V Ue.

The proton transfer plays a crucial, yet not well-control, role in enhancing the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance of transition metal (TM) (oxy) hydroxide materials. Herein, we take Ce-doped FeCo layered double hydroxide (Ce-FeCo LDH) nanosheets in situ growth on spindle-like MIL-88A, as a model system to demonstrate enhancing OER activity through the promotion of proton transfer by forming the carboxylate ligands coordinated with TM atoms. The carboxyl group-functionalized MIL-88A@Ce-FeCo LDH core–shell hybrid catalyst, fabricated by the one-pot reflux method, is made up of Ce-FeCo LDH as active component and carboxylate ligands as a proton acceptor. Specifically, the uncoordinated carboxylate ligands serve as relays to promote proton transfer and deprotonation efficiency. As a result, this core–shell structured hybrid exhibits superior OER activity while maintaining excellent durability. This work provides a facile method to reserve carboxylates as the station of proton transfer on TM-based catalyst to promote water splitting.

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The hollow sandwich core-shell micro-nanomaterials are widely used in materials, chemistry, and medicine, but their fabrication, particularly for transition metal phosphides (TMPs), remains a great challenge. Herein, a general synthesis strategy is presented for binary TMPs hollow sandwich heterostructures with vertically interconnected nanosheets on the inside and outside surfaces of polyhedron FeCoP x /C, demonstrated by a variety of transition metals (including Co, Fe, Cd, Mn, Cu, Cr, and Ni). Density functional theory (DFT) calculation reveals the process and universal mechanism of layered double hydroxide (LDH) growth on Prussian blue analog (PBA) surface in detail for the first time, which provides the theoretical foundations for feasibility and rationality of the synthesis strategy. This unique structure exhibits a vertical nanosheet-shell-vertical nanosheet configuration combining the advantages of sandwich, hollow and vertical heterostructures, effectively achieving their synergistic effect. As a proof-of-concept of their applications, the CoNiP x @FeCoP x /C@CoNiP x hollow sandwich polyhedron architectures (representative samples) show excellent catalytic performance for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in alkaline electrolytes. This work provides a general method for constructing hollow-sandwich micro-nanostructures, which provides more ideas and directions for design of micro-nano materials with special geometric topology.