In the work, a facile yet effi cient self-sacrifi ce strategy is smartly developed to scalably fabricate hierarchical mesoporous bi-component-active ZnO/ ZnFe 2 O 4 (ZZFO) sub-microcubes (SMCs) by calcination of single-resource Prussian blue analogue of Zn 3 [Fe(CN) 6 ] 2 cubes. The hybrid ZZFO SCMs are homogeneously constructed from well-dispersed nanocrstalline ZnO and ZnFe 2 O 4 (ZFO) subunites at the nanoscale. After selectively etching of ZnO nanodomains from the hybrid, porously assembled ZFO SMCs with integrate architecture are obtained accordingly. When evaluated as anodes for LIBs, both hybrid ZZFO and ZFO samples exhibit appealing electrochemical performance. However, the as-synthesized ZZFO SMCs demonstrate even better electrochemical Li-storage performance, including even larger initial discharge capacity and reversible capacity, higher rate behavior and better cycling performance, particularly at high rates, compared with the single ZFO, which should be attributed to its unique microstructure characteristics and striking synergistic effect between the bi-component-active, well-dispersed ZnO and ZFO nanophases. Of great signifi cance, light is shed upon the insights into the correlation between the electrochemical Li-storage property and the structure/component of the hybrid ZZFO SMCs, thus, it is strongly envisioned that the elegant design concept of the hybrid holds great promise for the effi cient synthesis of advanced yet low-cost anodes for next-generation rechargeable Li-ion batteries.

An efficient template-engaged synthetic strategy, where silica spheres were applied as hard templates, was developed to synthesize hierarchical mesoporous hollow NiCo 2 O 4 sub-microspheres assembled entirely from ultrathin nanosheets with a thickness of a few nanometers. The as-prepared mesoporous hollow NiCo 2 O 4 sub-microspheres are very uniform in size, mesoporous in textual property, and structurally robust benefiting from the in situ template removal. The morphologies of the hollow submicrospherical architecture can be tuned easily by varying the concentrations of Ni 2+ , Co 2+ , and the precipitant. When evaluated as an appealing electroactive material for electrochemical capacitors (ECs), the as-fabricated hierarchical hollow NiCo 2 O 4 sub-microspheres delivered a specific capacitance (SC) of 678 F g 21 at a current density of 1 A g 21 , and even kept it as high as 540 F g 21 at 10 A g 21 . Additionally, a desirable cycling stability of 13% SC degradation over 3500 continuous cycles at a current density of 10 A g 21 is observed, suggesting their promising application in advanced ECs.

In this work, we put forward a facile yet efficient room-temperature synthetic methodology for the smart fabrication of mesoporous nanocrystalline ZnMn2O4 in macro-quality from the birnessite-type MnO2 phase. A plausible reduction/ion exchange/re-crystallization mechanism is tentatively proposed herein for the scalable synthesis of the spinel phase ZnMn2O4. When utilized as a high-performance anode for advanced Li-ion battery (LIB) application, the as-synthesized nanocrystalline ZnMn2O4 delivered an excellent discharge capacity of approximately 1288 mAh g(-1) on the first cycle at a current density of 400 mA g(-1), and exhibited an outstanding cycling durability, rate capability, and coulombic efficiency, benefiting from its mesoporous and nanoscale structure, which strongly highlighted its great potential in next-generation LIBs. Furthermore, the strategy developed here is very simple and of great importance for large-scale industrial production.

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In this work, a rapid low-temperature and cost-effective refluxing synthesis strategy was elegantly designed, and elaborately developed for high-yield fabrication of mesoporous nanocrystalline ZnFe 2 O 4 with nanoscaled size of $7 nm, desirable mesoporosity and large specific surface area. Benefitting from these admirable nanostructured architectures, the as-derived nanophase ZnFe 2 O 4 exhibited excellent discharge capacity of 1322 mA h g À1 on the first cycle, and showed outstanding cycling durability, rate capability, and coulombic efficiency even at high current rates when evaluated as an anode for Li-ion batteries. More importantly, a low temperature of 100 C and short reaction time of 5 h were applied here; therefore, the efficient synthetic strategy we proposed herein is advocated for scaled-up commercial application.

In the present work, we developed an efficient one-step template-free strategy to fabricate intriguing onedimensional (1D) Co 2 P 2 O 7 nanorods (NRs) at room temperature, and utilized the unique monoclinic Co 2 P 2 O 7 NRs as an excellent electrode material for high-performance pseudocapacitors using 3 M KOH as an electrolyte. Strikingly, the as-synthesized 1D Co 2 P 2 O 7 NR electrode delivered a specific capacitance (SC) of 483 F g À1 at 1 A g À1 , and even at 402 F g À1 a high current loading of 10 A g À1 . And the SC retention of $90% over continuous 3000 charge-discharge cycles at a current density of 6 A g À1 confirmed its stable long-term cycling ability at high current density. More significantly, the underlying electrochemical energy-storage mechanism of the Co 2 P 2 O 7 NR electrode in alkaline KOH aqueous solution was tentatively proposed. And the appealing strategy was proposed for future exploration and development of other low-cost pseudocapacitive materials for next-generation ECs.

In the work, a facile and green two-step synthetic strategy was purposefully developed to efficiently fabricate hierarchical shuttle-shaped mesoporous ZnFe2 O4 microrods (MRs) with a high tap density of ∼0.85 g cm(3) , which were assembled by 1D nanofiber (NF) subunits, and further utilized as a long-life anode for advanced Li-ion batteries. The significant role of the mixed solvent of glycerin and water in the formation of such hierarchical mesoporous MRs was systematically investigated. After 488 cycles at a large current rate of 1000 mA g(-1) , the resulting ZnFe2 O4 MRs with high loading of ∼1.4 mg per electrode still preserved a reversible capacity as large as ∼542 mAh g(-1) . Furthermore, an initial charge capacity of ∼1150 mAh g(-1) is delivered by the ZnFe2 O4 anode at 100 mA g(-1) , resulting in a high Coulombic efficiency of ∼76 % for the first cycle. The superior Li-storage properties of the as-obtained ZnFe2 O4 were rationally associated with its mesoprous micro-/nanostructures and 1D nanoscaled building blocks, which accelerated the electron transportation, facilitated Li(+) transfer rate, buffered the large volume variations during repeated discharge/charge processes, and provided rich electrode-electrolyte sur-/interfaces for efficient lithium storage, particularly at high rates.

In this work, we successfully developed a facile yet efficient microwave-assisted interfacial hydrothermal strategy to fabricate CdWO 4 microspheres with a hydrophobic surface as an advanced photocatalyst for photocatalytic degradation of the dye Methyl Orange (MO) under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. The assynthesized CdWO 4 microspheres exhibited excellent photocatalytic degradation efficiency of 100% under UV illumination for 80 min, benefiting from its appropriate band gap, strong UV absorption, hydrophobic surface, and low recombination rate of photo-generated charge carriers. The striking stability and easy separation of the unique CdWO 4 microspheres further promised its practical recycling usage. Also, insights into the formation and degradation mechanisms of CdWO 4 microspheres were tentatively proposed.