Enhancing the intrinsic activity of a benchmarked electrocatalyst such as platinum (Pt) is highly intriguing from fundamental as well as applied perspectives. In this work, hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity of Pt electrodes, benchmarked HER catalysts, modified with ultrathin sheets of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) is studied in acidic medium (Pt/h-BN), and augmented HER performance, in terms of the overpotential at a 10 mA cm–2 current density (10 mV lower than that of Pt nanoparticles) and a lower Tafel slope (29 ± 1 mV/decade), of the Pt/h-BN system is demonstrated. The effects of h-BN surface modification of bulk Pt as well as Pt nanoparticles are studied, and the origin of such an enhanced HER activity is probed using density functional theory-based calculations. The HER charge transfer resistance of h-BN-modified Pt is found to be drastically reduced, and this enhances the charge transfer kinetics of the Pt/h-BN system because of the synergistic interaction between h-BN and Pt. An enormous reduction in the hydrogen adsorption energy on h-BN monolayers is also found when they are placed over the Pt electrode [−2.51 eV (h-BN) to −0.25 eV (h-BN over Pt)]. Corrosion preventive atomic layers such as h-BN-protected Pt electrodes that perform better than Pt electrodes do open possibilities of benchmarked catalysts by simple modification of a surface via atomic layers.

Controlled assembly of mesoscopic structures can bring interesting phenomena because of their interfaces. Here, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are cross-coupled via a C–C bonding through Suzuki reaction resulting in three-dimensional (3D) CNT sponges, and these 3D CNTs are studied for their efficacy toward the electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic mediumone of the promising methods for the production of a renewable energy source, hydrogen. Both single and multiwall CNTs (SWCNTs and MWCNTs) are studied for the development of 3DSWCNTs and 3DMWCNTs, and these 3D CNTs are found to be HER active with small reaction onset potentials and low charge-transfer resistances unlike their uncoupled counterparts. First-principle density functional calculations show that the combination of electron acceptor and donor bonded to the CNT network can provide a unique band structure modulation in the system facilitating the HER reaction. This study can provide possibilities for band engineering of CNTs via functionalization and cross-coupling reactions.

Hotspot engineering has the potential to transform the field of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) by enabling ultrasensitive and reproducible detection of analytes. However, the ability to controllably generate SERS hotspots, with desired location and geometry, over large-area substrates, has remained elusive. In this study, we sculpt artificial edges in monolayer molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) by low-power focused laser-cutting. We find that when gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) are deposited on MoS2 by drop-casting, the AuNPs tend to accumulate predominantly along the artificial edges. First-principles density functional theory (DFT) calculations indicate strong binding of AuNPs with the artificial edges due to dangling bonds that are ubiquitous on the unpassivated (laser-cut) edges. The dense accumulation of AuNPs along the artificial edges intensifies plasmonic effects in these regions, creating hotspots exclusively along the artificial edges. DFT further indicates that adsorption of AuNPs along the artificial edges prompts a transition from semiconducting to metallic behavior, which can further intensify the plasmonic effect along the artificial edges. These effects are observed exclusively for the sculpted (i.e., cut) edges and not observed for the MoS2 surface (away from the cut edges) or along the natural (passivated) edges of the MoS2 sheet. To demonstrate the practical utility of this concept, we use our substrate to detect Rhodamine B (RhB) with a large SERS enhancement (∼104) at the hotspots for RhB concentrations as low as ∼10–10 M. The single-step laser-etching process reported here can be used to controllably generate arrays of SERS hotspots. As such, this concept offers several advantages over previously reported SERS substrates that rely on electrochemical deposition, e-beam lithography, nanoimprinting, or photolithography. Whereas we have focused our study on MoS2, this concept could, in principle, be extended to a variety of 2D material platforms.

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Sunlight-responsive anatase N-doped TiO2 thin films undergoing reversible and switchable hydrophobic to superhydrophilic transition were synthesized by ultrasonic spray pyrolysis in a single step. Film thickness, roughness, surface morphology, crystal structure, composition, band gap, and wetting properties were studied using surface profilometry, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-vis spectroscopy, and water contact angle measurements, respectively. Surface X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy before and after sunlight irradiation revealed the major physicochemical process responsible for the hydrophobic → hydrophilic transition as surface hydroxylation and that responsible for hydrophilic → superhydrophilic transition as destruction of surface adsorbed organic species. The kinetic rates of the hydrophobic → superhydrophilic transition under sunlight and superhydrophilic → hydrophobic transition when kept under dark are found to be 0.215 min(-1) and 2.03 × 10(-4) min(-1), respectively.

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2This paper reports detailed EXAFS analysis of spray pyrolysis synthesized TiO 2 thin films to, 3 locate position of nitrogen in N-doped phase pure(anatase)TiO 2 , evaluate Ti-O bond distances 4 and the co-ordination number of Ti. The thin films were synthesized at three different substrate 5 temperatures viz. 400, 450 and 500 o C leading to concomitant occurrence of varying nitrogen 6 concentration (N/Ti) of 0.282, 0.237, 0.24 respectively. The co-ordination number extracted 7 from the EXAFS fitting revealed that films synthesized at 450 o C are stoichiometric, whereas 8 those synthesized at 400 and 500 o C are sub-stoichiometric. The intensity of near edge peaks 9 in XAS was employed to delineate the contribution from both symmetry of TiO 6 polyhedra 10 and particle size. The axial and equatorial Ti-O bond distances, corresponding to the different nitrogen concentrations, extracted from the EXAFS fitting, showed good agreement with those 12 calculated from DFT calculations quoted in literature. An increase in the axial and equatorial 13 bond distances with respect to pristine TiO 2 is observed and is attributed to the dominant effect 14 of nitrogen occupancy in the interstitial position.15

The present study deals with the water quality of Talcher Area. Sample was collected from Ghats of river Brahmani, tube well and tap water of different colonies in Monsoon and in Post Monsoon. The collected sample was analysed in P.