Heteroatom (N, P, and B)-codoped nanocarbons (NPBC) with nanoporous morphology are fabricated via a facile one-step pyrolysis method and exhibit good electrocatalytic activity, durability, and selectivity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in alkaline media. The ORR activity of NPBC is better than single- (nitrogen-doped carbon (NC)) or dual-doped (nitrogen and phosphorus codoped carbon (NPC) or nitrogen and boron codoped carbon (NBC)) catalysts in terms of onset potential and current density. This synthetic approach is efficient and suitable for large-scale fabrication of metal-free carbon-based catalysts.

Carbon dots (CDs) were synthesized by refluxing glucose, as efficient fluorescence probes, which show convenient and sensitive detection of norfloxacin (NOR) over a wide concentration range. It is worth noting that because of the hydrogen bond interactions between the CDs and NOR, the fluorescence intensity of CDs was remarkably enhanced in the presence of NOR, which indicates that CDs are capable of rapid, stable and sensitive determination of NOR. Compared with high-performance liquid chromatography, the fluorescence enhancement method is considerably simpler and faster, and will pave a new way for the determination of NOR.

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Efficient, stable, and low‐cost electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution and reduction reactions (OER and ORR) are essential components of energy conversion. Although much progress has been achieved in the development of platinum‐based electrocatalysts for ORR and iridium‐based electrocatalysts for OER, they are still not yet viable for large‐scale commercialization because of the high cost and scanty supply of the noble metals. Here, it is demonstrated that carbon nanodots surface‐modified with either phosphorus or amidogen can respectively achieve electrocatalytic activity approaching that of the benchmark Pt/C and IrO2 /C catalysts for ORR and OER. Furthermore, phosphorus (amidogen)‐modified carbon nanodots with attached Au nanoparticles exhibit superior ORR (OER) activity better than commercial Pt/C (IrO2/C) catalysts as well as excellent electrochemical stability under visible light.

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A nitrogen, phosphorus co-doped carbon dots/CoS2 hybrid was synthesized as electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction with desirable electrocatalytic activities (low overpotential ∼78 mV, small Tafel slope ∼76 mV dec−1) and long-term stability in acidic media.

The Ag3PW12O40/C3N4 nanocomposites were successfully synthesized by loading Ag3PW12O40 into C3N4, in which case Ag3PW12O40 is gained through reaction between AgNO3 and H3PW12O40 at room temperature. The obtained nanocomposites show efficient and light-operated catalytic activity for hydrocarbon selective oxidation (selective oxidation of cyclooctene and cyclohexane) without adding any oxidant at 60 o C. For cyclooctene, the conversion based on cyclooctene is 41.26 %, and the selectivity of selective oxidation epoxycyclooctane can be up to 77.2 %. The nanocomposites catalyst yielded oxidation of cyclohexane to cyclohexanone with 8.62 % efficiency and > 99.0 % selectivity. In the catalytic system, the oxidant (H2O2) in the catalysis process can be produced by the irradiation of C3N4 and then decomposed into HO· with the help of Ag3PW12O40. The observed improvement in the activities of photo-induced oxidation of cyclooctene and cyclohexane is mainly attributed to the high BET surface area of C3N4. With the synergistic effect of Ag3PW12O40 and C3N4, the nanocomposites display considerable catalytic activity, which shed light on the catalyst design applied in selective oxidation of hydrocarbon.