BiFeO(3) magnetic nanoparticles (BFO MNPs) were prepared with a sol-gel method and characterized as a catalyst. It was found that BFO MNPs effectively catalyzed the decomposition of H(2)O(2) into *OH radicals, being confirmed with electron spin resonance spin-trapping technique and other radical probing techniques. The strong H(2)O(2)-activating ability of BFO MNPs showed promising applications in the oxidative degradation of organic pollutants. When BFO MNPs were used as a heterogeneous Fenton-like catalyst to degrade Rhodamine B, the apparent rate constant for the RhB degradation at 25 degrees C at pH 5.0 in the BFO MNPs-H(2)O(2) system was evaluated to be 2.89 x 10(-2) min(-1), being about 20 folds of that obtained with Fe(3)O(4) MNPs as the catalyst under similar conditions. Moreover, BFO MNPs were demonstrated to have excellent stability and reusability. The catalytic mechanism of BFO MNPs was also investigated with Monte Carlo simulations and density functional theory calculations.

TiO 2 has received tremendous attention owing to its potential applications in the field of photocatalysis for solar fuel production and environmental remediation. This review mainly describes various modification strategies and potential applications of TiO 2 in efficient photocatalysis. In past few years, various strategies have been developed to improve the photocatalytic performance of TiO 2 , including noble metal deposition, elemental doping, inorganic acids modification, heterojunctions with other semiconductors, dye sensitization and metal ion implantation. The enhanced photocatalytic activities of TiO 2 -based material for CO 2 conversion, water splitting and pollutants degradation are highlighted in this review.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting offers a sparkling and sustainable strategy for hydrogen generation, and significant research for enhancing the conversion efficiency of electrocatalysts is underway, since a huge number of publications have been reported in this field. Hence, it is urgent to write a comprehensive and updated review in order to highlight the latest progress in the design, fabrication, and modification of electrocatalysts for high-efficiency PEC water splitting. In this review, we describe the basic mechanism of PEC water splitting utilizing electrocatalysts in detail. Further, we highlighted the recent advancements in the design, fabrication, and modification of high-efficiency electrocatalysts for energy conversion. In addition, the catalysts' surface passivation, heterojunction constructions, defect engineering, and photovoltage and photocurrent enhancements are also highlighted.

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concentration for March 2021 was 417.14 parts per million (ppm), which is about 50% higher than the average for pre-industrial levels (i.e., 278 ppm). In order to control global warming, the CO 2 emission must fall by 25% to keep the temperature below 2 °C threshold relative to the pre-industrial climate. [3,4] Among the existing numerous renewable and sustainable energy resources such as wind, solar, hydropower, geo-thermal and ocean-energy, the consumption of unlimited solar energy become a vital alternative energy source, and has been extensively explored during the past few decades. [5] For instant, solar energy could be employed practically in photocatalysis for water splitting to generate hydrogen, carbon dioxide conversion to value added products, and pollutant oxidation. [6][7][8] Photocatalysis has advantage over conventional biological, incineration, electrocatalytic, adsorption, and air stripping treatment techniques because these methods always exhibit shortfalls such as instability, catalyst poisoning, low production yield, poor mechanical strength, time consuming, and electrode corrosion. [9,10] Generally, the photocatalytic process involves several essential steps such as the light absorption by photocatalyst to generate charge carriers, charge carrier's separation and migration to the photocatalyst surface, and the surface redox reactions to transform solar energy into chemical energy. [11,12] If these essential steps are satisfied by a proficient photocatalyst, then of course, high photocatalytic efficiency could be expected. Generally, the fundamental features of a photocatalyst include appropriate band gaps with their corresponding valence and conduction band potentials, surface active sites, surface area, and optical absorption behavior that govern the efficiency and effectiveness of photocatalytic processes. [13,14] Since the photocatalytic reactions are typically performed in water and air environments, therefore, the photocatalyst stability could be crucial under these circumstances. [15] Fujishima and Honda performed water splitting reaction for the first time in 1972, while utilizing TiO 2 photoanode with the aid of Pt as a counter electrode. [16] Afterward, TiO 2 photocatalyst received marvelous attention in photocatalysis owing to its promising features such as its non-toxic nature, water insolubility, nature abundant, hydrophilicity, high stability, and appropriate valence and conduction band potentials for redox reactions. [17] Yet, the Photocatalysis is an advanced technique that transforms solar energy into sustainable fuels and oxidizes pollutants via the aid of semiconductor photo catalysts. The main scientific and technological challenges for effective photocatalysis are the stability, robustness, and efficiency of semiconductor photocatalysts. For practical applications, researchers are trying to develop highly efficient and stable photocatalysts. Since the literature is highly scattered, it is urgent to write a critical review that summarizes the stateof theart progress in the ...

Well-defined spherical CoS(2)@carbon core-shell nanoparticles, with an average diameter of 40 nm and thin graphite shell of 4 nm, were synthesized by the one-pot method in the presence of NaN(3) in supercritical CS(2) at 600 °C using cobaltocene as the cobalt source. The obtained product was characterized by XRD, Raman, FESEM, TEM and HRTEM and the possible formation mechanism was proposed here. Due to the good electronic conductivity and buffering matrix effect of graphitic carbon shells, the CoS(2)@carbon core-shell nanocomposite exhibited highly reversible capacity, good cycle performance and high Coulombic efficiency in lithium ion storage and retrieval, which makes it promising as an attractive anode material candidate for lithium ion batteries.