Tailored synthesis of well-defined anatase TiO2 nanocrystals with a high percentage of reactive facets has attracted widespread attention due to the scientific and technological importance. Here, high-quality nanosized anatase ultrathin TiO2 nanosheets, mainly dominated by {001} facets, were grown on graphene nanosheets by a simple one-pot solvothermal synthetic route. The obtained samples were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), ultraviolet–visible (UV–vis) diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The photocatalytic activity of as-prepared TiO2/graphene composites for degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible-light irradiation at λ ≥ 400 nm was investigated. The results show that TiO2/graphene nanocomposites have a higher photocatalytic activity than pure TiO2 and P25. This enhanced photocatalytic activity suggests that the photoinduced electrons in TiO2 prefer transferring to the graphene efficiently. As a consequence, the electron transfer via Ti–O–C between TiO2 and C interaction greatly retards the recombination of photoinduced charge carriers and prolongs the carrier lifetime, thus contributing to the enhancement of photocatalytic performance. The amount of graphene is an important factor affecting the photocatalytic activity of TiO2/graphene nanocomposites. The optimum amount of graphene is ca. 1 wt %, at which the TiO2/graphene sample displays the highest reactivity. Furthermore, the photodegradation rate does not show an obvious decrease during five successive cycles, indicating that our TiO2/graphene nanocomposites are stable visible-light photocatalysts.

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The sluggish water dissociation kinetics of Ni3N is significantly accelerated by in situ interfacial engineering. Owing to the unique synergy between Ni3N and MoO2, Ni3N/MoO2 displays exceptional alkaline HER activity.

Here we report sensitive and selective detection of TNT based on plasmonic resonance energy transfer from a gold nanoplasmonic probe to conjugated target TNT molecules, leading to quenching on the Rayleigh scattering spectrum of the probe.

A facile and effective approach to synthesize Au nanoparticle encapsulated 3,4-dihydroxy-l-phenylalanine monodisperse hybrid nanospheres (Au@DOPA) has been developed. TEM measurements show that all Au nanoparticles are located inside the hybrid nanospheres and every nanosphere is loaded with gold nanoparticles. The obtained Au@DOPA core−shell nanospheres have not only uniform size, similar surface properties, and good biocompatibility, but also unique optical properties provided by the embedded Au nanoparticles. It has been demonstrated that Au@DOPA core−shell nanospheres can be internalized by human vascular smooth muscles cells (HVSMC) and breast cancer cells and hence act as a novel optical contrast reagent in tumor cell imaging by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM) and optical microscopy. In addition, the hybrid nanospheres can be used as precursors to synthesize the DOPA capsules by using KI/I2 solution to dissolve the gold cores. The obtained materials could find potential applications in other biomedical-related areas such as photothermal therapy and drug delivery.

Three kinds of ferrates (NiFe2O4, ZnFe2O4 and CoFe2O4) were prepared via the facile solvothermal method and characterized using SEM, TEM, XRD, XPS, FT‐IR and BET instruments. The NiFe2O4, CoFe2O4 and ZnFe2O4 particles possess hollow structure with average particle size of 70, 220 and 360 nm, respectively. The catalytic performance of the ferrates for AP thermal decomposition were studied using DSC and TG‐DTG methods, and the decomposition mechanism of AP were suggested. The catalytic effects of different ferrates for AP thermal decomposition were significantly different. The CoFe2O4 has the best catalytic activity, and the high thermal decomposition peak temperature (THDP) and apparent activation energy (Ea) of AP were decreased by 108.99 °C and 37.38 kJ mol−1 in the presence of CoFe2O4 sample. Adding ferrates has no obvious influence on the gas‐phase decomposition products of AP, but has a great influence on the energy barrier of high temperature decomposition of AP. The excellent catalytic activity of CoFe2O4 is mainly attributed to the synergistic interaction between Fe and Co, which is conducive to the thermal decomposition of AP.

Here we report a silver nanoparticle based surface enhanced resonance Raman scattering (SERRS) probe for the ultrasensitive and selective detection of formaldehyde. The detection limit reaches as low as 10(-11) M.