The seeding approach for preparation of gold nanoflowers in which 25 nm gold nanoparticles were used as the seeds and a mixture of HAuCl4 and hydroxylamine as growth solution was investigated systematically. It is revealed that the formation and stability of the nanoflowers were affected greatly by the intraparticle ripening induced by the chlorine ions that existed in the reaction system. In this seeding approach, hydroxylamine promoted the rapid reduction of HAuCl4 and thus rapid formation of small Au particles with a diameter around 3 nm in the growth solution. The attachment of the small particles on the seed surface contributed to the growth of the nanoflowers. The branch length of the nanoflowers increased with the increased pH of the growth solution due to the suppressed ripening at higher pH. The stability of the nanoflowers can be improved by increasing the pH of the storing solution and/or removal of the chlorine ions.

Enzymatic polymerization of phenolic compounds (catechol, resorcinol, and hydroquinone) was carried out using laccase. The mechanism of polymerization and the structures of the polymers were evaluated in terms of UV-Vis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The molecular weights of the produced polyphenols were determined with GPC. The results showed that the phenolic monomers firstly turned into quinone intermediates by laccase catalysis. Through further oxidation, the intermediates formed covalent bonds. Finally, catechol units were linked together with ether bonds, and both resorcinol and hydroquinone units were linked together with C-C bonds. The number-average molecular weights of the polyphenols ranged from 1,000 to 1,400 Da (corresponding to the degree of polymerization that varied from 10 to 12) with a lower polydispersity value of about 1.10, showing selective polymerization of phenolic compounds catalyzed by laccase.

Ni3S2 nanosheets doped with tin (Sn) grown on nickel foam (Sn–Ni3S2/NF) through a facile hydrothermal process were found to be superior water-splitting electrocatalysts. As for overall water splitting (OWS), when the current density is 10 mA cm–2, the required voltage is only 1.46 V. Meanwhile, it exhibits a large current density property and long-time stability (>60 h current–time tests) for both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In order to reach the current densities of 100 and 1000 mA cm–2, Sn–Ni3S2/NF needs overpotentials of 0.17 and 0.57 V for HER, and 0.27 and 0.58 V for OER, respectively. The water-splitting property of Sn–Ni3S2/NF is much better than that of pure Ni3S2/NF or even 20 wt % Pt/C/NF and RuO2/NF. Furthermore, Sn–Ni3S2/NF showed a higher turnover frequency at different potentials, with ∼100% Faraday efficiency for both O2 and H2. The improved activity of Sn–Ni3S2/NF activity for water-splitting is attributed to the doping of Sn, which enhanced the intrinsic activity of Sn–Ni3S2/NF for OWS. This article not only provides a new efficient and stable catalyst for OWS, but also proposes an interface design principle for NF-based high-performance water-splitting materials.

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