A porous MoO2 nanosheet as an active and stable bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting, is presented. It needs a cell voltage of only about 1.53 V to achieve a current density of 10 mA cm(-2) and maintains its activity for at least 24 h in a two-electrode configuration.

Despite the fact that both electrochemical experiments and density functional theory calculations have testified to the superior electrocatalytic activity and CO-poisoning tolerance of platinum-ruthenium (PtRu) alloy nanoparticles toward the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR), the facet-dependent electrocatalytic properties of PtRu nanoparticles are scarcely revealed because it is extremely difficult to synthesize well-defined facets-enclosed PtRu nanocrystals. Herein, we for the first time report a general synthesis of ultrathin PtRu nanocrystals with tunable morphologies (nanowires, nanorods, and nanocubes) through a one-step solvothermal approach and a systematic investigation of the structure-directing effects of different surfactants and the formation mechanism by control experiments and time-dependent studies. In addition, we utilize these {100} and {111} facets-enclosed PtRu nanocrystals as model catalysts to evaluate the electrocatalytic characteristics of the MOR on different facets. Remarkably, {111}-terminated PtRu nanowires exhibit much higher stability and electrocatalytic mass activity toward MOR, which are 2.28 and 4.32 times higher than those of {100}-terminated PtRu nanocubes and commercial Pt/C, respectively, indicating that PtRu {111} facets possess superior methanol oxidation activity and CO-poisoning resistance relative to {100} facets. Our present work provides a series of well-defined PtRu nanocrystals with tunable facets which would be ideal model electrocatalysts for fundamental research in fuel cell electrocatalysis.

By adding a small amount of a vesicle surfactant, “unavoidable” splashing is considerably reduced on superhydrophobic surfaces.

All-inorganic perovskite light-emitting diodes (LEDs) reveal efficient luminescence with high color purity, but their modest brightness and poor stability are still critical drawbacks. Here, the luminescent efficiency and the stability of perovskite LEDs (PeLEDs) are boosted by antisolvent vapor treatment of CsPbBr 3 embedded in a dielectric polymer matrix of polyethylene oxide (PEO). A unique method is developed to obtain high quality CsPbBr 3 emitting layers with low defects by controlling their grain sizes. CsPbBr 3 in PEO matrix is post-treated with antisolvent of chloroform (CF), leading to microcrystals with a size of ≈5 µm along the in-plane direction with active emitting composite of 90%. A device based on CF post-treatment (CsPbBr 3 -PEO-CF) film displays a brightness of up to 51890 cd m −2 with an external quantum efficiency of 4.76%. CsPbBr 3 -PEO-CF PeLED still maintains 82% of its initial efficiency after 80 h continuous operation in ambient air, which indicates relatively good device stability. This work highlights that film quality is not only key to promoting fluorescence in CsPbBr 3 , but also to achieving higher performance PeLEDs.

Ultrathin ZIF-67 nanosheets are synthesized for the first time via a salt-template confined in situ growth strategy. And the directly carbonized Co,N-doped nanoporous carbon nanosheets greatly boost the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) as well.

Developing highly-efficient and low-cost noble metal-free catalysts toward hydrogen evolution from water splitting is an attractively alternative strategy to solve the ever-increasing environmental contamination and energy demand. Herein, the porous CoP electrocatalyst with a concave polyhedron (CPH) structure was facilely prepared by a topological conversion strategy using Co-MOFs (ZIF-67) polyhedrons as the precursor. The morphology of Co-MOFs is well inherited by the asprepared CoP sample due to the multi-step calcination process at low temperature, which imaginably results in the formation of a porous structure. Compared with the contrastive CoP nanoparticles (NPs), the obtained porous CoP CPHs electrocatalyst exhibit a remarkably enhanced electrocatalytic performance with a current density of 10 mA cm -2 at an overpotential of 133 mV and a superior durability for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acid media. A small Tafel slope of ca. 51 mV dec -1 reveals a Volmer-Heyrovsky mechanism during the HER. This work provided a new insight to fabricate morphology-controlled transition metal phosphides with a porous structure via topological conversion, which have important potential applications, such as electrocatalysis, photocatalysis and sensor, thanks to its porosity and controllability.The EDX results in Table S2 indicate the atom ratios of Co and P before and after electrocatalysis are both ca. 1 : 1. Overall, the as-prepared CoP CPHs have good structural stability and electrocatalytic durability.

Interactive halides: Bis(tetraoxacalix[2]arene[2]triazine), a conformationally rigid cage molecule of three V‐shaped electron‐deficient clefts, forms 1:1 complexes with fluoride (361 M−1), chloride (146 M−1) and bromide (95 M−1) in acetonitrile. Different anion–π interactions along with multiple hydrogen bonding, halogen bonding and lone‐pair‐electrons–π interactions directed the formation of different molecular assemblies (an example is shown here).

The accumulation of a peptide of 38-43 amino acids, in the form of fibrillar plaques, was one of the essential reasons for Alzheimer's disease (AD). Discovering an agent that is able to disassemble and clear disease-associated Abeta peptide fibrils from the brains of AD patients would have critical implications not only in understanding the dynamic process of peptide aggregation but also in the development of therapeutic strategies for AD. This study reported a new finding that cationic gemini surfactant C(12)C(6)C(12)Br(2) micelles can effectively disassemble the Abeta(1-40) fibrils in vitro. Systematic comparisons with other surfactants using ThT fluorescence, AFM, and FTIR techniques suggested that the disassembly effectiveness of gemini surfactant micelles arises from their special molecular structure (i.e., positively bicharged head and twin hydrophobic chains). To track the disassembly process, systematic cryoTEM characterization was also done, which suggested a three-stage disassembly process: (i) Spherical micelles are first absorbed onto the Abeta fibrils because of attractive electrostatic interaction. (ii) Elongated fibrils then disintegrate into short pieces and form nanoscopic aggregates via synergistic hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions. (iii) Finally, complete disaggregation of fibrils and dynamic reassembly result in the formation of peptide/surfactant complexes.