Single-crystalline Zn(2)GeO(4) nanobelts with lengths of hundreds of micrometers, thicknesses as small as ∼7 nm, and aspect ratios of up to 10,000 were synthesized in a binary ethylenediamine/water solvent system using a solvothermal route. The ultralong and ultrathin geometry of the Zn(2)GeO(4) nanoribbon proves to greatly promote the photocatalytic activity toward reduction of CO(2) into renewable hydrocarbon fuel (CH(4)) in the presence of water vapor.

Robust hollow spheres consisting of molecular‐scale alternating titania (Ti0.91O2) nanosheets and graphene (G) nanosheets are successfully fabricated by a layer‐by‐layer assembly technique with polymer beads as sacrificial templates using a microwave irradiation technique to simultaneously remove the template and reduce graphene oxide into graphene. The molecular scale, 2D contact of Ti0.91O2 nanosheets and G nanosheets in the hollow spheres is distinctly different from the prevenient G‐based TiO2 nanocomposites prepared by simple integration of TiO2 and G nanosheets. The nine times increase of the photocatalytic activity of G‐Ti0.91O2 hollow spheres relative to commercial P25 TiO2 is confirmed with photoreduction of CO2 into renewable fuels (CO and CH4). The large enhancement in the photocatalytic activity benefits from: 1) the ultrathin nature of Ti0.91O2 nanosheets allowing charge carriers to move rapidly onto the surface to participate in the photoreduction reaction; 2) the sufficiently compact stacking of ultrathin Ti0.91O2 nanosheets with G nanosheets allowing the photogenerated electron to transfer fast from the Ti0.91O2 nanosheets to G to enhance lifetime of the charge carriers; and 3) the hollow structure potentially acting as a photon trap‐well to allow the multiscattering of incident light for the enhancement of light absorption.

Ultrathin and uniform Bi(2)WO(6) square nanoplates of ∼9.5 nm thickness corresponding to six repeating cell units were prepared in the presence of oleylamine using a hydrothermal route. The Bi(2)WO(6) nanoplates show great potential in the utilization of visible light energy to the highly efficient reduction of CO(2) into a renewable hydrocarbon fuel. On the one hand, the ultrathin geometry of the nanoplates promotes charge carriers to move rapidly from the interior to the surface to participate in the photoreduction reaction. This should also favor the improved separation of photogenerated electron and hole and a lower electron-hole recombination rate; on the other hand, the Bi(2)WO(6) square nanoplate is proven to provide the well-defined {001} facet for two dominantly exposed surfaces, which is a prerequisite for the high level of photocatalytic activity of CO(2) fixation.

Sheaf-like, hyperbranched Zn 2 GeO 4 nanoarchitectures were successfully synthesized in a binary ethylenediamine (En)/water solvent system using a solvothermal route. These structures may be assigned to the splitting crystal growth mechanism, resembling some minerals observed in nature. Addition of increasing amounts of En was found to enhance the degree of crystal splitting. Nitridation of the resulting Zn 2 GeO 4 superstructures under NH 3 flow produced yellow Zn 1.7 GeN 1.8 O solid solution, which allows photocatalytically converse CO 2 into hydrocarbon fuel (CH 4 ) in the presence of H 2 O at ambient conditions under visible light irradiation. Experimental Preparation of Zn 2 GeO 4 bundlesAll chemicals were of analytical grade and used as received without further purification. The Zn 2 GeO 4 particles were