Li-Jing Zhou

Reduced TiO2 rutile nanorods with well-defined facets and their visible-light photocatalytic activity

Stable reduced TiO2 rutile nanorods with well-defined facets were prepared by a solvothermal route in the presence of Zn powder. The oxygen vacancy in the TiO2 nanorods, which can be tuned by the amount of Zn, results in a narrow band gap and visible-light photocatalytic activity.

Synthesis and photocatalytic activity of porous anatase TiO2 microspheres composed of {010}-faceted nanobelts

Porous anatase TiO(2) microspheres composed of {010}-faceted nanobelts were synthesized through simple thermal treatment of a titanium glycerolate precursor. The as-prepared TiO(2) nanomaterial was shown to serve as an efficient photocatalyst for H(2) evolution, and its activity was more than twice that of the benchmark P25 TiO(2).

Electrospinning Synthesis of Bimetallic Nickel–Iron Oxide/Carbon Composite Nanofibers for Efficient Water Oxidation Electrocatalysis

The development of earth‐abundant water oxidation electrocatalysts with high activity and durability is very important for many renewable energy conversion/storage processes. Herein, we report a facile synthetic method for the preparation of amorphous nickel–iron oxide/carbon composite nanofibers with high electrocatalytic activity and stability for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This method involves two main steps: (i) the electrospinning synthesis of Ni‐ and Fe‐embedded polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) polymer nanofibers as the precursor and (ii) the thermal conversion of this precursor in air at 250 °C into nickel–iron oxide/carbon composite nanofibers. Moreover, we show that the as‐obtained composite material exhibits a comparable catalytic activity and a superior catalytic stability to IrOx/C and RuOx, which are state‐of‐the‐art noble‐metal‐based water oxidation electrocatalysts. In particular, the obtained amorphous nickel–iron oxide/carbon composite nanofibers with an optimal Ni/Fe molar ratio of 1:2 afford a small overpotential of 310 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2, show high catalytic stability for >15 h, and give >90 % Faradaic yield toward the OER. The efficient catalytic activity of the material can be attributed to its overall conducive structural features for the OER, mainly including the amorphous phase structure of nickel–iron oxide, tunable Ni/Fe atomic ratio, and strongly coupled interaction between nickel–iron oxide and nanocarbon.

Synthesis of porous In2O3 microspheres as a sensitive material for early warning of hydrocarbon explosions

Efficient detection/monitoring of low-concentration C1–C3 aliphatic hydrocarbons (e.g., methane) is a challenging task, mainly due to their intrinsically low chemical reactivity and thereby weak sensing response. Herein we report the template-free synthesis of porous nanoparticle-assembled In2O3 microspheres that can serve as a highly sensitive material for C1–C3 detection. In particular, porous In2O3 microspheres with a BET surface area of 57 m2 g−1 are prepared through simple thermal treatment of an indium glycerolate precursor. The gas-sensing properties of the porous In2O3 material are evaluated by a series of C1–C3 hydrocarbons including methane (CH4), ethane (C2H6), propane (C3H8), ethylene (C2H4) and acetylene (C2H2). The porous In2O3 material has the ability to detect these gases with a rapid response (<10 s) in a wide concentration range from 200 ppm to 50 000 ppm (the lower explosion limit of methane). In the testing range, the logarithm of response shows a good linear dependency on the logarithm of gas concentration, demonstrating that the porous In2O3 material may be used for quantitative detection of C1–C3 hydrocarbons. Given the rapid response and high sensitivity below the explosion limit, this porous In2O3 material is promising to provide earlier warning against the explosion risk of hydrocarbon compounds.

Facile precursor-mediated synthesis of porous core–shell-type Co3O4 octahedra with large surface area for photochemical water oxidation

A porous Co3O4 material with unique octahedron-in-octahedron core–shell-type morphology is prepared via a facile precursor-mediated synthetic route. This material possesses large surface area and good catalytic activity for water oxidation reaction.

A facile method for enhancing the sensing performance of zinc oxide nanofibers gas sensors

ZnO nanoparticles and nanofibers are prepared using radio-frequency (RF) sputtering and electrospinning, respectively. The performances of ZnO nanoparticles–nanofibers sensors are superior to those of ZnO nanofibers and ZnO nanoparticles sensors for ethanol. It is due to the increase of effective contact area and porosity of ZnO nanofibers.