Zhao-Qing Liu

Facile synthesis of large-area manganese oxide nanorod arrays as a high-performance electrochemical supercapacitor

Large-area manganese oxide nanorod arrays (MONRAs) and herringbones (MOHBs) were successfully synthesized on F-doped SnO2 coated glass (FTO) substrates by a simple electrochemical method. Cyclic voltammetry (CV) and galvanostatic charge/discharge measurements demonstrated that the MONRAs and MOHBs exhibited excellent specific capacitance and good cycling stability in 0.5 M Na2SO4 aqueous solution. For example, the specific capacitance of the MONRAs achieves as high as 660.7 F g−1 at a scan rate of 10 mV s−1 and 485.2 F g−1 at a current density of 3 A g−1, respectively. Furthermore, the presented method may be extended to allow similar MONRs with a specific capacitance of 583.6 F g−1 to grow on flexible Ti foil, which may have great potential application in fabricating flexible supercapacitors.

Porous Pt-Ni-P Composite Nanotube Arrays: Highly Electroactive and Durable Catalysts for Methanol Electrooxidation

Porous Pt-Ni-P composite nanotube arrays (NTAs) on a conductive substrate in good solid contact are successfully synthesized via template-assisted electrodeposition and show high electrochemical activity and long-term stability for methanol electrooxidation. Hollow nanotubular structures, porous nanostructures, and synergistic electronic effects of various elements contribute to the high electrocatalytic performance of porous Pt-Ni-P composite NTA electrocatalysts.

Polyaniline nanotube arrays as high-performance flexible electrodes for electrochemical energy storage devices

Polyaniline (PANI) nanotube arrays were facilely synthesized via electrochemical polymerization in the presence of ZnO nanorod arrays as sacrificial templates, and they were tested as promising flexible electrode materials for supercapacitor applications.

Facile electrochemical synthesis of single crystalline CeO2 octahedrons and their optical properties.

We developed a simple electrochemical process for the large-scale fabrication of single crystalline CeO(2) octahedrons and nanospheres from DMSO aqueous solution. The octahedrons with some structural defects have a size ranging from 200 to 300 nm. Moreover, highly crystalline CeO(2) nanospheres were also obtained via this electrochemical process based on the oriented attachment mechanism. The absorption edge of octahedrons and spheres shows a red-shift, and that of the octahedrons was near the visible region.

Porous CeO2 nanowires/nanowire arrays: electrochemical synthesis and application in water treatment

Herein, we present a template- and surfactant-free electrochemical method for the fabrication of hierarchical porous CeO2 NWs and NWAs. These porous NWs/NWAs have diameters of 50–200 nm and lengths of up to several micrometres. Both the NWs and NWAs exhibit an excellent ability to remove Congo red in wastewater treatment.

Porous Ni@Pt Core‐Shell Nanotube Array Electrocatalyst with High Activity and Stability for Methanol Oxidation

Bimetallic core-shell nanostructures are emerging as more important materials than monometallic nanostructures, and have much more interesting potential applications in various fields, including catalysis and electronics. In this work, we demonstrate the facile synthesis of core-shell nanotube array catalysts consisting of Pt thin layers as the shells and Ni nanotubes as the cores. The porous Ni@Pt core-shell nanotube arrays were fabricated by ZnO nanorod-array template-assisted electrodeposition, and they represent a new class of nanostructures with a high electrochemically active surface area of 50.08 m(2)  (g Pt)(-1), which is close to the value of 59.44 m(2)  (g Pt)(-1) for commercial Pt/C catalysts. The porous Ni@Pt core-shell nanotube arrays also show markedly enhanced electrocatalytic activity and stability for methanol oxidation compared with the commercial Pt/C catalysts. The attractive performances exhibited by these prepared porous Ni@Pt core-shell nanotube arrays make them promising candidates as future high-performance catalysts for methanol electrooxidation. The facile method described herein is suitable for large-scale, low-cost production, and significantly lowers the Pt loading, and thus, the cost of the catalysts.

Room-temperature ferromagnetism in hierarchically branched MoO3 nanostructures

Hierarchically branched MoO3 nanostructures on Ti substrates were successfully prepared via a simple and controllable electrodeposition–heat-treatment method. XPS and Raman results indicate that these branched MoO3 nanostructures possess some oxygen vacancies. The magnetic measurements show the prepared branched MoO3 nanostructures exhibit ferromagnetic behaviour at room temperature. The observed room-temperature ferromagnetism can be mainly ascribed to the oxygen vacancies on the surface of the samples.

ZnO/SnO2 hierarchical and flower-like nanostructures: facile synthesis, formation mechanism, and optical and magnetic properties

Hierarchical and flower-like nanostructures with ZnO backbones and SnO2 branches were successfully prepared by electrodeposition (for ZnO nanorod arrays) and hydrothermal growth (for SnO2). The SnO2 nanorods grew epitaxially on the sides of ZnO nanorods. The morphologies and surface areas of ZnO/SnO2 hierarchical nanostructures can be tailored by changing the reaction time. Such hybrid ZnO/SnO2 nanostructures were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, UV-vis spectrophotometry and by using an accelerated surface area and porosimetry system (ASAP 2020M). A possible formation process and growth mechanisms for such hybrid ZnO/SnO2 nanostructures has been proposed based on series of time-dependent experiments. The UV properties show an enhanced as near-band gap emission compared with the primary ZnO nanorods. In addition, the magnetic properties of hierarchical ZnO/SnO2 nanostructures were also studied.

Controllable Electrochemical Synthesis and Photocatalytic Activity of CeO2 Octahedra and Nanotubes

Single-crystalline CeO 2 octahedra were successfully grown on Cu substrates via a facile electrochemical approach, and free-standing CeO 2 nanotubes with high crystallinity were also obtained by adjusting the reaction temperature. A ferromagnetic behavior at 5 K arising from their intrinsic defects is observed for the CeO 2 octahedra and nanotubes. Furthermore, the CeO 2 octahedra and nanotubes exhibit a good photocatalytic performance in the degradation of an organic pollutant in waste water.

General electrochemical assembling to porous nanowires with high adaptability to water treatment

We report a facile, general and scalable approach towards porous La(OH)3/Pr(OH)3/Nd(OH)3 nanowires based on a gas bubble template electrochemical assembly process, and they exhibit a high adaptability for removing Congo red from water.