Boosted Efficiency of FeO for Photocatalytic CO Reduction via Engineering Fe-O-Ti Bonding.

Visible light-driven photocatalytic CO reduction (CORR) offers a sustainable and promising solution to environmental and energy challenges. However, the design of efficient photocatalysts is hindered by poor interface interactions in heterojunctions and a limited understanding of reaction kinetics. A modified FeO photocatalyst, M-FeO@MXene, is introduced featuring KH-550-modified M-FeO hollow nanocubes coated with MXene, constructed via an electrostatic and Fe-O-Ti bonding self-assembly method.

Numerical homogenization of thermal conductivity of particle-filled thermal interface material by fast Fourier transform method.

Thermal interface material (TIM) is pivotal for the heat dissipation between layers of high-density electronic packaging. The most widely used TIMs are particle-filled composite materials, in which highly conductive particulate fillers are added into the polymer matrix to promote heat conduction. The numerical simulation of heat transfer in the composites is essential for the design of TIMs; however, the widely used finite element method (FEM) requires large memory and presents limited computational time for the composites with dense particles.

Ice-Templated MXene/Ag-Epoxy Nanocomposites as High-Performance Thermal Management Materials.

High-performance thermal management materials are essential in miniaturized, highly integrated, and high-power modern electronics for heat dissipation. In this context, the large interface thermal resistance (ITR) that occurs between fillers and the organic matrix in polymer-based nanocomposites greatly limits their thermal conductive performance. Herein, through-plane direction aligned three-dimensional (3D) MXene/silver (Ag) aerogels are designed as heat transferring skeletons for epoxy nanocomposites.

Efficient photocatalytic nitrogen fixation under ambient conditions enabled by the heterojunctions of n-type BiMoO and oxygen-vacancy-rich p-type BiOBr.

N2 fixation is one of the most important chemical reactions in the ecosystem of our planet. However, the industrial Haber-Bosch ammonia synthesis process is restricted by harsh reaction conditions (350-550 °C, 150-350 atm) and undesirable environmental effects (a large amount of CO2 emission). Photocatalytic N2 fixation is promising for achieving sustainable ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions with lower energy input and less environmental issues.

Surface plasmon resonance enhanced direct Z-scheme TiO/ZnTe/Au nanocorncob heterojunctions for efficient photocatalytic overall water splitting.

Solar-driven photocatalytic overall water splitting is regarded as one of the ideal strategies to generate renewable hydrogen energy without the initiation of environmental issues. However, there are still a few remaining challenges to develop wide-light-absorption and stable photocatalysts for the simultaneous production of H2 and O2 in pure water without sacrificial reagents. Herein, we report the design and preparation of Z-scheme TiO2/ZnTe/Au nanocorncob heterojunctions by homogeneously decorating Au nanoparticles onto the surface of core-shell TiO2/ZnTe coaxial nanorods for highly efficient overall water splitting.

Pine needle-derived microporous nitrogen-doped carbon frameworks exhibit high performances in electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction and supercapacitors.

The design of electrochemically active materials with appropriate structures and compositions is very important for applications in energy conversion and storage devices. Herein, we demonstrate an effective strategy to prepare microporous heteroatom-doped carbon frameworks derived from naturally-abundant pine needles. The preparation procedure is based on the carbonization of pine needles, followed by KOH activation at a temperature range of 700-1000 °C.