Publications by authors named "Cuihua An"

The discharge of untreated dye waste from various industrial sectors into wastewater poses significant environmental and health risks. This study presents an innovative approach by developing a cost-effective and eco-friendly hybrid mesoporous nanocomposite, silver nanoparticles@mesoporous mango peel-derived carbon (AgNPs@MMC), synthesized from agricultural waste (mango peels) and urban waste (X-ray film waste). The core objectives of this work are: (i) recycling agricultural and urban waste to produce valuable materials; (ii) achieving effective removal of methyl violet 10B (MV10B) through simultaneous adsorption and photocatalytic degradation; and (iii) evaluating the antimicrobial properties of the developed material.

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The manipulation of acoustic waves is becoming increasingly crucial in research and practical applications. The coordinate transformation methods and acoustic metamaterials represent two significant areas of study that offer innovative strategies for precise acoustic wave control. This review highlights the applications of these methods in acoustic wave manipulation and examines their synergistic effects.

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Owing to the high cost of precious metal catalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the production of highly efficient and affordable electrocatalysts is important for generating pollution-free and renewable energy via electrochemical processes. A facile hydrothermal approach was employed to synthesize hybrid mesoporous iron-nickel bimetallic sulfides @ P, N-doped carbon for the OER. The prepared FeNiS@C exhibited an overpotential (η) of 250 mV at 10 mA/cm.

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With the advancement of scientific research, the introduction of external physical methods not only adds extra freedom to the design of electro-catalytical processes for green technologies but also effectively improves the reactivity of materials. Physical methods can adjust the intrinsic activity of materials and modulate the local environment at the solid-liquid interface. In particular, this approach holds great promise in the field of electrocatalysis.

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Developing green, environmental, sustainable new energy sources is an important problem to be solved in the world. Among the new energy technologies, water splitting system, fuel cell technology and metal-air battery technology are the main energy production and conversion methods, which involve three main electrocatalytic reactions, hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The efficiency of the electrocatalytic reaction and the power consumption are very dependent on the activity of the electrocatalysts.

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With abundant metal site and tunable electronic structure, MXene is considered as a promising electrocatalyst for the conversion of energy molecules. In this review, the latest research progress on inexpensive MXene-based catalysts for water electrolysis is summarized. Typical preparation and modification methods and their advantages and disadvantages are briefly discussed, with a focus on the regulation and design of the surface interface electronic states, which improve the electrocatalytic performance of MXene-based materials.

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Catalyst activity affects the reaction rate, and an increasing number of studies have shown that strain can significantly increase the electrocatalytic activity. Catalysts such as alloys and core-shell structures can modulate their properties through strain effects. Reasonable simulation techniques can be used to predict and design the catalytic performance based on understanding the strain action mechanism.

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Catalysts combined with nanoconfinement can improve the sluggish desorption kinetics and poor reversibility of LiBH . However, at high LiBH loading, their hydrogen storage performance is significantly reduced. Herein, a porous carbon-sphere scaffold decorated with Ni nanoparticles (NPs) was synthesised by calcining a Ni metal-organic framework precursor, followed by partial etching of the Ni NPs to fabricate an optimised scaffold with a high surface area and large porosity that accommodates high LiBH loading (up to 60 wt.

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Nickel sulfides, as promising candidate for aqueous rechargeable battery, have aroused broad attention on account of abundant natural resources, rich phases, moderate price and high theoretical capacity. Nevertheless, tremendous volume expansion during repeated charging-discharging procedure leads to the poor rate capability and cycling stability of nickel sulfide electrodes. Therefore, in this work, core-shell NiS@C encapsulated by thin hydrothermal carbon (HC) layer (NiS@C/HC) has been designed and prepared without any surfactants or templates assistance, which avoid tedious process and shorten preparation cycle greatly.

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Electrocatalytic conversions of energy molecules are involved in many energy conversion processes. Improving the activity of electrocatalysts is critical for increasing the efficiency of these energy conversion processes. However, the tailored design of highly active electrocatalysts for practical applications remains challenging.

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The massive exploitation and use of fossil resources have created many negative issues, such as energy shortage and environmental pollution. It prompts us to turn our attention to the development of new energy technologies. This review summarizes the recent research progress of non-precious transition metal single-atom catalysts (NPT-SACs) for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in Zn-air batteries and fuel cells.

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With the deterioration of the ecological environment and the depletion of fossil energy, fuel cells, representing a new generation of clean energy, have received widespread attention. This review summarized recent progress in noble metal-based core-shell catalysts for oxygen reduction reactions (ORRs) in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The novel testing methods, performance evaluation parameters and research methods of ORR were briefly introduced.

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The modulation of the characteristics of an MoS2 anode via substitutional doping, particularly N, P and Se, is vital for promoting the potassium-ion storage performances. However, these traditional chalcogen doping can only take the place of a sulfur element and not essentially change the inherent electrical nature of MoS2. Herein, novel Te-MoS2 materials have been synthesized via a simple hydrothermal process under Te doping.

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Transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) materials have attracted much attention for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) as a new catalyst, but they still have challenges in poor stability and high reaction over-potential. In this study, ultra-thin SnS nanocatalysts were synthesized by simple hydrothermal method, and low load of Pt was added to form stable SnS-Pt-3 (the content of platinum is 0.5 wt %).

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Transition-metal oxides with low valence states are promising candidates as anodes for advanced rechargeable Li-ion batteries. Surprisingly, the capacities of such anode materials initially decrease and then increase after long-term cycling. Herein, MnO is selected as a representative material to study the structure-function relationship and elucidate the above-mentioned phenomena during long-term cycling.

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To realize high-rate and long-term performance of rechargeable batteries, the most effective approach is to develop an advanced hybrid material with a stable structure and more reaction active sites. Recently, 2D MXenes have become an up-and-coming electrode owing to their high conductivity and large redox-active surface area. In this work, we firstly prepared Ti3C2 MXenes through the selective etching of silicon from Ti3SiC2 (MAX) using HF and an oxidant for highly durable lithium-ion batteries (LIBs).

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Transition metal oxides are widely regarded as one of the most promising candidates for lithium-ion battery (LIB) anodes. However, the mechanisms of irreversible reactions occurring during the charging/discharging process are still controversial. In this study, the atomic structural transitions of the MnO@C anode upon lithiation/delithiation at the first cycle of charging and discharging are elucidated.

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Binary transition metal oxides (BTMOs) have been regarded as one of the most hopeful anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to their high theoretical capacity, excellent electrochemical activity and abundant electrochemical reactions. However, BTMOs still suffer from two main problems, which are poor conductivity and large volume expansion during the charge/discharge processes. In order to address the above-mentioned problems, mesoporous MnFe2O4@C nanorods have been successfully synthesized in this work.

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The development of high-efficiency, low-cost, and earth-abundant electrocatalysts for overall water splitting remains a challenge. In this work, Ni-modified MoS hybrid catalysts are grown on carbon cloth (Ni-Mo-S@CC) through a one-step hydrothermal treatment. The optimized Ni-Mo-S@CC catalyst shows excellent hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity with a low overpotential of 168 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm in 1.

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Distinguished by particular physical and chemical properties, metal oxide materials have been a focus of research and exploitation for applications in energy storage devices. Used as supercapacitor electrode materials, metal oxides have certified attractive performances for fabricating various supercapacitor devices in a broad voltage window. In comparison with single metal oxides, bimetallic oxide materials are highly desired for overcoming the constraint of the poor electric conductivity of single metal oxide materials, achieving a high capacitance and raising the energy density at this capacitor-level power.

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Bimetallic oxides have been considered as potential candidates for supercapacitors due to their relatively high electric conductivity, abundant redox reactions and cheapness. However, nanoparticle aggregation and huge volume variation during charging-discharging procedures make it hard for them to be applied widely. In this work, one-dimensional (1D) MnFeO@C nanowires were in-situ synthesized via a simply modified micro-emulsion technique, followed by thermal treatment.

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To realize high-rate and long-term performances of an aqueous rechargeable battery, the most effective approach is to build electrode materials with more reaction active sites and stable structures. Transition metal sulfides have become up-and-coming electrodes due to their high conductivity. Herein, we demonstrated the in situ construction of core-shell Co9S8@C materials with controlled carbon content and thickness.

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Magnesium hydride (MgH₂) has become popular to study in hydrogen storage materials research due to its high theoretical capacity and low cost. However, the high hydrogen desorption temperature and enthalpy as well as the depressed kinetics, have severely blocked its actual utilizations. Hence, our work introduced Ni@C materials with a core-shell structure to synthesize MgH₂- wt.

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A 3D flower-like mesoporous Ni@C composite material has been synthesized by using a facile and economical one-pot hydrothermal method. This unique 3D flower-like Ni@C composite, which exhibited a high surface area (522.4 m  g ), consisted of highly dispersed Ni nanoparticles on mesoporous carbon flakes.

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Cu-doped Li4 Ti5 O12 -TiO2 nanosheets were synthesized by a facile, cheap, and environmentally friendly solution-based method. These nanostructures were investigated as an anode material for lithium-ion batteries. Cu doping was found to enhance the electron conductivity of the materials, and the amount of Cu doped controlled the crystal structure and content of TiO2 .

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