Boosted photoinduced charge separation in FeNiS@CdZnS Step-scheme heterojunction for photothermal assisted photocatalytic water splitting into hydrogen.

Rational design of photocatalysts with photothermal effect to maximize light utilization is pivotal in achieving superior photocatalytic efficiency. In this work, by coating CdZnS (CZS) nanorods on hollow FeNiS (FNS) microspheres with photothermal effect, a novel FeNiS@CdZnS (FNS@CZS) Step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction photocatalyst was constructed for efficient photothermal-assisted hydrogen (H) evolution via simultaneously employing light and thermal energy. The hollow structure of FNS microsphere not only provides abundant reactive sites but also serves as a supportive substrate for CZS nanorods, effectively inhibiting their agglomeration.

Photothermal-assisted magnetic recoverable CdZnS/NiCoB heterojunction with extraordinary photocatalytic hydrogen evolution.

Easily recyclable photocatalysts hold great potential in the field of photocatalysis. Guided by rational theoretical predictions, this study designs a novel tetrapod-like CdZnS/NiCoB (CZS/NCB) Schottky heterojunction with magnetic and photothermal properties, and demonstrates its excellent photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance. Under the combined effects of the photothermal properties and the Schottky heterojunction, the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate extraordinarily reaches 108.

A novel photothermal-assisted FeNiS@MnCS S-scheme heterojunction for enhanced photo-catalytic hydrogen evolution.

In addition to the intrinsic driving force of photocatalysis, the external thermal field from the photothermal effect can provide additional energy to the photo-catalytic system to improve the photo-catalytic hydrogen-evolution (PHE) efficiency. Herein, based on the results of density functional theory, we designed and constructed a hollow core-shell FeNiS@MnCdS (NFS@MCS) S-scheme heterojunction with a photothermal effect, thereby realising a significant enhancement of the PHE performance due to the thermal effect, S-scheme heterojunction and hollow core-shell morphology. As a light collector and heat source, the hollow NFS could absorb and convert photons into heat, resulting in the increased local temperature of photocatalyst particles.

Anchoring ZnInS nanosheets on cross-like FeSe to construct photothermal-enhanced S-scheme heterojunction for photocatalytic H evolution.

Rational design of the morphology and heterojunction to accelerate the separation of electron-hole pairs has played an indispensable role in improving the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. ZnInS (ZIS) has aroused considerable attention in solar-to-chemical energy conversion due to its remarkable photoelectrical properties and relatively negative energy band, whereas it still suffers from the severe photogenerated carrier recombination and catalyst aggregation. Herein, guided by density functional theory calculations, the constructed FeSe@ZnInS (FS@ZIS) heterojunction model has a hydrogen Gibbs free energy closer to zero compared with pure ZIS and FS, which is beneficial for hydrogen adsorption and desorption on the photocatalyst surface.

Photothermal-Enhanced S-Scheme Heterojunction of Hollow Core-Shell FeNiS@ZnInS toward Photocatalytic Hydrogen Evolution.

Herein, guided by the results of density functional theory prediction, the study rationally designs a hollow core-shell FeNiS@ZnInS (FNS@ZIS) Step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction for photocatalytic H evolution with photothermal-assisted. The hollow FNS spheres offered substrate for coating the ZIS nanosheets, which can inhibit ZIS nanosheets from agglomerating into pellet, enrich the active site, increase specific surfaces, and raise the light absorption. Notably, due to its excellent photothermal properties, FNS core generated heat unceasingly inside under visible-light irradiation and effectively prevent the heat loss of the reaction system, which increased the local temperature of photocatalysts and thus accelerated the charge migration.

Enhanced piezo-photocatalytic performance in ZnInS/BiFeO heterojunction stimulated by solar and mechanical energy for efficient hydrogen evolution.

An emerging approach that employs both light and vibration energy on binary photo-/piezoelectric semiconductor materials for efficient hydrogen (H) evolution has garnered considerable attention. ZnInS (ZIS) is recognized as a promising visible-light-activated photocatalyst. However, its effectiveness is constraint by the slow separation dynamics of photoexcited carriers.

Synthesize magnetic ZnFeO@C/CdZnS catalysts with S-scheme heterojunction to achieve extraordinary hydrogen production efficiency.

Suppressing the electron-hole recombination rate of catalyst legitimately is one of the effective strategies to improve photocatalytic hydrogen evolution. Herein, carbon-coated metal oxide, ZnFeO@C (ZFO@C), nanoparticles were synthesized and employed to couple with quadrupedal CdZnS (CZS) via an ordinary ultrasonic self-assembly method combined with calcination to form a novel ZFO@C/CZS catalyst with step-scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction. The photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) was conducted to verify the enhanced photoactivity of ZFO@C/CZS.

A novel SnInS/ZnFeO S-scheme heterojunction with excellent magnetic properties and photocatalytic degradation activity for tetracycline.

The development of efficient and economical photocatalysts is considered a promising strategy for pollution remediation. Magnetically separable SnInS/ZnFeO composites (SIS/ZFO) were prepared by combining SIS with ZFO. The composite with a 30% ZFO mass ratio (SIS/ZFO-30) was the most effective and achieved 60% removal of tetracycline (TC) in 120 min.

Separable alginate gel spheres encapsulated with La-Fe modified biochar for efficient adsorption of Sb(III) with high capacity.

Sb and its compounds have been widely used in various industrial applications. Therefore, the preparation of Sb adsorbents with easy recovery and excellent adsorption levels is an urgent problem that must be resolved. By calcining and treating La/Fe metal-organic frameworks (MOF) biochar as a precursor, a loaded La-Fe-modified water hyacinth biochar was synthesised and used as a filler to synthesise iron alginate composite gel spheres, MBC/alg.

S-scheme heterojunction of hollow corncob-like ZnInS/LaFeO for water splitting and tetracycline degradation.

Reasonable design of heterojunction photocatalysts with high-quality interfacial coupling is an effective way to improve the photocatalytic activity of semiconductors. Herein, we successfully decorated Zinc indium sulfide (ZnInS, ZIS) on perovskite Lanthanum ferrite (LaFeO, LFO) with more active sites by a pre-hydrothermal combined post-calcination method, and constructed S-scheme heterojunction photocatalyst with a unique hollow corncob-like morphology for efficient photocatalytic hydrogen production and tetracycline (TC) degradation. When the mass ratio of LFO is 35% and 15%, the ZIS/LFO photocatalyst exhibits the best hydrogen evolution rate and TC photodegradation performance, respectively.

Separable calcium sulphate modified biochar gel beads for efficient cadmium removal from wastewater.

This study outlines the synthesis of a novel, cost-effective composite material comprising calcium sulphate-modified biochar (Ca-BC) cross-linked with polyethyleneimine (PEI) and sodium alginate (SA), which was subsequently transformed into gel beads (Ca-BC@PEI-SA). These beads were engineered to enable effective cadmium ion (Cd(II)) adsorption from wastewater. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of pH, contact time, temperature, and coexisting ions on adsorption performance.

In-situ preparation of mossy tile-like ZnInS/CuMoS S-scheme heterojunction for efficient photocatalytic H evolution under visible light.

The reasonable design and fabrication of heterojunction could regulate the photocatalytic performance to some extent, yet it is still a great challenge to construct the S-scheme heterostructure with the stable as well as tight interface on the surface of semiconductor photocatalysts. Herein, the ZnInS/CuMoS (ZIS/CMS) S-scheme heterostructure was fabricated by in-situ assembling ZIS nanosheets on the CMS plates, obtaining a mossy tile-like morphology. Owing to the compact interface resulting from in-situ growth, this unique architecture efficiently facilitated the separation and transfer of light-induced charges, guaranteed the larger interface area, and enriched the active sites for photocatalytic redox reactions.

IRSDT: A Framework for Infrared Small Target Tracking with Enhanced Detection.

Currently, infrared small target detection and tracking under complex backgrounds remains challenging because of the low resolution of infrared images and the lack of shape and texture features in these small targets. This study proposes a framework for infrared vehicle small target detection and tracking, comprising three components: full-image object detection, cropped-image object detection and tracking, and object trajectory prediction. We designed a CNN-based real-time detection model with a high recall rate for the first component to detect potential object regions in the entire image.

Construction of Zn-doped RuO nanowires for efficient and stable water oxidation in acidic media.

Oxygen evolution reaction catalysts capable of working efficiently in acidic media are highly demanded for the commercialization of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis. Herein, we report a Zn-doped RuO nanowire array electrocatalyst with outstanding catalytic performance for the oxygen evolution reaction under acidic conditions. Overpotentials as low as 173, 304, and 373 mV are achieved at 10, 500, and 1000 mA cm, respectively, with robust stability reaching to 1000 h at 10 mA cm.

Achieving improved full-spectrum responsive 0D/3D CuWO/BiOBr:Yb,Er photocatalyst with synergetic effects of up-conversion, photothermal effect and direct Z-scheme heterojunction.

The key to obtain effective photocatalysts is to increase the efficiency of light energy conversion, and thus the design and implementation of full-spectrum photocatalysts is a potential approach to solve this problem especially by extending the absorption range to near-infrared (NIR) light. Herein, the improved full-spectrum responsive CuWO/BiOBr:Yb,Er (CW/BYE) direct Z-scheme heterojunction was prepared. The CW/BYE with CW mass ratio of 5% had the best degradation performance, and the removal rate of tetracycline reached 93.

Highly efficient flower-like ZnInS/CoFeO photocatalyst with p-n type heterojunction for enhanced hydrogen evolution under visible light irradiation.

The construction of a p-n heterojunction structure is considered to be an effective method to improve the separation of electron-hole pairs in photocatalysts. A series of ZnInS/CoFeO (ZIS/CFO) photocatalysts with p-n heterojunctions were prepared via a method involving ultrasonication and calcination. The synthesized photocatalysts were tested and analyzed via various testing techniques, and their hydrogen evolution rates were evaluated.

Star-shaped porous nitrogen-doped metal-organic framework carbon as an electrochemical platform for sensitive determination of Cd(II) in environmental and tobacco samples.

In this study, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 (ZIF-8) were first assembled via the chemical co-precipitation, and high-quality carbon-based metal-free nanomaterials were synthesized using a heat-treatment process. The internal and morphological characteristics of hexagonal Star ZIF-8 were investigated using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The electrochemical sensor with a good response to Cd(II) was prepared via square-wave anodic stripping voltammetry (SWASV) with Star ZIF-8 nanomaterial-modified glassy carbon electrodes.

Coupling effects of Zn single atom and high curvature supports for improved performance of CO reduction.

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) have emerged as one of the most competitive catalysts toward a variety of important electrochemical reactions, thanks to their maximum atom economy, unique electronic and geometric structures. However, the role of SACs supports on the catalytic performance does not receive enough research attentions. Here, we report an efficient route for synthesis of single atom Zn loading on the N-doped carbon nano-onions (ZnN/CNO).

A high-efficiency ammonia-responsive solar evaporator.

The use of solar evaporators, which are capable of purifying water through solar energy, is a potentially attractive solution to relieve the world-wide water shortage problem. However, there may be toxic and volatile substances, such as ammonia, in water bodies, which could be evaporated along with water during the evaporation process, causing contamination of the purified water. In this work, we report an efficient ammonia responsive high-efficiency solar evaporator based on the titanium dioxide nanoparticle (TiONP) and polypyrrole nanoparticle (PPyNP) composite.

Noble metal-free 0D-1D NiCoP/MnCdS nanocomposites for highly efficient photocatalytic H evolution under visible-light irradiation.

Efficient and noble metal-free co-catalyst loading is an effective solution for separating and transferring photo-generated carriers and lowering the overpotential in photocatalytic H evolution activity. In this work, we designed and prepared a series of novel NiCoP/MnCdS (NCP/MCS) composites by modifying MCS nanorods with the co-catalyst NCP using a simple calcination method. Notably, the 10-NCP/MCS composite displays the optimum photocatalytic H evolution rate of 118.

Low-Cost, Robust Pressure-Responsive Smart Windows with Dynamic Switchable Transmittance.

Mechanically responsive smart windows with adjustable light transmittance have attracted more and more attention due to their great potential in our daily life. However, their fabrication normally requires complicated preparation such as oxygen plasma treatment and high-cost materials (i.e.

A selective and sensitive fluorescent probe for bilirubin in human serum based on europium(III) post-functionalized Zr(IV)-Based MOFs.

In the present study, a kind of Eu(III) post-functionalized Zr(IV)-based metal-organic framework (UiO-66(COOH), Zr-MOF: Eu) was synthesized and utilized as an independently luminescent probe for sensing bilirubin (BR) in human serum, a biomarker of jaundice hepatitis. It can be served as a turn-off fluorescent switch for BR because its red emission from Eu can be easily quenched by BR through a fluorescent resonant energy transfer (FRET) process between BR and its ligands, and as a result, BR is recognized successfully. Particularly, Zr-MOF: Eu has shown many appealing properties, such as high sensitivity, quick response (less than 1 min), broad response window (0-15 μM), and excellent selectivity.

Visible-Light-Driven Water-Fueled Ecofriendly Micromotors Based on Iron Phthalocyanine for Highly Efficient Organic Pollutant Degradation.

The light-driven micromotor has been demonstrated to have great potential in the environmental remediation field. However, it is still challenging to develop highly efficient, ecofriendly, and visible-light-powered micromotors for organic pollutant degradation. In this paper, we report an ecofriendly micromotor based on iron phthalocyanine (FePc) and gelatin, which exhibits the visible-light-driven self-propulsion behavior using water fuel based on the photocatalytic reaction and self-diffusiophoresis mechanism.