Preparation of hydrophobic porous Au-Ag alloy nanoparticle arrays and their SERS properties.

In this study, we prepared porous Au-Ag alloy nanoparticle arrays with hydrophobic surfaces through the polystyrene colloidal crystal template combined with the chemical etching method to realize rapid SERS detection for biochemical molecules. In the preparation process, the pore size of Au-Ag alloy nanoparticles could be adjusted by changing the deposition time of the Ag element. Furthermore, after depositing the Au film on the surface of the porous nanoparticle arrays, their surface changed from hydrophilic to hydrophobic.

Facile Construction of 2D/2D ZnInS-Based Bifunctional Photocatalysts for H Production and Simultaneous Degradation of Rhodamine B and Tetracycline.

A two-dimensional/two-dimensional (2D/2D) TiO/ZnInS photocatalyst was reasonably proposed and constructed by a two-step oil bath-hydrothermal method. TiO nanosheets uniformly grown on the surface of ZnInS nanosheets and a synergetic effect between the TiO and ZnInS could highly contribute to improving the specific surface area and hydrophilicity of ZnInS as well as accelerating the separation and transfer of photon-generated e-h pairs, and thus enhancing the visible-light photocatalytic degradation and H evolution performance of ZnInS. Rhodamine B (RhB) and tetracycline (TC) were simultaneously selected as the target pollutants for degradation in the work.

Coupling ZnInS Nanosheets with MoS Hollow Nanospheres as Visible-Light-Active Bifunctional Photocatalysts for Enhancing H Evolution and RhB Degradation.

In this study, Mo-glycerate was used as a precursor to create MoS hollow nanospheres (HNS), which were then used for the first time to modify ZnInS nanosheets to create MoS HNS/ZnInS photocatalysts. The findings demonstrate that MoS HNS/ZnInS heterojunctions exhibited remarkably boosted photocatalytic properties and excellent reusability for both RhB degradation and H evolution without the use of Pt as a co-catalyst. Among the heterojunctions, the RhB degradation and H evolution efficiencies of the optimized MoS HNS/ZnInS-3 wt % composite were almost 5 and 34 times higher than those of ZnInS, respectively.

Gold nanobipyramid@copper sulfide nanotheranostics for image-guided NIR-II photo/chemodynamic cancer therapy with enhanced immune response.

Photothermal therapy (PTT), photodynamic therapy (PDT), and chemodynamic therapy (CDT) can cause cancer cell death through an immunogenic process. However, the study of second near-infrared window (NIR-II)-triggered PTT and PDT combined with CDT to induce an immune response has not been recently reported. Here, we integrated gold nanobipyramids and copper sulfide in a core/shell architecture (AuNBP@CuS).

growing 3D-Cu coating to improve the reversibility and reaction kinetics of Zn metal anodes.

The zinc metal anode is the most promising metal anode material in aqueous battery systems due to its low cost and high theoretical capacity. However, it still undergoes irreversible reactions such as premature failure of the dendrites/dead Zn during Zn stripping/plating, resulting in the inferior cycling stability of the Zn-based full cell. Here, we demonstrate a facile 3D-Cu alloy coating to improve Zn reversibility by providing spatial voids to accommodate the plated Zn to form dendrite-free morphology.

Porous CoSe@N-doped carbon nanowires: an ultra-high stable and large-current-density oxygen evolution electrocatalyst.

Nitrogen doped carbon functionalized CoSe nanowires (CoSe@N-C NWs), which act as potential oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts with a large current density and high stability have been reported. Owing to the collaborative optimization of electrical conductivity, free adsorption energy and binding strength of OER intermediates, the prepared CoSe@N-C NWs exhibit an enhanced 6.61-fold catalytic activity compared to the pristine CoSe NW electrode in 1.

The effect of graphitized carbon on the adsorption and photocatalytic degradation of methylene blue over TiO/C composites.

The TiO/C composites with approximately 40 wt% of carbon were prepared by calcination of precursors, formed from a one-pot liquid phase reaction between Ti(SO) and flour. All TiO/C composites displayed mesoporous structures with high BET surface areas (117-138 m g) and small crystal sizes of TiO (8-27 nm). The contents of graphitic carbon and rutile TiO increased, while the surface area and TiO crystal size decreased for the TiO/C composite on increasing the calcination temperature from 650 to 800 °C; when calcinated at 800 °C, the anatase TiO completely changed into rutile TiO in the TiO/C composite.

Hollow FeP/FeO Hybrid Nanoparticles on Carbon Nanotubes as Efficient Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

We develop a method to prepare hollow FeP/FeO hybrid nanoparticles supported on carbon nanotubes (CNTs), which could be used as highly active and efficient electrocatalysts. The Fe@FeO/CNT hybrids were first synthesized by annealing the CNTs adsorbed with Fe(NO), followed by controlled phosphorization treatment. They exhibit an outstanding catalytic activity for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with a low overpotential of 229 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm, a high turnover frequency value of 0.

Dynamically Tunable Plasmonic Band for Reversible Colorimetric Sensors and Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering Effect with Good Sensitivity and Stability.

A colorimetric sensor based on plasmonic nanoparticles (NPs) is a promising and convenient detection tool, but its reproducibility and adjustability remain a challenge because the NPs are mainly random and uncontrollable. Herein, a colorimetric sensor with good reversibility and reproducibility was prepared by embedding the two-dimensional (2D) Au NP arrays on the surface of the polyacrylamide hydrogel film to form 2D Au NP arrays attached a hydrogel composite. For this composite, with the change of the interspacing distance of Au NPs driven by the swelling-shrinking behavior of the hydrogel carrier, the diffraction peaks faded away and plasmonic coupling peaks appeared, accompanied by a series of obvious color changes (iridescence ↔ violet ↔ golden yellow ↔ red), which can be correlated to the applied water content.

Nanoplatforms with Remarkably Enhanced Absorption in the Second Biological Window for Effective Tumor Thermoradiotherapy.

Thermoradiotherapy acts as an important antitumor modality because heating can increase the blood flow and improve the oxygen level in tumor, thus remission of hypoxia-associated resistance for radiotherapy (RT). However, most agents for thermoradiotherapy are used either in the first near-infrared biological window or low photothermal conversion efficiency. Here, a facile method to prepare CuS/Au nanocomposites via reduction methods from CuS templates in mild synthetic conditions (i.

In situ-generated NiCo@NiS nanoparticle anchored s-doped carbon nanotubes as dual electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction.

Developing low cost and highly robust electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction, hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is of great importance for the efficient conversion of sustainable energy sources. Herein, we report a facile pyrolysis strategy for the controllable synthesis of NiCo@NiS/S-CNTs with NiCo@NiS nanoparticles anchored on sulfur-doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs). The obtained NiCo@NiS/S-CNT electrocatalyst exhibits excellent dual-functional catalytic activities under an alkaline condition, an ORR performance with an onset potential of -30 mV, and a half-wave potential of -150 mV (versus Ag/AgCl) while the overpotential for the HER is -1.

Au@Prussian Blue Hybrid Nanomaterial Synergy with a Chemotherapeutic Drug for Tumor Diagnosis and Chemodynamic Therapy.

Recently, the chemodynamic therapy (CDT) has been widely reported and applied to tumor therapy. However, only low level hydroxyl radicals (OH) generated by the endogenous hydrogen peroxide alone are insufficient to kill the cancer cells. To overcome the insufficient therapeutic effect, this study reports a novel CDT based on Fenton catalyst Au@Prussian blue nanocubes (Au@PB NCs), subsequently encapsulated with doxorubicin (Dox).

2D Au Nanosphere Arrays/PVA-PBA-Modified-Hydrogel Composite Film for Glucose Detection with Strong Diffraction Intensity and Linear Response.

A novel glucose sensor was reported that consisted of two-dimensional (2D) Au nanosphere arrays and glucose-responsive hydrogel film. This sensor exhibited an intense diffraction signal and an obvious diffraction color on a quartz slide due to the strong diffraction intensity of the Au nanosphere arrays. Thus, glucose was detected via the variation of diffraction wavelength and diffraction color, without a high reflective mirror.

Physical process-aided fabrication of periodic Au-M (M = Ag, Cu, Ag-Cu) alloyed nanoparticle arrays with tunable localized surface plasmon resonance and diffraction peaks.

Periodic alloyed (Au-Ag, Au-Cu, Au-Ag-Cu) nanoparticle (NP) arrays with uniform size, controllable composition and center-to-center spacing were fabricated by a novel and facile strategy based on physical vapor deposition on a monolayer colloidal crystal template and further heat treatment. The composition and center-to-center spacing were manipulated by adjusting the sputtering target in the deposition process and the size of colloidal spheres of the template, respectively. The shadow effect and a dewetting model were employed to analyze the whole process of evolution from a metallic thin film to spherical nanoparticles with uniform size.

Wafer-Scale Hierarchical Nanopillar Arrays Based on Au Masks and Reactive Ion Etching for Effective 3D SERS Substrate.

Two-dimensional (2D) periodic micro/nanostructured arrays as SERS substrates have attracted intense attention due to their excellent uniformity and good stability. In this work, periodic hierarchical SiO₂ nanopillar arrays decorated with Ag nanoparticles (NPs) with clean surface were prepared on a wafer-scale using monolayer Au NP arrays as masks, followed by reactive ion etching (RIE), depositing Ag layer and annealing. For the prepared SiO₂ nanopillar arrays decorated with Ag NPs, the size of Ag NPs was tuned from ca.

Rapid and Efficient Self-Assembly of Au@ZnO Core-Shell Nanoparticle Arrays with an Enhanced and Tunable Plasmonic Absorption for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation.

High-quality Au@ZnO core-shell nanoparticle (NP) array films were easily and efficiently fabricated through an air/water interfacial self-assembly. These materials have remarkable visible light absorption capacity and fascinating performance in photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting with a photocurrent density of ∼3.08 mA/cm at 0.

Optical sensing properties of Au nanoparticle/hydrogel composite microbeads using droplet microfluidics.

Uniform Au nanoparticle (NP)/poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) [P(AAm-co-AA)] hydrogel microbeads were successfully prepared using droplet microfluidics technology. The microbeads exhibited a good stimuli-responsive behavior to pH value. Particularly in the pH value ranging from pH 2-pH 9, the composite microbead sizes gradually increased along with the increase of pH value.

Surface enhanced Raman scattering properties of dynamically tunable nanogaps between Au nanoparticles self-assembled on hydrogel microspheres controlled by pH.

We developed an interesting route for preparing a poly (acrylamide-co-acrylic acid) (P(AAm-co-AA)) hydrogel microsphere with a coating of Au nanospheres (hydrogel microsphere @ Au nanospheres) through self-assembly based on electrostatic interaction. The fabricated composites could be used as highly sensitive enhanced Raman scattering substrates. The nanogaps between adjacent Au nanospheres were dynamically tuned by volume changes in the hydrogel microspheres in the semiwet state under different pH conditions.