'Primary' antibiotics in wastewater treatment plants.

There are anywhere from 5 to 8 priority antibiotics in typical wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) whose concentrations exceed the maximum allowed, out of 12 priority antibiotics designated by the World Health Organization as the species to pose severe health hazard than others. If the priority antibiotics to deal with could be reduced to just one or two, such reduction would greatly simplify the construction and operation of the treatment plants. Introduced here is a concept of 'primary' antibiotic, the abatement of which ensures mitigation of all the other priority antibiotics in the wastewater.

Unraveling the Oxidation Kinetics Through Electronic Structure Regulation of MnCoO@NiS p-n Junction for Urea-Assisted Electrocatalytic Activity.

A promising strategy to boost electrocatalytic performance is via assembly of hetero-nanostructured electrocatalysts that delivers the essential specific surface area and also active sites by lowering the reaction barrier. However, the challenges associated with the intricate designs and mechanisms remain underexplored. Therefore, the present study constructs a p-n junction in a free-standing MnCoO@NiS on Ni-Foam.

CoO @NiMoN/Ti C T Interface for Stable High-Performance Electrochemical Energy Storage Devices.

Transition metal nitrides (TMNs) are promising electrode materials for use in high-performance electrochemical energy storage devices due to their unique properties, which include a high conductivity, pseudocapacitance, and energy density. However, structural instability during electrochemical reactions has limited their practical deployment for energy storage devices. In this context, the present study fabricated a CoO @NiMoN/Ti C T electrode via in situ growth on Ni foam using hydrothermal treatment with post-nitrogenization.

Regulating Electronic Structure of Iron Nitride by Tungsten Nitride Nanosheets for Accelerated Overall Water Splitting.

Two essential characteristics that are required for hybrid electrocatalysts to exhibit higher oxygen and hydrogen evolution reaction (OER and HER, respectively) activity are a favorable electronic configuration and a sufficient density of active sites at the interface between the two materials within the hybrid. In the present study, a hybrid electrocatalyst is introduced with a novel architecture consisting of coral-like iron nitride (Fe N) arrays and tungsten nitride (W N ) nanosheets that satisfies these requirements. The resulting W N /Fe N catalyst achieves high OER activity (268.

Boosting Pseudocapacitive Behavior of Supercapattery Electrodes by Incorporating a Schottky Junction for Ultrahigh Energy Density.

Pseudo-capacitive negative electrodes remain a major bottleneck in the development of supercapacitor devices with high energy density because the electric double-layer capacitance of the negative electrodes does not match the pseudocapacitance of the corresponding positive electrodes. In the present study, a strategically improved Ni-Co-Mo sulfide is demonstrated to be a promising candidate for high energy density supercapattery devices due to its sustained pseudocapacitive charge storage mechanism. The pseudocapacitive behavior is enhanced when operating under a high current through the addition of a classical Schottky junction next to the electrode-electrolyte interface using atomic layer deposition.

Recent Development Strategies for Bismuth-Driven Materials in Sustainable Energy Systems and Environmental Restoration.

Bismuth(Bi)-based materials have gained considerable attention in recent decades for use in a diverse range of sustainable energy and environmental applications due to their low toxicity and eco-friendliness. Bi materials are widely employed in electrochemical energy storage and conversion devices, exhibiting excellent catalytic and non-catalytic performance, as well as CO /N reduction and water treatment systems. A variety of Bi materials, including its oxides, chalcogenides, oxyhalides, bismuthates, and other composites, have been developed for understanding their physicochemical properties.

Core-Shell Engineered WO Architectures: Recent Advances from Design to Applications.

Ongoing efforts to design novel materials with efficient structure-property-performance relations prove challenging. Core-shell structures have emerged as novel materials with controlled production routes and highly tailorable properties that offer extensive advantages in advanced oxidation processing, particularly in photocatalysis and photoelectrochemical applications. WO , which is an optoelectronically active semiconductor material, is a popular material in current studies in the field of photo(electro)catalysis.

Multilayer Strategy for Photoelectrochemical Hydrogen Generation: New Electrode Architecture that Alleviates Multiple Bottlenecks.

Years of research have demonstrated that the use of multiple components is essential to the development of a commercial photoelectrode to address specific bottlenecks, such as low charge separation and injection efficiency, low carrier diffusion length and lifetime, and poor durability. A facile strategy for the synthesis of multilayered photoanodes from atomic-layer-deposited ultrathin films has enabled a new type of electrode architecture with a total multilayer thickness of 15-17 nm. We illustrate the advantages of this electrode architecture by using nanolayers to address different bottlenecks, thus producing a multilayer photoelectrode with improved interface kinetics and shorter electron transport path, as determined by interface analyses.

Surface Roughening Strategy for Highly Efficient Bifunctional Electrocatalyst: Combination of Atomic Layer Deposition and Anion Exchange Reaction.

Electrocatalytic water splitting, which is an interface-dominated process, can be significantly accelerated by increasing the number of front-line surface active sites (N ) of the electrocatalyst. In this study, a unique method is used for increasing the N by converting the smooth ultrathin atomic-layer-deposited nanoshells of the electrocatalysts into nano-roughened active shell layers using a controlled anion-exchange reaction (AER). The coarse thin nanoshells present abundant surface active sites, which are generated owing to the inherent unit-cell volume mismatch induced during the AER.

1D/2D constructed BiS/BiOCO direct Z-Scheme heterojunction: A versatile photocatalytic material for boosted photodegradation, photoreduction and photoelectrochemical detection of water-based contaminants.

In this work, two-dimensional BiOCO disk is synthesized, followed by the growth of BiS over BiOCO via topotactic transformation by controlling the amount of thiourea under hydrothermal conditions. The synthesized composite catalyst is investigated for photocatalytic oxidation and reduction of tetracycline hydrochloride and hexavalent chromium under visible light irradiation. High interfacial contact between the BiOCO disk0 and BiS fiber is confirmed via high-resolution microscopic imaging.

Three-Dimensional Hierarchical Core/shell Electrodes Using Highly Conformal TiO and CoO Thin Films for High-Performance Supercapattery Devices.

The rational design and development of novel electrode materials with promising nanostructures is an effective technique to improve their supercapacitive performance. This work presents high-performance core/shell electrodes based on three-dimensional hierarchical nanostructures coated with conformal thin transition-metal oxide layers using atomic layer deposition (ALD). This effective interface engineering creates disorder in the electronic structure and coordination environment at the interface of the heteronanostructure, which provides many more reaction sites and rapid ion diffusion.

Encapsulation of Co O Nanocone Arrays via Ultrathin NiO for Superior Performance Asymmetric Supercapacitors.

Designing of multicomponent transition metal oxide system through the employment of advanced atomic layer deposition (ALD) technique over nanostructures obtained from wet chemical process is a novel approach to construct rational supercapacitor electrodes. Following the strategy, core-shell type NiO/Co O nanocone array structures are architectured over Ni-foam (NF) substrate. The high-aspect-ratio Co O nanocones are hydrothermally grown over NF following the precision controlled deposition of shell NiO considering Co O nanocone as host.

Effect of Randomly Grown Morphology of ZnO Nanorods in Inverted Organic Solar Cells.

Here, we analyzed the photovoltaic properties of the inverted organic solar cells (IOSCs) by using randomly oriented medium density ZnO nanorods (ZnO-NR) synthesized hydrothermally at low temperature conditions to avoid morphological defects. The IOSC with ZnO-NR (length < 150 nm) of medium density and random orientation showed an improvement of 83% in power conversion efficiency compared to the cell with (length < 20 nm) hydrothermally grown ZnO-NR. The optimized hydrothermal growth conditions for ZnO-NR enhanced the photovoltaic performance indicators by reducing recombination rate evidenced by the photovoltaic data.

Dendritic Nanostructured Waste Copper Wires for High-Energy Alkaline Battery.

Rechargeable alkaline batteries (RABs) have received remarkable attention in the past decade for their high energy, low cost, safe operation, facile manufacture, and eco-friendly nature. To date, expensive electrode materials and current collectors were predominantly applied for RABs, which have limited their real-world efficacy. In the present work, we propose a scalable process to utilize electronic waste (e-waste) Cu wires as a cost-effective current collector for high-energy wire-type RABs.

Insights into the interfacial nanostructuring of NiCoS and their electrochemical activity for ultra-high capacity all-solid-state flexible asymmetric supercapacitors.

Ternary metal sulfide based nanostructured materials are promising for commercialization of the electrochemical energy storage devices. Herein, three different NiCoS nanostructures (nanoflakes, nanosheets, and nanoparticles) were fabricated by electrodeposition. Of these, nanosheets consisting of interconnected nanoparticles formed a highly porous network for supercapacitive energy storage.

Interactive FeO/porous SiO nanospheres for photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants: Kinetic and mechanistic approach.

A uniformly distributed mesoporous silica nanospheres has been successfully synthesized. Silica nanospheres have been loaded with different content of FeO nanoparticles synthesized by the sol-gel process followed by calcination to form the FeO supported on silica nanospheres composite. The as-synthesized photocatalyst has been characterized for crystal structure, morphology, stability, surface area and also surface composition was determined.

Self-Assembled Nickel Pyrophosphate-Decorated Amorphous Bimetal Hydroxides 2D-on-2D Nanostructure for High-Energy Solid-State Asymmetric Supercapacitor.

To obtain a supercapacitor with a remarkable specific capacitance and rate performance, a cogent design and synthesis of the electrode material containing abundant active sites is necessary. In present work, a scalable strategy is developed for preparing 2D-on-2D nanostructures for high-energy solid-state asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs). The self-assembled vertically aligned microsheet-structured 2D nickel pyrophosphate (Ni P O ) is decorated with amorphous bimetallic nickel cobalt hydroxide (NiCo-OH) to form a 2D-on-2D nanostructure arrays electrode.

Interface-Engineered Nickel Cobaltite Nanowires through NiO Atomic Layer Deposition and Nitrogen Plasma for High-Energy, Long-Cycle-Life Foldable All-Solid-State Supercapacitors.

The large-scale application of supercapacitors (SCs) for portable electronics is restricted by low energy density and cycling stability. To alleviate the limitations, a unique interface engineering strategy is suggested through atomic layer deposition (ALD) and nitrogen plasma. First, commercial carbon cloth (CC) is treated with nitrogen plasma and later inorganic NiCo O (NCO)/NiO core-shell nanowire arrays are deposited on nitrogen plasma-treated CC (NCC) to fabricate the ultrahigh stable SC.

Enhancing Durability and Photoelectrochemical Performance of the Earth Abundant Ni-Mo/TiO /CdS/CIGS Photocathode under Various pH Conditions.

Cu(In,Ga)(S,Se) (CIGS) is a promising photocathode material owing to its high absorption coefficient, adjustable band gap, and suitable band edge for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). However, most CIGS photocathodes have suffered from instability in applications that require a wide range of pH conditions and have utilized noble metal HER catalysts to achieve a high performance. Thus, improving the durability of the CIGS photocathode under various pH conditions and developing a cost-effective non-noble metal catalyst are critical issues in the photoelectrochemical (PEC) application of this promising photocathode material.

Towards flexible solid-state supercapacitors for smart and wearable electronics.

Flexible solid-state supercapacitors (FSSCs) are frontrunners in energy storage device technology and have attracted extensive attention owing to recent significant breakthroughs in modern wearable electronics. In this study, we review the state-of-the-art advancements in FSSCs to provide new insights on mechanisms, emerging electrode materials, flexible gel electrolytes and novel cell designs. The review begins with a brief introduction on the fundamental understanding of charge storage mechanisms based on the structural properties of electrode materials.

Asymmetric Supercapacitors Based on Reduced Graphene Oxide with Different Polyoxometalates as Positive and Negative Electrodes.

Nanofabrication using a "bottom-up" approach of hybrid electrode materials into a well-defined architecture is essential for next-generation miniaturized energy storage devices. This paper describes the design and fabrication of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/polyoxometalate (POM)-based hybrid electrode materials and their successful exploitation for asymmetric supercapacitors. First, redox active nanoclusters of POMs [phosphomolybdic acid (PMo ) and phosphotungstic acid (PW )] were uniformly decorated on the surface of rGO nanosheets to take full advantage of both charge-storing mechanisms (faradaic from POMs and electric double layer from rGO).

Ultrathin Mesoporous RuCo O Nanoflakes: An Advanced Electrode for High-Performance Asymmetric Supercapacitors.

A new ruthenium cobalt oxide (RuCo O ) with a unique marigold-like nanostructure and excellent performance as an advanced electrode material has been successfully prepared by a simple electrodeposition (potentiodynamic mode) method. The RuCo O marigolds consist of numerous clusters of ultrathin mesoporous nanoflakes, leaving a large interspace between them to provide numerous electrochemically active sites. Strikingly, this unique marigold-like nanostructure provided excellent electrochemical performance in terms of high energy-storage capacitance (1469 F g at 6 A g ) with excellent rate proficiency and long-lasting operating cycling stability (ca.

Synthesis of manganese nanoparticles in the liquid phase plasma.

The liquid phase plasma reduction method was applied to prepare the polycrystalline manganese nanoparticles from the solution of manganese chloride tetrahydrate. A bipolar pulsed power supply was used to generate discharge in the aqueous solutions. While large size of dendrite-shaped manganese nanoparticles were mostly observed in the initial stage and particle size decreased with discharge time.

Electrical properties of Ta(Si)N films prepared by atomic layer deposition from tert-butylimido-tris-diethylamido tantalum, silane and hydrogen plasma.

Ta(Si)N films were prepared by atomic layer deposition (ALD) from tert-butylimido-tris-diethylamido tantalum (TBTDET), triethylsilane, and activated hydrogen. Triethylsilane was used as an ancillary reducing agent and as a silicon precursor. The effects of the addition of the triethylsilane at different hydrogen plasma pulse times and power on the electrical properties, particularly stability in air, were investigated.

Facile synthesis and characterization of silver nanoparticle/bis(o-phenolpropyl)silicone composites using a gold catalyst.

The generation of silver nanoparticle/bis(o-phenolpropyl)silicone composites have been facilitated by the addition of sodium tetrachloroaurate or gold(Ill) chloride (< 1 wt% of NaAuCl4 or AuCl3) to the reaction of silver nitrate (AgNO3) with bis(o-phenolpropyl)silicone [BPPS, (o-phenolpropyl)2(SiMe2O)n, n = 2,3,8,236]. TEM and FE-SEM data showed that the silver nanoparticles having the size of < 20 nm are well dispersed throughout the BPPS silicone matrix in the composites. XRD patterns are consistent with those for polycrystalline silver.