Highly efficient and continuous activation of O by a novel FeP-FeCu composite for water purification and insights into the activation mechanisms through DFT calculation.

Degradation of organic pollutants through O activation catalyzed by transitional metals is challenging without addition of external chemicals and input of energy. We prepare a novel Fe based catalyst by compositing carbon, iron phosphide (FeP), iron carbide (FeC), Fe and Cu NPs, which can continuously activate O to produce high amount of O,·O and·OH radicals in a wide pH range. DFT calculation discloses that O molecules are dissociated into *O or exist as O-O in various configurations.

One-pot molten salt method for constructing CdS/CN nanojunctions with highly enhanced photocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reaction.

The construction of heterojunction photocatalysts for efficiently utilizing solar energy has attracted considerable attention to solve the energy crisis and reduce environmental pollution. In this study, we use the energy released from an easily-occurred exothermic chemical reaction to serve as the drive force to trigger the formation of CdS and CN nanocomposites which are successfully fabricated with cadmium nitrate and thiourea without addition of any solvents and protection of inert gas at initial temperature, a little higher than the melting point of thiourea. The as-prepared CdS/CN materials exhibit high efficiency for photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with the HER rate as high as 15,866 μmol/(g∙hr) under visible light irradiation (λ > 420 nm), which is 89 and 9 times those of pristine CN and CdS, respectively.

Hotpots and trends of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) in the environmental and energy field: Bibliometric analysis.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have attracted extensive attention due to their low density, adjustable structure, functionalization, and good stability. This paper systematically and comprehensively describes to qualitatively and quantitatively the progress, trends, and hotspots of COFs in the environmental and energy fields from the perspective of bibliometrics. Herein, based on the Web of Science database, a total of 2589 articles from 2005 to October 6, 2020, were collected.

Single-crystalline FeS/FeO coated zero-valent iron synthesized with vacuum chemical vapor deposition technique: Enhanced reductive, oxidative and photocatalytic activity for water purification.

Well-defined core/shell type single crystalline FeS/FeO coated α-Fe hybrids (FeS/FeO@Fe) are synthesized with vacuum chemical vapor deposition (CVD) technique. The CVD process triggers conversion of naturally formed FeO layer on the surface of commercial Fe nanoparticles from amorphous into single crystalline phase. The FeS/FeO coat promotes the surface affinity of dissolved oxygen and targets and rapidly transfers electrons from the Fe core to targets, which decreases water splitting on FeS/FeO@Fe surface and endows FeS/FeO@Fe with ultra-strong reducibility and improved oxidative ability under different conditions.

Ball milling synthesis of covalent organic framework as a highly active photocatalyst for degradation of organic contaminants.

Facile, environmentally-friendly fabrication of high-yield and stable covalent organic framework (COF) materials has been a limitation to their large-scale production and application. In this work, ball milling was used to synthesize COF by mechanochemical reaction between 1,3,5-triformylphloroglucinol (Tp) and melamine (MA) at ambient temperature. Different routes (liquid-free, solvent-assisted and catalyst-assisted) and proportions of liquids (solvents or catalyst) were investigated.