Sub-nanometer Pt Nanowires with Disordered Shells for Highly Active Elelctrocatalytic Oxidation of Formic Acid.

Controlled synthesis of one-dimensional materials at atomic-scale dimensions represents a milestone in nanotechnology, offering the potential to maximize atom utilization while enhancing catalytic performance. However, achieving structural stability and durability at such fine scales requires precise control over material structure and local chemical environment. Here, we introduce dimethylamine (DMA) as a small-molecule modifier, in contrast to conventional long-chain surfactants, to interact with surface Pt atoms.

Amorphous Nanobelts for Efficient Electrocatalytic Ammonia Production.

One-dimensional (1D) amorphous nanomaterials combine the advantages of high active site concentration of amorphous structure, high specific surface area and efficient charge transfer of 1D materials, so they present promising opportunities for catalysis. However, how to achievie the balance between the high orientation of 1D morphology and the isotropy of amorphous structure is a significant challenge, which severely obstructs the controllable preparation of 1D amorphous materials. Guided by the hard-soft acids-bases theory, here we develop a general strategy for preparing 1D amorphous nanomaterials through the precise modulation of bond strength between metal ions and organic ligands for a moderated fastness.

Nitrogen-doped amorphous monolayer carbon.

Monoatomic-layered carbon materials, such as graphene and amorphous monolayer carbon, have stimulated intense fundamental and applied research owing to their unprecedented physical properties and a wide range of promising applications. So far, such materials have mainly been produced by chemical vapour deposition, which typically requires stringent reaction conditions compared to solution-phase synthesis. Herein, we demonstrate the solution preparation of free-standing nitrogen-doped amorphous monolayer carbon with mixed five-, six- and seven-membered (5-6-7-membered) rings through the polymerization of pyrrole within the confined interlayer cavity of a removable layered-double-hydroxide template.

Unveiling the potential of amorphous nanocatalysts in membrane-based hydrogen production.

Hydrogen, as a clean and renewable energy source, is a promising candidate to replace fossil fuels and alleviate the environmental crisis. Compared with the traditional H-type cells with a finite-gap, the design of membrane electrodes can reduce the gas transmission resistance, enhance the current density, and improve the efficiency of hydrogen production. However, the harsh environment in the electrolyser makes the membrane electrode based water electrolysis technology still limited by the lack of catalyst activity and stability under the working conditions.

High-Valence Cu Induced by Photoelectric Reconstruction for Dynamically Stable Oxygen Evolution Sites.

Oxygen vacancies are generally considered to play a crucial role in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, the generation of active sites created by oxygen vacancies is inevitably restricted by their condensation and elimination reactions. To overcome this limitation, here, we demonstrate a novel photoelectric reconstruction strategy to incorporate atomically dispersed Cu into ultrathin (about 2-3 molecular) amorphous oxyhydroxide (a-CuM, M = Co, Ni, Fe, or Zn), facilitating deprotonation of the reconstructed oxyhydroxide to generate high-valence Cu.

NiS ultrafine nanorod with translational and rotational symmetry.

Anisotropy is a significant and prevalent characteristic of materials, conferring orientation-dependent properties, meaning that the creation of original symmetry enables key functionality that is not found in nature. Even with the advancements in atomic machining, synthesis of separated symmetry in different directions within a single structure remains an extraordinary challenge. Here, we successfully fabricate NiS ultrafine nanorods with separated symmetry along two directions.

Achieving Negatively Charged Pt Single Atoms on Amorphous Ni(OH) Nanosheets with Promoted Hydrogen Absorption in Hydrogen Evolution.

Single-atom (SA) catalysts with nearly 100% atom utilization have been widely employed in electrolysis for decades, due to the outperforming catalytic activity and selectivity. However, most of the reported SA catalysts are fixed through the strong bonding between the dispersed single metallic atoms with nonmetallic atoms of the substrates, which greatly limits the controllable regulation of electrocatalytic activity of SA catalysts. In this work, Pt-Ni bonded Pt SA catalyst with adjustable electronic states was successfully constructed through a controllable electrochemical reduction on the coordination unsaturated amorphous Ni(OH) nanosheet arrays.

How Amorphous Nanomaterials Enhanced Electrocatalytic, SERS, and Mechanical Properties.

There is ever-growing research interest in nanomaterials because of the unique properties that emerge on the nanometer scale. While crystalline nanomaterials have received a surge of attention for exhibiting state-of-the-art properties in various fields, their amorphous counterparts have also attracted attention in recent years owing to their unique structural features that crystalline materials lack. In short, amorphous nanomaterials only have short-range order at the atomic scale, and their atomic packing lacks long-range periodic arrangement, in which the coordinatively unsaturated environment, isotropic atomic structure, and modulated electron state all contribute to their outstanding performance in various applications.

Efficient C-N coupling in the direct synthesis of urea from CO and N by amorphous SbBiO clusters.

Although direct generation of high-value complex molecules and feedstock by coupling of ubiquitous small molecules such as CO and N holds great appeal as a potential alternative to current fossil-fuel technologies, suitable scalable and efficient catalysts to this end are not currently available as yet to be designed and developed. To this end, here we prepare and characterize SbBiO clusters for direct urea synthesis from CO and N via C-N coupling. The introduction of Sb in the amorphous BiO clusters changes the adsorption geometry of CO on the catalyst from O-connected to C-connected, creating the possibility for the formation of complex products such as urea.

Restraining Interfacial Cu by using Amorphous SnO as Sacrificial Protection Boosts CO Electroreduction.

The electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO RR) to formate is of great interest in the field of electrochemical energy. Cu-based material is an appealing electrocatalyst for the CO RR. However, retaining Cu under the high cathodic potential of CO RR remains a great challenge, leading to low electrocatalytic selectivity, activity, and stability.

Recent Progress of Amorphous Nanomaterials.

Amorphous materials are metastable solids with only short-range order at the atomic scale, which results from local intermolecular chemical bonding. The lack of long-range order typical of crystals endows amorphous nanomaterials with unconventional and intriguing structural features, such as isotropic atomic environments, abundant surface dangling bonds, highly unsaturated coordination, etc. Because of these features and the ensuing modulation in electronic properties, amorphous nanomaterials display potential for practical applications in different areas.

Activating Bi p-orbitals in Dispersed Clusters of Amorphous BiO for Electrocatalytic Nitrogen Reduction.

Catalytic strategies based on main group metals are significantly less advanced than those of transition metal catalysis, leaving untapped areas of potentially fruitful research. We here demonstrate an effective approach for the modulation of Bi 6p energy levels during the construction of atomically dispersed clusters of amorphous BiO . Bi oxidation state is proposed to strongly affects the nitrogen fixation activity, with the half-occupied p orbitals of the Bi ions being highly efficient toward electron injection into the inert N molecule.

Realizing Two-Electron Transfer in Ni(OH) Nanosheets for Energy Storage.

The theoretical capacity of a given electrode material is ultimately determined by the number of electrons transferred in each redox center. The design of multi-electron transfer processes could break through the limitation of one-electron transfer and multiply the total capacity but is difficult to achieve because multiple electron transfer processes are generally thermodynamically and kinetically more complex. Here, we report the discovery of two-electron transfer in monolayer Ni(OH) nanosheets, which contrasts with the traditional one-electron transfer found in multilayer materials.

Network-Like Platinum Nanosheets Enabled by a Calorific-Effect-Induced-Fusion Strategy for Enhanced Catalytic Hydrogenation Performance.

In this paper, we report the construction of network-like platinum (Pt) nanosheets based on Pt/reduced graphite oxide (Pt/rGO) hybrids by delicately utilizing a calorific-effect-induced-fusion strategy. The tiny Pt species first catalyzed the H-O combination reaction. The released heat triggered the combustion of the rGO substrate under the assistance of the Pt species catalysis, which induced the fusion of the tiny Pt species into a network-like nanosheet structure.

Amorphous Domains in Black Titanium Dioxide.

Although oxygen vacancies (O s) play a critical role for many applications of metal oxides, a controllable synthetic strategy for anisotropic O s remains a great challenge. Here, a novel strategy is proposed to achieve the regional dual structure with anisotropic O s at both the surface and in the interior of TiO by constructing amorphous domains. The as-prepared black TiO with amorphous domains exhibits superior activity in degrading rhodamine B (RhB) solutions, which can instantly decompose RhB with just a shake.

A Biotemplating Route for the Synthesis of Hierarchical Fe O with Highly Dispersed Carbon as Electron-Transfer Channel.

Although the preparation of carbon composites has made great progress, the construction of systems comprising uniformly dispersed carbon as a framework to link active constituents still remains a challenge. Herein, a hierarchical Fe O /C composite was synthesized in a one-step biotemplating route, where agarose was firstly reacted with Fe and Ca ions, which resulted in a competitive interaction between these ions and the hydroxy groups, then partly calcined to achieve the final product that consisted of α-Fe O nanoparticles embedded in highly dispersed carbon. The carbon within the composite acts as an efficient photoelectron transfer channel to improve conductivity during photocatalysis.

Amorphous AgS Micro-rods-Enhanced Fluorescence on Liquid Crystals: Cation-π Interaction-Triggered Aggregation-Induced Emission Effect.

Aggregation-induced emission (AIE) system has long been regarded as a promising substitute to overcome the aggregation-caused quenching in traditional luminescent liquid crystals, which could further enhance its efficiency and application. However, due to the intrinsic weak interaction between hybrid components, heterogeneous inorganic materials-induced AIE process was rarely reported. In this study, trace amounts of amorphous AgS microrods and an AIE-active liquid crystalline compound tetraphenylethylene-propylbenzene (TPE-PPE) were proposed to construct additional intense interaction to trigger AIE effect.

Enhanced biocompatibility of PAMAM dendrimers benefiting from tuning their surface charges.

The surface charge of dendrimers is one of the key factors that determine their use in nanomedicine. Generation 5 poly(amido amine) dendrimers (G5 PAMAM) encapsulating with fluorescein sodium were employed to study the method to tune surface charge. Firstly, the surface primary amines were reacted with maleic anhydride to introduce double bonds.

Robust Sandwich-Structured Nanofluidic Diodes Modulating Ionic Transport for an Enhanced Electrochromic Performance.

Biomimetic solid-state nanofluidic diodes have attracted extensive research interest due to the possible applications in various fields, such as biosensing, energy conversion, and nanofluidic circuits. However, contributions of exterior surface to the transmembrane ionic transport are often ignored, which can be a crucial factor for ion rectification behavior. Herein, a rational design of robust sandwich-structured nanofluidic diode is shown by creating opposite charges on the exterior surfaces of a nanoporous membrane using inorganic oxides with distinct isoelectric points.

Highly Efficient Gating of Electrically Actuated Nanochannels for Pulsatile Drug Delivery Stemming from a Reversible Wettability Switch.

Many ion channels in the cell membrane are believed to function as gates that control the water and ion flow through the transitions between an inherent hydrophobic state and a stimuli-induced hydration state. The construction of nanofluidic gating systems with high gating efficiency and reversibility is inspired by this hydrophobic gating behavior. A kind of electrically actuated nanochannel is developed by integrating a polypyrrole (PPy) micro/nanoporous film doped with perfluorooctanesulfonate ions onto an anodic aluminum oxide nanoporous membrane.