fabrication of a plasmonic Bi@BiOCO core-shell heterostructure for photocatalytic CO reduction: structural insights into selectivity modulation.

The precise design of active sites and light absorbers is essential for developing highly efficient photocatalysts for CO reduction. Core-shell heterostructures constructed based on large-sized plasmonic Bi metals are ideal candidates because of the utilization of full-spectrum light and effective charge separation. However, the mechanism of selectivity modulation of large-sized Bi@semiconductor photocatalysts has yet to be explored in depth.

2D NiFeO/Ni(OH) Heterostructure-Based Self-Supporting Electrode With Synergistic Surface/Interfacial Engineering for Efficient Water Electrooxidation.

To meet the industrial demand for overall water splitting, oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts with low-cost, highly effective, and durable properties are urgently required. Herein, a facile confined strategy is utilized to construct 2D NiFeO/Ni(OH) heterostructures-based self-supporting electrode with surface-interfacial coengineering, in which abundant and ultrastable interfaces are developed. Under the high molar ratio of Ni/Fe, both spinel oxide and hydroxides phases are formed simultaneously to obtain 2D NiFeO/Ni(OH) heterostructure.

CO coordination-driven top-down synthesis of a 2D non-layered metal-organic framework.

Combining the physical advantages of two-dimensional (2D) inorganic nanosheets and the modular design and programmed structure of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), 2D MOFs remain at the forefront of functional material research. Despite tremendous efforts, precise control in the synthesis of 2D nonlayered MOFs with predesigned topology for desired applications remains challenging. Success in the bottom-up synthesis of 2D nonlayered MOFs via ligand exchange motivated us to incorporate partial BTC (BTC = 1,3,5-benzenetricarboxylate) ligand dissociation and CO capped coordination into the top-down treatment of bulk Cu-BTC MOF, leading to successful conversion of a 3D nonlayered network to a 2D Cu-based topological structure.

2D amorphous bi-metallic NiFe nitrides for a high-efficiency oxygen evolution reaction.

Two-dimensional bi-metallic NiFe nitrides (2D NiFe-N) are successfully synthesized in the designed ternary deep eutectic solvents under the guidance of DFT calculations. Taking advantage of the unique properties of large-size, ultrathin amorphous 2D structure and modulable electronic structure, the NiFe-N exhibits extraordinary OER performance with relatively low overpotential of 238 mV at 10 mA cm and durable stability.

Generation of 2D nonlayered ferromagnetic VO(M) nanosheets induced by strain engineering of CO.

Two-dimensional (2D) nonlayered ferromagnets displaying high Curie temperatures, sizable magnetic anisotropy levels, and large spin polarizations are emerging as promising 2D ferromagnetics. However, the difficulties in synthesizing 2D nonlayered intrinsic ferromagnets have largely limited their development. Herein, defect-rich 2D nonlayered VO(M) nanosheets have been fabricated by deploying straining engineering of CO on the metal-insulator transition (MIT) of VO.

An advanced FeCoNi nitro-sulfide hierarchical structure from deep eutectic solvents for enhanced oxygen evolution reaction.

A tri-metal material system of FeCoNi-based nitro-sulfide (FeCoNi-NS) hierarchical structure has been successfully synthesized via a deep eutectic solvent annealing process. The as-prepared FeCoNi-NS possesses interesting N,S-binary heteroatoms evenly doped with Fe, Co, and Ni. By taking advantage of the unique structure including multi-metal sites, high BET area and porous structures, the as-prepared FeCoNi-NS exhibited excellent oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance, achieving a current density of 10 mA cm at an overpotential of 251 mV and a low Tafel slope of 58 mV dec in 1 M KOH.

Thermal, electrochemical and radiolytic stabilities of ionic liquids.

Research on ionic liquids has achieved rapid progress in the last several decades. Stability is a prerequisite for the application of ionic liquids. Ionic liquids may be used at elevated temperature, as electrolytes, or under irradiation.

An ambient temperature, CO-assisted solution processing of amorphous cobalt sulfide in a thiol/amine based quasi-ionic liquid for oxygen evolution catalysis.

We report the synthesis of CoS nanosheets from a 1,2-ethanedithiol/n-butylamine quasi-ionic liquid with the assistance of compressed CO at ambient temperature. The CoS achieves a current density of 10 mA cm at an overpotential of 271 mV for the oxygen evolution reaction. Furthermore, our method is applicable to the fabrication of other transition metal chalcogenides.

Highly Efficient, Green, and Scalable β-Cyclodextrin-Assisted Aqueous Exfoliation of Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides: MoS and ReS Nanoflakes.

The β-cyclodextrin-assisted aqueous-exfoliation method was used to prepare transition-metal dichalcogenide (TMD) nanosheets, in a cheap, highly efficient, scalable and environmentally friendly manner. As study cases, MoS and ReS nanoflakes were prepared according to this method. Particularly, the effective exfoliation of ReS crystals in an aqueous environment was observed for the first time.

Large-Scale, Highly Efficient, and Green Liquid-Exfoliation of Black Phosphorus in Ionic Liquids.

We developed a facile, large-scale, and environmentally friendly liquid-exfoliation method to produce stable and high-concentration dispersions of mono- to few-layer black phosphorus (BP) nanosheets from bulk BP using nine ionic liquids. The prepared suspensions can stabilize without any obvious sedimentation and aggregation in ambient air for one month. In particular, the concentration (up to 0.

A linear graphene edge nanoelectrode.

A nanometer-thick linear graphene edge nanoelectrode was constructed based on the edge plane of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) grown few-layer graphene, which showed much better electrochemical performance compared with traditional carbon fibre microelectrodes.

A microfluidic linear node array for the study of protein-ligand interactions.

We have developed a microfluidic device for the continuous separation of small molecules from a protein mixture and demonstrated its practical use in the study of protein-ligand binding, a crucial aspect in drug discovery. Our results demonstrated dose-dependent binding between bovine serum albumin (BSA) and its small-molecule site marker, Eosin Y (EY), and found that the binding reached a plateau when the BSA : EY ratio was above 1, which agreed with the eosin binding capacity of BSA reported in literature. By streamline control using a combination of two fundamental building blocks (R and L nodes) with a microdevice operated at a high flow rate (up to 1300 μL h(-1)), a solution barrier was created to "filter" off protein/protein-ligand complexes such that the small unbound molecules were isolated and quantified easily.