Nano-Polycrystalline Cu Layer Interlaced with Ti-Self-Doped TiO Nanotube Arrays as an Electrocatalyst for Reduction of Nitrate to Ammonia.

The electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NORR) is considered as a promising strategy to degrade nitrate-containing wastewater and synthesize recyclable ammonia at atmospheric pressure and room temperature. In this work, the copper oxides-derived nano-polycrystalline Cu (NPC Cu) was integrated with Ti-self-doped TiO nanotube arrays (NTA) to fabricate the NPC Cu/H-TiO NTA. Ti-self-doped TiO NTAs and the NPC Cu facilitate electron transfer and mass transportation and create abundant active sites.

Zn and N co-doped three-dimensional honeycomb-like carbon featured with interconnected nano-pools for dendrite-free zinc anode.

The zinc-ion battery (ZIB) has been extensively researched as one of the promising electrochemical power sources. However, the problem of Zn-dendrite formation during repeated plating and stripping process seriously hinders the development of ZIBs. Herein, three-dimensional (3D) honeycomb-like porous carbon (HPC) with co-doping of zinc and nitrogen is prepared through confining growth of nanoscale zeolite imidazole framework-8 (ZIF-8) on the well-designed nano-pools walls of HPC followed by pyrolysis at 600 ℃ to obtain the final product ZnN/HPC-600, which exhibits large surface area and abundant zincophilic interfaces, ensuring homogeneous distribution of electronic field and low polarization during cycling process.