Porous Flower-Like Nanoarchitectures Derived from Nickel Phosphide Nanocrystals Anchored on Amorphous Vanadium Phosphate Nanosheet Nanohybrids for Superior Overall Water Splitting.

Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) and phosphates (TM-Pis) nanostructures are promising functional materials for energy storage and conversion. Nonetheless, controllable synthesis of crystalline/amorphous heterogeneous TMPs/TM-Pis nanohybrids or related nanoarchitectures remains challenging, and their electrocatalytic applications toward overall water splitting (OWS) are not fully explored. Herein, the NiP nanocrystals anchored on amorphous V-Pi nanosheet based porous flower-like nanohybrid architectures that are self-supported on carbon cloth (CC) substrate (NiP/V-Pi/CC) are fabricated by conformal oxidation and phosphorization of pre-synthesized NiV-LDH/CC.

Component-controlled synthesis of PdSn nanocrystals on carbon nanotubes as advanced electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction.

Pd-based bimetallic or multimetallic nanocrystals are considered to be potential electrocatalysts for cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells. Although much advance has been made, the synthesis of component-controlled Pd-Sn alloy nanocrystals or corresponding nanohybrids is still challenging, and the electrocatalytic ORR properties are not fully explored. Herein, component-controlled synthesis of PdSn nanocrystals (including PdSn, PdSn, PdSn and PdSn) has been realized, which are grown or deposited on pre-treated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to form well-coupled nanohybrids (NHs) by a facile one-pot non-hydrolytic system thermolysis method.

Amorphous Ni-Fe-Mo Oxides Coupled with Crystalline Metallic Domains for Enhanced Electrocatalytic Oxygen Evolution by Promoted Lattice-Oxygen Participation.

The crystalline/amorphous heterophase nanostructures are promising functional materials for biomedicals, catalysis, energy conversion, and storage. Despite great progress is achieved, facile synthesis of crystalline metal/amorphous multinary metal oxides nanohybrids remains challenging, and their electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performance along with the catalytic mechanism are not systematically investigated. Herein, two kinds of ultrafine crystalline metal domains coupled with amorphous Ni-Fe-Mo oxides heterophase nanohybrids, including Ni/Ni Fe Mo O and Ni-FeNi /Ni Fe Mo O , are fabricated through controllable reduction of amorphous Ni Fe Mo O precursors by simply tuning the amount of used reductant.

Large-Scale Synthesis of Hierarchical Porous MOF Particles via a Gelation Process for High Areal Capacitance Supercapacitors.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with hierarchical porous structures have been attracting intense interest currently due to their promising applications in catalysis, energy storage, drug delivery, and photocatalysis. Current fabrication methods usually employ template-assisted synthesis or thermal annealing at high temperatures. However, large-scale production of hierarchical porous metal-organic framework (MOF) particles with a simple procedure and mild condition is still a challenge, which hampers their application.

Phase-Controlled Synthesis of Nickel-Iron Nitride Nanocrystals Armored with Amorphous N-Doped Carbon Nanoparticles Nanocubes for Enhanced Overall Water Splitting.

Transition metal nitrides (TMNs) nanostructures possess distinctive electronic, optical, and catalytic properties, showing great promise to apply in clean energy, optoelectronics, and catalysis fields. Nonetheless, phase-regulation of NiFe-bimetallic nitrides nanocrystals or nanohybrid architectures confronts challenges and their electrocatalytic overall water splitting (OWS) performances are underexplored. Herein, novel pure-phase Ni Fe N nanocrystals armored with amorphous N-doped carbon (NC) nanoparticles nanocubes (NPNCs) are obtained by controllable nitridation of NiFe-Prussian-blue analogues derived oxides/NC NPNCs under Ar/NH atmosphere.

Signal Filtering Enabled by Spike Voltage-Dependent Plasticity in Metalloporphyrin-Based Memristors.

Neural systems can selectively filter and memorize spatiotemporal information, thus enabling high-efficient information processing. Emulating such an exquisite biological process in electronic devices is of fundamental importance for developing neuromorphic architectures with efficient in situ edge/parallel computing, and probabilistic inference. Here a novel multifunctional memristor is proposed and demonstrated based on metalloporphyrin/oxide hybrid heterojunction, in which the metalloporphyrin layer allows for dual electronic/ionic transport.

Cu,N-Codoped Carbon Nanodisks with Biomimic Stomata-Like Interconnected Hierarchical Porous Topology as Efficient Electrocatalyst for Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Metal,N-codoped carbon (M-N-C) nanostructures are promising electrocatalysts toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) or other gas-involved energy electrocatalysis. Further creating pores into M-N-C nanostructures can increase their surface area, fully expose the active sites, and improve mass transfer and electrocatalytic efficiency. Nonetheless, it remains a challenge to fabricate M-N-C nanomaterials with both well-defined morphology and hierarchical porous structures.

Cobalt Phosphides Nanocrystals Encapsulated by P-Doped Carbon and Married with P-Doped Graphene for Overall Water Splitting.

As one class of important functional materials, transition metal phosphides (TMPs) nanostructures show promising applications in catalysis and energy storage fields. Although great progress has been achieved, phase-controlled synthesis of cobalt phosphides nanocrystals or related nanohybrids remains a challenge, and their use in overall water splitting (OWS) is not systematically studied. Herein, three kinds of cobalt phosphides nanocrystals encapsulated by P-doped carbon (PC) and married with P-doped graphene (PG) nanohybrids, including CoP@PC/PG, CoP-Co P@PC/PG, and Co P@PC/PG, are obtained through controllable thermal conversion of presynthesized supramolecular gels that contain cobalt salt, phytic acid, and graphene oxides at proper temperature under Ar/H atmosphere.

Well-Coupled Nanohybrids Obtained by Component-Controlled Synthesis and in Situ Integration of Mn Pd Nanocrystals on Vulcan Carbon for Electrocatalytic Oxygen Reduction.

Development of cheap, highly active, and robust bimetallic nanocrystal (NC)-based nanohybrid (NH) electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is helpful for advancing fuel cells or other renewable energy technologies. Here, four kinds of well-coupled Mn Pd (MnPd, MnPd-Pd, MnPd, MnPd-MnPd)/C NHs have been synthesized by in situ integration of Mn Pd NCs with variable component ratios on pretreated Vulcan XC-72 C using the solvothermal method accompanied with annealing under Ar/H atmosphere and used as electrocatalysts for ORR. Among them, the MnPd/C NHs possess the unique "half-embedded and half-encapsulated" interfaces and exhibit the highest catalytic activity, which can compete with some currently reported non-Pt catalysts (e.

SMART Design of a Bulk-Capped Supramolecular Segment for the Assembly into Organic Interdigital Lipid Bilayer-Like (ILB) Nanosheets.

Rational molecular design for the organic nanocrystal morphology still remains a challenge due to the structural diversity and complicated weak intermolecular interactions. In this work, a typical attractor-repulsor molecule N,N-diphenyl-4-(9-phenyl-fluoren-9-yl) phenylamine (TPA-PF) is designed to explore a general assembly strategy for 2D nanocrystals. Via an interdigital lipid bilayer-like (ILB) molecular packing mode, large-sized lamellar 2D nanosheets are obtained with a length:width:thickness ratio as ≈2500:1000:1.

Coralloid Co2P2O7 Nanocrystals Encapsulated by Thin Carbon Shells for Enhanced Electrochemical Water Oxidation.

Core-shell nanohybrids containing cheap inorganic nanocrystals and nanocarbon shells are promising electrocatalysts for water splitting or other renewable energy options. Despite that great progress has been achieved, biomimetic synthesis of metal phosphates@nanocarbon core-shell nanohybrids remains a challenge, and their use for electrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) has not been explored. In this paper, novel nanohybrids composed of coralloid Co2P2O7 nanocrystal cores and thin porous nanocarbon shells are synthesized by combination of the structural merits of supramolecular polymer gels and a controllable thermal conversion technique, i.

Kinetically controlled assembly of a spirocyclic aromatic hydrocarbon into polyhedral micro/nanocrystals.

Nonplane molecules with multiple large aromatic planes could be promising candidates to form various polyhedral micro/nanocrystals by manipulating the different π···π stacking, tuning the cohesive energies of crystal facets, and controlling the kinetic growth process. Spirocyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (SAHs) not only have two cross-shaped aromatic planes but also offer the feature of supramolecular steric hindrance, making it favorable for the heterogeneous kinetic growth into highly symmetric polyhedra. Herein, we report that a novel SAH compound, spiro[fluorene-9,7'-dibenzo[c,h]acridine]-5'-one (SFDBAO), can self-assemble into various monodispersed shapes such as hexahedra, octahedra, and decahedra through the variation of either different types of surfactants, such as Pluronic 123 (P123) and cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB), or growth parameters.

A small change in molecular structure, a big difference in the AIEE mechanism.

An anthracene carboxamide derivative of the excited-state intramolecular proton-transfer compound of 2-(2'-hydroxyphenyl)benzothiazole has been newly developed to produce the prominent characteristics of aggregation-induced enhanced emission (AIEE) with a high solid-state fluorescence quantum efficiency of 78.1%. Compared with our previously reported phenyl carboxamide derivatives, a small tailoring of the molecular structure was found to result in a big difference in the dominant factor of the AIEE mechanism.

Facile synthesis of shape and size tunable porphyrinoid coordination polymers: from copper porphyrin nanoplates to microspindles.

Size tunable copper porphyrin dispersed nanoplates, assembled nanoplates, and microspindles have been controllably fabricated by a simple surfactant-assisted solution route.

Tuning the optoelectronic properties of 4,4'-N,N'-dicarbazole-biphenyl through heteroatom linkage: new host materials for phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes.

Five carbazole end-capped heterofluorenes (CzHFs) designed by structurally mimicking 4,4'-N,N'-dicarbazole-biphenyl (CBP) via connecting the biphenyl core of CBP with the linking atom of C, P, N, O, and S, respectively, were synthesized successfully, and their optoelectronic properties were investigated. The theoretical calculations and experimental results demonstrate that CzHFs are potential green, red, and even blue hosts for phosphorescent light-emitting diodes (PHOLEDs) with more desirable localization and energy levels of HOMO and LUMO and also higher triplet energy than CBP.

Anions bonded on the supramolecular hydrogel surface as the growth center of biominerals.

In this work, a supramolecular hydrogel formed from N,N',N''-tris(3-pyridyl)-trimesic amide was reported to serve as the matrix for the growth of biominerals. The organic hydrogel scaffold contains nitrogen heterocyclic ring and amide groups that can bind anions of the mineral (specially here, carbonate ions and phosphate ions) through hydrogen bonding interactions and act as the biomineralization active sites for growing biominerals. Calcium carbonate nucleated on the site of the hydrogel fiber where carbonate ions bonded and left obvious hydrogel fiber prints on the obtained product.

Self-assembly of two different hierarchical nanostructures on either side of an organic supramolecular film in one step.

We fabricated different hierarchical organic nanostructures on each side of a supramolecular film, by using hydrogen-bonding interactions between tetrapyridylporphyrin and benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid at the H2O/CHCl3 interface. The surface of the film that faces water is composed of nanoprism arrays, whereas the surface facing CHCl3 is composed of three-dimensional sunflower-like hierarchical micro- and nanostructures. FTIR spectral evidence showed that all pyridyl groups of the tetrapyridylporphyrin hydrogen bonded to the carboxylic acid groups of 1,3,5-benzene-tricarboxylic acid.

Large-scale synthesis of single-crystalline RE2O3 (RE=Y, Dy, Ho, Er) nanobelts by a solid-liquid-phase chemical route.

Yttrium-group heavy rare-earth sesquioxide (RE(2)O(3), RE=Y, Dy, Ho, Er) nanobelts were successfully fabricated by thermolysis of solid RE(NO(3))(3)x H(2)O in a dodecylamine/1-octadecene mixed solvent system. The synthetic principle is based on separating the nucleation and growth processes by utilizing the poor solubility of RE(NO(3))(3)chi H(2)O in the solvent mixture and the heat-transportation difference between the liquid and solid. By using dodecylamine, RE(2)O(3) nanobelts can be readily obtained.