Novel synthesis of hierarchical NiGa2O4@MnO2 core-shell hetero-nanostructured nanowall arrays on carbon cloth for high-performance all-solid-state asymmetrical supercapacitors.

A hierarchical NiGa2O4@MnO2 core-shell nanowall arrays have been grown on carbon cloth by stepwise design and fabrication. Ultrathin MnO2 nanoflakes are revealed to grow uniformly on the porous NiGa2O4 nanowalls with many interparticle mesopores, resulting in the formation of 3D core-shell nanowall arrays with hierarchical architecture. The as-synthesized product as a binder-free electrode possesses a high specific capacitance of 1700 F g-1 at 1 A g-1 and 90% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles at 10 A g-1. Furthermore, an asymmetrical solid-state supercapacitor assembled by the NiGa2O4@MnO2 and N-CMK-3 exhibits an energy density of 0.59 Wh cm-3 at a power density of 48 W cm-3, and excellent cycling stability (80% of initial capacitance retention after 5000 cycles at 6 mA cm-2). The remarkable electrochemical performances can be attributed to its novel nanostructure with high surface area, convenient ion transport paths and favorable structure stability. These results display an effective method for fabrication of different core-shell nanostructure on conductive substrates, which brings new design opportunities of device configuration for next energy storage devices.

Design and performance of a novel direct Z-scheme NiGa2O4/CeO2 nanocomposite with enhanced sonocatalytic activity.

A novel direct Z-scheme NiGa2O4/CeO2 nanocomposite was designed and prepared via simple sol-hydrothermal and calcination methods, and its sonocatalytic activity was tested by studying the degradation of a model antimicrobial agent, malachite green (MG), under ultrasonic irradiation. Near complete (96.2%) degradation of MG (at 10 mg/L) could be achieved by the NiGa2O4/CeO2 nanocomposite (at 1.0 g/L) after ultrasonic irradiation (40 kHz, 300 W) for 60 min at 25 °C. Under the same conditions, only 51.2 and 72.0% of the MG degraded in the presence of NiGa2O4 and CeO2 (at 1.0 g/L), respectively. These results demonstrate that the direct Z-scheme NiGa2O4/CeO2 nanocomposite has excellent sonocatalytic activity, which is attributed to the matching band-gaps between NiGa2O4 and CeO2. The sonocatalytic activity of NiGa2O4/CeO2 nanocomposite decreased by 17% after four cycles of reuse, which is indicative of relatively good reusability. Scavenging experiments revealed that sonocatalytic degradation of MG results from the combined action of hydroxyl radicals (OH) and holes (h+), with the latter having a greater contribution. The pathways and mechanism of MG degradation were proposed based on the degradation intermediates detected. The results demonstrate that the prepared direct Z-scheme NiGa2O4/CeO2 nanocomposite worked as designed and exhibited high and stable sonocatalytic activity during MG degradation, and could thus serve as a promising candidate in sonocatalytic treatment of other organic pollutants in wastewaters. The findings also provide new insights on the mechanism of sonocatalytic degradation and the design of efficient Z-scheme sonocatalysts.

NiGa2O4/rGO Composite as Long-Cycle-Life Anode Material for Lithium-Ion Batteries.

This work reports a novel Ga-based material, NiGa2O4, which is typically used as a photocatalyst for water splitting, as an anode for Li-ion battery with a long cycle life. High-surface-area reduced graphene oxide (rGO) has been used as the conductive substrate to avoid the aggregation of NiGa2O4 nanoparticles (NPs). Because the size and shape of NiGa2O4 are very sensitive to the pH of the precursor, ethylene glycol has been employed as the solvent, as well as the reduction agent to reduce GO, to avoid using extra surfactants and also to avoid the variation of pH of the precursor. The obtained NiGa2O4/rGO composite possesses high capacity and long cycle life (2000 cycles, 2 A/g), with NiGa2O4 NPs around 3-4 nm that are uniformly distributed on the rGO surface. Full cell performance with LiCoO2 as cathode has also been studied, with the average loss of 0.04% per cycle after 100 cycles (C/2 of LiCoO2). The long cycle life of the composite was ascribed to the self-healing feature of Ga0 formed during charging.

Preparation of a novel sonocatalyst, Au/NiGa2O4-Au-Bi2O3 nanocomposite, and application in sonocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.

A novel nanocomposite, Au/NiGa2O4-Au-Bi2O3, as an effective sonocatalyst was prepared through hydrothermal process and high-temperature calcination methods, and then characterized by X-ray diffractometer (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). The sonocatalytic activity of Au/NiGa2O4-Au-Bi2O3 nanocomposite was detected through the degradation of some organic pollutants under ultrasonic irradiation. Furthermore, the influences of mass ratio of NiGa2O4 and Bi2O3, ultrasonic irradiation time and used times on the sonocatalytic degradation efficiency were investigated by using Total Organic Carbon (TOC) and UV-vis spectroscopy. The experimental results showed that, because of the existence of Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) served as both conductive passageway and co-catalyst, the nanocomposite sonocatalyst (Au/NiGa2O4-Au-Bi2O3) displayed an excellent sonocatalytic activity in degradation of some organic pollutants under ultrasonic irradiation.