1D hollow tubular/2D nanosheet hybrid dimensional porous carbon prepared by one-step carbonization using natural minerals as templates for supercapacitors.

The reasonable construction of one-dimensional (1D)/two-dimensional (2D) hybrid dimensional porous carbon materials with complementary advantages and disadvantages is an important approach to addressing the structural and performance deficiencies of single carbon materials, while also significantly improving the electrochemical performance of super-capacitors. In this study, 1D hollow tubular/2D nanosheet hybrid dimensional porous carbon was synthesized through one-step carbonization using 1D fibrous brucite and 2D layered magnesium carbonate hydroxide as templates. By adjusting the feed ratio of 1D fibrous and 2D layered templates, the morphology, pore structure and specific surface area (SSA) of the prepared 1D hollow tubular/2D nanosheet hybrid dimensional porous carbon were controlled. The prepared hybrid dimensional porous carbons were characterized using scanning electron microscope (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and nitrogen adsorption-desorption. And their electrochemical performance was also studied by cyclic voltammograms (CV), galvanostatic charge/discharge (GCD) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The results show that the use of templates with different dimensions significantly influences the morphology, pore structure, SSA and electrochemical performance of the synthesized hybrid dimensional porous carbon. The hybrid dimensional porous carbon (3F) exhibits a high specific capacitance and excellent cycling stability. 3F demonstrates the specific capacitance of 245.3 F g-1 at 1 A g-1. Furthermore, the capacity retention rate remains as high as 93.4% after 8000 cycles at 10 A g-1. This work reveals that hybrid dimensional porous carbon composed of 1D hollow carbon tubes and 2D carbon nanosheets has great potential for use in supercapacitor electrode materials.

Polystyrene as Graphene Film and 3D Graphene Sponge Precursor.

Polystyrene as a thin film on arbitrary substrates or pellets form defective graphene/graphitic films or powders that can be dispersed in water and organic solvents. The materials were characterized by visible absorption, Raman and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, electron and atomic force microscopy, and electrochemistry. Raman spectra of these materials showed the presence of the expected 2D, G, and D peaks at 2750, 1590, and 1350 cm-1, respectively. The relative intensity of the G versus the D peak was taken as a quantitative indicator of the density of defects in the G layer.

Uniform nanoporous graphene sponge from natural polysaccharides as a metal-free electrocatalyst for hydrogen generation.

Structuring of graphene as graphene sponges in the submicrometric scale has been achieved by using silica spheres (80 nm diameter) as hard templates and chitosan or alginate as precursor of defective N-doped or undoped graphene, respectively. The resulting defective N-doped graphene sponge exhibits a remarkable activity and stability for hydrogen evolution reaction with onset at 203 mV for a current density of 0.5 mA cm-2 with a small Tafel plot slope of 69.7 mV dec-1. In addition, the graphene sponge also exhibits a high double layer capacitance of 11.65 mF cm-2. Comparison with an analogous N-doped graphene sample shows that this electrochemical properties derive from the spatial structuring and large surface area.

Facile synthesis, structure and enhanced photocatalytic activity of novel BiOBr/Bi(C2O4)OH composite photocatalysts.

Novel composite photocatalysts BiOBr/Bi(C2O4)OH were successfully fabricated via a chemical etching method. After flower-like Bi(C2O4)OH microstructure assembled by nanorods was etched by KBr under an appropriate acidic condition, BiOBr nano-rods could be in-situ generated in nanorods, forming a heterostructure. The heterostructures exhibited a commendable photocatalytic performance toward the degradation of rhodamine B under the visible light irradiation. The effective separation and transfer of the photogenerated electrons and holes were believed to be the main factor for the enhanced activity, which resulted from the intrinsic characteristic of p-n junction. The responsible mechanism was detailedly discussed, and the photogenerated holes and O2- radicals were confirmed to be the main active species for the photodegradation of RhB.

Boron-doped bismuth oxybromide microspheres with enhanced surface hydroxyl groups: Synthesis, characterization and dramatic photocatalytic activity.

B-doped BiOBr photocatalysts were successfully synthesized via a facile solvothermal method with boric acid used as boron source. As-obtained products consist of novel hierarchical microspheres, whose nanosheet building units were formed by nanoparticles splicing. They showed dramatic photocatalytic efficiency toward the degradation of Rhodamine B (RhB) and phenol under the visible-light irradiation and the highest activity was achieved by 0.075B-BiOBr. The enhanced photocatalytic activity could be attributed to the enriched surface hydroxyl groups on B-doped BiOBr samples, which not only improved the adsorption of pollutant on the photocatalyst but also promoted the separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. In addition, it was found that the main reactive species responsible for the degradation of organic pollutant were h(+) and O2(-) radicals, instead of OH radicals.

One-pot synthesis of bismuth oxyhalide/oxygen-rich bismuth oxyhalide heterojunction and its photocatalytic activity.

BiOBr/Bi24O31Br10 heterojunction photocatalysts were prepared by a facile solvothermal method for the first time. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), N2 sorption, UV-vis diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV-vis DRS) and photoluminescence (PL) were applied to investigate the structures, morphologies, surface areas and photocatalytic properties of as-prepared samples. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated by the photocatalytic degradation of Rhodamine B under the visible-light irradiation. The results showed that BiOBr/Bi24O31Br10 heterojunctions with the different Bi24O31Br10 contents could be obtained by simply adjusting the amount of NaOH solution, all of which exhibited enhanced photocatalytic activity compared with bare BiOBr or Bi24O31Br10. Among them, the BiOBr/Bi24O31Br10 heterojunction prepared with 1.5ml of NaOH solution possessed the highest photocatalytic activity. The photogenerated holes and ·O2(-) radicals were confirmed to be the main active species responsible for the photodegradation of RhB. The mechanism of enhanced photocatalytic activity was discussed and the transfer process of the photogenerated charges carrier between BiOBr and Bi24O31Br10 was proposed on the basis of the estimated energy band positions.