The construction of highly active and durable nonnoble-metal electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is an ongoing challenge. Here, we report the development of a hybrid nanostructure of PBA cubes wrapped with mixed W-Co oxysulfides in a hair-like structure through sulfurization of polyoxometalate (Co III W 12 POM) as a bimetallic precursor. These unique heterostructures of PBA@CoÀ WÀ OÀ S grafted on carbon cloth afford abundant active sites and improved charge transfer kinetics that synergistically enhance the OER activity (overpotential of 250 mV at 10 mA cm À 2 ). The synthetic approach used in this report can be extended for developing inexpensive, durable and efficient catalysts with diverse structures.

The mechanism of the reaction between Pt0 nanoparticles and Hydrogen was measured in the absence of an electric field via following the formation of PW12O404−/5−.

Using an asymmetric ligand [Ni(L2)]z (z = 0, 1+ and 1−) complexes have been synthesized and their molecular, electronic structures elucidated, supported by DFT calculations: [NiII{(L2)˙2−}], [NiII{(L2)−}]+ and [NiII{(L2)3−}]−.

Many advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) use Fenton-like reactions to degrade organic pollutants by activating peroxymonosulfate (HSO5 –, PMS) or peroxydisulfate (S2O8 2–, PDS) with Fe­(H2O)6 2+ (Feaq II). This paper presents results on the kinetics and mechanisms of reactions between Feaq II and PMS or PDS in the absence and presence of bicarbonate (HCO3 –) at different pH. In the absence of HCO3 –, Feaq IV, rather than the commonly assumed SO4 •–, is the dominant oxidizing species. Multianalytical methods verified the selective conversion of dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and phenyl methyl sulfoxide (PMSO) to dimethyl sulfone (DMSO2) and phenyl methyl sulfone (PMSO2), respectively, confirming the generation of Feaq IV by the Feaq II-PMS/PDS systems without HCO3 –. Significantly, in the presence of environmentally relevant concentrations of HCO3 –, a carbonate radical anion (CO3 •–) becomes the dominant reactive species as confirmed by the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) analysis. The new findings suggest that the mechanisms of the persulfate-based Fenton-like reactions in natural environments might differ remarkably from those obtained in ideal conditions. Using sulfonamide antibiotics (sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and sulfadimethoxine (SDM)) as model contaminants, our study further demonstrated the different reactivities of Feaq IV and CO3 •– in the Feaq II-PMS/PDS systems. The results shed significant light on advancing the persulfate-based AOPs to oxidize pollutants in natural water.