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A facile method has been developed to synthesize uniform nanoscale YF3 architectures. Interestingly, the unique YF3 nanostructure exhibits a flat and rhombic appearance which is formulated through the hierarchical assembly of YF3 nanocrystals along a specific crystalline orientation. Investigations on the formation process suggest that an assembly disassembly process is responsible for the construction of this novel structure. Enabled by doping with different lanthanides ions, the products can exhibit various down- or up-conversion luminescences, showing their potentials in serving as versatile host matrixes. The tunable luminescent properties allow designing effective upconversion photocatalysts when the doped YF3 nanostructures are coated with a TiO2 shell on their surface. In particular, the YF3@TiO2 hybrid structures have the porous nature that is partially inherited from the YF3 architectures, whose high surface-to-volume ratio facilitates their use as photocatalysts. In this article, we have demonstrated that the YF3:Yb,Tm@TiO2 structures exhibit satisfactory photocatalytic activities under the irradiation of both UV and near IR light. As compared with the conventional TiO2 catalysts, the hybrid structures here offer better performance in photocatalysis in the full solar spectrum. It is anticipated that this work provides a new approach to designing photocatalysts with responses to a broader spectral range.

Considering the intermittency of typical renewable and environment-friendly energy resources, such as wind, tide, and solar energy, it is encouraging to explore all-weather utilization ones. [1] Electrochemical water splitting for hydrogen and oxygen production may overcome the challenge as an ideal sustainable system for the future. [2] Unfortunately, the high activation barriers and sluggish kinetics of hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER and OER) hindered their further applications. [3] Since HER and OER must be operated in the same electrolyte for overall water splitting, efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts, which can prevent cross-contamination, materials incompatibilities, and possible catalyst poisoning, are attracting everincreasing attentions. [4] Earth-abundant transition metal layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have been recognized as promising electrocatalysts

Herein, defective heterogeneity in a metal-organic framework pioneered a flexible tactic in generating structural heterojunctions for hydrogen evolution reaction. Competing pillared 4,4’-bipyridine ligand induced linker defects and thereby guided different...