Coral-like BaTiO 3 nanostructures have been successfully synthesized via a simple hydrothermal route at 150 °C for 15 h, employing BaCl 2 , tetrabutyltitanate [(C 4 H 9 O) 4 Ti] and NaOH as original reactants without the assistance of any surfactant or template. The phase of the as-obtained BaTiO 3 was characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). Energy dispersive spectrometry (EDS), scanning 10 electron microscopy (SEM) and (high-resolution) transmission electron microscopy (TEM/HRTEM) were employed for the composition and morphology analyses of the final product. Some factors influencing the formation of coral-like BaTiO 3 nanostructures were investigated, including the amount of original NaOH, the barium ion source, and the reaction temperature and time. Experiments showed that the as-prepared coral-like BaTiO 3 nanostructures presented good photocatalytic activity for the 15 degradation of methyl orange (MO) dye under the irradiation of the mimic sunlight. It was found that the photocatalytic activity of coral-like BaTiO 3 nanostructures could be affected by the pH value of the system.

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Hollow NiCo2O4 flowerlike microstructures with good electrochemical performance were successfully prepared through a fast microwave-assisted hydrothermal route and sequential pyrolysis.