A Ni 3 S 2 nanorods/Ni foam composite electrode is prepared as a highperformance catalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), which exhibits excellent OER activity with a small overpotential of $157 mV based on the onset of catalytic current.

One-dimensional TiO2 nanostructured surface heterostructures (1D TiO2NSHs) have been comprehensively studied during the past two decades because of the possible practical applications in various fields, including photocatalysis, dye-sensitized solar cells, sensors, lithium batteries, biomedicine, catalysis, and supercapacitors. Combining extensive advancements in materials science and nanotechnology, a 1D TiO2NSH material with well-controlled size, morphology, and composition has been designed and synthesized. More importantly, its superior properties, including a high aspect ratio structure, chemical stability, large specific surface area, excellent electronic or ionic charge transfer, and a specific interface effect, have attracted a great deal of interest in improving current performance and exploring new applications. In this tutorial review, we introduce the characteristics of 1D TiO2 nanostructures, the design principles for the fabrication of 1D TiO2NSHs, and we also summarize the recent progress in developing synthesis methods and applications of 1D TiO2NSHs in different fields. The relationship between the secondary phase and the 1D TiO2 nanostructure and between the performance in applications and the excellent physical properties of 1D TiO2NSHs are also discussed.

Near-infrared active photocatalytic properties of Bi2 WO6 nanosheets owing to the oxygen vacancies of the Bi2 WO6 nanosheets are reported. The broad spectrum photocatalyst, Bi2 WO6 -TiO2 nanobelt heterostructures, are obtained by assembling Bi2 WO6 nanocrystals on TiO2 nanobelts. The active light band of the novel hybrid photocatalyst with high photocatalytic activity covers full-spectrum solar light including the UV, visible, and near-infrared ranges.

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Renewable, cost-effective and eco-friendly electrode materials have attracted much attention in the energy conversion and storage fields. Bagasse, the waste product from sugarcane that mainly contains cellulose derivatives, can be a promising candidate to manufacture supercapacitor electrode materials. This study demonstrates the fabrication and characterization of highly porous carbon aerogels by using bagasse as a raw material. Macro and mesoporous carbon was first prepared by carbonizing the freeze-dried bagasse aerogel; consequently, microporous structure was created on the walls of the mesoporous carbon by chemical activation. Interestingly, it was observed that the specific surface area, the pore size and distribution of the hierarchical porous carbon were affected by the activation temperature. In order to evaluate the ability of the hierarchical porous carbon towards the supercapacitor electrode performance, solid state symmetric supercapacitors were assembled, and a comparable high specific capacitance of 142.1 F g(-1) at a discharge current density of 0.5 A g(-1) was demonstrated. The fabricated solid state supercapacitor displayed excellent capacitance retention of 93.9% over 5000 cycles. The high energy storage ability of the hierarchical porous carbon was attributed to the specially designed pore structures, i.e., co-existence of the micropores and mesopores. This research has demonstrated that utilization of sustainable biopolymers as the raw materials for high performance supercapacitor electrode materials is an effective way to fabricate low-cost energy storage devices.