A cylindrical piece of Au/graphene hydrogel, 1.08 cm in diameter and 1.28 cm in height, has been synthesized through the self-assembly of Au/graphene sheets under hydrothermal conditions for the first time. The hydrogel, containing 2.26 wt% Au, 6.94 wt% graphene, and 90.8 wt% water, exhibited excellent catalytic performance towards the reduction of 4-nitrophenol (4-NP) to 4-aminophenol (4-AP), which is about 90 times larger than previously reported values for spongy Au nanoparticles and 14 times more than the highest value among the polymer supported Au nanoparticle catalysts. The high catalytic activity arises from the synergistic effect of graphene: (1) the high adsorption ability of graphene towards 4-NP, providing a high concentration of 4-NP near to the Au nanoparticles on graphene; and (2) electron transfer from graphene to Au nanoparticles, facilitating the uptake of electrons by 4-NP molecules.

Binary metal oxides with three-dimensional (3D) superstructure have been regarded as desirable electrode materials for the supercapacitor due to the combination of the improved electrical conductivity and effective porous structure. 3D hierarchical flower-shaped nickel cobaltite (NiCo2O4) microspheres have been fabricated by a rapid and template-free microwave-assisted heating (MAH) reflux approach followed by pyrolysis of the as-prepared precursors. The flower-shaped NiCo2O4 microspheres, composed of ultrathin nanopetals with thickness of about 15 nm, are endowed with large specific surface area (148.5 m(2) g(-1)) and a narrow pore size distribution (5-10 nm). The as-fabricated porous flower-shaped NiCo2O4 microspheres as electrode materials for supercapacitor exhibited high specific capacitance of 1006 F g(-1) at 1 A g(-1), enhanced rate capability, and excellent electrochemical stability with 93.2% retention after 1000 continuous charge-discharge (CD) cycles even at a high current density of 8 A g(-1). The desirable integrated performance enables it to be a promising electrode material for the electrochemical supercapacitor (EC).

A highly ordered TiO2 nanotube array on Ti substrate was fabricated by using an electrochemical anodic oxidation method. The morphology, crystalline phase, and photoelectrochemical property of the nanotube array were characterized. The photocatalytic activity of the nanotube array was evaluated by the decolorization of methyl orange in aqueous solution using the different light sources. The effects of structure and morphology of the nanotube array on its photocatalytic activity were investigated. It was found that the photoabsorption behavior of the TiO2 nanotube film depended on the structures of the nanotube array. The nanotube array films exhibited a drastically enhanced photocurrent, and a higher photocatalytic activity compared with the TiO2 nanoparticle film prepared by the regular sol-gel method. The experimental results indicated that the film thickness markedly influenced the photocatalytic activity of nanotube array film, and the 2.5 microm-thick TiO2 nanotube array film appeared a maximum photodegradation efficiency to methyl orange. However, for a given nanotube length, the tube diameter was only very slightly affected the photocatalytic efficiency in this work. The explanation for some critical structure factors of TiO2 nanotube array in the photocatalytic activity was discussed as well.

Many electrocatalysts can efficiently convert CO2 to CO. However, the further conversion of CO to higher-value products was hindered by the low activity of the CO reduction reaction and the consequent lack of mechanistic insights for designing better catalysts. A flow-type reactor could potentially improve the reaction rate of CO reduction. However, the currently available configurations would pose great challenges in reaction mechanism understanding due to their complex nature and/or lack of precise potential control. Here we report, in a standard electrochemical cell with a three-electrode setup, a supported bulk polycrystalline copper powder electrode reduces CO to hydrocarbons and multicarbon oxygenates with dramatically increased activities of more than 100 mA cm–2 and selectivities of more than 80%. The high activity and selectivity that was achieved demonstrates the practical feasibility of electrochemical CO or CO2 (with a tandem strategy) conversion and enables the experimental exploration of the CO reduction mechanism to further reduced products.