Ru nanoparticles deposited on a conductive support indium tin oxide (Ru/ITO) were applied as a carbon-free cathode in a nonaqueous Li-O2 battery. The Li-O2 battery with Ru/ITO showed much lower charging overpotentials and better cycling performance at 0.15 mA/cm(2) than those with Super P (SP) and SP loaded with Ru nanoparticles (Ru/SP) as the cathodes. The carbon-free cathode Ru/ITO can effectively reduce formation of Li2CO3 or other Li carbonates in a discharging process, which cannot be completely decomposed upon charging, in comparison with the carbon based cathode. The improved performance of Ru/ITO can be attributed to the superior catalytic activity of Ru nanoparticles toward oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the absence of carbon that has been reported to react with Li2O2 to form Li2CO3.

Nanofabrication is playing an ever increasing role in science and technology on the nanometer scale and will soon allow us to build systems of the same complexity as found in nature. Conventional methods that emerged from microelectronics are now used for the fabrication of structures for integrated circuits, microelectro-mechanical systems, microoptics and microanalytical devices. Nonconventional or alternative approaches have changed the way we pattern very fine structures and have brought about a new appreciation of simple and low-cost techniques. We present an overview of some of these methods, paying particular attention to those which enable large-scale production of lithographic patterns. We preface the review with a brief primer on lithography and pattern transfer concepts. After reviewing the various patterning techniques, we discuss some recent application issues in the fields of microelectronics, optoelectronics, magnetism as well as in biology and biochemistry.

Black phosphorus (BP) has recently drawn attention in photocatalysis for its optical properties. However, limited by the rapid recombination of photogenerated carriers, the use of BP for photocatalytic water splitting still remains a huge challenge. Herein, we prepare a black/red phosphorus (BP/RP) hetero‐phase junction photocatalyst by a wet‐chemistry method to promote the interfacial charge separation and thus achieve Z‐scheme photocatalytic water splitting without using sacrificial agents. The Z‐scheme mechanism was confirmed by time‐resolved transient absorption spectroscopy. This work provides a novel insight into the interface design of hetero‐phase junction with atomic precision.