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We present the synthesis and visible-light-induced catalytic activity of Ag(2)S-coupled TiO(2) nanoparticles (NPs) and TiO(2) nanowires (NWs). Through a simple wet chemical process from a mixture of peroxo titanic acid (PTA) solution, thiourea and AgAc, a composite of Ag(2)S NPs and TiO(2) NPs with sizes of less than 7 nm was formed. When the NP composite was further treated with NaOH solution followed by annealing at ambient conditions, a new nanocomposite material comprising Ag(2)S NPs on TiO(2) NWs was created. Due to the coupling with such a low bandgap material as Ag(2)S, the TiO(2) nanocomposites could have a visible-light absorption capability much higher than that of pure TiO(2). As a result, the synthesized Ag(2)S/TiO(2) nanocomposites exhibited much higher catalytic efficiency for the decomposition of methyl orange than commercial TiO(2) (Degussa P25, Germany) under visible light.

A series of novel wurtzite cadmium sulfide (CdS) hyperbranched structures, including dendrites, multipetal flowers, and multipods, were controllably synthesized by a N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF) assisted hydrothermal route. CdS micro/nanostructures of a certain morphology could be selectively produced by only varying the concentration of DMF in the reaction system. The crystal structure, compositional information, and morphological structures were carefully characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS), field emission scanning electronic microscopy (FESEM), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM), and selected area electronic diffraction (SAED). On the basis of the characterization, we propose a formation mechanism of the hyperbranched CdS crystals. This route provides a facile strategy to fabricate complex hierarchical CdS structures.

We present a novel multifunctional magnetic Ag nanoshell with sandwichlike nanostructure, which is composed of a yolk−egg-like magnetic silica core and a continuous Ag nanoshell coating. First, yolk−egg-like magnetic silica was prepared by a facile one-step sol−gel method to embed the magnetic nanoparticles at the boundary between inner silica spherical core and outer silica shell. Then Ag nanoshells were coated by electroless plating method, forming a multiplayer sandwichlike nanostructure. The plasmon resonance peaks can shift across a wide wavelength range by tuning the Ag shell coverage and thickness. The magnetic Ag nanoshells fuse the broad NIR absorption property and superparamagnetic property into one particle, possessing promising biomedical applications such as magnetic-field targeted photothermal therapy agents and multimodal molecular probes.

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