ZnS nanowires/Cu7S4 nanoparticles/rGO nanocomposites were fabricated as photocatalysts and supercapacitor electrodes for the first time.

Zinc sulfur quantum dots-reduced graphene oxide (ZnS QDs-rGO) composites are successfully synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method. The ZnS QDs are well scattered on the surface of the wrinkled rGO with smaller particle size compared with initial ZnS QDs. The influence of the content of rGO in composites on the photocatalytic effect is also investigated in detail. The ZnS QDs-1.0% rGO has the highest photocatalytic activity and the degradation kinetics of methylene blue is more consistent with the zero order kinetic model than the pseudo first order kinetic model in this experiment. The mechanism for the enhancement of photocatalytic activity is mainly due to promoting separation of the photogenerated carriers with the introduction of rGO and the increase in specific surface area of ZnS QDs due to decrease in size. These results reveal that the effective synergistic action between ZnS QDs and rGO is the key factor to determine the photocatalytic degradation efficiency of the ZnS QDs-rGO composites.

Two-dimensional thin tellurene (Te) was effectively synthesized by a one-pot hydrothermal reduction process. It had the hexagonal phase with good crystallization, the extent of radiation absorption (400-850 nm), and a 1.37 eV band gap. Based on the evolution of the crystal structure and morphology, the formation mechanism of Te nanomaterials has been speculated by the time-dependent reactions as the nucleation of nanosized clusters first, then self-assembly into uniform nanowires, and, finally, formation into the nanosheets in the presence of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). It is expected that thin Te nanosheets can further be used in the field of photoelectric applications.