To address the serious capacity fading in lithium–sulfur batteries, a 3D ferroconcrete‐like aminated carbon nanotubes network with polyaniline coating as an effective sulfur host to contain polysulfide dissolution is presented here. In this composite, the cross‐linked aminated carbon nanotubes framework provides a fast charge transport pathway and enhancement in the reaction kinetics of the active material to greatly improve the rate capability and sulfur utilization. The ethylenediamine moieties provide strong adhesion of polar discharge products to nonpolar carbon surfaces and thus efficiently prevent polysulfide dissolution to improve the cycle stability, confirmed by density functional theory calculations. The outside polyaniline layers structurally restrain polysulfides to prevent the shuttle effect and active material loss. Benefiting from these advantages, the synthesized composite exhibits a high initial capacity of 1215 mAh g−1 and a capacity of 975 mAh g−1 after 200 cycles at 0.2 C. Even after 200 cycles at 0.5 C, a capacity of 735 mAh g−1 can be maintained, among the best performance reported. The strategy in this work can shed some light on modifying nonpolar carbon surfaces via the amination process to chemically attach sulfur species for high‐performance lithium–sulfur batteries.

BiVO4 nanoparticles in the 3DOM TiO2 inverse opal structure act as a sensitizer to absorb visible light and to transfer efficiently high energy electrons to TiO2 to ensure long lifetime of photogenerated charges and keep them well separated, explaining the extraordinarily high photocatalytic performance of 3DOM BiVO4/TiO2 nanocomposites.

2D ZnO mesoporous singlecrystal nanosheets with exposed {0001} polar facets for the depollution of cationic dye molecules by highly selective adsorption and photocatalytic decomposition, Applied Catalysis B, Environmental http://dx.Keywords: 2D ZnO mesoporous single-crystal nanosheets; polar facets; photocatalytic activity and selectivity; organic molecules; colloidal templating approach 2 Graphical abstract 3 Highlights ► 2D ZnO mesoporous single-crystal nanosheets (ZnO-MSN) are prepared via an intriguing colloidal templating approach. ► 2D ZnO-MSN has exposed {0001} polar facets. ► Controlling the infiltration speed of the suspension of EG-capped ZnO nanoparticles and polymer colloids is crucial. ► 2D ZnO-MSN demonstrates preferential selective adsorption and photocatalytic degradation for positively charged rhodamine B. AbstractTwo dimensional (2D) ZnO nanosheets are ideal system for dimensionally confined transport phenomenon investigation owing to specific surface atomic configuration. Therefore, 2D ZnO porous nanosheets with single-crystal nature and {0001} polar facets, likely display some specific physicochemical properties. In this work, for the first time, 2DZnO mesoporous single-crystal nanosheets (ZnO-MSN) with {0001} polar facets have been designed and prepared via an intriguing colloidal templating approach through controlling the infiltration speed for the suspension of EG-capped ZnO nanoparticles and polymer colloids.The EG-capped ZnO nanoparticles are very helpful for single-crystal nanosheet formation, while the polymer colloids play dual roles on the mesoporosity generation and {0001} polar 4 facets formation within the mesopores. Such special 2D structure not only accelerates the hole-electron separation and the electron transportation owing to the single-crystal nature, but also enhances the selective adsorption of organic molecules owing to the porous structure and the exposed {0001} polar facets with more O-termination (000-1) surfaces: the 2D ZnO-MSN shows highly selective adsorption and significantly higher photodegradation for positively charged rhodamine B than those for negatively charged methyl orange and neutral phenol, comparing with ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO-NP) and ZnO commercial nanoparticles (ZnO-CNP) with high surface areas. This work may shed some light on better understanding the synthesis of 2D porous single-crystal nanosheet with exposed polar surfaces and photocatalytic mechanism of nanostructured semiconductors in a mixed organic molecules system.

Hybrid nanofibrous membranes of poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) and chitosan with different chitosan amounts (32.3, 62.7, and 86.5%) were fabricated via a specially designed electrospinning setup consisting of two sets of separate syringe pumps and power supplies. After soaking in chloroform overnight to dissolve PLGA, the amount of chitosan in the hybrid membranes was determined. The structure, mechanical properties, water uptake, and cytocompatibilities of the nanofibrous membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, tensile testing, incubation in phosphate buffer solution, and human embryo skin fibroblasts culturing. Results showed that the chitosan amount in PLGA/chitosan membranes could be well controlled by adjusting the number of syringe for electrospinning of PLGA or chitosan, respectively. Because of the introduction of chitosan, which is a naturally hydrophilic polymer, the hybrid PLGA/chitosan membranes after chitosan crosslinking exhibited good mechanical and water absorption properties. The cytocompatibility of hybrid PLGA/chitosan membranes was better than that of the electrospun PLGA membrane. The electrospun hybrid nanofibrous membranes of PLGA and chitosan appear to be promising for skin tissue engineering. The concept of using an electrospinning array to form multicomponent nanofibrous membranes will lead to the creation of novel scaffolds for tissue engineering applications.

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