Advanced strategies for controlling three-phase boundaries in photocatalysis
This review highlights the crucial role of TPBs in enhancing photocatalytic efficiency for nitrogen, oxygen, and water reduction. It covers recent progress, challenges, and future directions to optimize TPBs for sustainable energy technologies.
Communication
Single gold nanowires with ultrahigh (>104) aspect ratios by triphasic electrodeposition
We introduce a new fabrication concept (triphasic electrodeposition), forming single gold nanowires with unprecedented aspect ratios and spatial control.
Metal oxide plating for maximizing the performance of ruthenium(IV) oxide-catalyzed electrochemical oxygen evolution reaction
TiO2 nanowire array anode coated by a uniform single-crystalline RuO2 film with a thickness of ∼2.5 nm produced O2 from water with an efficiency of ∼100% and a mass specific activity of 341 A gcat−1 at 1.50 V (vs. RHE).
Bi-doped ruthenium oxide nanocrystal for water oxidation in acidic media
Bi atoms were introduced into rutile RuO2 (i.e., Bi0.05Ru0.95O2) for enhancing its catalytic activity and stability toward the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with a low overpotential (203.5 mV at 10 mA cm−2) and excellent stability.
Paper
Machine learning-guided discovery of gas evolving electrode bubble inactivation
Experimental interrogation unveils that as much as 75% of the area underneath bubbles is electrochemically active. A simple method for estimating the degree of electrode inactivation due to bubbles is demonstrated.
A self-powered droplet sensor based on a triboelectric nanogenerator toward the concentration of green tea polyphenols
We developed a simple, three-layered and self-powered liquid droplet sensor based on a triboelectric nanogenerator. The current sensitivity of the self- powered sensor reaches −40.12 μA mg mL−1, and the voltage sensitivity reaches −0.195 V μg mL−1.
About this collection
Concerns about global warming from fossil fuels and high oil prices are driving up demand for renewable energy, including wind or solar powers, which currently generates about one-fifth of the electricity used worldwide and is continuously growing. Owing to the intermittent characteristic of distributed renewable energy such as wind power and photovoltaic cell, electricity powered production including hydrogen production, is put forward as the strategy of energy carrier and suppressing the power fluctuations, which lead to the demands for designing better electrode with higher stability and efficiency.
Biomimetic surfaces, which generally show regular micro/nanostructures, offer new insights to address this issue because the intrinsic activity can determine the electrocatalytic behaviours at low overpotentials near the onset, but management on bubbles have a significant influence on the slope under high overpotential where diffusion and mass transfer are more important. Although a series of nanoarray-based structured electrodes have been constructed and demonstrated with excellent performances for gas-involving electrochemical reactions, understanding of bubble wetting behaviour remains elusive. The design of nature-inspired superwetting surface topography for unique functions will spur new thinking and provide paradigm shift in the development of next-generation of new materials and devices, and dramatically extend the boundaries of renewable energy.
This themed collection in Nanoscale is guest edited by ProfessorsZuankai Wang (The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong), Alex Bell (University of California, Berkeley, USA), Alberto Vomiero (Luleå University of Technology, Sweden) and Xiaoming Sun (Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China), and collates some of the latest research focusing on fundamental understanding and practical applications of superwetting nanoelectrodes.