Porphyrin-based conjugated organic polymer with dual metal sites for highly active and selective visible-light-driven reduction of CO2 to CO.

A porphyrin-based conjugated organic polymer (COP) was constructed from 5,10,15,20-tetrakis(4-bromophenyl)porphyrin copper (CuTBPP) and 5,5'-bis-ethynyl-2,2'-bipyridine (BPY) via Sonogashira coupling. Its complex Co/CuTBPP-BPY-COP (with dual metal sites composed of copper porphyrin and a cobalt BPY unit) was prepared by coordination with Co2+. All of the prepared CuTBPP-BPY-COP and Co/CuTBPP-BPY-COP compounds exhibited excellent photocatalytic performance toward CO2 reduction under visible-light irradiation without another sacrificial reagent but only H2O. Co/CuTBPP-BPY-COP (dual metal sites) exhibited better photocatalytic activity than CuTBPP-BPY-COP (a single metal site). Co/CuTBPP-BPY-COP retained a higher photocatalysis capacity for CO2 reduction after 10 consecutive cycles. The total quantity of CO product was 263.2 µmol g-1 after 10 h of irradiation. Theoretical studies indicate that introducing Co metal centers and nitro groups are more favorable for the photoreduction catalysis of CO2 compared with that using CuTBPP-BPY-COP.

Core-shell GaP@C nanoparticles with a thin and uniform carbon coating as a promising anode material for rechargeable lithium-ion batteries.

Transition metal phosphides are used as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries because of their high theoretical capacity and low polarization. In this work, a core-shell GaP@C nanocomposite was successfully synthesized by a simple chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method, utilizing commercial GaP as the raw material and xylene as the carbon source. The uniform thin carbon shell could alleviate the volumetric variation and improve the conductivity of the inner GaP. When used as an anode in lithium-ion batteries, the GaP@C nanocomposite has a capacity of 812 mA h g-1 at a current density of 0.5 A g-1 after 100 cycles. At a high current density of 2 A g-1, the GaP@C anode delivers a good capacity value of 1087 mA h g-1.

Bagasse as a carbon structure with high sulfur content for lithium-sulfur batteries.

A bagasse-based 3D carbon matrix (BC) with high specific surface area and high conductivity was obtained by carbonization and pore-forming processes with bagasse as the carbon precursor and K2FeO4 as the pore-former. The microporous structure and nitrogenous functional groups were determined in the prepared carbon matrix, which could allow high sulfur loading and improve the polysulfide absorption capacity during cycling. After sulfur infusion, the S/BC composite with 68.8% sulfur content was obtained. The lithium-sulfur (Li-S) battery with the S/BC cathode shows high specific capacity and good cycling performance. It delivers a specific capacity of 1360 mA h g-1 at 0.2C and remains at 790 mA h g-1 after 200 cycles. At 1C, the Li-S with this composite cathode exhibits 601 mA h g-1 after 150 cycles. This work offers a new kind of green material and a new method for Li-S batteries.

Highly sensitive WO3 hollow-sphere gas sensors.

In this paper, we describe how WO(3) hollow spheres have been synthesized in solution phase by the controlled hydrolysis of WCl(6) using novel carbon microspheres as the templates. All of the products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), scanning electronic microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The as-synthesized spheres had large diameters of about 400 nm and thin shells of about 30 nm composed of numerous small nanocrystals. Prompted by the porous structure and small crystal size of the shell wall, we constructed WO(3) hollow-sphere gas sensors and found that these sensors had good sensitivity to alcohol, acetone, CS(2), and other organic gases.