Porous Tantalum Nitride Single Crystal at Two‐Centimeter Scale with Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Performance

Porous tantalum nitride (Ta₃N₅) single crystals, combining structural coherence and porous microstructure, would substantially improve the photoelectrochemical performance. The structural coherence would reduce the recombination of charge carriers and maintain excellent transport properties while the porous microstructure would not only reduce photon scattering but also facilitate surface reactions. Here, we grow bulk‐porous Ta₃N₅ single crystals on a two‐centimeter scale with (002), (023), and (041) facets, respectively, and show significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical performance. We show the preferential facet growth of porous crystals in a lattice reconstruction strategy in relation to lattice match and lattice channel. We present the facet engineering to enhance light absorption, exciton lifetime and transport properties. The porous Ta₃N₅ single crystal boosts photoelectrochemical oxidation of alcohols with the (002) facet showing the highest performance of >99 % alcohol conversion and >99 % aldehyde/ketone selectivity.     

Twisted Surfaces in Porous Single Crystals to Deliver Enhanced Catalytic Activity and Stability

Porous single crystals which combine ordered lattice structures and disordered inter‐connected pores would provide an alternative to create twisted surface in porous microstructures. Now, transition‐metal nitride Nb₄N₅ and MoN single crystals are grown on a 2 cm scale to create well‐defined active structures at twisted surfaces. High catalytic activity and stability toward non‐oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane to ethylene is observed. Unsaturated metal–nitrogen coordination structures including Nb‐N_1/5, Nb‐N_2/5, Mo‐N_1/3, and Mo‐N_1/6 at the twisted surface mainly account for the C?H activation with chemisorption of H in molecular ethane at the twisted surface, which not only improves dehydrogenation performance but also avoids the deep cracking of ethane to enhance coking resistance. 11–25 % ethane conversion and 98–99 % ethylene selectivity is demonstrated without degradation being observed even after the operation of 50 hours.     

C=C π Bond Modified Graphitic Carbon Nitride Films for Enhanced Photoelectrochemical Cell Performance

Applications of graphitic carbon nitride (g‐CN) in photoelectrochemical and optoelectronic devices are still hindered due to the difficulties in synthesis of g‐CN films with tunable chemical, physical and catalytic properties. Herein we present a general method to alter the electronic and photoelectrochemical properties of g‐CN films by annealing. We found that N atoms can be removed from the g‐CN networks after annealing treatment. Assisted by theoretical calculations, we confirm that upon appropriate N removal, the adjacent C atoms will form new C=C π bonds. Detailed calculations demonstrate that the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) are located at the structure unit with C=C π bonds and the electrons are more delocalized. Valence band X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy spectra together with optical absorption spectra unveil that the structure changes result in the alteration of the g‐CN energy levels and position of band edges. Our results show that the photocurrent density of the annealed g‐CN film is doubled compared with the pristine one, thanks to the better charge separation and transport within the film induced by the new C=C π bonds. An ultrathin TiO₂ film (2.2 nm) is further deposited on the g‐CN film as stabilizer and the photocurrent density is kept at 0.05 mA cm⁻² at 1.23 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode after two‐cycle stability assessment. This work enables the applications of g‐CN films in many electronic and optoelectronic devices.     

电化学沉积法制备CeO2@Ag@CdSe纳米管阵列及其光电化学性能研究

首次通过高效电化学沉积法在FTO导电玻璃上成功合成三元复合材料CeO₂@Ag@CdSe纳米管阵列.在该体系中,银纳米粒子能够在表面等离子体效应下增强光吸收性能,而且能够提供一个内部通道促进光生载流子的转移与分离.CeO₂@Ag@CdSe纳米棒阵列在偏压为-0.2 V（vs.Ag/AgCl）时,能够产生较高的光生电流3.92 mA·cm^-2,该光生电流密度比双组分系统CeO₂@CdSe（0.802 mA·cm^-2）高4.9倍.该三元材料在360 nm单色光下的光电转换效率高达72%,且该光电极在连续测试16 min后仍能保持其光稳定性能.     

High-Temperature Magnesiothermic Reduction Enables HF-Free Synthesis of Porous Silicon with Enhanced Performance as Lithium-Ion Battery Anode

Porous silicon-based anode materials have gained much interest because the porous structure can effectively accommodate volume changes and release mechanical stress, leading to improved cycling performance. Magnesiothermic reduction has emerged as an effective way to convert silica into porous silicon with a good electrochemical performance. However, corrosive HF etching is normally a mandatory step to improve the electrochemical performance of the as-synthesized silicon, which significantly increases the safety risk. This has become one of the major issues that impedes practical application of the magnesiothermic reduction synthesis of the porous silicon anode. Here, a facile HF-free method is reported to synthesize macro-/mesoporous silicon with good cyclic and rate performance by simply increasing the reduction temperature from 700 °C to 800 °C and 900 °C. The mechanism for the structure change resulting from the increased temperature is elaborated. A finite element simulation indicated that the 3D continuous structure formed by the magnesiothermic reduction at 800 °C and 900 °C could undertake the mechanical stress effectively and was responsible for an improved cyclic stability compared to the silicon synthesized at 700 °C.     

Crack‐Free Periodic Porous Thin Films Assisted by Plasma Irradiation at Low Temperature and Their Enhanced Gas‐Sensing Performance

Homogenous thin films are preferable for high‐performance gas sensors because of their remarkable reproducibility and long‐term stability. In this work, a low‐temperature fabrication route is presented to prepare crack‐free and homogenous metal oxide periodic porous thin films by oxygen plasma irradiation instead of high temperature annealing by using a sacrificial colloidal template. Rutile SnO₂ is taken as an example to demonstrate the validity of this route. The crack‐free and homogenous porous thin films are successfully synthesized on the substrates in situ with electrodes. The SnO₂ porous thin film obtained by plasma irradiation is rich in surface OH groups and hence superhydrophilic. It exhibits a more homogenous structure and lower resistance than porous films generated by annealing. More importantly, such thin films display higher sensitivity, a lower detection threshold (100 ppb to acetone) and better durability than those that have been directly annealed, resulting in enhanced gas‐sensing performance. The presented method could be applied to synthesize other metal oxide homogenous thin films and to fabricate gas‐sensing devices with high performances.