Robust and easily retrievable Pd/Ti_3C_2T_x■graphene hydrogels for efficient catalytic hydrogenation of nitroaromatic compounds

Ti_3C_2T_x has been emerging as an attractive platform to prepare composite catalysts,and their assembly into integrated catalytic mate rials repre sents a key step forward toward practical applications.Howeve r,the swelling behavior of Ti_3C_2T_x leads to significant structure change,which challenges the stability of Ti_3C_2T_x-based integrated functional materials for catalytic applications.Here we report a facile synthesis of Pd/Ti_3C_2T_x■graphene hydrogels in which Pd/Ti_3C_2T_x are spatially encapsulated in the 3 D porous graphene framework.The porous interconnected structure not only affords efficient mass transfer and desirable functional accessibility to catalytic active sites,but also effectively buffers the swelling behavior of Ti_3C_2T_x.When applied for catalytic hydrogenation of nitroaromatic compounds,the mechanically robust Pd/Ti_3C_2T_x■graphene hydrogels exhibit efficient activities,easy separability,and good cyclability.This work is expected to promote the application of Ti_3C_2T_x-based functional materials for practical applications involving interactions with salt solutions,such as supercapacitors,catalysis,and water purification.     

花状CeO2/TiO2异质结的构筑及光催化性能

采用溶剂热法制备了三维花状CeO₂/TiO₂异质结光催化剂,然后以甲基橙(MO)为模拟有机污染物,在氙灯照射下考察了其光催化活性。结果表明,花状结构由纳米片和纳米颗粒复合而成,纳米片上均匀地附着CeO₂颗粒。Ce/Ti的物质的量之比(n_Ce/n_Ti)和溶剂热时间影响异质结的光催化性能,当n_Ce/n_Ti=0.1、溶剂热时间为6 h时,CeO₂/TiO₂的光催化活性达到最佳,氙灯照射50 min的降解率达95%,光催化活性优于纯TiO₂,这主要是CeO₂和TiO₂形成了异质结,有利于光生电子和空穴的分离。     

Acceptorless Photocatalytic Dehydrogenation of Furfuryl Alcohol (FOL) to Furfural (FAL) and Furoic Acid (FA) over Ti3C2Tx/CdS under Visible Light

Acceptorless photocatalytic dehydrogenation is not only a promising alternative to photocatalytic water splitting for hydrogen generation but also provides a green and sustainable strategy for the synthesis of value-added organic compounds. In this work, Ti₃C₂T_x/CdS nanocomposites were obtained by self-assembly of hexagonal CdS in the presence of preformed Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheets, which serves as a photocatalyst for acceptorless dehydrogenation of biomass-derived furfuryl alcohol (FOL) to furfural (FAL) and furoic acid (FA) in neutral and alkaline medium respectively, with simultaneous generation of stoichiometric hydrogen under visible light. Ti₃C₂T_x MXene acts as an efficient cocatalyst for the photocatalytic dehydrogenation of FOL over CdS, with an optimum performance achieved over 0.50 wt% Ti₃C₂T_x/CdS nanocomposite. This study provides an economic and sustainable strategy for the simultaneous valorization of biomass-derived FOL to produce FAL and FA as well as the production of clean energy hydrogen under mild condition based on noble metal-free semiconductor-based photocatalysts.     

Achieving high yield of Ti3C2Tx MXene few-layer flakes with enhanced pseudocapacior performance by decreasing precursor size

Ti₃C₂T_x, a most studied member of MXene family, shows promise as a candidate electrode for pseudocapacitor due to its electronic conductivity and hydrophilic surface. However, the unsatisfactory yield of Ti₃C₂T_x few-layer flakes significantly restricted it in real applications. Here, we proposed a simple solution to boost the yield of Ti₃C₂T_x few-layer flakes by decreasing precursor size. When using the small 500 mesh Ti₃AlC₂ powders as raw material, high yield of 65% was successfully achieved. Moreover, the as-received small flakes also exhibit an enhanced pseudocapacior performance owing to their excellent electrical conductivity, expanded interlayer space and more O content on the surface. This work not only sheds light on the cost effective mass production of Ti₃C₂T_x few-layer flakes, but also provides an efficient solution for the design of MXene electrodes with high pseudocapacior performance.     

Efficient and Sustainable in situ Photo-Fenton Reaction to Remove Phenolic Pollutants by NH2-MIL-101(Fe)/Ti3C2Tx Schottky-Heterojunctions

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with abundant active sites, a class of materials composed of metal nodes and organic ligands, is widely used for photocatalytic degradation of pollutants. However, the rapid recombination of photoinduced carriers of MOFs limits its photocatalytic degradation performance. Herein, Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheets-based NH₂-MIL-101(Fe) hybrids with Schottky-heterojunctions were fabricated by in situ hydrothermal assembly for improved photocatalytic activity. The photodegradation efficiencies of the NH₂-MIL-101(Fe)/Ti₃C₂T_x (N-M/T) hybrids for phenol and chlorophenol were 96.36 % and 99.83 % within 60 minutes, respectively. The N-M/T Schottky-heterojunction duly transferred electrons to the Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheets surface via built-in electric fields, effectively suppressing the recombination of photogenerated carriers, thereby improving the photocatalytic performance of NH₂-MIL-101(Fe). Moreover, the Fe-mixed-valence in the N-M/T led to improvement in the efficiency of the in situ generated photo-Fenton reactions, further enhancing the photocatalytic activity with more generated reactive oxygen species (ROS). The study proposes a highly effective removal of phenolic pollutants in wastewater.     

FeNi层状双氢氧化物/TiO2复合光催化剂的制备及其制氢性能

层状双氢氧化物(LDH)的光生电子-空穴对易复合,虽然纳米薄片的结构促进了载流子分离,但其光催化效率仍然较低。我们利用LDH薄片结构的优势,将FeNi LDH和TiO₂通过静电自组装复合,设计制备出新型高效的FeNi LDH/TiO₂复合光催化材料,评价了其光催化分解水产氢性能。对其结构、光催化性能和光电化学等进行了详细表征。结果表明,FeNi LDH的高比表面积、复合物的异质结结构都有利于光生电荷的转移。光催化产氢结果表明,FeNi LDH/TiO₂复合材料的产氢速率(22.6mmol·g^-1·h^-1)分别比纯TiO₂(0.1 mmol·g^-1·h^-1)和FeNi LDH(0.05 mmol·g^-1·h^-1)提高了226和452倍,表明了异质结在提高LDH光催化效率方面的重要作用。     

多级Ag/Bi/氮空位g-C3N4/Ti3C2Tx肖特基结的构筑及其全光谱催化性能

采用原位溶剂热反应制备多级 Ag/Bi/Nv-g-C₃N₄(氮空位-g-C₃N₄)/Ti₃C₂T_x肖特基结, 并对其物相组成和晶体结构、微观形貌和孔结构、表面元素组成和化学态、光学和光电化学性质进行了表征。由于 Ag、Bi和 Ti₃C₂T_x协同的表面等离激元共振效应,Ag/Bi/Nv-g-C₃N₄/Ti₃C₂T_x表现出全光谱吸收特性。由载流子浓度差驱动的界面极化电荷转移诱导形成的肖特基结, 显著提高了光生载流子(包括热电子和热空穴)的分离效率和利用率。因此, 与 Nv-g-C₃N₄、Ti₃C₂T_x、Ag/Nv-g-C₃N₄、Bi/Nv-g-C₃N₄和 Ag/Bi/Nv-g-C₃N₄相比, Ag/Bi/Nv-g-C₃N₄/Ti₃C₂T_x表现出显著增强的全光谱催化活性, 其在可见光和近红外光照射下光催化降解四环素的反应速率常数分别为 0.033和 0.008 6 min^-1, 为对比样品的 10~2.1倍和 8.6~1.8倍。     

多级Ag/Bi/氮空位g-C3N4/Ti3C2Tx肖特基结的构筑及其全光谱催化性能

采用原位溶剂热反应制备多级Ag/Bi/Nv-g-C₃N₄(氮空位-g-C₃N₄)/Ti₃C₂T_x肖特基结,并对其物相组成和晶体结构、微观形貌和孔结构、表面元素组成和化学态、光学和光电化学性质进行了表征。由于Ag、Bi和Ti₃C₂T_x协同的表面等离激元共振效应,Ag/Bi/Nv-g-C₃N₄/Ti₃C₂T_x表现出全光谱吸收特性。由载流子浓度差驱动的界面极化电荷转移诱导形成的肖特基结,显著提高了光生载流子(包括热电子和热空穴)的分离效率和利用率。因此,与Nv-g-C₃N₄、Ti₃C₂T_x、Ag/Nv-g-C₃N₄、Bi/Nv-g-C₃N₄和Ag/Bi/Nv-g-C₃N₄相比,Ag/Bi/Nv-g-C₃N₄/Ti₃C₂T_x表现出显著增强的全光谱催化活性,其在可见光和近红外光照射下光催化降解四环素的反应速率常数分别为0.033和0.008 6 min^-1,为对比样品的10~2.1倍和8.6~1.8倍。     

Novel organic/inorganic PDI-Urea/BiOBr S-scheme heterojunction for improved photocatalytic antibiotic degradation and H2O2 production

The matched energy band structure and efficient carrier separation efficiency are the keys to heterogeneous photocatalytic reactions. A novel organic/inorganic step scheme (S-scheme) heterojunction PDI-Urea/BiOBr composite photocatalyst was constructed by simple solvothermal reaction combined with in-situ growth strategy. The composite photocatalyst not only has high chemical stability, but also can generate and accumulate a large number of active species (h⁺, ^?O₂^?, ^?OH, H₂O₂). PDI-Urea/BiOBr showed higher photocatalytic activity for the degradation of antibiotic such as ofloxacin (OFLO), tetracycline (TC) and the production of H₂O₂ in the spectral range of 400–800 nm. The apparent rate constant of 15% PDI-Urea/BiOBr for photocatalytic degradation of TC (or OFLO) was 2.7 (or 2.5) times that of pure BiOBr and 1.7 (or 1.8) times that of pure PDI-Urea. The H₂O₂ evolution rate of 15% PDI-Urea/BiOBr was 2.5 times that of PDI-Urea and 1.5 times that of BiOBr, respectively. This work has formed a mature S-scheme heterojunction design thought and method, which offers new visions for the development of heterogeneous photocatalysts.     

Simultaneous Delamination and Rutile Formation on the Surface of Ti3C2Tx MXene for Copper Adsorption

In this work, we studied the formation of the rutile phase of titanium dioxide (TiO₂) on delaminated MXene (d‐Ti₃C₂T_x) flakes by the reaction of Ti₃C₂T_x with amino acids in water. Three types of amino acids with varied side‐chain polarity were used to delaminate Ti₃C₂T_x. d‐Ti₃C₂T_x flakes formed stable colloidal solutions due to the negative surface charges of chemisorbed amino acids on the d‐Ti₃C₂T_x. Rutile formed on d‐Ti₃C₂T_x at room temperature upon the intercalation of aromatic amino acids and subsequent sonication of the solution, while flakes intercalated with aliphatic amino acids did not oxidize. X‐Ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and Raman spectroscopy revealed the nanosize rutile formation on the surface of Ti₃C₂T_x flakes. The XPS results indicated the surface functionalization of histidine on d‐Ti₃C₂T_x flakes. As‐synthesized histidine functionalized rutile TiO₂@d‐Ti₃C₂T_x hybrid was used for adsorption of Cu²⁺ ions from aqueous solution with a maximum uptake of 95 mg g^?1.     

Biohybrid Organic Heterostructure Based on Chlorophyll-Bacteriochlorophyll Aggregates for Ecofriendly Hydrogen Production

Hydrogen energy is an abundant, clean, sustainable and environmentally friendly renewable energy source. Therefore, the production of hydrogen by photocatalytically splitting water on semiconductors has been considered in recent years as a promising and sustainable strategy for converting solar energy into chemical energy to replace conventional energy sources and to solve the growing problem of environmental pollution and the global energy crisis. However, highly efficient solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production remains a huge challenge due to the poor visible light response of available photocatalytic materials and the low efficiency of separation and transfer of photogenerated electron-hole pairs. In the present work, organic heterojunction structures based on bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) and chlorophyll (Chl) molecules were introduced and used for solar-driven photocatalytic hydrogen production from water under visible light. Also, noble metal-free photocatalyst was successfully constructed on Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheets by simple successive deposition of Chl and BChl, which was used for the photocatalytic splitting water to hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The results show that the optimal BChl@Chl@Ti₃C₂T_x composite has a high HER performance with 114 μmol/h/g_cat, which is much higher than the BChl@Ti₃C₂T_x and Chl@Ti₃C₂T_x composites.     

BiOBr/g-C3N4 S型异质结无H2O2光-自芬顿高效催化降解RhB

通过焙烧-超声混合法成功地制备了BiOBr/g-C₃N₄S型异质结复合光催化剂。采用多种表征手段对样品物理属性进行了表征,包括X射线多晶粉末衍射仪(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、紫外可见漫反射光谱(UV-Vis DRS)。研究了所制备样品有/无Fe³⁺的光-自芬顿催化/光催化降解罗丹明B(RhB)性能。通过捕获实验确定了光催化反应中的主要活性物种,提出了光-自芬顿反应的降解机理。研究结果表明,BiOBr/g-C₃N₄S型异质结能原位生成H₂O₂,添加Fe³⁺后,H₂O₂被原位活化成活性物种且光生电流和载流子分离效率获得显著提高。该光-自芬顿过程能高效降解RhB,其反应速率常数为0.208 min^-1,约为无Fe³⁺光催化反应速率常数的5.3倍,在光-自芬顿循环使用过程中表现出良好的稳定性。Fe...     

BiOBr/g-C3N4 S型异质结无H2O2光-自芬顿高效催化降解RhB

通过焙烧-超声混合法成功地制备了BiOBr/g-C₃N₄ S型异质结复合光催化剂。采用多种表征手段对样品物理属性进行了表征,包括X射线多晶粉末衍射仪(XRD)、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、X射线光电子能谱(XPS)、紫外可见漫反射光谱(UV-VisDRS)。研究了所制备样品有/无Fe³⁺的光-自芬顿催化/光催化降解罗丹明B (RhB)性能。通过捕获实验确定了光催化反应中的主要活性物种,提出了光-自芬顿反应的降解机理。研究结果表明,BiOBr/g-C₃N₄ S型异质结能原位生成H₂O₂,添加Fe³⁺后,H₂O₂被原位活化成活性物种且光生电流和载流子分离效率获得显著提高。该光-自芬顿过程能高效降解RhB,其反应速率常数为0.208 min^-1,约为无Fe³⁺光催化反应速率常数的5.3倍,在光-自芬顿循环使用过程中表现出良好的稳定性。Fe³⁺的加入促进了光生电荷的分离和H₂O₂的活化,超氧阴离子自由基(·O₂^-)、空穴和羟基是光-自芬顿催化过程中的主要活性物种,且·O₂^-作用更大。     

Efficient removal for multiple pollutants via Ag2O/BiOBr heterojunction: A promoted photocatalytic process by valid electron transfer pathway

Multiple pollutants including pathogenic microorganism contaminations and emerging organic contaminations (EOCs) have shown a growing threat to the environment, especially the natural waters. However, the control and removal of pathogenic microorganism contaminations and EOCs have been greatly limited since limited knowledge of their environmental behaviors. Thus, a novel and efficient photocatalyst Ag₂O/BiOBr heterojunction was synthesized and used for removal of multiple pollutants including Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), tetracycline and acetaminophen under visible light. The results showed that there were valid electron transfer pathways between BiOBr and Ag₂O, the main electron transfer direction was the BiOBr to Ag₂O. Photo-generated electrons were stored in Ag₂O and thus separation efficiency between holes and photo-generated electrons was obviously enhanced. Active oxygen species were highly produced and eventually end up with the high efficiency of removal of multiple pollutants. For Ag₂O/BiOBr with Ag₂O content at 3% (the best performance) under visible light, log decrease of E. coli was 7.16 (removal efficiency was 100%) in 120 min, log decrease of S. aureus was 7.23 (removal efficiency was 100%) in 160 min, C/C₀ of tetracycline was 0.06 in 180 min, C/C₀ of acetaminophen was 0.17 in 180 min. This work could provide a promising candidate in the actual contaminated natural waters for cleaning multiple pollutants.     

In situ decoration of CoP/Ti3C2Tx composite as efficient electrocatalyst for Li-oxygen battery

Application of Li-oxygen (Li-O₂) battery is in urgent need of bifunctional ORR/OER electrocatalyst. A surface-functionalization CoP/Ti₃C₂T_x composite was fabricated theoretically, with the optimized electronic structure and more active electron, which is beneficial to the electrochemical reaction. The accordion shaped Ti₃C₂T_x is featured with large specific surface area and outstanding electronic conductivity, which is beneficial for the adequate exposure of active sites and the deposition of Li₂O₂. Transition metal phosphides provide more electrocatalytic active sites and present good electrocatalytic effect. The CoP/Ti₃C₂T_x composite served as the electrocatalyst of Li-O₂ battery reaches a high specific discharge capacity of 17,413 mAh/g at 100 mA/g and the lower overpotential of 1.25 V, superior to those of the CoP and Ti₃C₂T_x individually. The composite of transition metal phosphides and MXene are applied in Li-O₂ battery, not only demonstrating higher cycling stability of the prepared CoP/Ti₃C₂T_x composite, but pointing out the direction for their electrochemical performance improvement.     

Photocatalytic degradation of organic dyes on visible-light responsive photocatalyst PbBiO2Br

The layered compound of lead bismuth oxybromide PbBiO₂Br, prepared by conventional solid-state reaction method, has an optical band gap of 2.3 eV, and possesses a good visible-light-response ability. The references, PbBi₂Nb₂O₉, TiO_2−xN_x, BiOBr and BiOI_0.8Cl_0.2, which are excellent visible-light-response photocatalysts, were applied to comparatively understand the activity of PbBiO₂Br. Degradation of methyl orange and methylene blue was used to evaluate photocatalytic activity. The results show that PbBiO₂Br is more photocatalytically active than PbBi₂Nb₂O₉, TiO_2−xN_x and BiOBr under visible light.     

Fast self-assembled microfibrillated cellulose@MXene film with high-performance energy storage and superior mechanical strength

The trade-off between the electrochemical performance and mechanical strength is still a challenge for Ti₃C₂T_x free-standing electrode. Herein, a facile approach was proposed to fabricate a Microfibrillated cellulose@Ti₃C₂T_x (MFC@Ti₃C₂T_x) self-assembled microgel film by means of hydrogen bonding linkage. Benefiting from the rich hydroxyl groups on the MFC, the Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheets coated on the MFC in a time scale of minutes (within 1 min) instead of hours. The ultralong 1D frame of MFC effectively mitigated the re-aggregation of Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheet. The fluffy MFC@Ti₃C₂T_x film structure and the constructed 1D/2D conducting Ti₃C₂T_x pathways in horizontal and vertical directions endowed the fast ion transport of the electrolytes and the improved accessibility to the Ti₃C₂T_x surface. As a result, the freestanding MFC@Ti₃C₂T_x microgel film delivered a high specific capacitance of 451F/g. And the rate performance was increased to 71% from the 64% of that of pristine Ti₃C₂T_x film. Furthermore, the tensile strength of MFC@Ti₃C₂T_x film was also promoted to 46.3 MPa, 3 folds of that of the pristine Ti₃C₂T_x film, due to the high strength of MFC and the hydrogen bonding effect.     

Preparation and tribological properties of potassium titanate-Ti3C2Tx nanocomposites as additives in base oil

The potassium titanate-Ti₃C₂T_x nanocomposite was successfully synthesized by a simple one-step chemical process using Ti₃C₂T_x and potassium hydroxide at room temperature. Compare to Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheets, the potassium titanate-Ti₃C₂T_x exhibits superior tribological properties.     

Bi2Ti2O7/TiO2复合纤维：原位水热合成及光催化性能

采用静电纺丝技术制备的TiO2纤维作为模板和反应物,通过原位水热合成了具有异质结构的Bi2Ti2O7/TiO2复合纤维。利用X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电镜(SEM)、能量散射光谱(EDS)、高分辨透射电镜(HRTEM)和紫外可见吸收光谱(UV-Vis)等分析测试手段对样品的结构和形貌进行表征。以罗丹明B为模拟有机污染物进行光催化降解实验。结果表明:花状Bi2Ti2O7纳米结构均匀地生长在TiO2纤维上,制备了Bi2Ti2O7与TiO2相复合的光催化材料,其光谱响应范围拓宽至可见光区,与纯TiO2纤维相比可见光催化活性显著提高,且易于分离、回收和循环使用。初步探讨了Bi2Ti2O7/TiO2异质结的生长机制和光催化活性提高机理。     

A Hybrid Assembly of MXene with NH2−Si Nanoparticles Boosting Lithium Storage Performance

A facile hybrid assembly between Ti₃C₂T_x MXene nanosheets and (3‐aminopropyl) triethoxylsilane‐modified Si nanoparticles (NH₂?Si NPs) was developed to construct multilayer stacking of Ti₃C₂T_x nanosheets with NH₂?Si NPs assembling together (NH₂?Si/Ti₃C₂T_x). NH₂?Si/Ti₃C₂T_x exhibits a significantly enhanced lithium storage performance compared to pristine Si, which is attributed to the robust crosslinking architecture and considerably improved electrical conductivity as well as shorter Li⁺ diffusion pathways. The optimized NH₂?Si/Ti₃C₂T_x anode with Ti₃C₂T_x: NH₂?Si mass ratio of 4 : 1 displays an enhanced capacity (864 mAh g^?1 at 0.1 C) with robust capacity retention, which is significantly higher than those of NH₂?Si NPs and Ti₃C₂T_x anodes. Furthermore, this work demonstrates the important effect of the MXene‐based electrode architecture on the electrochemical performance and can guide future work on designing high‐performance Si/MXene hybrids for energy storage applications.