Search

In recent years, materials with extraordinary hollow structures have been widely studied because of their enormous potential in many research fields such as in advanced energy conversion and storage. The design and synthesis of an innovative hollow structure via a facile method is the key to enhance the performance of advanced energy materials in various applications. In this study, we report novel hollow passion fruit-like Bi@BiFe-glycolate microspheres (3.5 μm), which are constructed using BiFe-glycolate nanosheets and Bi nanospheres. They are designed and synthesized via a facile one-pot solvothermal method, and a mechanism of “spit and swallow” process is presented to describe the reaction. Moreover, the Bi2O3/BiFeO3 photocatalyst obtained by annealing the Bi@BiFe-glycolate precursors under an air atmosphere exhibits enhanced photocatalytic activity and cycling stability under visible light irradiation due to its special morphology and band structure. The photocatalyst can also be recycled conveniently owing to its magnetic properties. In general, this study focuses on both nanomaterial synthetic methods and photocatalytic performance improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report an environmentally friendly hydrothermal method assisted by inorganic salt for controlling the shape of CdS nanostructure. First, we make aqueous solution of NaCl to fabricate CdS via a hydrothermal reaction at 160 °C, 12 h. Afterward, the outcomes of CdS change from nanosphere to hierarchically flower-like structure, with a higher concentration of NaCl solution. Further investigation reveals improved stability of flower-like CdS photocatalyst for water treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Correction for ‘Novel formation of Bi@BiFe-glycolate hollow spheres and their conversion into Bi2O3/BiFeO3 composite hollow spheres with enhanced activity and durability in visible photocatalysis’ by Xu Yang et al., New J. Chem., 2018, 42, 10697–10703. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The degradation of sodium alginate by human gut microbiota was found to be retarded via calcium cross-linking in our previous study. We hypothesized that the guluronic acid block (GB) on the alginate molecule might be the key structural region affecting alginate degradation by the gut microbiota when cross-linked with calcium. This study aims to prove this hypothesis by studying the structural features of the cross-linked GB on its in vitro fecal fermentation behaviors concerning the aspects of total carbohydrate contents, monosaccharide contents, short-chain fatty acids production, calcium state variations, and structural variations. Herein, GB isolated from sodium alginate was cross-linked under ranges of molar ratios of [Ca 2+ ]/[-COOH] that further restricted the degradation by gut microbiota similar to the cross-linked alginates. First, total carbohydrate contents, short-chain fatty acids production, monosaccharides contents, and calcium state analyses confirmed that the degradation of GB by gut microbiota was restricted by calcium cross-linking. Furthermore, the tracking analysis of structural variations during in vitro fermentation revealed that the "granules" structure could further restrict degradation by the gut microbiota, leaving more cross-linked GB fragments surviving in comparison to the "networks" structure. In addition, Bacteroides xylanisolvens showed a significant positive correlation to the "cross-linking porosity ( R = 0.825, p < 0.001), which supported our previous findings on fermentation behaviors of cross-linked alginate. Together, guluronic acid blocks are the key structural regions that retard the degradation of sodium alginate by the gut microbiota when cross-linked with calcium.