Photocatalytic conversion efficiency is limited by serious charge carrier recombination. Efficient carrier separation is usually achieved by elegantly-designed multi-component structures connected by directional electric field. Herein, we developed a twodimensional(2 D) sandwich structure, as a new photocatalytic system, to realize high-efficiency carrier separation. This strategy integrated multifunction into a single structure for the first time, which successfully introduces a stable built-in electric field,realizing high-effective carrier separation. Besides, the carrier concentration is dramatically increased due to dimensional confinement. Benefiting from above synergic advantages, 2 D sandwich photocatalyst achieves the highest nitrogen fixation rate(435 μmol g^(-1) h^(-1)) in inorganic solid photocatalysts under visible light irradiation. We anticipate that 2 D sandwich photocatalyst holds promises for the application and expansion of 2 D materials in photocatalysis research.
The local structures and optical absorption characteristics of Fe doped TiO2 nanoparticles synthesized by the sol-gel method were characterized by X-ray diffraction （XRD）, X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy （XAFS） and ultraviolet-visible absorption spectroscopy （UV-Vis）. XRD patterns show that all Fe-doped TiO2 samples have the characteristic anatase structure. Accurate Fe and Ti K-edge EXAFS analysis further reveal that all Fe atoms replace Ti atoms in the anatase lattice. The analysis of UV-Vis data shows a red shift to the visible range. According to the above results, we claim that substitutional Fe atoms lead to the formation of structural defects and new intermediate energy levels appear, narrowing the band gap and extending the optical absorption edge towards the visible region.
Recent success and application of the percolation theory have highlighted cation-disordered Li-rich oxides as high energy density cathode materials. Generally, this kind of cathode materials suffer from low cycling stability and rate performance. Doped Ti4^＋ ions can improve the long-term cycling stability and rate performance of the Li-rich oxides materials with obvious capacity fading. The electrochemical performance in LixNi2-4x/3Sbx/3O2 can benefit a lot from the nanohighway, which is a kind of nanoscale 0-TM diffusion channels in the transition metal layer and provides low diffusion barrier pathways for the lithium diffusion. In this work, the doping effect of Ti on the structure and electrochemical properties in Li1.15Ni0.47Sb0.38O2 is studied. The Ti-stabilized Li1.15-xNi0.47TixSb0.38O2 （x=0, 0.01, 0.03 and 0.05） have been prepared by a solid-state method and the Li1.03Ni0.47Sb0.38Ti0.03O2 sample exhibits outstanding electrochemical performance with a larger reversible discharge capacity, better rate capability and cyclability. Synchrotron-based XANES, combined with ab initio calculations in the multiple-scattering flame- work, reveals the Ti ions have been doped into the Li-site in the lithium layer and formed a distortion TiO6 octahedron. This TiO6 local configuration in the lithium can keep the stability of nanohighway in the electrochemical pro- cess. In particular, the Lil.03Ni0.47Sb0.38Ti0.03O2 compound can deliver a discharge capacities 132 and 76 mAh/g at 0.2 and 5 C, respectivly. About 86% capacity retention occurs at 1 C rate after 500 cycles. This work suggests capacity fading in the oxide cathode materials can be suppressed to construct and stabilize the nanohighway.
Xiaozhi SuXingbo WangHaiping ChenZhen YuJiaxin QiShi TaoWangsheng ChuLi Song
X-ray absorption fine structure(XAFS) spectroscopy has been widely used for decades in a wide range of scientific fields, including physics, chemistry, biology, materials sciences, environmental sciences, etc. This review article is devoted to the applications of XAFS in nanomaterials. The basic principles of XAFS are briefly described from the view point of practical application, including its theory, data analysis and experiments. Using selected examples from recent literatures, the power of XAFS in determination of local atomic/electronic structures is illustrated for various nanomaterials, covering metal and semiconductor nanoparticles, catalysts, core/shell structures, ultrathin nanosheets, and so on. The utilization of time-resolved XAFS technique is also briefly introduced, for in-situ probing the nucleation/growth processes of nanomaterials and identifying reaction intermediates of nanostructured catalysts under operando conditions.
In this work, we extensively describe and demonstrate the structured dark-field imaging(SDFI). SDFI is a newly proposed x-ray microscopy designed for revealing the fine features below Rayleigh resolution, in which different orders of scattered x-ray photons are collected by changing the numerical aperture of the condenser. Here, the samples of single particles are discussed to extend the scope of the SDFI technique reported in a previous work(Chen J, Gao K, Ge X, et al.2013 Opt. Lett. 38 2068). In addition, the details of the newly invented algorithm are explained, which is able to calculate the intensity of any pixel on the image plane rapidly and reliably.
