An efficient catalytic system and surface modification are considered as two important routes for the enhancement of MOF-based photocatalytic properties. Herein, we report a significant improvement in hydrogen production efficiency with MOFs achieved through both the abovementioned routes. With the newly developed highly efficient TEOA–ErB system, H2 generation rate on UiO-66-NH2 octahedrons could amount to 21.2 mmol h−1 g−1. Then, based on this system, the interaction of the UiO-66-NH2 surface with graphene was judiciously controlled. The prepared graphene well-wrapped UiO-66-NH2 octahedrons, in which every face was in contact with graphene, led to the highest H2 production efficiency of 41.4 mmol h−1 g−1. These findings suggest that MOFs could potentially evolve into highly efficient photocatalysts when incorporated into a proper system and further revealed that modifications on the surface of MOFs might result in a better inhibition of electron–hole recombination in H2 generation.

UiO-66/TiO2 composites were fabricated via self-assembly using a solvothermal method. The composites exhibits high efficiency and stability for removing rhodamine B and methyl blue under strongly acidic conditions via a simple regeneration process. The participation of the UiO-66 structure in TiO2 was found to reduce the electron–hole recombination but did not change its adsorption ability on dyes, which leads to its enhanced photocatalytic properties under visible light radiation. In addition, the introduced TiO2 in MOFs was firstly found to increase the number of active sites, which is beneficial for CO2 capture. Therefore, it can be suggested that porous MOFs combined with photoactive semiconductors may introduce a new class of dual-functional materials for use in water treatment and CO2 capture.

Tumor microwave thermal therapy (MWTT) has attracted more attention because of the minimal damage to body function, convenient manipulation and low complications. Herein, a novel polydopamine (PDA) nanoparticle loading ionic liquids (ILs/PDA) as microwave susceptible agent is introduced for enhancing the selectivity and targeting of MWTT. ILs/PDA nanocomposites have an excellent microwave heating efficiency under an ultralow microwave power irradiation. Encouraging antitumor effect was observed when tumor bearing mice received ILs/PDA nanoparticles by intravenous injection and only single microwave irradiation. PDA nanoparticles with gold nanoparticles in core were constructed for tumor targeting study by ICP-MS and about 15% PDA nanoparticles were founded in tumor. Furthermore, the cytotoxicity and acute toxicity study in vivo of PDA showed the excellent biocompatibility of ILs/PDA nanocomposites. In addition, the degradation of ILs/PDA nanocomposites in simulated body fluid illustrated the low potential hazard when they entered the blood. The emergence of PDA as a novel and feasible platform for cancer thermal therapy will promote the rapid development of microwave therapy in clinics.Keywords: ionic liquids; microwave susceptible agent; microwave thermal ablation; nanoparticle; polydopamine

We demonstrate the use of TiO2 nanospheres as the photoinitiator for photocatalytic surface-initiated polymerization for the synthesis of various inorganic/polymer nanocomposites with well-defined structures. The excitation of TiO2 by UV-light irradiation produces electrons and holes which drive the free radical polymerization near its surface, producing core/shell composite nanospheres with eccentric or concentric structures that can be tuned by controlling the surface compatibility between the polymer and the TiO2. When highly porous TiO2 nanospheres were employed as the photoinitiator, polymerization could disintegrate the mesoporous framework and give rise to nanocomposites with multiple TiO2 nanoparticles evenly distributed in the polymer spheres. Thanks to the well-developed sol–gel chemistry of titania, this synthesis is well-extendable to the coating of the polymers on many other substrates of interest such as silica and ZnS by simply premodifying their surface with a thin layer of titania. In addition, this strategy could be easily applied to coating of different types of polymers such as polystyrene, poly(methyl methacrylate), and poly(N-isopropylacrylamide). We expect this photocatalytic surface-initiated polymerization process could provide a platform for the synthesis of various inorganic/polymer hybrid nanocomposites for many interesting applications.Keywords: core/shell nanostructure; inorganic/polymer nanocomposites; photocatalytic polymerization; polymer coating; titania nanospheres

This paper aims to solve the problem of the reversibility in carbonation/calcination cycles of Ca-based materials. The CaO/CaZrO3 hollow sphere sorbents were prepared using colloidal carbon spheres as a template via the co-adsorption method. The hollow structure sorbents, which contained two kinds of metal ions, were observed by scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy images, and the components were obtained by X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The performances in CO2 capture at different absorption temperatures, calcination temperatures, molar ratios of Ca/Zr, and heating rates compared to calcium oxide were investigated employing the thermogravimetric analyzer. The results showed that the CaO/CaZrO3 sorbent could be fabricated using a trace Zr precursor and the specific prepared sorbent still could maintain a high capture capacity after exceeding a 12 000 min operation, which suggesting the approach that adsorbs both calcium and zirconium ions on the colloidal carbon spheres to form a hollow structure is feasible for enhancing the sintering-resistant properties.

Al2O3 hollow spheres were successfully synthesized via a simple template method and used to catalyze a new process from methyl vinyl ether to propylene. In this study, it not only indicated that a two-step integration process from acetylene and methanol to propylene is feasible but the prepared catalyst could also adjust the distribution of the products. First, colloidal carbon spheres were formed by the hydrothermal synthesis method, and then the template was used to prepare hollow spheres of Al2O3. EDS, XRD, SEM, and TEM all showed that the catalyst was composed of only O and Al and the structures were hollow spheres. In the new process tests, the low carbon olefins are detected as the main products, alkanes are nearly not observed. The participation of Al2O3 hollow spheres could significantly enhance the selectivity of olefins especially for propylene compared to the results without catalysts. Furthermore, the effects of temperature on the products were also investigated, and a possible radical-involved reaction mechanism is discussed in detail at the end.

•3D hierarchical MoS2 NA/CC architectures were constructed by hydrothermal approach.•The MoS2 NA/CC as 3D electrode shows high HER performance and long-term stability.•The superior HER activity is attributed to the unique 3D hierarchical structure.Molybdenum sulfide (MoS2) materials have been shown as promising non-precious catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), while the structure control for high-performance HER electrocatalysis remains a considerable challenge. Herein, we describe a one-pot hydrothermal approach without any surfactants and organic solvents for preparing three-dimensional electrode composed of MoS2 nanosheet arrays directly grown on carbon cloth (MoS2 NA/CC). The MoS2 NA/CC catalyst exhibits high HER performance with a low onset overpotential of 140 mV, and small Tafel slope of 76 mV/dec, which also exhibits excellent stability even after 3000 potential cycles with negligible loss of the cathodic current. The superior HER activity is attributed to the unique 3D hierarchical structure, which provides enriched exposed active edge sites and excellent electrical transport.

•Ba modified H-ZSM-5 (Ba/ZSM-5) is synthesized.•The modified catalysts remarkably enhance the olefin selectivity.•The addition of MVE can significantly promote the propylene selectivity.The ZSM-5 zeolite is widely used to catalyze the reactions of methanol to olefins. Herein, we have prepared the H-ZSM-5 doped with barium (Ba/ZSM-5) using incipient wetness impregnation method. The Ba modified catalysts were used to catalyze a new reaction of methanol with methyl vinyl ether to improve the selectivity of ethylene and propylene (C2= + C3=). The reaction catalyzed by Ba doped H-ZSM-5 shows higher propylene selectivity over H-ZSM-5. The reaction mechanism is discussed.The figure illustrates that Ba modified H-ZSM-5 enhances propylene selectivity and the addition of methyl vinyl ether to methanol promotes propylene selectivity, respectively.Download full-size image