A review on the synthesis of transition metal nitride nanostructures and their energy related applications

Transition metal nitrides(TMN)have recently grabbed immensely appealing as ideal active materials in energy storage and catalysis fields on account of their remarkable electrical conductivity,excellent chemical stability,wide band gap and tunable morphology.Both pure TMN and TMN-based materials have been extensively studied concerned with their preparation approaches,nanostructures,and favored performance in various applications.However,the processes towards synthesis of TMN are numerous and complex.Choosing appropriate method to obtain target TMN with desired structure is crucial,which further affects its practical application performance.Herein,this review offers a timely and comprehensive summary of the synthetic ways to TMN and their application in energy related domains.The synthesis section is categorized into in-situ and ex-situ based on where the N element in TMN origins from.Then,overviews on the energy related applications including energy storage,electrocatalysis and photocatalysis are discussed.In the end,the problems to be solved and the development trend of the synthesis and application of transition metal nitrides are prospected.

One-pot hydrothermal fabrication of α-Fe_2O_3@C nanocomposites for electrochemical energy storage

A facile hydrothermal method was developed for the preparation of Fe_2O_3@C nanocomposites using FeCl_3·6H_2O as iron source and glucose as carbon source under alkaline condition. The morphology and structure of the as-prepared product were identified by transmission electron microscopy(TEM), high resolution transmission electron microscopy(HRTEM), field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM),X-ray diffraction(XRD), Raman spectroscopy, Fourier Transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR), and thermogravimetric analysis(TGA). The as-prepare α-Fe_2O_3@C nanocomposites were employed for supercapacitor electrode material. The synergistic combination of carbon electrical double-layer capacitance and α-Fe_2O_3 pseudo-capacitance established such nanocomposites as versatile platform for high performance supercapacitors. The synthesis method developed here is expected to obtain other metal oxide/carbon composite.

Smart synthesis of silver nanoparticles supported in porous polybenzoxazine nanocomposites via a main-chain type benzoxazine resin

In this article, novel silver nanoparticles immobilized on macroporous polybenzoxazine nanocomposites （Ag-poly（BA-ddm）^x main） were prepared as catalysts for catalytic reduction reaction. For this purpose, a main-chain type benzoxazine was cured in dimethyl sulfoxide by thermally activated ring-opening polymerization at 180℃ for 2days followed by the reduction of silver nitrate in homogeneous polybenzoxazine solution. The porous structure of the resin was confirmed by scanning electron microscope （SEM） analysis and N2 adsorption]desorption studies. Besides, transmission electron microscopy images showed that spherical particles （around 3-10 nm in sized） are dispersed in Ag-poly （BA-ddm）^x main network. The catalytic activity of the as-prepared nanocomposite has been investigated by photometrically monitoring the reduction of methylene blue by an excess of NaBH4. The kinetic data of the reduction reaction was explained by the assumption of a pseudo-first-order reaction with regard to methylene blue （MB）. As evidence by Ultraviolet （UV） spectral analysis, the Ag-poly（BA-ddm）^x main catalyst possesses excellent catalytic reduction of MB, and no deactivation or poisoning of the catalyst was observed. The results demonstrate that porous polybenzoxazine supported silver nanoparticles can be applied as reusable catalysts with satisfied catalytic activity.