[en] Carbon nanowires (CNWs) have been template-directed synthesized from methane and hydrogen mixtures through pulsed corona plasma reaction. The products were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscope and Raman spectroscopy. The results suggested that the CNWs are mainly composed of microcrystalline graphite full of defects. This study provides a new method for synthesizing 1D nanomaterials at atmospheric pressure and low temperature, which has some special advantages for scale-up production or applications

[en] A multifunctional apparatus for microwave plasma reaction has been set up, which can be used in the fields such as chemical synthesis, surface modification, and heterogeneous catalysis. The apparatus has laid an experimental foundation for new methods, new technologies, and new train of thoughts to be explored

[en] Pt-Sn alloy nanoparticles were conveniently immobilized on nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) through microwave-assisted ethylene glycol reduction. The nanoparticles have a narrow particle size distribution with the average particle size around 3 nm as measured by transmission electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction. The binding energy of metallic Sn passively shifts due to the charge transfer from Sn to Pt, as revealed by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. In comparison with the commercial Pt/C catalyst, Pt/NCNT presents a clear increase in activity for alcohol electro-oxidation due to the improved support, while the bimetallic Pt-Sn/NCNT has even higher activity owing to the alloying of Pt with Sn. Both Pt-Sn/NCNT and Pt/NCNT catalysts exhibit competitive long-term stability to Pt/C catalyst. The low cost, simple preparation and superior electrocatalytic performance indicate the great potential of Pt-Sn/NCNT in direct alcohol fuel cells.

[en] A novel high-κ organometallic lanthanide complex, Eu(tta)₃L (tta=2-thenoyltrifluoroacetonate, L = 4,5-pinene bipyridine), is used as gate insulating material to fabricate low-voltage pentacene field-effect transistors (FETs). The optimized gate insulator exhibits the excellent properties such as low leakage current density, low surface roughness, and high dielectric constant. When operated under a low voltage of −5 V, the pentacene FET devices show the attractive electrical performance, e.g. carrier mobility (μ_FET) of 0.17 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, threshold voltage (V_th) of −0.9 V, on/off current ratio of 5 × 10³, and subthreshold slope (SS) of 1.0 V dec⁻¹, which is much better than that of devices obtained on conventional 300 nm SiO₂ substrate (0.13 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, −7.3 V and 3.1 V dec⁻¹ for μ_FET, V_th and SS value when operated at −30 V). These results indicate that this kind of high-κ organometallic lanthanide complex becomes a promising candidate as gate insulator for low-voltage organic FETs

[en] Highlights: ► A series of InN nanostructures have been synthesized. ► InN nanomaterials were prepared by a chloride-sourced chemical vapor deposition method. ► The morphologies of InN nanostructures were regulated by changing the growth conditions. ► InN nanocones showed potential applications in field emission devices. - Abstract: The facile synthesis of InN nanostructures is of great importance due to their wide potential applications in (opto)electronic devices. Herein we reported the synthesis of InN nanostructures through a convenient chloride-sourced chemical vapor deposition method with simple processing and free of catalyst. The morphologies of the InN products were regulated from one-dimensional nanocones and hexagonal nanoprisms to octahedrons and four-fold-symmetrical InN hierarchical nanostructures by varying the vaporization temperature of InCl₃ and deposition temperature. The formation mechanism of the InN nanostructures has been discussed on the basis of the change in InCl₃ vapor pressure and the morphological evolution under different temperature. The field emission properties of the InN nanocones were evaluated due to their unique sharp apex geometry, which showed a turn on field of ∼12 V/μm, suggesting their potential application in field emission devices.

[en] Highlights: • The electrocatalysis of N-doped sp² carbon for LiPS conversion is revealed by combined experimental and theoretical study. • The hNCNC unites the mutual-promoted functions of physical confinement, chemical adsorption and electrocatalysis together. • A record-high power performance and an excellent durability of Li-S batteries are achieved by using hNCNC. • The performance-structure correlation is well-established. -- Abstract: Lithium-sulfur batteries are facing the big challenge of high-rate charge/discharge with long durability owing to the severe shuttle and polarization effects. Herein, we report a durable high-power cathode for lithium-sulfur batteries by employing multifunctional hierarchical nitrogen-doped carbon nanocages (hNCNC) to encapsulate sulfur and serve as interlayer. The highly-efficient electrocatalytic function of nitrogen-doped sp²-carbon to lithium-polysulfides conversion reactions is revealed by electrocatalytic experiments and density functional theory simulations. The excellent catalytic and charge-transfer functions of hNCNC, together with its physical confinement and chemical adsorption to the polysulfides, effectively suppress the polarization and shuttle effects, leading to the high-power performance with a capacity of 539 mAh g⁻¹ at ultrahigh current density of 20 A g⁻¹ for the sulfur cathode with the areal loading of 0.8 mg cm⁻². The superb durability is demonstrated by 1000 cycles at 10 A g⁻¹ with a retained capacity of 438 mAh g⁻¹. When the areal sulfur loading is increased to 3 mg cm⁻², a high capacity of 605 mAh g⁻¹ is still obtained at the high current density of 3 A g⁻¹. This study provides an effective approach to durable high-power lithium-sulfur batteries by designing suitable electrocatalytic-active carbon-based hosts.

[en] One-dimensional aluminum nitride nanostructures have displayed superior field emission due to the combination of small or negative electron affinity and one-dimensional quantum confinement effect. Herein we report on the synthesis of quasi-aligned AlN nanocones via chemical vapor deposition on the Ni-coated silicon wafer at 750 deg. C through the reaction between AlCl₃ vapor and NH₃/N₂ gas. The as-prepared hexagonal AlN nanocones grow preferentially along c-axis with the tips' sizes of about 60 nm and the lengths up to several microns. The field emission measurement exhibits a notable electron emission with the apparent turn-on field of 17.8 V/μm, indicating their potential applications as the field emitters. Due to space charge effect, the corresponding Fowler-Nordheim plot shows a two-sectional characteristic with the field enhancement factors of 1450 and 340 at low and high electric fields, respectively