Influencing parameters in the electrochemical anodization of TiO2 nanotubes: Systematic review and meta-analysis

Comprehensive control of processing techniques is primordial when fine-tuning the morphological features of titanium dioxide nanotube arrays (TNTs). This systematic review and meta-analysis compiled articles published from 2007 to date on the synthesis and growth mechanism of nanotubes fabricated via electrochemical anodization and evaluated the potential relationships between anodizing conditions and the resulting structures. Studies were gathered from the Science Direct online database, screened according to predefined criteria, and evaluated for their eligibility. Ninety-nine studies were assessed in the meta-analysis, 87 of them on tube length, 80 on tube diameter, and 33 on wall thickness. Multiple linear regression was performed to test if anodization parameters significantly predicted the resulting morphology of TiO₂ nanotubular structures. Overall regression for the three responses was statistically significant (length: R² = 0.487, p < 0.001; diameter: R² = 0.899, p < 0.001; wall thickness: R² = 0.792, p < 0.001). Applied potential was one of the main effects predicting all three responses (p < 0.001 in every model). Other important main predictors were anodizing time for tube length (p < 0.001), water percentage for tube diameter (p < 0.001) and ammonium fluoride (NH₄F) concentration for wall thickness (p < 0.001).     

Controlled growth of Bi-Functional La doped CeO2 nanorods for photocatalytic H2 production and supercapacitor applications

The rapid increase in energy consumption has severely rehabilitated human life urging to develop reliable and environmental friendly energy storage devices. Target oriented, systematic approach has been adopted to synthesis La doped CeO₂ nanostructures with percentage as La_xCe_1-xO₂ (X = 0,1,3,5,7) for potential super capacitors applications. Morphological doping impact on H₂ production, electrochemical and optical properties are thoroughly investigated. XRD studies revealed the crystalline phase purity and attained approximately 35 nm average crystallite size. The SEM images exposed that primary morphology nano-particles has been tuned into nanorods by increasing the La concentration in CeO₂ with size range 40～60 nm. CV graphs depicted that the prepared electrodes obey the pseudo capacitive faradaic reactions behavior in nature. Maximum capacitance (925 F g^-1) has been achieved by La_0·05Ce_0·95O₂ which is better than numerous reported materials. The La_0·05Ce_0·95O₂ also exhibited excellent GCD stability with 87.8% retention exhibiting it suitability for supercapacitor applications. Furthermore, the La_0·05Ce_0·95O₂ showed the significantly higher H₂ (9 μmol h^?1g^?1) production rate as compared to undoped CeO₂ and La_0·01Ce_0·99O_2, La_0·03Ce_0·97O₂ samples. This higher production is attributed to the recombination rate and have strong substantial correlation with optical characteristics.     

Improving the fill factor of N2200-based all polymer solar cells by introducing EPPDI as a solid additive

A cheap and commercially available small molecule (namely EPPDI) is introduced to the active layer of N2200-based all polymer solar cells as a solid additive. EPPDI at the optimal ratio can improve the D-A nano-scale morphology and reduce trap density of the active layer by filling morphological spaces. As a result, the photovoltaic performance of the resulting devices based on PF2:N2200 are increased from 6.28% to 7.03% with significantly enhanced fill factor. This work demonstrates a facile approach for improving the performance of all polymer solar cells.     

Mild hydrogen production from the hydrolysis of Al–Bi–Zn composite powder

The development of mild hydrogen-generating materials is of great significance to improve the working life of hydrogen–oxygen fuel cells. In this study, Al–Bi–Zn composite powders were designed by phase diagram calculation and then prepared via the gas atomization method. The results indicated that the conversion yield of Al–12Bi–7Zn (wt.%) powder reached 98% with stable hydrogen production within 280 min at 50 °C. When composite powder reacted with NaCl solution to produce hydrogen, the dormant period of the reaction process was significantly shortened, but the conversion rate was slightly reduced. Additionally, the evolution of powder morphology during the reaction was investigated. The results showed that the continuous cracking of the powder led to the continuous exposure of fresh Al to react.     

Growth mechanism of primary Ti5Si3 phases in special brasses and their effect on wear resistance

In the present work, in-situ Ti₅Si₃ reinforced special brasses were prepared by melt reaction method. The synthesized Ti₅Si₃ phase shows various morphologies in brasses with different Ti₅Si₃ content, and the3 D morphological evolution of primary Ti₅Si₃and its growth mechanism were investigated. The Ti₅Si₃ crystal, which bears D8₈ hexagonal crystal structure, grows along <0001> direction and is revealed by{1010} faces during growth. With the increase of Ti₅Si₃ content in the brasses, the morphology of primary Ti₅Si₃significantly changes from fibers to hexagonal prisms to short-rods with hollow. In addition,the influence of Ti₅Si₃ volume fraction and morphology on the wear behavior of special brass was also revealed. It was substantiated that the wear resistance increases with the increasing volume fraction of Ti₅Si₃, and the corresponding wear mechanism changes from delamination to slight adhesive wear and abrasive wear. However, the friction coefficient shows an abnormal increase when most of the Ti₅Si₃ containing hollows appears in the brass. That is mainly due to the fact that the Ti₅Si₃ is easier to break and fall off resulted by the hollow as a crack source, which makes it unable to resist the plastic deformation of the contact surface during the sliding.     

Morphological engineering of carbon-based materials: in the quest of efficient catalysts for overall water splitting

This work attempts to optimize the catalytic activity of the carbon-based materials by engineering their morphological structure. Several flake-like quantum dots with different shapes such as triangulene, elliptical, rhomboid, and square, as well as hydrocarbons having sunflower, kekulene, and snow-like structures, are considered and their electrocatalytic activities toward the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are theoretically evaluated. The activity analysis indicates that the OER overpotentials for the examined carbon materials vary in the range between 0.56 and 1.22 V. Benefiting from the improved electronic properties due to the proper morphology, remarkable catalytic activity was achieved for the snow-like morphology affording overpotentials of 0.56 V for OER and ?0.05 V for HER. In addition to snow-like, other morphologies such as triangulene and square can effectively promote acidic hydrogen evolution via Volmer-Heyrovsky mechanism. On contrary, the high values of free energies for H₂O dissociation step reveal that, under the alkaline condition, the examined carbon materials cannot be considered as efficient HER catalysts.     

The rapid synthesis of nanostructured orthorhombic KNbO3 particles by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal method and their characterization

We studied the molar ratio effects of niobium and potassium precursors on the structure and morphology of potassium niobate powders prepared via microwave-assisted hydrothermal synthesis (MaHS). KNbO₃ nanostructures in the form of nanotowers and nanocubes were obtained at reduced synthesis times (30–240 min). The products were characterized via XRD, Raman spectroscopy, SEM, and TEM; band gap calculations used diffuse reflectance data. The results indicate that KNbO₃ nanostructures were obtained with crystallite sizes ranging from 33 to 52 nm. An orthorhombic crystalline structure was formed from the increase of KOH at a molar ratio Nb₂O₅:KOH (1:8 to 1:16 M). The band-gap of 3.1–3.3 eV has potential use in photodegradation applications.     

Morphology selective electrodeposition of Cu2O microcrystals on ZnO nanotube arrays as efficient visible-light-driven photo-electrode

ZnO nanotube arrays were synthesized by the electrodeposition method and Cu₂O microcrystals with two kinds of morphologies were deposited on ZnO nanotube arrays successfully. At the deposition potential of −0.5 or −0.7 V, the cubic or spherical Cu₂O microcrystals were selectively deposited on ZnO nanotube arrays. By adjusting the deposition time, Cu₂O microcrystals with different sizes were obtained. The optical properties and photo-electrochemical performance of ZnO/Cu₂O were measured. The results showed that the as-prepared ZnO/Cu₂O heterojunction exhibited improved visible light absorption and enhanced photocurrent due to the excellent ability of Cu₂O microcrystals for harvesting visible light, and the effective separation and transfer of photo-generated electrons and holes owing to p-n junction between ZnO and Cu₂O. The experimental results demonstrate that the photo-electrochemical performance of ZnO/Cu₂O heterojunction nanotube arrays can be manipulated by controlling the morphology and the size of Cu₂O microcrystals.     

Microstructure,magnetic and optical properties of Nb3+ and Y3+ ions co-substituted Sr hexaferrites

Series of SrNb_xY_xFe_12-2xO₁₉ (0.00 ≤ x ≤ 0.05) hexaferrites (HFs) were fabricated via citrate sol-gel approach. Structural and magneto-optical properties of ensembles were investigated in detail. The structural and morphological analyses revealed the formation of M-type Sr hexaferrite nanoparticles. Diffuse reflectance data were registered to estimate the direct optical energy band gaps (E_g) in a range of 1.77 eV-1.87 eV. Room temperature (RT, 300 K) and low temperature (10 K) magnetic hysteresis curves were recorded by enforcing applied dc magnetic field up to ±70 kOe. Magnetic parameters were significantly tuned due to coordination of Nb³⁺ and Y³⁺ rare earth ions. Specified magnetic data reveal the strong ferromagnetic characteristics of pristine SrFe₁₂O₁₉ and co-doped HFs with Nb³⁺ and Y³⁺ ions at both temperatures. RT squareness ratio (SQR) has an exception only for pristine sample as 0.506, which is in the margin of theoretical limit assigning the single-domain nature with uniaxial anisotropy. However, all co-doped samples have SQR = 0.288–0.485 values that are smaller than theoretical limit of 0.50, implying multi-domain nature at RT and at 10 K. Co-doped ions cause lowering in super-exchange interactions between different sites and resulting the decrements of intrinsic magneto-crystalline anisotropy and coercivity fields. The specified magnetic characteristics make our fabricated SrNb_xY_xFe_12-2xO₁₉ (0.00 ≤ x ≤ 0.05) HFs good candidates as permanent magnets applications and high-density recording media.