A preliminary study of the growth of 0D, 1D, and 2D nanostructures of uranium oxides with feature sizes from several nanometers down to 1 nm are presented. Cerium is successfully doped into these oxides and its influence on the growth dynamics and electrochemical performance investigated.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs, such as MoS2, WS2 and MoSe2) with lamellar structures have attracted tremendous attention owing to their similar structure to graphite. However, two-dimensional (2D) TMD nanomaterials display a strong tendency to restack and condense, which leads to a marked decrease of performance in their applications. In this study, we report the synthesis of TMDs by using polyoxometalates (POMs) as tungsten or molybdenum precursors. Hierarchical TMDs with novel structures can be formed below 200 °C, including WS2 rods, MoS2 rods and MoSe2 hollow spheres. All of these structures assembled from the corresponding nanosheets. Meanwhile the epitaxial growth of noble metal nanoparticles (NPs) on TMDs could be achieved very easily. The obtained Pt/WS2 and Pt/MoS2 hybrids were highly active and durable HER catalysts. In addition, the Pt NPs on the surface of TMDs could improve the HER activity sharply, which was likely due to the synergistic effect between Pt NPs and MoS2 rods.

Sub-1 nm, extremely long nickel molybdate nanowires are synthesized based on a good/poor solvent system. The ultrathin nanowires can be hierarchically assembled into flexible, free-standing films with good mechanical properties. Compared with the large-size counterpart, nickel molybdate ultrathin nanowires display promising oxygen evolution reaction catalytic performance derived from the ultrathin feature.

Zinc sulfide nanosheet-based hybrid superlattices with tunable periodicities and rod-like or tubular morphologies are constructed by the spontaneous assembly of nanosheets as they grow in amine solution. The as-prepared architectures can be used as an enhanced electrode for photocurrent response and converted to other functional materials.