Molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂), a new binary transition-metal compound,has attracted much attention due to its unique physical and chemical properties. MoS₂ with different morphology structures were firstly reviewed, including inorganic fullerene-like, sphere-like, flower-like, wire, plate, rod, tube and so on. And then, the methods used to prepare MoS₂ nanomaterials were discussed, including chemical vapor deposition method, sulfurization process, exfoliation, electrodeposition, hydrothermal method, and solvothermal method. The applications of MoS₂ nanostructures in various fields were also summaried, such as lubrication, catalytic and photoelectric devices. Finally, the outlook for the research of this molybdenum disulfide nanomaterial was proposed.

The real graphite anode of lithium-ion battery is of evident non-isotropic characteristic due to its cascading graphite flakes. An ellipsoid particle-based simulated annealing method is developed to numerically reconstruct the three-dimensional microstructure of graphite anode. The reconstructed anode is a composite of three clearly distinguished phases: pore (or electrolyte), graphite and solid additive, well representing the non-isotropic characteristic of real graphite anode. Characterization analysis of reconstructed electrodes gives information such as the connectivity, the specific surface area of solid or pore phase, and the pore size distribution. The results show that the size of graphite ellipsoids has important effects on the characteristics of electrode: 1) larger size graphite ellipsoids result in larger mean pore size and smaller specific surface area in the reconstructed electrode; 2) changing the polar radius of graphite ellipsoid particles has more pronounced influence on the characteristics of electrode than has changing its equatorial radius.

The CeO₂ nano-crystal less than 10 nm was fabricated by using thermal decomposition method with Ce(OH)₄ as the raw material. CeO₂ nano-crystal with abundant -OH and -NO₂ was used as the additive in the sulfur cathode. The additive can adsorb sulfur and lithium polysulfides during charge/discharge process, suppressing the dissloving and migrating of lithium polysulfides in the electrolyte. Thus the “shuttle effect” caused by dissloving of lithium polysulfides can be evidently inhibited, resulting in the enhanced cycle performance and the improved coulombic efficiency of Li-S battery. Furthermore, CeO₂ nano-crystal with abundant -OH and -NO₂ is beneficial to enhance the wettability between electrolyte and sulfur cathode, improving the utilization rate of active material. With 5wt% CeO₂ nano-crystal added in the sulfur cathode, the discharge capacities at 0.1C and 0.5C (1C=1675 mA/g) after 100 cycles are as high as 750 mAh/g and 598 mAh/g, respectively, both much higher than those of the sulfur cathode without CeO₂ nanocrystal. Simultaneously, the resistance of the cell is also reduced evidently before and after cycling owing to the addition of CeO₂ nano-crystal in the cathode.

An effective approach of alcoholysis was employed to prepare hollow core-shell MoO₃-SnO₂ hybrid nanoparticle aggregates as anode materials for Li-ion batteries. The as-prepared samples were characterized by XRD, SEM, TEM, CV, and galvanostatical method. The results show that the unique hollow structures can shorten the distance Li-ion diffusion, and the hollow structure offers a sufficient void space, which sufficiently alleviates the mechanical stress caused by volume change. The as-obtained hollow core-shell MoO₃-SnO₂ hybrid electrodes can retain a discharge capacity of 865 mAh/g at current density of 50 mA/g after 100 charge-discharge cycles. Even at the current density of 1000 mA/g, the MoO₃-SnO₂ hybrid electrodes can still deliver a high reversible discharge capacity of 545 mAh/g. Therefore, the hollow MoO₃-SnO₂ hybrid electrode exhibits stable cyclability and good rate capability. This method is simple, low cost and mass-productive, and may also be used to prepare other advanced functional materials.

Using acetonitrile as the solvent and glucose as the raw material, nitrogen doped carbon quantum dots (NCDs) were prepared by the solvothermal method. The size of NCDs is around 4 nm. The emission spectrum of NCDs showed red shift when the excitation wavelength of quantum dots increased from 330 nm to 470 nm. Titanium dioxide was coated by NCDs by mixing a certain proportion of NCDs, TiO₂ and ultrapure water through 60 min ultrasonic and aging under 80℃ for 24 h. NCDs/titanium dioxide composites show good photocatalyst performance as compared with pure NCDs and pure titanium dioxide, because the NCDs can expand the absorption spectrum and reduce the photogenerated electrons and holes. The NCDs/TiO₂ composites at the raw ratio of m(NCDs):m(TiO₂)=15:85 show the best hydrogen evolution performance, using methanol as the sacrificial agent. The composite material displays good stability and certain photocatalytic performance after three cycles.

A simple and green method of modified multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) by methylene blue under ultraviolet irradiation was reported. The irradiation time, methylene blue dosage and ultraviolet wavelength were considered as the three main factors. The different factors of functionalized MWCNTs and their catalytic performance were systematically studied. TEM was used to indicate the catalyst morphology. Cyclic voltammetric and chronoamperometric experiments were used to study catalytic activity and stability for methanol in alkaline solution. The results showed that the optimal conditions of irradiation time, methylene blue dosage and ultraviolet wavelength are 6 h, 10 mg and 254 nm, respectively. Under these conditions, catalyst has the best dispersion of Pt nanoparticles on the surface of functionalized MWCNTs, realizing the best catalytic performance, with catalytic activity at 2-fold of that of the commercial Pt/C catalyst. This modification of MWCNTs provides a new way for achieving anode catalysts with high activity and low cost in the fuel cells.

CNTs/TiO₂ nanocomposites were prepared by Sol-Gel method without any surfactant. The as-prepaired samples were characterizated by using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscope, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, selected area electron diffraction and UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The degradation experiment of the methylene blue under UV-light was used to evaluate the catalytic activity of the CNTs/TiO₂ catalysts, and the influence factors of catalytic efficiency such as CNTs doping concentration were studied systematically. The results suggest that the anatase titanium dioxide coat on the surfaces of CNTs uniformly in the form of C-O-Ti after annealing at 450℃, and the size of TiO₂ nano-particle is about 16 nm. Moreover, CNTs/TiO₂ nanocomposites show a distimctive photodegradation efficiency, CNTs/TiO₂ nanocomposites with 1wt% CNTs present an increase of photodegradation efficiency by 11.7% as regarding to pure TiO₂.

BiOCl nanoplates were firstly prepared by precipitation method and then La₂O₃/BiOCl composite photocatalysts with different La₂O₃ contents (1wt%, 2wt%, 4wt%, 8wt%) were synthesized by grinding-calcination procedure. The physical chemistry properties of the as-prepared photocatalysts were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectroscope (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectroscope (XPS), Fourier transformed infrared spectroscope (FT-IR), and photoluminescence (PL) spectroscope. The photocatalytic activity of the samples was evaluated by photocatalytic degradation of high concentration acid orange II (40×10^-6) under UV light (λ=254 nm) irradiation. Results showed that the as-prepared samples have good crystallinity. La₂O₃ particles with the size of 2-5 nm were closely combined with BiOCl nanoplate after grinding-calcination treatment. La₂O₃/BiOCl composite photocatalysts with 1wt% La₂O₃ calcined at 200℃ displayed the best photocatalytic activity which is 2.4 times of that of pure BiOCl. The produced La₂O₃/BiOCl has abundant surface OH groups and highly suitable adsorption of dye. Moreover, La³⁺ could capture the photon-generated electrons (e^-) and prevent the recombination of photon-generated and holes (h⁺).

Superparamagnetic gold nanocomposites (SGNs), which have great potential in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and photothermal therapy (PT) on cancer, have been successfully synthesized via the in-situ reduction and the following seed-mediated growth route. It is found that the dimension of SGNs could be facilely tuned by changing the encapsulation amount of Fe₃O₄/tetrahydrofuran solution, and SGNs with diameters of 100, 150 and 200 nm were thus obtained. The as-synthesized SGNs present regularly spherical morphology, narrow size distributions and monodispersity in aqueous solutions. It is revealed that SGNs modified with SH-PEG are capable for simultaneous MRI and photothermal therapy. Especially, SGNs with average diameter of 150 nm exhibit the strongest absorption capacity and highest photothermal conversion efficiency with 808 nm laser. The temperatures in vitro and in vivo were increased by 37 ℃ and 25 ℃, respectively. Therefore, it is hopeful that tumor can be imaged well and killed efficiently under laser irradiation after intratumoral injection of such a kind of nanocomposites.

Magnesium phosphate was prepared through coprecipitation method, and biocomposite containing magnesium phosphate(MP), polybutylene succinate (PBS) and wheat protein (WP) was fabricated. In vitro degradability, bioactivity and cell responses to MP/PBS/WP composite were investigated. The results showed that the pH value changed from 7.4 to 7.51 after the MP/PBS/WP composite being soaked in Tris-HCl buffer solution for 10 d. The weight loss of the composite reached 58.43wt% after soaking for 12 w. Apatite layer could form on the composite surfaces after soaking in SBF solution for 10 d, indicating good bioactivity. In addition, the MP/PBS/WP composite could promote proliferation and differentiation of MC3T3-E1 cells. All data from this study show that the MP/PBS/WP composite has good degradability, bioactivity and cytocompatibility, showing a potential to be used as a new biomaterial for bone repair.

The fabrication of single domain Y-Ba-Cu-O(YBCO) bulk superconductors usually involves precursor pellets that contain a uniform distribution of YBa₂Cu₃O_7-δ(Y123) and Y₂BaCuO₅(Y211) compounds. However, the concentration of Y211 phase particles in the fully melt processed superconducting bulk increases significantly with distance from the seed, leading to accumulation of Y211 phase particles and degradation of superconducting properties. By top seeded melt texture growth (TSMTG) process, single domain YBCO bulk superconductors at about 23 mm in diameters, and 9 mm in thickness were fabricated from layered precursor pellets and conventional precursor pellets, respectively. The growth morphology, microstructure and magnetic flux properties of both layered and conventional pellets were comparatively studied. The experiments suggest that the layered precursor pellets allow a sufficient growth in c growth sector, a more uniform distribution of Y211 phase in the matrix and a significant enhancement of the trapped field. Thus for the layered pellets, a trapped magnet field of 0.91 T is achieved at 77 K and the flux distribution is also of high symmetry. The present results are very valuable for further improving the properties of YBCO bulk superconductors.

The magnesium-iron hydrotalcite was modified by three nonionic surfactants (Span-20, Tween-80, Triton X-100) combined with sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), respectively, and surface characterizations of modified hydrotalcites were investigated using inverse gas chromatography (IGC). The free energy of adsorption (-ΔG⁰), dispersive component of the surface energy (γ_s^d) and acid-basic action free energy (-ΔG^sp) were determined to explore the changes between MgFe-LDHs and modified hydrotalcites. The results show that the -ΔG⁰ of the modified hydrotalcites are lower than that of MgFe-LDHs, among which the -ΔG⁰ of the SDBS/Triton-LDHs is the lowest, indicating the best stability. The alkalinity of modifed hydrotalcites is weakened and the alkalinity of SDBS/Triton-LDHs is the weakest. In addition, the γ_s^d decreases with temperature increase. Therefore, the compatibility with polymer can be improved by increasing the temperature in preparation of polymer/hydrotalcite materials.

The R₂O-CaO-SiO₂-F system glass-ceramics were prepared through different heat treatment schedules. The crystallization, microstructure and mechanical properties, especially the crack propagation and toughening mechanism of the canasite-based glass-ceramics, were studied. The results show that CaF₂ crystallites precipitate firstly during heat treatment at low temperature. After one-step heat treatment block-like xonotlite/canasite complex phases can be obtained. And after two-step heat treatment, the canasite-based glass-ceramics, composed of particularly interlocking blade-like crystals, are obtained with excellent mechanical properties. The micrographs suggest the orientation and interface of canasite crystals radically change the crack propagation, showing intercrystalline and transcrystalline cracks forming random-step or fold-like line. Based on these results, the blade-like canasite crystals at certain slenderness ratios, display favorable anti-cracking effect because of their bridging toughen mechanism. In addition, the residual stress between matrix and crystals also benefits relaxation of stress and deflection of crack. So, the excellent mechanical properties of the as-prepared glass-ceramics are resulting from multiple toughening mechanisms.

Al₂O₃ ceramics co-doped with MgO/Eu₂O₃ were prepared by wet chemical process. The effects of the content of MgO/Eu₂O₃ co-doping on phase composition, microstructure and microwave dielectric properties of Al₂O₃ ceramics were explored. The experimental results show that suitable contents of MgO/Eu₂O₃ can promote densification and grain growth of Al₂O₃. As to the dielectric properties, the influence of MgO/Eu₂O₃ co-doping on the dielectric constant can be ignored. However, it has a significant impact on the dielectric loss. The Q×f value increases initially and then decreases as the Eu₂O₃ content increases. Optimized microwave dielectric properties with ε_r~9.82, Q×f ~225,225 GHz. can be attained for the samples co-doped with 0.05wt% MgO/0.10wt% Eu₂O₃ sintered at 1590℃ for 4 h This change of Q×f value may relate to the change of sample’s microstructure. Firstly, when the content of MgO/Eu₂O₃ increases, the grain size increases and the grain boundary decreases, which is beneficial to increase the Q×f value. Then, as the content of MgO/Eu₂O₃ keeps increase, the grain size decreases and the grain boundary increases, which may lead to decrease Q×f value. In addition, the presence of strain and second phase may also influence the change of Q×f value.

Ca_xSr_1-xBi₂Nb₂O₉ (x=0, 0.10, 0.25, 0.40) ceramics were prepared by solid-state reaction method, and their microstructure, electrical and temperature stability properties were systematically investigated. It is found that Ca-doping does not change the phase structure of SrBi₂Nb₂O₉. With increasing Ca²⁺ contents, microstructure of the Ca_xSr_1-xBi₂Nb₂O₉ ceramics changes from sheet to long strips. The remnant polarization (P_r) increases firstly and then decreases, reaching the maximum value at x=0.01, while the coercive field (E_c) decreases gradually. Furthermore, Ca-doping can also improve the Curie temperature, which increases from 450℃ to 672℃ with increase of Ca²⁺ contents. The optimum electrical properties can be obtained at x=0.10 as 2P_r=14.8 μC/cm², d₃₃=22 pC/N and T_c=488℃. In addition, after annealing at 400℃, the piezoelectric constant (d₃₃) of the ceramics remains 20 pC/N, showing good temperature stability for high temperature applications.

A novel garnet-type solid electrolyte, F-doped Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO), was prepared via conventional solid-state reaction. Certain fluoride compounds were known to form the pure cubic garnet structure after continuous calcination at 900℃ and 1125℃, seperately. Fluorine ions doped in LLZO contributed to the stabilization of high ion conductivity garnet phase as well as the enhancement of sintering activity. The effects of fluorine ions were studied using the dopants LiF and CaF₂. The 1.0wt% LiF-LLZO samples exhibited a total conductivity of 5×10^-4 S/cm close to the bulk conductivity value of un-doped LLZO, while its activation energy was 0.26 eV, lower than that of other cation-doped LLZO samples. The strong intensity of the peaks indexed to (321), (400), (642), and (800) in XRD patterns indicated the growth of ceramic grains of F-doped LLZO in certain favorable crystallographic orientations during sintering process. In addition, a unique microstructure was revealed in the novel garnet-type oxide pellets, showing the grain boundary almost removed and closed pores formed, which resulted in the negligible grain boundary and the high total ion conductivity.

Carbon-incorporated Mn doped TiO₂ (C/Mn-TiO₂) microspheres with different Mn contents were prepared by a facile and novel flame assisted approach. The influence of the Mn contents on the morphology and performance was investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), ultraviolet-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and Raman spectra, respectively. SEM and XRD results showed the existence of anatase TiO₂ microspheres without post-heat treatment. XPS and Raman results confirmed Mn²⁺ substitution of Ti⁴⁺ in the resulted samples. UV-Vis diffuse reflectance spectra showed that the incorporation of Mn into TiO₂ lattice could enhance visible light absorption. Improved photocatalytic activity for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under visible light illumination was demonstrated with the introduction of Mn dopant. The introduction of Mn resulted in the narrowed band gap in C/Mn-TiO₂. This study offers not only an environmentally friendly product with high photocatalytic activity, but also a rapid and direct strategy without any particular skill.