New Blue-Light-Emitting Ultralong [Cd(L)(TeO3)] (L=polyamine) Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Nanofibre Bundles: Their Thermal Stability and Acidic Sensitivity

Nitrogen-doped graphene/ZnSe nanocomposites: hydrothermal synthesis and their enhanced electrochemical and photocatalytic activities

Nitrogen-doped graphene (GN) has great potential applications in many fields because doping with nitrogen can alter the electrical properties of graphene. It is still a challenge to develop a convenient method for synthesis of GN sheets. In this paper, we first report the synthesis of a nitrogen-doped graphene/ZnSe nanocomposite (GN-ZnSe) by a one-pot hydrothermal process at low temperature using graphene oxide nanosheets and [ZnSe](DETA)(0.5) nanobelts as precursors. ZnSe nanorods composed of ZnSe nanoparticles were found to deposit on the surface of the GN sheets. The results demonstrated that [ZnSe](DETA)(0.5) nanobelts were used not only as the source of ZnSe nanoparticles but also as the nitrogen source. Interestingly, it was found that the as-prepared nanocomposites exhibit remarkably enhanced electrochemical performance for oxygen reduction reaction and photocatalytic activities for the bleaching of methyl orange dye under visible-light irradiation. This facile and catalyst-free approach for depositing ZnSe nanoparticles onto the graphene sheets may provide an alternative way for preparation of other nanocomposites based on GN sheets under mild conditions, which show their potential applications in wastewater treatment, fuel cells, energy storage, nanodevices, and so on.

Small organic molecule templating synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid materials: their nanostructures and properties

The design and synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid materials has developed over the last two decades as chemists and materials engineers have maintained their attention on these materials. In the synthetic process of organic-inorganic hybrid materials, the organic components usually act as templates for directing the connectivity and arrangement of inorganic building blocks. Specifically, according to the size and scale of inorganic building blocks, these organic-inorganic hybrid materials can be divided into molecular scale and nanoscale organic-inorganic hybrid materials. In this review, we highlight the recent advances in using small organic molecules as the templates for the synthesis of organic-inorganic hybrid nanomaterials with interesting properties. The synthetic techniques, hybrid crystal structures, templating roles, crystal growth mechanism, control of sizes and morphologies, and novel properties of organic-inorganic hybrid materials will be discussed.