The waxberry-like ZnO nanospheres were successfully synthesized via a facile solution route by refluxing their acetate precursors in diethylene glycol (DEG) medium at 160 °C. The as-prepared ZnO nanospheres were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Experimental results demonstrated that the resultant products showed waxberry-like spherical architecture with an average size of 200 ± 50 nm, which was composed of numerous nanocrystals with hexagonal wurtzite structure. On the basis of these materials information, the growth mechanism of waxberry-like ZnO nanospheres was also discussed. Furthermore, the photocatalytic measurement demonstrated that the as-prepared waxberry-like ZnO nanospheres showed higher photocatalytic activities than the as-prepared ZnO nanoparticles and commercial P25 TiO₂ nanoparticles. It is expected that this work could provide a facile and low-cost method for the development of novel semiconductor nanostructures as high performance photocatalysts with promising applications in solar energy conversion, photocatalysis, sensing, and so on.

A new method of hydrogen generation from Al−Li−Sn alloy was studied in the present article. The hydrogen generation performance of the alloy could be regulated via composition design. The optimized Al−10 wt% Li−5 wt% Sn alloy yielded 1,329 ml g⁻¹ hydrogen with 100% efficiency and controllable hydrogen generation rate within 30 min at 298 K. Using X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and Brunauer-Emmet-Teller analysis, the improved hydrogen generation performance mostly came from the AlLi and Li₁₃Sn₅ phases distributed into Al matrix, which were helpful to decrease the particle size in the milling process. The phases acted as the initial reaction centers and stimulated Al hydrolysis in the hydrolysis process. There existed different hydrolysis processes, including chemical reaction of aluminum and water catalyzed by hydrolysis byproduct LiOH and electrochemical corrosion of Al and Li. The latter was based on the dual micro-galvanic cells between Al−Sn and Li−Sn from Al−Li₁₃Sn₅ microstructure. Al−Li−Sn alloys had a potential application in portable hydrogen sources due to its high hydrogen generation density, high hydrogen purity, etc. The experimental data laid a foundation for hydrogen generator design.