A series of N-doped anatase TiO₂ samples have been prepared using a solvothermal method in an organic amine/ethanol–water reaction system. The effects of different starting N : Ti atomic ratios on the catalysts structure, surface property and catalytic activity have been investigated. The photocatalytic activity and stability of the N-doped TiO₂ samples were evaluated through using the decomposition of Methylene blue (MB) and Methyl orange (MO) as model reaction under visible light irradiation. Characterization results show that the nitrogen dopant has a significant effect on the crystallite size and optical absorption of TiO₂. It was found that the N-doped TiO₂ catalysts have enhanced absorption in the visible light region, and exhibit higher activity for photocatalytic degradation of model dyes (e.g. MB and MO). The catalyst with the highest performance was the one prepared using N : Ti molar ratio of 1.0. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) measurement suggests the materials contain Ti³⁺ ions, with both the degree of N doping and oxygen vacancies make contributions to the visible light absorption of TON. The presence of superoxide radicals (O˙ ⁻) and hydroxyl radicals (˙OH) on the surface of TON were found to be responsible for MB and MO solution decoloration under visible light. Based on the results of the present study, a visible light induced photocatalytic mechanism has been proposed for N-doped anatase TiO₂.

Here we show that the introduction of N into a carbon surface facilitates the hydrogen-bonding interactions between the carbon surface and CO₂ molecules, which accounts for the superior CO₂ uptake of the N-doped activated carbons. This new finding challenges the long-held viewpoint that acid–base interactions between N-containing basic functional groups and acidic CO₂ gas are responsible for the enhanced CO₂ capture capacity of N-doped carbons.

The urgent demand for clean energies and rapid development of modern electronic technologies have led to enthusiastic research on novel energy storage technologies, especially for supercapacitors.

A rechargeable aluminum-ion battery exhibits outstanding perofrmance due to the rationally designed CoSe₂-based cathode material.

The preparation of hierarchical zeolites with reduced diffusion limitation and enhanced catalyst efficiency has become a vital focus in the field of zeolites and porous materials chemistry within the past decades. This review will focus on the diffusion and catalyst efficiency of hierarchical zeolites and industrial catalysts. The benefits of diffusion and catalyst efficiency at two levels of hierarchies (zeolitic component level and industrial catalyst level) from a chemical reaction engineering point of view will be analysed. At zeolitic component level, three types of mesopores based on the strategies applied toward enhancing the catalyst effectiveness factor are presented: (i) ‘functional mesopores’ (raising effective diffusivity); (ii) ‘auxiliary mesopores’ (decreasing diffusion length); and (iii) ‘integrated mesopores’ (a combination thereof). At industrial catalyst level, location and interconnectivity among the constitutive components are revealed. The hierarchical pore interconnectivity in multi-component zeolite based industrial catalysts is exemplified by fluid catalytic cracking and bi-functional hydroisomerization catalysts. The rational design of industrial zeolite catalysts at both hierarchical zeolitic component and catalyst body levels can be fully comprehended using the advanced in situ and/or operando spectroscopic, microscopic and diffraction techniques.