Transition metal oxides have garnered a lot of attention in the field of electrocatalysis along with their unique crystal structure and excellent catalytic properties. In this study, carbon nanofibers (CNFs) decorated with Mn₃O₄/NiO nanoparticles were made using electrospinning and calcination. The conductive network constructed by CNFs not only facilitates electron transport, but also provides landing sites for nanoparticles, thus reducing nanoparticle aggregation and exposing more active sites. Additionally, the synergistic interaction between Mn₃O₄ and NiO improved electrocatalytic capacity for glucose oxidation. The Mn₃O₄/NiO/CNFs modified glassy carbon electrode shows satisfactory results in terms of linear range and anti-interference capability for glucose detection, suggesting that the constructed enzyme-free sensor has a promising application in clinical diagnosis.

ZnO-CeO₂ hollow nanospheres have been successfully synthesized via the hard templating method, in which CeO₂ is used as the support skeleton to avoid ZnO agglomeration. The synthesized ZnO-CeO₂ hollow nanospheres possess a large electrochemically active area and high electron transfer owing to the high specific surface area and synergistic effect of ZnO and CeO₂. Due to the above advantages, the resulting ZnO-CeO₂ hollow spheres display high sensitivities of 1122.86 μA mM⁻¹ cm⁻² and 908.53 μA mM⁻¹ cm⁻² under a neutral environment for the selective detection of dopamine and uric acid. The constructed electrochemical sensor shows excellent selectivity, stability and recovery for the selective analysis of dopamine and uric acid in actual samples. This study provides a valuable strategy for the synthesis of ZnO-CeO₂ hollow nanospheres via the hard templating method as electrocatalysts for the selective detection of dopamine and uric acid.

A series of boron‐doped‐titanium dioxide (B‐TiO ₂ ) nanospheres were synthesised via a mild and facile spray‐drying process. The obtained nanospheres were relatively uniform with a size of about 100 nm. A strong absorption in the visible‐light range was observed due to the formation of Ti–O–B bonds, by narrowing the bandgap of B‐TiO ₂ from 3.1 to 2.8 eV. The as‐synthesised 3 wt% B‐TiO ₂ exhibited the greatest photocatalytic activity in the degradation of p‐nitrophenol. The photocatalytic performance was improved, which could be attributed to high absorption of the visible‐light region and efficient separation of photogenerated electron–hole pairs.

A simple and feasible aerosol‐assisted spray‐drying method was developed. High‐resolution transmission electron microscopy images demonstrated the as‐prepared TiO ₂ possessed hollow structure with large cavity formed by the accumulation of numerous nanoparticles. Moreover, the obtained TiO ₂ hollow spheres could lead to the improved light‐harvesting and low recombination of photo‐generated electron–hole carriers, as well as large specific surface area. These excellent properties contributed to the superior photocatalytic activity in degrading Rhodamine B.