Semiconductor photocatalysis provides potential solutions for many energy and environmental-related issues. Recently, various semiconductors with hierarchical nanostructures have been fabricated to achieve efficient photocatalysts owing to their multiple advantages, such as high surface area, porous structures, as well as enhanced light harvesting. ZnO has been widely investigated and considered as the most promising alternative photocatalyst to TiO₂. Herein, we present a review on the fabrication methods, growth mechanisms and photocatalytic applications of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures. Various synthetic strategies and growth mechanisms, including multistep sequential growth routes, template-based synthesis, template-free self-organization and precursor or self-templating strategies, are highlighted. In addition, the fabrication of multicomponent ZnO-based nanocomposites with hierarchical structures is also included. Finally, the application of hierarchical ZnO nanostructures and nanocomposites in typical photocatalytic reactions, such as pollutant degradation and H₂ evolution, is reviewed.

Nanostructured monoclinic Cu₂Se with low thermal conductivity shows a figure of merit of 0.72 at 380 K.

Sodium silicate water glass was modified with sodium polyacrylate as the binder, the composite slurry used for high-temperature oxidation-resistant coating was prepared by mixing glass powder with good lubrication properties in the binder. The properties of the modified binder and high-temperature oxidation resistance of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy coated with composite glass coating were studied by XRD, SEM, EDS, TG-DSC and so on. Results showed that sodium polyacrylate modified water glass could obviously improve the suspension stability of the binder, the pyrolytic carbon in the binder at high temperature could increase the surface tension in the molten glass system, and the composite glass coating could be smooth and dense after heating. Pyrolytic carbon diffused and combined with oxygen in the coating under the heating process to protect the titanium alloy from oxidation. The thickness of the oxide layer was reduced 51% after applying the high-temperature oxidation-resistant coating. The coating also showed a nearly 30% reduction in friction coefficient due to the boundary lubricant regime. During cooling, the coating could be peeled off easily because of the mismatched CTE between the coating and substrate.