The CO₂ methanation was studied over 7 wt.% nickel supported on Ce_0.2Zr_0.8O₂/AC to evaluate the correlation of the structural properties with catalytic performance. The catalysts were investigated in more detail by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). A sample of 7 wt.% nickel loading supported on activated carbon (AC) was also prepared for comparison. The results demonstrated that the ceria-zirconia solid solution phase could disperse and stabilize the nickel species more effectively and resulted in stronger interaction with nickel than the parent activated carbon phase. Therefore, 7% Ni/Ce_0.2Zr_0.8O₂/AC catalyst exhibited higher activity for CO₂ reduction than 7% Ni//AC. It can attain 85% CO₂ conversion at 350°C and have a CH₄ selectivity of 100% at a pressure as low as 1 atm. The high activity of prepared catalysts is attributed to the good interaction between Ni and Ce_0.2Zr_0.8O₂ and the high CO₂ adsorption capacity of the activated carbon as well.

Enhancing g-C ₃ N ₄ photocatalytic performance for 2,4-D degradation by incorporating Ag nanoparticles, aimed at reducing electron–hole recombination and inducing surface plasmon resonance to boost charge carrier generation.

Thermochemical properties and microstructures of the composite of Al nanoparticles and NiO nanowires were characterized. The nanowires were synthesized using a hydrothermal method and were mixed with these nanoparticles by sonication. Electron microscopic images of these composites showed dispersed NiO nanowires decorated with Al nanoparticles. Thermal analysis suggests the influence of NiO mass ratio was insignificant with regard to the onset temperature of the observed thermite reaction, although energy release values changed dramatically with varying NiO ratios. Reaction products from the fuel-rich composites were found to include elemental Al and Ni, Al2O3, and AlNi. The production of the AlNi phase, confirmed by an ab initio molecular dynamics simulation, was associated with the formation of some metallic liquid spheres from the thermite reaction.

Semi-empirical tight-binding-based quantum chemistry method (GFN2-xTB) has been done to study the influence of single metal (Li, Mg, Al, Fe, Ag) doping on the electronic and optical properties of monolayer corrugated graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄). Based on the calculated formation energy and population analysis, we showed that the metal atom is chemically bound to the g-C₃N₄ surface. The metal doping reduces the vertical ionisation potential and raises the electron affinity and Lewis acidity of g-C₃N₄. The metal-doped g-C₃N₄ systems have lower band gap than that of pristine g-C₃N₄ which is attributed to the electron donating from the metal atom to g-C₃N₄. Analysis of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital and the highest occupied molecular orbital shows that for the Fe- and Ag-doped g-C₃N₄ systems the separation of photo-generated electron–hole pairs is efficient, resulting in the enhancement of photo-catalytic activity.