Environmental degradation and energy shortage are the two biggest problems facing the world right now. Because of the limited supply of non-renewable sources, the production of environment-friendly energy and its storage has gained significant importance. Pseudocapacitors have lately caught the interest of energy specialists due to their greater energy/power density and prolonged cycle life. In this work, binding-free SnTe/SnSe (STSS) electrodes deposited onto Ni foam (NF) as the conductive substrate have been developed by a facile hydrothermal route for supercapacitor applications. Several analytical tools were utilized to study the morphological, structural and textural characteristics. The electrochemical results obtained from a three-electrode system suggest that the STSS electrode material exhibits great specific capacitance (C_s) of 1276 F g⁻¹, specific energy (E_d) of 46.45 W h kg⁻¹ and specific power (P_d) of 256 W kg⁻¹ @ 1 A g⁻¹. The results of C_dl indicate that the STSS (31.28 mF) has a larger C_dl value than those of SnTe (23.22 mF) and SnSe (26.35 mF). The analysis of electrochemical stability indicates that the STSS displays structural stability over 5000 cycles with a maximum capacitance retention of 96%. The Nyquist plot profile displayed a smaller R_ct value for STSS (0.89 Ω) than SnSe (1.13 Ω) and SnTe (1.97 Ω). The symmetric behavior of STSS was determined in 2.0 M potassium hydroxide. The results reveal that this material has a specific capacitance of 537.72 F g⁻¹ and specific energy of 78.32 W h kg⁻¹. These findings suggest that the STSS electrode might serve as a potential candidate for supercapacitors and other energy-saving equipment.

Electrochemical water splitting is economically unviable due to the sluggish kinetics of the anodically uphill oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This is directly linked to the design and facile fabrication of low overpotential water oxidation electrocatalytic materials, engaging applied methods and earth-abundant precursors. Here, we demonstrate facilely synthesized ZnTe nanospheres (ZnTe-NS) as an efficient and durable OER electrocatalyst, executing water oxidation with a much lower energy cost relative to other previously reported non-noble metal-based catalytic systems. The catalytic system shows excellent performance, initiating the oxygen evolution reaction at just 1.41 V vs. RHE (η = 180 mV) and reaching current densities of 10 mA cm⁻² and 100 mA cm⁻² at 1.44 V vs. RHE (η = 210 mV) and 1.63 V vs. RHE (η = 400 mV), respectively; this performance is superior to state-of-the-art RuO₂ and IrO₂ catalysts reported previously. Furthermore, a modest Tafel slope of 62 mV dec⁻¹, indicative of a one electron and one proton transfer mechanism, and a large TOF of 0.25 s⁻¹ at just η = 210 mV are achieved. The catalyst advantageously exhibits a stable current density of >50 mA cm⁻² for more than 24 hours during water electrolysis experiments for extended time periods. The hydrothermally developed ZnTe-NS are 150–200 nm in size and display hollow structures, as evaluated via high-resolution transmission electron microscopy. XRD and XPS techniques are employed to confirm the formation of ZnTe-NS. DFT calculations show that hydroxyl attachment energy is very favorable on the highly porous and crystalline ZnTe-NS, further confirming their remarkable properties for enhanced electrocatalytic OER activity. This study demonstrates valuable insights into developing the first example of a highly durable Zn chalcogenide, more specifically ZnTe-NS, as an efficient and inexpensive electrocatalyst material for water oxidation. Through an easily accessible synthesis method, ZnTe-NS maintain their integrity, morphology and chemical structure, even after many hours of continuous water electrolysis.

Photothermal therapy (PPT) is a platform to fight cancer by using multiplexed interactive plasmonic nanomaterials as probes in combination with the excellent therapeutic performance of near-infrared (NIR) light. With recent rapid developments in optics and nanotechnology, plasmonic materials have potential in cancer diagnosis and treatment, but there are some concerns regarding their clinical use. The primary concerns include the design of plasmonic nanomaterials which are taken up by the tissues, perform their function and then clear out from the body. Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) can be developed in different morphologies and functionalized to assist the photothermal therapy in a way that they have clinical value. This review outlines the diverse Au morphologies, their distinctive characteristics, concerns and limitations to provide an idea of the requirements in the field of NIR-based therapeutics.