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Recently, photothermal therapy （PTT） has attracted tremendous attention because of its high efficacy in tumor ablation and minimal damage to normal tissues. While many inorganic nanomaterials, especially various gold nanostructures and nanocarbons, have been extensively explored for near-infrared （NIR） light triggered PTT in the past decade, a variety of organic photothermal agents have also emerged in recent years, aiming at replacing their inorganic counterparts which usually are not biodegradable. In this mini-review, we will summarize several typical classes of recently developed NIR-absorbing organic PTT nano- agents, which include NIR dye-containing micelles, porphysomes, protein-based agents, conjugated polymers, and organic/inorganic nanocomposites. The development of imaging-guided PTT and combination therapy will be introduced as well. Finally, the perspectives and challenges in the future development of PTT will be discussed.

Being simple, inexpensive, scalable and environmentally friendly, microporous biomass biochars have been attracting enthusiastic attention for application in lithium-sulfur （Li-S） batteries. Herein, porous bamboo biochar is activated via a KOH/annealing process that creates a microporous structure, boosts surface area and enhances electronic conductivity. The treated sample is used to encapsulate sulfur to prepare a microporous bamboo carbon-sulfur （BC-S） nanocomposite for use as the cathode for Li-S batteries for the first time. The BC-S nanocomposite with 50 wt.% sulfur content delivers a high initial capacity of 1,295 mA-h/g at a low discharge rate of 160 mA/g and high capacity retention of 550 mA-h/g after 150 cycles at a high discharge rate of 800 mA/g with excellent coulombic efficiency （995%）. This suggests that the BC-S nanocomposite could be a promising cathode material for Li-S batteries.

We report the preparation of nanocomposites of reduced graphene oxide with embedded Fe3O4/Fe nanorings （FeNR@rGO） by chemical hydrothermal growth. We illustrate the use of these nanocomposites as novel electromagnetic wave absorbing materials. The electromagnetic wave absorption properties of the nanocomposites with different compositions were investigated. The preparation procedure and nanocomposite composition were optimized to achieve the best electromagnetic wave absorption properties. Nanocomposites with a GO：cx-Fe203 mass ratio of 1：1 prepared by annealing in HdAr for 3 h exhibited the best properties. This nanocomposite sample （thickness = 4.0 mm） showed a minimum reflectivity of -23.09 dB at 9.16 GHz. The band range was 7.4-11.3 GHz when the reflectivity was less than -10 dB and the spectrum width was up to 3.9 GHz. These figures of merit are typically of the same order of magnitude when compared to the values shown by traditional ferric oxide materials. However, FeNR@rGO can be readily applied as a microwave absorbing material because the production method we propose is highly compatible with mass production standards.

A simple one step solvothermal strategy using non-toxic and cost-effective precursors has been developed to prepare magnetite/reduced graphene oxide （MRGO） nanocomposites for removal of dye pollutants. Taking advantage of the combined benefits of graphene and magnetic nanoparticles, these MRGO nanocomposites exhibit excellent removal efficiency （over 91% for rhodamine B and over 94% for malachite green） and rapid separation from aqueous solution by an external magnetic field. Interestingly, the performance of the MRGO composites is strongly dependent on both the loading of Fe304 and the pH value. In addition, the adsorption behavior of this new adsorbent fits well with the Freundlich isotherm and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model. In further applications, real samples--including industrial waste water and lake water--have been treated using the MRGO composites. All the results demonstrate that the MRGO composites are effective adsorbents for removal of dye pollutants and thus could provide a new platform for dye decontamination.

The persistent need for a sustainable energy economy has led researchers to focus on novel energy conversion and storage technologies, inspiring the discovery of smart material designs such as hierarchical nanocomposites~ These nanocomposites have proven effective in the advancement of energy-based technologies. The synergistic properties of hierarchical nanocomposites composed of two types of two-dimensional layered materials, layered double hydroxides and graphene, have resulted in improved electrochemical as well as photocatalytic performance. Synthetic strategies and their effect on the electrochemical and photocatalytic performance of these nanocomposites as high-performance supercapacitors and water oxidation catalysts are discussed in detail in this review.

There is a growing demand for hybrid supercapacitor systems to overcome the energy density limitation of existing-generation electric double layer capacitors （EDLCs）, leading to next generation-Ⅱ supercapacitors with minimum sacrifice in power density and cycle life. Here, an advanced graphene-based hybrid system, consisting of a graphene-inserted Li4Ti5O12 （LTO） composite anode （G-LTO） and a three-dimensional porous graphene-sucrose cathode, has been fabricated for the purpose of combining both the benefits of Li-ion batteries （energy source） and supercapacitors （power source）. Graphene-based materials play a vital role in both electrodes in respect of the high performance of the hybrid supercapacitor. For example, compared with the theoretical capacity of 175 mA-h.g-1 for pure LTO, the G-LTO nanocomposite delivered excellent reversible capacities of 207, 190, and 176 mA·1h·g-1 at rates of 0.3, 0.5, and 1 C, respectively, in the potential range 1.0-2.5 V vs. Li/Li＋; these are among the highest values for LTO-based nano- composites at the same rates and potential range. Based on this, an optimized hybrid supercapacitor was fabricated following the standard industry procedure; this displayed an ultrahigh energy density of 95 Wh·kg-1 at a rate of 0.4 C （2.5 h） over a wide voltage range （0-3 V）, and still retained an energy density of 32 Wh·kg-1 at a high rate of up to 100 C, equivalent to a full discharge in 36 s, which is exceptionally fast for hybrid supercapacitors. The excellent performance of this Li-ion hybrid supercapacitor indicates that graphene-based materials may indeed play a significant role in next-generation supercapacitors with excellent electrochemical performance.

The synthesis of a composite of cobalt phosphide nanowires and reduced graphene oxide （denoted CoP/RGO） via a facile hydrothermal method combined with a subsequent annealing step is reported. The resulting composite presents large specific surface area and enhanced conductivity, which can effectively facilitate charge transport and accommodates variations in volume during the lithiation/de-lithiation processes. As a result, the CoP/RGO nanocomposite manifests a high reversible specific capacity of 960 mA·h-g-1 over 200 cycles at a current density of 0.2 A·g-1 （297 mA·h·g-1 over 10,000 cycles at a current density of 20 A.g-1） and excellent rate capability （424 mA·h·g-1 at a current density of 10 A·g-1）.

Silicon has been recognized as the most promising anode material for high capacity lithium ion batteries. However, large volume variations during charge and discharge result in pulverization of Si electrodes and fast capacity loss on cycling. This drawback of Si electrodes can be overcome by combination with well-organized graphene foam. In this work, hierarchical three-dimensional carbon-coated mesoporous Si nanospheres@graphene foam （C@Si@GF） nanoarchitectures were successfully synthesized by a thermal bubble ejection assisted chemical-vapor-deposition and magnesiothermic reduction method. The morphology and structure of the as-prepared nanocomposites were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy. When employed as anode materials in lithium ion batteries, C@Si@GF nanocomposites exhibited superior electrochemical per- formance including a high specific capacity of 1,200 mAh/g at the current density of 1A/g, excellent high rate capabilities and an outstanding cyclability. Post-mortem analyses identified that the morphology of 3D C@Si@GF electrodes after 200 cycles was well maintained. The synergistic effects arising from the combination of mesoporous Si nanospheres and graphene foam nanoarchitectures may address the intractable pulverization problem of Si electrode.

A facile electron-charging and reducing method was developed to prepare Au/＇VVO3 nanocomposites for plasmonic solar water splitting. The preparation method involved a charging step in which electrons were charged into WO3 under negative bias, and a subsequent reducing step in which the stored electrons were used to reductively deposit Au on the surface of WO3. The electron-charged WO3 （c-WO3） exhibited tunable reducibility that could be easily controlled by varying the charging parameters, and this property makes this method a universal strategy to prepare metalAVO3 composites. The obtained Au/VVO3 nanocomposite showed greatly improved photoactivity toward the oxygen evolution reaction （OER） when compared with WO3. After Au decoration, the OER photocurrent was improved by a percentage of over 80% at low potentials （〈0.6 V vs. SCE）, and by a percentage of over 30% at high potentials （〉1.0 V vs. SCE）. Oxygen evolution measurements were performed to quantitatively determine the Faraday efficiency for OER, which reflected the amount of photocurrent consumed by water splitting. The Faraday efficiency for OER was improved from 74% at the WO3 photoanode to 94% at the Au-8/＇vVO3 composite photoanode, and this is the first direct evidence that the Au decoration significantly restrained the anodic side reactions and enhanced the photoelectrochemical （PEC） OER efficiency. The high photoactivity of the composite photoanode toward OER was ascribed to the plasmon resonance energy transfer （PRET） enhancement and the catalytic enhancement of Au nanoparticles （NPs）.

Visible-light-initiated organic transformations have received much attention because of low cost, relative safety, and environmental friendliness. In this work, we report on a novel type of visible-light-driven photocatalysts, namely, porous nanocomposites of CdS-nanoparticle-decorated metal-organic frameworks （MOF）, prepared by a simple solvothermal method in which porous MIL-100（Fe） served as the support and cadmium acetate （Cd（Ac）2） as the CdS precursor. When the selective oxidation of benzyl alcohol to benzaldehyde is used as the probe reaction, the results show that the combination of MIL-100（Fe） and CdS semiconductor can remarkably enhance the photocatalytic efficiency at room temperature, as compared to that of pure CdS. The enhanced photocatalytic performance can be attributed to the combined effects of enhanced light absorption, more efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, and increased surface area of CdS due to the presence of MIL-100（Fe）. This work demonstrates that MOF-based composite materials hold great promise for applications in the field of solar-energy conversion into chemical energy.