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In this study, WO3 microspheres, with special morphology and structure of porous hollow spheres constructed from WO3 nanoparticles, were composited with thin PVA layer of PC/PVA thin film nanocomposite membrane by dip-coating technique, and was used for treatment of the oil refinery wastewater. The obtained results indicates that, the best separation performance was observed for the thin film nanocomposite membrane, containing 0.05 wt% of WO3 nanoparticles. The flux recovery ratio of this sample is 88.64% which is 66.8% higher than that of the PVC membrane. And this sample with rejection percentage of 80.39%, shows an about 27.8% rejection improvement, compared to the bare PVC membrane. Total fouling ratio of this nanocomposite membrane is 34.09% which is about 69.6% lower than that of the PVC membrane. The neat PVC membrane has the high porosity and large pore size, however, this membrane has the low hydrophilicity, and high adsorption of organic pollutants, and this sample has high fouling capability, and consequently has low permeation performance for treatment of the oil refinery wastewater. On the other hand, the thin film nanocomposite membranes containing WO3 nanostructures, have an extra dense nanocomposite PVA thin layer on their surface, and despite of the low porosity and small pore size of these membranes, they have high permeation performance, and increased of hydrophilicity. The improved hydrophilicity, increases the rejection of organic pollutants from the membrane surface and consequently decreases the membrane fouling.

Among the different nanostructures that have been demonstrated as promising materials for various applications, three–dimensional (3D) nanostructures have attracted significant attention as building blocks for constructing high-performance nanodevices because of their unusual mechanical, electrical, thermal, optical, and magnetic properties arising from their novel size effects and abundant active catalytic/reactive sites due to the high specific surface area. Considerable research efforts have been devoted to designing, fabricating, and evaluating 3D nanostructures for applications, including structural composites, electronics, photonics, biomedical engineering, and energy. This review provides an overview of the nanofabrication strategies that have been developed to fabricate 3D functional architectures with exquisite control over their morphology at the nanoscale. The pros and cons of the typical synthetic methods and experimental protocols are reviewed and outlined. Future challenges of fabrication of 3D nanostructured materials are also discussed to further advance current nanoscience and nanotechnology.

In this work, we investigate the anelastic deformation behavior of periodic three-dimensional (3D) nanolattices with extremely thin shell thicknesses using nanoindentation. The results show that the nanolattice continues to deform with time under a constant load. In the case of 30-nm-thick aluminum oxide nanolattices, the anelastic deformation accounts for up to 18.1% of the elastic deformation for a constant load of 500 μN. The nanolattices also exhibit up to 15.7% recovery after unloading. Finite element analysis (FEA) coupled with diffusion of point defects is conducted, which is in qualitative agreement with the experimental results. The anelastic behavior can be attributed to the diffusion of point defects in the presence of a stress gradient and is reversible when the deformation is removed. The FEA model quantifies the evolution of the stress gradient and defect concentration and demonstrates the important role of a wavy tube profile in the diffusion of point defects. The reported anelastic deformation behavior can shed light on time-dependent response of nanolattice materials with implication for energy dissipation applications.

Graphitic carbon nitride (g-C 3 N 4 ) nanosheets have attracted widespread interest in the construction of advanced separation membranes. However, dense stacking and a single functionality have limited the membrane development. Here, an advanced two-/three-dimensional (2D/3D) g-C 3 N 4 /TiO 2 @MnO 2 membrane is constructed by intercalating 3D TiO 2 @MnO 2 nanostructures into g-C 3 N 4 nanosheets. The 3D flower-like nanostructures broaden the transport channels of the composite membrane. The membrane can effectively separate five oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions, with a maximum flux of 3265.67 ± 15.01 L·m −2 ·h −1 ·bar −1 and a maximum efficiency of 99.69% ± 0.45% for toluene-in-water emulsion (T/W). Meanwhile, the TiO 2 @MnO 2 acts as an excellent electron acceptor and provides positive spatial separation of electrons–holes (e − –h + ). The formation of 2D/3D heterojunctions allows the material with wider light absorption and smaller bandgap (2.10 eV). These photoelectric properties give the membrane good degradation of three different pollutants, with about 100% degradation for methylene blue (MB) and malachite green (MG). The photocatalytic antibacterial efficiency of the membrane is also about 100%. After cyclic experiment, the membrane maintains its original separation and photocatalytic capabilities. The remarkable multifunctional and self-cleaning properties of the g-C 3 N 4 based membrane represent its potential value for complex wastewater treatment.

We report a three-dimensional hierarchical ternary hybrid composite of molybdenum disulfide （MoS2）, reduced graphene oxide （GO）, and carbon nano- tubes （CNTs） prepared by a two-step process. Firstly, reduced GO-CNT composites with three-dimensional microstructuresare synthesized by hydrothermal treatment of an aqueous dispersion of GO and CNTs to form a composite structure via π-π interactions. Then, MoS2 nanoparticles are hydrothermally grown on the surfaces of the GO-CNT composite. This ternary composite shows superior electrocatalytic activity and stability in the hydrogen evolution reaction, with a low onset potential of only 35 mV, a Tafel slope of -38 mV.decade-1 and an apparent exchange current density of 74.25 mA.cm-2. The superior hydrogen evolution activity stemmed from the synergistic effect of MoS2 with its electrocatalytically active edge-sites and excellent electrical coupling to the underlying graphene and CNT network.

Highly ordered TiO2 nanotube (NT) arrays grown on Ti mesh and Ti foil were successfully prepared by a controlled anodic oxidation process and tested for water photo-electrolysis. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), combined with other electrochemical techniques (cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry) in tests performed in the dark and under illumination conditions, was used to correlate the photoactivity to the specific charge transfer resistances associated with a 3D (mesh) or 2D (foil) geometry of the support. The peculiar structure of the nanotubes in the mesh (with better light absorption and faster electron transport along the nanotubes) strongly impacts the catalytic performances under illumination. H2 production and current density in water photo-electrolysis were over three times higher with the TiO2NTs/Ti mesh, compared to the foil in the same conditions. The results obtained by the EIS technique, used here for the first time to directly compare TiO2 nanotubes on two different supports (Ti foil and Ti mesh), led to a better understanding of the electronic properties of TiO2 nanotubes and the effect of a specific support on its photocatalytic properties.

3D photonic nanostructures with intrinsic chirality have recently entered the research limelight due to their fundamental importance and potential technological applications. Blue‐phase liquid crystals (BPLCs) with chiral cubic nanostructures are an inventive example of 3D chiral photonic nanostructures. The inherently self‐organized 3D chiral nanostructures give rise to a complete photonic bandgap, which results in the selective reflection of circularly polarized light in all three dimensions. Herein, a comprehensive review of the state‐of‐the‐art of BPLCs and their potential applications is presented. First, the history and fundamentals of BPLCs are introduced. Then, the recent endeavors in the design, synthesis, and properties of BPLCs such as lattice orientation control with different techniques, photonic bandgap tuning with external fields, and fabrication of free‐standing BPLC polymer films are summarized. Finally, a discussion of the future challenges and potential applications of BPLCs is provided. It is believed that this review would stimulate innovative ideas for the design and engineering of novel chiral nanostructured materials for advanced photonic systems with tailorable functionalities. 3D chiral photonic nanostructures are of great significance due to the presence of a complete photonic bandgap and omnidirectional selective reflection of circularly polarized light. Herein, an account on the state‐of‐the‐art in blue‐phase liquid crystals with chiral cubic nanostructures and their potential applications is provided. In addition, perspectives for future scope, challenges, and opportunities for such a multidisciplinary topic are presented.

One of the well‐known strategies for achieving high‐performance light‐activated gas sensors is to design a nanostructure for effective surface responses with its geometric advances. However, no study has gone beyond the benefits of the large surface area and provided fundamental strategies to offer a rational structure for increasing their optical and chemical performances. Here, a new class of UV‐activated sensing nanoarchitecture made of highly periodic 3D TiO2, which facilitates 55 times enhanced light absorption by confining the incident light in the nanostructure, is prepared as an active gas channel. The key parameters, such as the total 3D TiO2 film and thin‐shell thicknesses, are precisely optimized by finite element analysis. Collectively, this fundamental design leads to ultrahigh chemoresistive response to NO2 with a theoretical detection limit of ≈200 ppt. The demonstration of high responses with visible light illumination proposes a future perspective for light‐activated gas sensors based on semiconducting oxides. The high‐performance light‐activated NO2 gas sensors using 3D TiO2 nanostructures are achieved by the unique light harvesting properties of the nanoporous structures. The light scattering effects from optical maze‐like nanostructures and numerous intermediate energy states from atomic layer deposition of the film electronically activate 3D TiO2 and enhance its gas sensing performance under UV illumination.

The development of gas sensors with high sensitivity and low operating temperatures is essential for practical applications in environmental monitoring and industrial safety. SnO2-based gas sensors, despite their widespread use, often suffer from high working temperatures and limited sensitivity to H2 gas, which presents significant challenges for their performance and application. This study addresses these issues by introducing a novel SnO2-based sensor featuring a three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure, designed to enhance sensitivity and allow for room-temperature operation. This work lies in the use of a 3D anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) template to deposit SnO2 nanoparticles through ultrasonic spray pyrolysis, followed by modification with platinum (Pt) nanoparticles to further enhance the sensor’s response. The as-prepared sensors were extensively characterized, and their H2 sensing performance was evaluated. The results show that the 3D nanostructure provides a uniform and dense distribution of SnO2 nanoparticles, which significantly improves the sensor’s sensitivity and repeatability, especially in H2 detection at room temperature. This work demonstrates the potential of utilizing 3D nanostructures to overcome the traditional limitations of SnO2-based sensors.

Ni-based electrocatalysts with strong redox abilities are active for the electrochemical oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Interface engineering is an efficient way to modulate the electronic structure, tune the intermediate adsorption, and expose more active sites. Herein, we increased the concentration of interfacial sites with rich defects in a 3D hierarchical nanostructured NiO-Co 3 O 4 electrocatalyst and investigated its catalytic performance for HMF electro-oxidation. The interface effect created abundant cation vacancies, modulated the electronic properties of Co and Ni atoms, and raised the oxidation state of Ni species. The NiO-Co 3 O 4 catalysts show superb HMF oxidation activities with a low onset potential of 1.28 V RHE . Meanwhile, in-situ surface-selective vibrational spectroscopy of sum-frequency generation was performed to study the reaction pathway during the oxidation process on the electrocatalysts. The current study offers an efficient way to create cation vacancies and proves the decisive role of cation vacancies in catalyzing the HMF electro-oxidation.