Abdelaziz Mohamed Aboraia

Pushing ahead in materials chemistry means building tiny substances that work hard and take into account clean power, planet care, life science all at once. From this effort comes a new direction: ZIF-8, a metal-linked cage structure, now fused with active components extracted from the common fungus Aspergillus nidulans. Not just mixed, but grown together with fungal extracts tucked neatly into the skeleton of the material while keeping its orderly shape intact. Three versions appeared—loaded at 2%, 4%, and 6 weight percent—and each one was mapped out using X-ray signals, sharp images from electron scans, and element tracing. A light flickered on and off during tests in which electricity flowed through these new composites set between three points, designed to split water and release hydrogen gas. Surprisingly, the ZIF-8@2% nidulans blend showed strong teamwork between electricity- and light-driven biology, creating a sharp spike in temporary current while cutting down reaction delay to just 310 mV/dec—pushing hydrogen release through a faster molecular handshake. In this mix, natural compounds from fungi act like tiny solar collectors, helping electrons move more freely, which is reflected in impedance scans as lower resistance. On top of that, higher doses of the material effectively blocked harmful microbes, thanks to ZIF-8 breaking cell walls and active fungal ingredients punching holes as well. Instead of relying on harsh chemicals, it uses a nature-inspired design in which molds meet synthetic frameworks, creating a single system with potential for sustainable energy generation and antimicrobial applications.

In this study, we report the rational strategy and facile route of a hybrid nanocomposite by integrating spinel‐structured high‐entropy oxides (HEO), such as (CrMnFeCoNi) ₃ O ₄ , with graphitic carbon nitride (g‐C ₃ N ₄ ). Leveraging the unique cocktail effect, the multi‐cation redox activity of HEO, and its plentiful reversible redox‐active sites, the synthesized HEO@g‐C ₃ N ₄ nanocomposite shows promise as an advanced supercapacitor (SC) electrode material. This synergistic integration can address the intrinsic limitations of HEOs, including poor electrical conductivity, inadequate structural stability/durability during repeated charge–discharge cycles, and restricted charge transfer kinetics. The intimate interfacial integration of the as‐made HEO@g‐C ₃ N ₄ nanocomposite matrix was thoroughly validated via complementary physicochemical characterizations, including XRD, SEM, FTIR, and XPS. The electrochemical measurements indicated that HEO@g‐C ₃ N ₄ nanocomposite shows an ultrahigh specific capacitance of 3263 F/g at a current density of 5 A/g. Furthermore, the hybrid HEO@g‐C ₃ N ₄ nanocomposite achieved an energy density of 408 J/g at around a power density of 1.086 KW/g. In comparison, pristine HEO shows 1652 F/g at 5 A/g, confirming that adding the g‐C ₃ N ₄ skeleton may facilitate the electron transport and electrolyte ion diffusion. Additionally, g‐C ₃ N ₄ can act as a structural buffer to mitigate volume expansion/contraction of HEO during charge–discharge cycling.

Pure Bi₂O₃ is a favorable photocatalyst for visible-light-driven processes; however, the rapid recombination of photogenerated charge carriers limits its practical performance. In this work, Co-doped Bi₂O₃ nanoparticles, Co_xBi_2−xO₃ (x = 0–0.1), were produced through a sol–gel combustion route to enhance their visible-light photocatalytic activity. As demonstrated by XRD analysis, Co was successfully incorporated into the Bi₂O₃ lattice, along with changes to the crystal structure, crystallite size (up to ~88 nm), and lattice strain. Optical measurements revealed that Co-doping induces a clear absorption edge’s red shift, resulting in a systematic reduction of the optical band gap from 3.9 eV for pure Bi₂O₃ to approximately 3.1 eV for the doped samples. This band gap narrowing enhances visible-light absorption and improves photocatalytic efficiency. Photocatalytic activity was assessed by measuring the degradation of MB under visible-light irradiation. Incorporation of Co consistently enhanced the performance across all doped samples compared to the pristine oxide counterpart. The Co_0.1Bi_1.9O₃ composition demonstrated the best performance, achieving a removal efficiency of 94.5% within 120 min, compared with 73.0% for pure Bi₂O₃. Kinetic analysis indicated pseudo-first-order behavior, with the optimal sample showing a rate constant of 0.0240 min⁻¹—more than twice that of the undoped material (0.0105 min⁻¹). These results validate that Co-doping is an actual approach for engineering the electronic structure of Bi₂O₃, leading to enhanced visible-light absorption, improved charge-carrier separation, and significantly higher photocatalytic efficiency for environmental remediation applications.