Mei Wu

Multifunctional coatings represent the most widely used strategy for extending the service life of metallic materials in harsh environments. However, coating performance is determined by the designed functional fillers, or the micro/nano-containers. Attapulgite (ATP) has attracted increasing attention in multifunctional coating systems because it can simultaneously improve barrier performance, act as a micro/nano-container for active agents, form surface micro- and nanostructures and regulate interfacial properties. These features enable its broad use in superhydrophobic, anti-corrosion, anti-bacterial/anti-fouling, self-cleaning/anti-smudge and anti-icing coatings. This review provides a comprehensive overview of recent progress in ATP-based multifunctional protective coatings. It examines the main pretreatment strategies for ATP, including thermal treatment, acid/alkali activation, hydrothermal treatment and solvothermal treatment, together with their influence on channel characteristics, surface activity, dispersibility and matrix compatibility. The diverse roles of ATP in coating systems are further discussed, ranging from barrier-phase reinforcement and micro/nano-container construction to roughness generation and interfacial functional regulation, as well as the corresponding protective mechanisms. By integrating the discussion of passive barrier enhancement and active functional protection, this review offers a unified perspective on the design of ATP-based multifunctional coatings. In addition, current challenges and future research directions are briefly outlined to promote the practical development of high-performance ATP-enabled protective coatings.

In recent decades, with the rapid development of the inorganic synthesis and the increasing discharge of pollutants in the process of industrialization, hollow-structured metal oxides (HSMOs) have taken on a striking role in the field of environmental catalysis. This is all due to their unique structural characteristics compared to solid nanoparticles, such as high loading capacity, superior pore permeability, high specific surface area, abundant inner void space, and low density. Although the HSMOs with different morphologies have been reviewed and prospected in the aspect of synthesis strategies and potential applications, there has been no systematic review focusing on the structures and compositions design of HSMOs in the field of environmental catalysis so far. Therefore, this review will mainly focus on the component dependence and controllable structure of HSMOs in the catalytic elimination of different environmental pollutants, including the automobile and stationary source emissions, volatile organic compounds, greenhouse gases, ozone-depleting substances, and other potential pollutants. Moreover, we comprehensively reviewed the applications of the catalysts with hollow structure that are mainly composed of metal oxides such as CeO₂, MnO_x, CuO_x, Co₃O₄, ZrO₂, ZnO, Al₃O₄, In₂O₃, NiO, and Fe₃O₄ in automobile and stationary source emission control, volatile organic compounds emission control, and the conversion of greenhouse gases and ozone-depleting substances. The structure–activity relationship is also briefly discussed. Finally, further challenges and development trends of HSMO catalysts in environmental catalysis are also prospected.

Carbonyl compounds serve as essential raw materials in the production of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals. An economical and environmentally-friendly route to generating carbonyl compounds involves the catalytic oxidation of alcohols and hydrocarbons using heterogeneous catalysts. In this work, we synthesize a series of vanadium-doped ordered mesoporous zirconium oxophosphate (V/M-ZrPO) nanocomposites via a modified one-pot evaporation-induced self-assembly approach. Characterization results confirm the successful embedding of vanadium species into the framework of the M-ZrPO support. Dispersion of vanadium sites generates catalysts exhibiting enhanced performance for the selective oxidation of alcohols and hydrocarbons to carbonyl compounds. In particular, the 20 V/M-ZrPO catalyst demonstrates excellent reusability and broad substrate compatibility. Relative to established catalytic materials, the 20 V/M-ZrPO catalyst demonstrated superior performance across key metrics including product yield, reaction time, and recyclability. These findings highlight the promise of V/M-ZrPO nanocomposites as efficient and durable catalysts for sustainable carbonyl compound production.

Metal nanoparticles (NPs) are widely used in biomedicine, catalysis, environment, electronics, and other fields, which is closely related to its structural form. For this purpose, researchers have been looking for a simple, green, and controllable way to mass produce metal nanomaterials with desired characteristics (shape, size, stability, etc.). Due to the surface plasmon resonance (SPR) effect of metal nanoparticles, photoreduction method can control the morphology of metal nanoparticles well, which is also simple, large-scalable, and energy-saving. This review provides an overview of the photoreduction method for the synthesis of metal nanoparticles and discusses the factors such as the light source, pH value, reagents, and temperature on the morphology of the nanoparticles. Finally, the challenges and development trends in the controlled preparation of nanomaterials are proposed.

In this work, a novel one‐step photo‐induced self‐assembly method have been applied to fabricate high dispersion CuO nanoparticles loading on the mesoporous silica (CuONP/MS). This method can effectively control the size of CuO metallic particles, having advantages of time saving, easy operation, and environmentally friendly. CuONP/MS with different Si/Cu molar ratio were used as heterogeneous Fenton‐like catalysts to remove methylene blue (MB) from wastewater with the help of H ₂ O ₂ . CuONP/MS(15), having proper copper doping amount, uniform CuO distribution in nano range and suitable Cu ²⁺ /Cu ⁺ ratio, exhibited a higher activity (96 % within 20 min) and stability (80 % after five cycles of use) in MB degradation. CuONP/MS(15) could work in a wide range pH with low metal leaching concentration. Fluorescence(FL) results proved that it is more easily to form oxygen defect, which generate more surface hydroxyl groups as reaction sites for MB removal. One‐step photo‐induced self‐assembly method were proved to be an attractive alternative method to prepare metal loading mesosilica catalysts. CuONP/MS catalysts were efficient heterogeneous Fenton‐like system exemplified by the removal of organic pollutants from wastewater.

A nove l mesoporous zirconium phosphonate hybrid bentonite (MZrPHB ) catalyst was prepared for the removal of trace olefins from refining aromat ic oil. Pyridine-FTIR, NH3‒TPD, XRD, and N2...

This paper highlights the synthesis of a one-dimensional (1D) hierarchical material mesosilica/palygorskite (Pal) composite and evaluates its adsorption performance for anionic dye methyl orange (MO) in comparison with Pal and Mobile crystalline material-41 (MCM-41). The Mesosilica/Pal composite is consisted of mesosilica coated Pal nanorods and prepared through a dual template approach using cetyltrimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) and Pal as soft and hard templates, respectively. The composition and structure of the resultant material was characterized by a scanning electron microscope (SEM), transmissionelectron microscopy (TEM), N₂ adsorption-desorption analysis, small-angle X-Ray powder diffraction (XRD), and zeta potential measurement. Adsorption experiments were carried out with different absorbents at different contact times and pH levels. Compared with Pal and MCM-41, the mesosilica/Pal composite exhibited the best efficiency for MO adsorption. Its adsorption ratio is as high as 70.4%. Its adsorption equilibrium time is as short as 30 min. Results testify that the MO retention is promoted for the micro-mesoporous hierarchical structure and positive surface charge electrostatic interactions of the mesosilica/Pal composite. The regenerability of the mesosilica/Pal composite absorbent was also assessed. 1D morphology makes it facile to separate from aqueous solutions. It can be effortlessly recovered and reused for up to nine cycles.