Abstract The growth of ultrathin 1D inorganic nanomaterials with controlled diameters remains challenging by current synthetic approaches. A polymer chain templated method is developed to synthesize ultrathin Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 nanotubes. This formation of nanotubes is a consequence of registry between the electrostatic absorption of functional groups on polymer template and the growth habit of Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 . The bulk bismuth precursor is broken into nanoparticles and anchored onto the polymer chain periodically. These nanoparticles react with the functional groups and gradually evolve into Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 nanotubes along the chain. 5.0 and 3.0 nm tubes with narrow diameter deviation are synthesized by using branched polyethyleneimine and polyvinylpyrrolidone as the templates, respectively. Such Bi 2 O 2 CO 3 nanotubes show a decent lithium‐ion storage capacity of around 600 mA h g −1 at 0.1 A g −1 after 500 cycles, higher than other reported bismuth oxide anode materials. More interestingly, the Bi materials developed herein still show decent capacity at very low temperatures, that is, around 330 mA h g −1 (−22 °C) and 170 mA h g −1 (−35 °C) after 75 cycles at 0.1 A g −1 , demonstrating their promising potential for practical application in extreme conditions.
An economical and environment-friendly material as a catalyst is highly desirable to activate peroxymonosulfate (PMS) into reactive oxygen species (ROS). Cobalt-doped dumbbell-shaped manganese oxide (CoX˗MnOx where X = 1.0, 6.0, 12.0, 18.0, and 24.0 mM) was synthesized as a PMS-activator for degrading organic pollutants in wastewater. We have developed a green, facile, and low-temperature route without any organic solvents, and templates to synthesize Co-doped dumbbell-shaped MnOx with hierarchical porosity. It is the first-ever research to use these materials for peroxymonosulfate activation. The microstructure contained nanoparticles that self-assembled into a maze-like dumbbell-shaped mesostructure. Phenol degradations after 9 min of Co18-MnOx/PMS, MnOx/PMS, Co3O4/PMS, PMS, and adsorption were 100%, 27%, 33%, 17%, and 5%, respectively. The Co18-MnOx morphology, microstructure, textural properties, and catalytic efficiency were well-retained after recycling. Compared to SO4·− and ·OH, 1O2 and O2·− were the dominant ROS. The balance among redox couples of different species (Co2+/Co3+, Mn3+/Mn4+, O2−/O2) and PMS decomposition enabled ROS production. The high catalytic activity was assigned to the Mn/Co synergism, hierarchical microstructure, and ROS. Furthermore, the DFT study investigated the difference between the activation mechanism of PMS (adsorption and electron transfer) on MnOx and Co-MnOx surfaces. Our research devised a facile procedure to synthesize other transition metals doped MnOx for advanced oxidation processes and multipurpose applications.