Uniform MoO₂@C hollow       nanospheres are facilely fabricated through a hydrothermal process, and exhibit superior lithium-ion storage properties.

N-doped and S-doped Na₂Ti₆O₁₃@TiO₂ core-shell nanobelts with specifically exposed {101} facets were facilely prepared and showed a dramatic enhanced visible-light photocatalytic activity and stability for the degradation of methylene blue (MB) owing to the combined effect of hybridization, morphology engineering and doping.

Sulfur and iron co-doped titanoniobate nanosheets were prepared and evaluated in alcoholysis of styrene epoxide. The resulted co-doped catalyst exhibited an excellent catalytic performance ( yield of 99 % with methanol as nucleophile in only 1h at room temperature) and may act as a promising candidate in many acid-catalyzed reactions.

Heterogeneous chiral catalysts with different structure, surface character and location of active species were assembled by salen Mn(III) complex and α-Zr(HPO₄)₂ nanosheets. The bumpy edge-accumulated surfaces of nanosheets lead the catalyst to have a high ee value without axial base in the asymmetric epoxidation of α-methylstyrene.

A facile and effective EDTA-assisted hydrothermal approach was employed to synthesize tetragonal NaEu(MoO4)₂. The formation of NaEu(MoO4)₂ microrugbies involves an evolution from 0D primary nanoparticles to 2D nanosheets and eventually to 3D rugby-like structures by means of oriented self-assembly. The luminescence properties of the obtained NaEu(MoO4)₂ microrugbies are closely correlated with the size and crystallinity. The emission intensities of the calcined products are about 40 times stronger than those of uncalcined ones, and the dominant red emission centered at 617 nm means a high red color purity, which is crucial to potential applications.

Pure-phase monoclinic La₂(WO₄)₃ nanocrystals and uniform spindle-like tetragonal NaLa(WO₄)₂ nano/microcrystals with tunable sizes have been selectively synthesized through a hydrothermal method with the assistance of non-toxic glycerine, based on one reaction system. The La₂(WO₄)₃:Eu³⁺ nanocrystals prepared have a very high red chromaticity, and the critical doping concentration of Eu³⁺ can be as high as 45 mol% due to the unique distorted scheelite structure of La₂(WO₄)₃. The maximum absorption of La₂(WO₄)₃:Eu³⁺ is exactly located in the blue region (467 nm), hence La₂(WO₄)₃:Eu³⁺ could be used in combination with the GaN-based blue light-emitting diodes (LEDs) for white light emitting. Moreover, the resultant La₂(WO₄)₃:Eu³⁺ nanocrystals could be dispersed in distilled water and emitted a bright red color under ultraviolet transmittance irradiation.

Excitation (left) and emission (right) spectra of NaLa(WO₄)₂: 5 mol% Ln³⁺ microspindle: (a) Ln³⁺= Eu³⁺; (b) Ln³⁺= Tb³⁺; (c) Ln³⁺= Tm³⁺. The right corners are their corresponding photographs under the UV irradiation.

A facile and general method was successfully developed to prepare uniform submicrometer-sized heavy lanthanide orthovanadates (LnVO₄, Ln = Tb, Dy, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu) hollow spheres and Ho(OH)CO₃@ HoVO₄ yolk-shell structures by employing corresponding Ln(OH)CO₃ colloidal spheres as the reaction precursor as well as a sacrificial template without the assistance of any surfactant. By modulating the amount of NH₄VO₃ introduced and the diameter of Lu(OH)CO₃ spheres, the textural parameters of the resulted LuVO₄ hollow spheres can be easily tuned. Under ultraviolet excitation, the obtained LuVO₄:Eu³⁺ hollow spheres showed a strong red emission located in the saturated red color region. The modulation of the PL emission intensity and color purity for the tetragonal LuVO₄:Eu³⁺ materials could be realized through tuning the textural parameters of as-obtained hollow spheres. Particularly, the double-shelled LuVO₄:Eu³⁺ hollow sample has the highest quantum efficiency. The as-obtained LuVO₄ hollow spheres showed great biocompatibility, which favors their potential applications in biological fields such as drug delivery, disease therapy, medical imaging, cell biology and diagnosis etc.