Disclosed is a photocatalyst, and methods for its use, that includes a photoactive material comprising a photonic band gap and an electronic band gap, wherein the photonic band gap at least partially overlaps with the electronic band gap, and an electrically conductive material deposited on the photoactive material.

Disclosed is a photocatalyst, and methods for its use, that includes a photoactive material comprising a photonic band gap and an electronic band gap, wherein the photonic band gap at least partially overlaps with the electronic band gap, and an electrically conductive material deposited on the photoactive material.

A protein template is added to a solution in which metal ions of iron and copper are dissolved to introduce the metal ions into the protein template; the protein template is separated from metal ions that have not been incorporated in the protein template; the metal ions that have been incorporated in the protein template are reduced to obtain a protein containing alloy nanoparticles of iron and copper; a sol or gel in which a co-continuous body is dispersed is frozen; the frozen sol or gel is dried in a vacuum to obtain a porous body; the porous body is allowed to support the alloy nanoparticle containing protein; and the protein is removed.

The present invention provides a method for fabricating core-shell particles supported on a carrier, the method including: forming a solution by adding a first metal supported on a carrier to a solvent; adjusting a pH of the solution from 7 to 14 and adding a metal salt of a second metal thereto; and forming core-shell particles by adding a reducing agent to the solution and forming a shell including the second metal on a surface of a core particle including the first metal, and core-shell particles fabricated by the method.

The present invention provides a method for fabricating core-shell particles supported on a carrier, the method including: forming a solution by adding a first metal supported on a carrier to a solvent; adjusting a pH of the solution from 7 to 14 and adding a metal salt of a second metal thereto; and forming core-shell particles by adding a reducing agent to the solution and forming a shell including the second metal on a surface of a core particle including the first metal, and core-shell particles fabricated by the method.

An apparatus and method for producing a lower olefin-containing gas including propylene from CH.sub.4 and CO.sub.2 via CO and H.sub.2 with high activity and high selectivity. The apparatus is provided with: a synthetic gas production unit to which a gas containing CH.sub.4 and CO.sub.2 is supplied from a first supply unit, and which generates a synthetic gas containing CO and H.sub.2 while heating a first catalytic structure; a gas production unit to which the synthetic gas is supplied and which generates a lower olefin-containing gas including propylene while heating a second catalytic structure; and a detection unit which detects propylene discharged from the gas production unit, in which the first catalytic structure includes first supports having a porous structure and a first metal fine particle in the first supports, the first supports have a first channels, the first metal fine particle is present in the first channels, the second catalyst structure includes second supports having a porous structure and a second metal fine particle in the second supports, the second supports have a second channels, and a portion of the second channels have an average inner diameter of 0.95 nm or less.

Processes for converting a hydrocarbon reactant into an alcohol compound and/or a carbonyl compound are disclosed, and these processes include the steps of forming a supported chromium catalyst comprising chromium in a hexavalent oxidation state, irradiating the hydrocarbon reactant and the supported chromium catalyst with a light beam at a wavelength in the UV-visible spectrum to reduce at least a portion of the supported chromium catalyst to form a reduced chromium catalyst, and hydrolyzing the reduced chromium catalyst to form a reaction product comprising the alcohol compound and/or the carbonyl compound. The supported chromium catalyst can be formed by heat treating a supported chromium precursor, contacting a chromium precursor with a solid support while heat treating, or heat treating a solid support and then contacting a chromium precursor with the solid support.

A photocatalyst powder is provided. The photocatalyst powder includes a plurality of nano crystallite aggregates formed by a plurality of nano crystallites. Each of the nano crystallites exhibits a single crystal structure. The nano crystallites have different compositions, different crystal phases, and different lattice constants from each other. An example of the nano crystallites is represented as the formula of ZnO.sub.1-xS.sub.x with different x values in each of the nano crystallites. In addition, a hydrogen producing system is also provided.

Disclosed herein are organic-inorganic hybrid materials, in particular polyionic nanoclays, along with methods of making and using the same. The functionalized organic-inorganic hybrid materials are preferably of a phyllosilicate structure and comprise an octahedral ionic layer sandwiched between two tetrahedral layers, one or more charged chemical moieties covalently bonded to the tetrahedral layers, and optionally one or more counterions or functional groups associated with the hybrid materials. Methods of producing the same, by contacting a silane with a nucleophile and hydrolyzing the product thereof in the presence of a metal salt, are also provided.

Disclosed herein are organic-inorganic hybrid materials, in particular polyionic nanoclays, along with methods of making and using the same. The functionalized organic-inorganic hybrid materials are preferably of a phyllosilicate structure and comprise an octahedral ionic layer sandwiched between two tetrahedral layers, one or more charged chemical moieties covalently bonded to the tetrahedral layers, and optionally one or more counterions or functional groups associated with the hybrid materials. Methods of producing the same, by contacting a silane with a nucleophile and hydrolyzing the product thereof in the presence of a metal salt, are also provided.