The interaction between cleaved talc surfaces and hydrophobic probe particles, silanized silica and thiolized gold, has been investigated employing the atomic force microscopy (AFM) colloidal probe technique. These model systems have hydrophobicities similar to some of the talc-pitch c s a t T ©

Nitrogen and oxygen co-doped mesoporous carbons that can serve as metal-free electrocatalysts are synthesized via a novel synthetic route using milled rice as a precursor and colloidal silica as a template. The materials efficiently electrocatalyze the hydrazine oxidation reaction with only a small onset potential, while giving a high peak current density and showing good long-term stability.