Ionic Liquid/Deep Eutectic Solvent-Mediated Calcining Synthesis of Cobalt-Based Electrocatalysts for Water Splitting.

The recent advancements of ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) in the synthesis of cobalt-based catalysts for water splitting is reviewed. ILs and DESs possess unique physical and chemical properties, serving as solvents, templates, and reagents. Combined with calcination techniques, their advantages can be fully leveraged, enhancing the stability and activity of resulted catalysts.

Ionic Liquids as Promisingly Multi-Functional Participants for Electrocatalyst of Water Splitting: A Review.

Ionic liquids (ILs), as one of the most concerned functional materials in recent decades, have opened up active perspectives for electrocatalysis. In catalyst preparation, ILs act as characteristic active components besides media and templates. Compared with catalysts obtained using ordinary reagents, IL-derived catalysts have a special structure and catalytic performance due to the influence of IL's special physicochemical properties and structures.

Deep Eutectic Solvent-Mediated Electrocatalysts for Water Splitting.

As green, safe, and cheap solvents, deep eutectic solvents (DESs) provide tremendous opportunities to open up attractive perspectives for electrocatalysis. In this review, the achievement of DESs in the preparation of catalysts for electrolytic water splitting is described in detail according to their roles combined with our own work. DESs are generally employed as green media, templates, and electrolytes.

Agaric-like cobalt diselenide supported by carbon nanofiber as an efficient catalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction.

We synthesized herein a novel 3D cathode constructed by growing cobalt diselenide in situ on the surface of carbon nanofiber for hydrogen evolution reaction. The cobalt diselenides with two typical morphologies (agaric-like and nanorod-like) were synthesized by precisely controlling reaction time and temperature in the same system. They show excellent electrocatalytic performance for hydrogen evolution reactions.

Nonlinear-Optical Crystal RbYBO with Condensed BO Blocks That Exhibits an Intriguing Structural Arrangement and a Short Ultraviolet Absorption Edge.

Nonlinear-optical (NLO) crystals, which can regulate the laser wavelength through a cascading second-harmonic-generation technique, have been widely utilized in the field of optoelectronics. In this work, we grew the NLO borate crystal RbYBO (RYBO) using the spontaneous crystallization method. RYBO crystallizes in a chiral trigonal space group of 32 with a new type of structural arrangement built from Y-O short chains and BO groups.

Controllable 1D and 2D Cobalt Oxide and Cobalt Selenide Nanostructures as Highly Efficient Electrocatalysts for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

The relationship between controllable morphology and electrocatalytic activity of Co O and CoSe for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) was explored in alkaline medium. Based on the time-dependent growth process of cobalt precursors, 1D Co O nanorods and 2D Co O nanosheets were successfully synthesized through a facile hydrothermal process at 180 °C under different reaction times, followed by calcination at 300 °C for 2 h. Subsequently, 1D and 2D CoSe nanostructures were derived by selenization of Co O , which achieved the controllable synthesis of CoSe without templating agents.

Imidazolium-based ionic liquids grafted on solid surfaces.

Supported ionic liquids (SILs), which refer to ionic liquids (ILs) immobilized on supports, are among the most important derivatives of ILs. The immobilization process of ILs can transfer their desired properties to substrates. Combination of the advantages of ILs with those of support materials will derive novel performances while retaining properties of both moieties.

Reversibly switchable wettability.

This critical review outlines the current state-of-the-art research on the reversibly switchable wettability of surface brought about by external stimuli and the exchange of counterions. Chemical composition and surface topography are the two key factors in the wettability of solid substrates. Applying external stimuli and exchanging counterions of ionic liquids and polyelectrolyte films are valuable approaches for rendering the change in surface chemistry and/or topography, and for driving the transition between hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity of surfaces.

Phosphine-free cross-coupling reaction of arylboronic acids with carboxylic anhydrides or acyl chlorides in aqueous media.

The palladium acetate-catalyzed coupling reaction of aryl boronic acid with carboxylic anhydride or acyl chloride was carried out smoothly in water in the presence of poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) or 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF6]) to give high yields of ketones without the use of phosphine ligands. The Pd(OAc)2-H2O-[bmim][PF6] catalytic system can be recovered and reused eight times with high efficiency for both carboxylic anhydride and acyl chloride.

Synthesis of biaryls and polyaryls by ligand-free Suzuki reaction in aqueous phase.

A highly efficient palladium acetate-catalyzed ligand-free Suzuki reaction in aqueous phase was developed in short reaction times (0.5-1 h) at 35 degrees C in air. The key for such a successful catalytic system was the use of a suitable amount of cosolvents in the aqueous phase.