Making Interfacial Solar Evaporation of Seawater Faster than Fresh Water.

Interfacial solar evaporation-based seawater desalination is regarded as one of the most promising strategies to alleviate freshwater scarcity. However, the solar evaporation rate of real seawater is significantly constricted by the ubiquitous salts present in seawater. In addition to the common issue of salt accumulation on the evaporation surface during solar evaporation, strong hydration between salt ions and water molecules leads to a lower evaporation rate for real seawater compared to pure water.

Dynamic Active Sites in Electrocatalysis.

In-depth understanding of the real-time behaviors of active sites during electrocatalysis is essential for the advancement of sustainable energy conversion. Recently, the concept of dynamic active sites has been recognized as a potent approach for creating self-adaptive electrocatalysts that can address a variety of electrocatalytic reactions, outperforming traditional electrocatalysts with static active sites. Nonetheless, the comprehension of the underlying principles that guide the engineering of dynamic active sites is presently insufficient.

High Entropy Alloys Enable Durable and Efficient Lithium-Mediated CO Redox Reactions.

Designing electrocatalysts with high activity and durability for multistep reduction and oxidation reactions is challenging. High-entropy alloys (HEAs) are intriguing due to their tunable geometric and electronic structure through entropy effects. However, understanding the origin of their exceptional performance and identifying active centers is hindered by the diverse microenvironment in HEAs.

Advanced Microwave Strategies Facilitate Structural Engineering for Efficient Electrocatalysis.

In the dynamic realm of energy conversion, the demand for efficient electrocatalysis has surged due to the urgent need to seamlessly integrate renewable energy. Traditional electrocatalyst preparation faces challenges like poor controllability, elevated costs, and stringent operational conditions. The introduction of microwave strategies represents a transformative shift, offering rapid response, high-temperature energy, and superior controllability.

Interfacial Engineering of Zn Metal via a Localized Conjugated Layer for Highly Reversible Aqueous Zinc Ion Battery.

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are regarded as promising and efficient energy storage systems owing to remarkable safety and satisfactory capacity. Nevertheless, the instability of zinc metal anodes, characterized by issues such as dendrite growth and parasitic side reactions, poses a significant barrier to widespread applications. Herein, we address this challenge by designing a localized conjugated structure comprising a cyclic polyacrylonitrile polymer (CPANZ), induced by a Zn-based Lewis acid (zinc trifluoromethylsulfonate) at a temperature of 120 °C.

Local reaction environment in electrocatalysis.

Beyond conventional electrocatalyst engineering, recent studies have unveiled the effectiveness of manipulating the local reaction environment in enhancing the performance of electrocatalytic reactions. The general principles and strategies of local environmental engineering for different electrocatalytic processes have been extensively investigated. This review provides a critical appraisal of the recent advancements in local reaction environment engineering, aiming to comprehensively assess this emerging field.

Emerging materials and technologies for electrocatalytic seawater splitting.

The limited availability of freshwater in renewable energy-rich areas has led to the exploration of seawater electrolysis for green hydrogen production. However, the complex composition of seawater presents substantial challenges such as electrode corrosion and electrolyzer failure, calling into question the technological and economic feasibility of direct seawater splitting. Despite many efforts, a comprehensive overview and analysis of seawater electrolysis, including electrochemical fundamentals, materials, and technologies of recent breakthroughs, is still lacking.

Recent Advances in Electrocatalytic Hydrogenation Reactions on Copper-Based Catalysts.

Hydrogenation reactions play a critical role in the synthesis of value-added products within the chemical industry. Electrocatalytic hydrogenation (ECH) using water as the hydrogen source has emerged as an alternative to conventional thermocatalytic processes for sustainable and decentralized chemical synthesis under mild conditions. Among the various ECH catalysts, copper-based (Cu-based) nanomaterials are promising candidates due to their earth-abundance, unique electronic structure, versatility, and high activity/selectivity.

High-Performance Alkaline Seawater Electrolysis with Anomalous Chloride Promoted Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

A highly selective and durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst is the bottleneck for direct seawater splitting because of side reactions primarily caused by chloride ions (Cl ). Most studies about OER catalysts in seawater focus on the repulsion of the Cl to reduce its negative effects. Herein, we demonstrate that the absorption of Cl on the specific site of a popular OER electrocatalyst, nickel-iron layered double hydroxide (NiFe LDH), does not have a significant negative impact; rather, it is beneficial for its activity and stability enhancement in natural seawater.

IrO·HO with lattice water-assisted oxygen exchange for high-performance proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers.

The trade-off between activity and stability of oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts in proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE) is challenging. Crystalline IrO displays good stability but exhibits poor activity; amorphous IrO exhibits outstanding activity while sacrificing stability. Here, we combine the advantages of these two materials via a lattice water-incorporated iridium oxide (IrO·HO) that has short-range ordered structure of hollandite-like framework.

Acidic CO-to-HCOOH electrolysis with industrial-level current on phase engineered tin sulfide.

Acidic CO-to-HCOOH electrolysis represents a sustainable route for value-added CO transformations. However, competing hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acid remains a great challenge for selective CO-to-HCOOH production, especially in industrial-level current densities. Main group metal sulfides derived S-doped metals have demonstrated enhanced CO-to-HCOOH selectivity in alkaline and neutral media by suppressing HER and tuning CO reduction intermediates.

Dynamic rhenium dopant boosts ruthenium oxide for durable oxygen evolution.

Heteroatom-doping is a practical means to boost RuO for acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, a major drawback is conventional dopants have static electron redistribution. Here, we report that Re dopants in ReRuO undergo a dynamic electron accepting-donating that adaptively boosts activity and stability, which is different from conventional dopants with static dopant electron redistribution.

MXene Analogue: A 2D Nitridene Solid Solution for High-Rate Hydrogen Production.

Electrocatalysts for high-rate hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are crucial to clean fuel production. Nitrogen-rich 2D transition metal nitride, designated "nitridene", has shown promising HER performance because of its unique physical/chemical properties. However, its synthesis is hindered by the sluggish growth kinetics.

A MoN electrocatalyst for efficient NaS electrodeposition in room-temperature sodium-sulfur batteries.

Metal sulfides electrodeposition in sulfur cathodes mitigates the shuttle effect of polysulfides to achieve high Coulombic efficiency in secondary metal-sulfur batteries. However, fundamental understanding of metal sulfides electrodeposition and kinetics mechanism remains limited. Here using room-temperature sodium-sulfur cells as a model system, we report a MoN cathode material that enables efficient NaS electrodeposition to achieve an initial discharge capacity of 512 mAh g at a specific current of 1 675 mA g, and a final discharge capacity of 186 mAh g after 10,000 cycles.

Molecular Cleavage of Metal-Organic Frameworks and Application to Energy Storage and Conversion.

The physicochemical properties of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) significantly depend on composition, topology, and porosity, which can be tuned via synthesis. In addition to a classic direct synthesis, postsynthesis modulations of MOFs, including ion exchange, installation, and destruction, can significantly expand the application. Because of a limitation of the qualitative hard and soft acids and bases (HSAB) theory, posttreatment permits regulation of MOF structure by cleaving chemical bonds at the molecular level.

Stable and Highly Efficient Hydrogen Evolution from Seawater Enabled by an Unsaturated Nickel Surface Nitride.

Electrocatalytic production of hydrogen from seawater provides a route to low-cost and clean energy conversion. However, the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) using seawater is greatly hindered by the lack of active and stable catalysts. Herein, an unsaturated nickel surface nitride (Ni-SN@C) catalyst that is active and stable for the HER in alkaline seawater is prepared.

Nitrogen Vacancies on 2D Layered W N : A Stable and Efficient Active Site for Nitrogen Reduction Reaction.

Electrochemical nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) under ambient conditions provides an avenue to produce carbon-free hydrogen carriers. However, the selectivity and activity of NRR are still hindered by the sluggish reaction kinetics. Nitrogen Vacancies on transition metal nitrides are considered as one of the most ideal active sites for NRR by virtue of their unique vacancy properties such as appropriate adsorption energy to dinitrogen molecule.

Single-Crystal Nitrogen-Rich Two-Dimensional MoN Nanosheets for Efficient and Stable Seawater Splitting.

Transition metal nitrides (TMNs) have great potential for energy-related electrocatalysis because of their inherent electronic properties. However, incorporating nitrogen into a transition metal lattice is thermodynamically unfavorable, and therefore most of the developed TMNs are deficient in nitrogen. Consequently, these TMNs exhibit poor structural stability and unsatisfactory performance for electrocatalytic applications.

2D MoN-VN Heterostructure To Regulate Polysulfides for Highly Efficient Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.

Lithium-sulfur batteries hold promise for next-generation batteries. A problem, however, is rapid capacity fading. Moreover, atomic-level understanding of the chemical interaction between sulfur host and polysulfides is poorly elucidated from a theoretical perspective.

Emerging Two-Dimensional Nanomaterials for Electrocatalysis.

Over the past few decades, the design and development of advanced electrocatalysts for efficient energy conversion technologies have been subjects of extensive study. With the discovery of graphene, two-dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have emerged as some of the most promising candidates for heterogeneous electrocatalysts due to their unique physical, chemical, and electronic properties. Here, we review 2D-nanomaterial-based electrocatalysts for selected electrocatalytic processes.

Rapid mass production of two-dimensional metal oxides and hydroxides via the molten salts method.

Because of their exotic electronic properties and abundant active sites, two-dimensional (2D) materials have potential in various fields. Pursuing a general synthesis methodology of 2D materials and advancing it from the laboratory to industry is of great importance. This type of method should be low cost, rapid and highly efficient.

Salt-Templated Synthesis of 2D Metallic MoN and Other Nitrides.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition-metal nitrides just recently entered the research arena, but already offer a potential for high-rate energy storage, which is needed for portable/wearable electronics and many other applications. However, a lack of efficient and high-yield synthesis methods for 2D metal nitrides has been a major bottleneck for the manufacturing of those potentially very important materials, and only MoN, TiN, and GaN have been reported so far. Here we report a scalable method that uses reduction of 2D hexagonal oxides in ammonia to produce 2D nitrides, such as MoN.