Recent advances in enzymatic biofuel cells enabled by innovative materials and techniques.

The past few decades have seen increasingly rapid advances in the field of sustainable energy technologies. As a new bio- and eco-friendly energy source, enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) have garnered significant research interest due to their capacity to power implantable bioelectronics, portable devices, and biosensors by utilizing biomass as fuel under mild circumstances. Nonetheless, numerous obstacles impeded the commercialization of EBFCs, including their relatively modest power output and poor long-term stability of enzymes.

Phase control of ZIF-7 nanoparticles mechanochemical synthesis.

Mechanochemical synthesis is a greener synthesis route to form functional metal organic frameworks (MOFs) compared to the typical solvothermal method. Here we demonstrate the crystal phase control of a widely functional zeolitic imidazolate framework, ZIF-7, and its variations the mechanochemical synthesis route.

Locking the Ultrasound-Induced Active Conformation of Metalloenzymes in Metal-Organic Frameworks.

Enhancing the enzymatic activity inside metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is a critical challenge in chemical technology and bio-technology, which, if addressed, will broaden their scope in energy, food, environmental, and pharmaceutical industries. Here, we report a simple yet versatile and effective strategy to optimize biocatalytic activity by using MOFs to rapidly "lock" the ultrasound (US)-activated but more fragile conformation of metalloenzymes. The results demonstrate that up to 5.

Regulating the Coordination Environment of Mesopore-Confined Single Atoms from Metalloprotein-MOFs for Highly Efficient Biocatalysis.

Single-atom catalysts (SACs) exhibit unparalleled atomic utilization and catalytic efficiency, yet it is challenging to modulate SACs with highly dispersed single-atoms, mesopores, and well-regulated coordination environment simultaneously and ultimately maximize their catalytic efficiency. Here, a generalized strategy to construct highly active ferric-centered SACs (Fe-SACs) is developed successfully via a biomineralization strategy that enables the homogeneous encapsulation of metalloproteins within metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) followed by pyrolysis. The results demonstrate that the constructed metalloprotein-MOF-templated Fe-SACs achieve up to 23-fold and 47-fold higher activity compared to those using metal ions as the single-atom source and those with large mesopores induced by Zn evaporation, respectively, as well as up to a 25-fold and 1900-fold higher catalytic efficiency compared to natural enzymes and natural-enzyme-immobilized MOFs.

Binder-free mechanochemical metal-organic framework nanocrystal coatings.

The practical applications of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) usually require their assembly into mechanically robust structures, usually achieved coating onto various types of substrates. This paper describes a simple, scalable, and versatile mechanochemical technique for producing MOF nanocrystal coatings on various non-prefunctionalised substrates, including ZrO, carbon cloth, porous polymer, nickel foam, titanium foil and fluorine-doped tin oxide glass. We revealed the detailed mechanisms that ensure the coating's stability, and identified the coating can facilitate the interfacial energy transfer, which allowed the electrocatalysis application of the MOF coating on conductive substrates.

Biocatalytic metal-organic framework nanomotors for active water decontamination.

We report a biocatalytic, buoyancy-propelled metal-organic framework (MOF) nanomotor system with boosted removal efficiency for both inorganic heavy metal ions and organic per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). With the motion-induced convection and increased mass transfer of the target pollutants, the nano system exhibits excellent contaminants remediation capacity in both fresh water and sea water environments.