Regulating the Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction Performance with Controllable Distribution of Unconventional Phase Copper on Alloy Nanostructures.

Electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NORR) is emerging as a promising strategy for nitrate removal and ammonia (NH) production using renewable electricity. Although great progresses have been achieved, the crystal phase effect of electrocatalysts on NORR remains rarely explored. Here, the epitaxial growth of unconventional 2H Cu on hexagonal close-packed (hcp) IrNi template, resulting in the formation of three IrNiCu@Cu nanostructures, is reported.

Metal Doped Unconventional Phase IrNi Nanobranches: Tunable Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction Performance and Pollutants Upcycling.

Electrochemical nitrate reduction (NORR) provides a new option to abate nitrate contamination with a low carbon footprint. Restricted by competitive hydrogen evolution, achieving satisfied nitrate reduction performance in neutral media is still a challenge, especially for the regulation of this multielectron multiproton reaction. Herein, facile element doping is adopted to tune the catalytic behavior of IrNi alloy nanobranches with an unconventional hexagonal close-packed () phase toward NORR.

Atomic Design of Copper Active Sites in Pristine Metal-Organic Coordination Compounds for Electrocatalytic Carbon Dioxide Reduction.

Electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CORR) has emerged as a promising and sustainable approach to cut carbon emissions by converting greenhouse gas CO to value-added chemicals and fuels. Metal-organic coordination compounds, especially the copper (Cu)-based coordination compounds, which feature well-defined crystalline structures and designable metal active sites, have attracted much research attention in electrocatalytic CORR. Herein, the recent advances of electrochemical CORR on pristine Cu-based coordination compounds with different types of Cu active sites are reviewed.

Controlled Synthesis of Unconventional Phase Alloy Nanobranches for Highly Selective Electrocatalytic Nitrite Reduction to Ammonia.

The controlled synthesis of metal nanomaterials with unconventional phases is of significant importance to develop high-performance catalysts for various applications. However, it remains challenging to modulate the atomic arrangements of metal nanomaterials, especially the alloy nanostructures that involve different metals with distinct redox potentials. Here we report the general one-pot synthesis of IrNi, IrRhNi and IrFeNi alloy nanobranches with unconventional hexagonal close-packed (hcp) phase.

Electronic Structure Design of Transition Metal-Based Catalysts for Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction.

With the increasingly serious greenhouse effect, the electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CORR) has garnered widespread attention as it is capable of leveraging renewable energy to convert CO into value-added chemicals and fuels. However, the performance of CORR can hardly meet expectations because of the diverse intermediates and complicated reaction processes, necessitating the exploitation of highly efficient catalysts. In recent years, with advanced characterization technologies and theoretical simulations, the exploration of catalytic mechanisms has gradually deepened into the electronic structure of catalysts and their interactions with intermediates, which serve as a bridge to facilitate the deeper comprehension of structure-performance relationships.

Crystal Phase Engineering of Ultrathin Alloy Nanostructures for Highly Efficient Electroreduction of Nitrate to Ammonia.

Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NORR) toward ammonia synthesis is recognized as a sustainable strategy to balance the global nitrogen cycle. However, it still remains a great challenge to achieve highly efficient ammonia production due to the complex proton-coupled electron transfer process in NORR. Here, the controlled synthesis of RuMo alloy nanoflowers (NFs) with unconventional face-centered cubic (fcc) phase and hexagonal close-packed/fcc heterophase for highly efficient NORR is reported.

Steering the Selectivity of Carbon Dioxide Electroreduction from Single-Carbon to Multicarbon Products on Metal-Organic Frameworks via Facet Engineering.

Although metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted more attention for the electrocatalytic CO reduction reaction (CORR), obtaining multicarbon products with a high Faradaic efficiency (FE) remains challenging, especially under neutral conditions. Here, we report the controlled synthesis of stable Cu(I) 5-mercapto-1-methyltetrazole framework (Cu-MMT) nanostructures with different facets by rationally modulating the reaction solvents. Significantly, Cu-MMT nanostructures with (001) facets are acquired using isopropanol as a solvent, which favor multicarbon production with an FE of 73.

Constructing molecule-metal relay catalysis over heterophase metallene for high-performance rechargeable zinc-nitrate/ethanol batteries.

Zinc-nitrate batteries can integrate energy supply, ammonia electrosynthesis, and sewage disposal into one electrochemical device. However, current zinc-nitrate batteries still severely suffer from the limited energy density and poor rechargeability. Here, we report the synthesis of tetraphenylporphyrin (tpp)-modified heterophase (amorphous/crystalline) rhodium-copper alloy metallenes (RhCu M-tpp).

Atomic coordination environment engineering of bimetallic alloy nanostructures for efficient ammonia electrosynthesis from nitrate.

Electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NORR) to ammonia has been regarded as a promising strategy to balance the global nitrogen cycle. However, it still suffers from poor Faradaic efficiency (FE) and limited yield rate for ammonia production on heterogeneous electrocatalysts, especially in neutral solutions. Herein, we report one-pot synthesis of ultrathin nanosheet-assembled RuFe nanoflowers with low-coordinated Ru sites to enhance NORR performances in neutral electrolyte.

Electrochemical Nitrate Reduction: Ammonia Synthesis and the Beyond.

Natural nitrogen cycle has been severely disrupted by anthropogenic activities. The overuse of N-containing fertilizers induces the increase of nitrate level in surface and ground waters, and substantial emission of nitrogen oxides causes heavy air pollution. Nitrogen gas, as the main component of air, has been used for mass ammonia production for over a century, providing enough nutrition for agriculture to support world population increase.

Boosting the reaction kinetics in aprotic lithium-carbon dioxide batteries with unconventional phase metal nanomaterials.

Given the high energy density and eco-friendly characteristics, lithium-carbon dioxide (Li-CO) batteries have been considered to be a next-generation energy technology to promote carbon neutral and space exploration. However, Li-CO batteries suffer from sluggish reaction kinetics, causing large overpotential and poor energy efficiency. Here, we observe enhanced reaction kinetics in aprotic Li-CO batteries with unconventional phase 4H/face-centered cubic (fcc) iridium (Ir) nanostructures grown on gold template.

Corrigendum to "Three-Dimensional Cobalt Hydroxide Hollow Cube/Vertical Nanosheets with High Desalination Capacity and Long-Term Performance Stability in Capacitive Deionization".

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.34133/2021/9754145.].

Three-Dimensional Cobalt Hydroxide Hollow Cube/Vertical Nanosheets with High Desalination Capacity and Long-Term Performance Stability.

Faradaic electrode materials have significantly improved the performance of membrane capacitive deionization, which offers an opportunity to produce freshwater from seawater or brackish water in an energy-efficient way. However, Faradaic materials hold the drawbacks of slow desalination rate due to the intrinsic low ion diffusion kinetics and inferior stability arising from the volume expansion during ion intercalation, impeding the engineering application of capacitive deionization. Herein, a pseudocapacitive material with hollow architecture was prepared template-etching method, namely, cuboid cobalt hydroxide, with fast desalination rate (3.

Interfacial interaction between micro/nanoplastics and typical PPCPs and nanoplastics removal via electrosorption from an aqueous solution.

Micro/nanoplastics have raised worldwide concern with extensive research on its transfer, toxicity and removal. However, the primary environmental process-adsorption of nanoplastics has not been uncovered since the discovery of nanosized plastics. Here, we synthesized nanoscale polystyrene (PS) particles with mean diameter of ∼40 nm to avoid unknown properties from purchased ones, and thoroughly investigated its adsorption towards two typical pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) with distinct characteristics, which are antibiotic (ciprofloxacin) and endocrine disruptor (bisphenol-A).

All-MXene-Based Integrated Membrane Electrode Constructed using TiCT as an Intercalating Agent for High-Performance Desalination.

2D-TiCT MXene flake restacking and the small interlayer spacing of these MXenes limit their application in capacitive deionization. Here, we designed an all-MXene-based (L-S-TiCT) flexible film electrode, enabled by large-size TiCT (lateral dimensions of ⩾1 μm) MXene (L-TiCT) nanosheets, which provided conductive pathways and were active substances, and by small-size TiCT (500 nm) MXene (S-TiCT) nanosheets, which were used as intercalation materials and active substances, for high-performance desalination in capacitive deionization applications. The as-synthesized L-S-TiCT electrode achieved an excellent capacitance (169 F/g at 5 mV/s) and long-term cycling stability (maintained 91.

Comment on "Hierarchically porous, ultra-strong reduced graphene oxide-cellulose nanocrystal sponges for exceptional adsorption of water contaminants" by N. Yousefi, K. K. W. Wong, Z. Hosseinidoust, H. O. Sørensen, S. Bruns, Y. Zheng and N. Tufenkji, Nanoscale, 2018, 10, 7171.

The MB-spot test is extensively applied to specific surface area measurement due to its simplicity compared to the classical BET test. However, the MB-spot test is vulnerable to multiple factors, preventing this newly-prevalent technique from accurately characterising the specific surface area. The inaccuracy of the MB-spot test is discussed here at length, which is urgently needed to avoid mistakes and inconsistencies regarding specific surface area characterization for carbon-based materials.