Surface frustrated Lewis pairs in titanium nitride enable gas phase heterogeneous CO photocatalysis.

Gas-phase heterogeneous catalytic CO hydrogenation to commodity chemicals and fuels via surface frustrated Lewis pairs is a growing focus of scientific and technological interest. Traditional gas-phase heterogeneous surface frustrated Lewis pair catalysts primarily involve metal oxide-hydroxides (MOH•••M). An avenue to improve the process performance metrics lies in replacing the Lewis base MOH with a stronger alternative; an intriguing example being the amine MNH in metal nitrides.

Crystal Water in Minerals Modulates Oxygen Activation for Hydrogen Peroxide Photosynthesis.

Sunlight-responsive minerals contribute significantly to biogeochemical cycles by activating oxygen (O) to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS). However, the role of crystal water, incorporated into minerals through hydration during rock cycles, in O activation remains largely unexplored. Here, we construct tungstite models containing oxygen vacancies to elucidate the modulation of mineral-based ROS dynamics by the synergy between oxygen vacancy and crystal water.

Engineering the Coordination Environment of Ir Single Atoms with Surface Titanium Oxide Amorphization for Superior Chlorine Evolution Reaction.

The chlorine evolution reaction (CER) is essential for industrial Cl production but strongly relies on the use of dimensionally stable anode (DSA) with high-amount precious Ru/Ir oxide on a Ti substrate. For the purpose of sustainable development, precious metal decrement and performance improvement are highly desirable for the development of CER anodes. Herein, we demonstrate that surface titanium oxide amorphization is crucial to regulate the coordination environment of stabilized Ir single atoms for efficient and durable chlorine evolution of Ti monolithic anodes.

Hydrogen Spillover to Oxygen Vacancy of TiOH/Fe: Breaking the Scaling Relationship of Ammonia Synthesis.

Optimizing kinetic barriers of ammonia synthesis to reduce the energy intensity has recently attracted significant research interest. The motivation for the research is to discover means by which activation barriers of N dissociation and NH ( = 1-2, surface intermediates) destabilization can be reduced simultaneously, that is, breaking the "scaling relationship". However, by far only a single success has been reported in 2016 based on the discovery of a strong-weak N-bonding pair: transition metals (nitrides)-LiH.