Bioinspired Photo-Thermal Catalytic System using Covalent Organic Framework-based Aerogel for Synchronous Seawater Desalination and H2O2 Production.

Efficient utilization of solar energy is widely regarded as a crucial solution to addressing the energy crisis and reducing reliance on fossil fuels. Coupling photothermal and photochemical conversion can effectively improve solar energy utilization yet remains challenging. Here, inspired by the photosynthesis system in green plants, we report herein an artificial solar energy converter (ASEC) composed of light-harvesting units as solar collector and oriented ionic hydrophilic channels as reactors and transporters.

Acetylene semi-hydrogenation catalyzed by Pd single atoms sandwiched in zeolitic imidazolate frameworks hydrogen activation and spillover.

The semi-hydrogenation of alkynes into alkenes rather than alkanes is of great importance in the chemical industry, and palladium-based metallic catalysts are currently employed. Unfortunately, a fairly high cost and uncontrollable over-hydrogenation impeded the application of Pd-based catalysts on a large scale. Herein, a sandwich structure single atom Pd catalyst, Z@Pd@Z, was prepared impregnation exchange and epitaxial growth methods (Z stands for ZIF-8), in which Pd single atoms were stabilized by pyrrolic N in a zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-8).

Local Environment-Modulated f-f Transition in Unit-Cell-Sized Lanthanide Ultrathin Nanostructures.

The regulation of the f-f transition is the basis of utilizing the abundant optical properties of lanthanide (Ln), of which the key is to modulate the local environment of Ln ions. Here, we constructed Eu(III)-based unit-cell-sized ultrathin nanowires (UCNWs) with red luminescence and polymer-like behavior, which appears as an ideal carrier for regulating f-f transition. The f-f transition of Eu(III) in UCNWs could be precisely regulated through various ligands.

A butterfly-shaped acceptor with rigid skeleton and unique assembly enables both efficient organic photovoltaics and high-speed organic photodetectors.

It remains challenging to design efficient bifunctional semiconductor materials in organic photovoltaic and photodetector devices. Here, we report a butterfly-shaped molecule, named WD-6, which exhibits low energy disorder and small reorganization energy due to its enhanced molecular rigidity and unique assembly with strong intermolecular interaction. The binary photovoltaic device based on PM6:WD-6 achieved an efficiency of 18.

Donor-Acceptor Functionalized Water-Soluble Metal-Organic Cages Showing an Excellent Synergistic Photothermal-Chemotherapy Effect.

Water-soluble metal-organic cages (WSMOCs) show high potential as antitumor agents, while the targeted functionalization of WSMOCs toward enhanced antitumor performances is a challenging task. Herein, WSMOCs were functionalized with donor-acceptor (D-A) systems for synergistic photothermal-chemotherapy. Octahedral [ML] cages based on a 2,4,6-tri(2-pyridine-4-yl)-1,3,5-triazine (TPT) acceptor and M(bpy) (M = Pd for , Pt for ) nodes were functionalized with tetrathiafulvalene (TTF) to form and .

CuO-Superlattices Induced Oxygen Vacancy for Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance.

Metallic oxide can induce localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) through creating vacancies, which effectively achieve high carrier concentrations and offer advantages such as versatility and tunability. However, vacancies are typically created by altering the stoichiometric ratio of elements through doping, and it is challenging to achieve LSPR enhancement in the visible spectral range. Here, we have assembled CuO-superlattices to induce a high concentration of oxygen vacancies, resulting in LSPR within the visible spectrum.

Interfacial fluid manipulation with bioinspired strategies: special wettability and asymmetric structures.

The inspirations from nature always enlighten us to develop advanced science and technology. To survive in complicated and harsh environments, plants and animals have evolved remarkable capabilities to control fluid transfer sophisticated designs such as wettability contrast, oriented micro-/nano-structures, and geometry gradients. Based on the bioinspired structures, the on-surface fluid manipulation exhibits spontaneous, continuous, smart, and integrated performances, which can promote the applications in the fields of heat transfer, microfluidics, heterogeneous catalysis, water harvesting, Although fluid manipulating interfaces (FMIs) have provided plenty of ideas to optimize the current systems, a comprehensive review of history, classification, fabrication, and integration focusing on their interfacial chemistry and asymmetric structure is highly required.

Isomerism Effect of 3D Dimeric Acceptors for Non-Halogenated Solvent-Processed Organic Solar Cells with 20 % Efficiency.

Organic photovoltaic materials that can be processed via non-halogenated solvents are crucial for the large-area manufacturing of organic solar cells (OSCs). However, the limited available of electron acceptors with adequate solubility and favorable molecular packing presents a challenge in achieving efficient non-halogenated solvent-processed OSCs. Herein, inspired by the three-dimensional dimeric acceptor CH8-4, we employed a molecular isomerization strategy to synthesize its isomers, CH8-4A and CH8-4B, by tuning the position of fluorine (F) atom in the central unit.

Chlorine Axial Coordination Activated Lanthanum Single Atoms for Efficient Oxygen Electroreduction with Maximum Utilization.

Currently, there are still obstacles to rationally designing the ligand fields to activate rare-earth (RE) elements with satisfactory intrinsic electrocatalytic reactivity. Herein, axial coordination strategies and nanostructure design are applied for the construction of La single atoms (La-Cl SAs/NHPC) with satisfactory oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. The nontrivial LaNCl motifs configuration and the hierarchical porous carbon substrate that facilitates maximized metal atom utilization ensure high half-wave potential (0.

Dynamic phase transitions dictate the size effect and activity of supported gold catalysts.

The landmark discovery of gold catalysts has aroused substantial interest in heterogeneous catalysis, yet the catalytic mechanism remains elusive. For carbon monoxide oxidation on gold nanoparticles (NPs) supported on ceria surfaces, it is widely believed that carbon monoxide adsorbs on the gold particles, while the reaction occurs at the gold/ceria interface. Here, we have investigated the dynamic changes of supported gold NPs with various sizes in a carbon monoxide oxidation atmosphere using deep potential molecular dynamics simulations.

A Review on MXene/Nanocellulose Composites: Toward Wearable Multifunctional Electromagnetic Interference Shielding Application.

With the rapid development of mobile communication technology and wearable electronic devices, the electromagnetic radiation generated by high-frequency information exchange inevitably threatens human health, so high-performance wearable electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding materials are urgently needed. The 2D nanomaterial MXene exhibits superior EMI shielding performance owing to its high conductivity, however, its mechanical properties are limited due to the high porosity between MXene nanosheets. In recent years, it has been reported that by introducing natural nanocellulose as an organic framework, the EMI shielding and mechanical properties of MXene/nanocellulose composites can be synergically improved, which are expected to be widely used in wearable multifunctional shielding devices.

Chiral Metal-Free Anti-Perovskite with Strong Chiroptical Nonlinearity.

The nonlinear chiroptical properties of chiral metal halide perovskite has attracted substantial attention in recent years. In order to overcome the inherent limitations of metal halide, such as high costs, potential toxicity, challenges with recycling, especially the limited laser-induced damage threshold (LDT), we have successfully constructed the first chiral metal-free anti-perovskite, with the aim of utilizing it in second harmonic generation-circular dichroism (SHG-CD). Moreover, the anti-perovskite composed entirely of small organic ions typically display a more extensive transparent window, which could contribute a high LDT.

A Hydrolytically Stable Metal-Organic Framework for Simultaneous Desulfurization and Dehydration of Wet Flue Gas.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have great prospects as adsorbents for industrial gas purification, but often suffer from issues of water stability and competitive water adsorption. Herein, we present a hydrolytically stable MOF that could selectively capture and recover trace SO from flue gas, and exhibits remarkable recyclability in the breakthrough experiments under wet flue-gas conditions, due to its excellent resistance to the corrosion of SO and the water-derived capillary forces. More strikingly, its SO capture efficiency is barely influenced by the increasing humidity, even if the pore filling with water is reached.

Radiative cooling: arising from practice and in turn serving practice.

Radiative cooling, as a renewable cooling technology, is expected to mitigate growing global warming. However, the barrier when promoting radiative cooling from the laboratory to practice is still a blind spot and needs to be discussed right now. Here, on the basis of review for brief history, we propose a developing thread that the studies on radiative cooling arise from practice and in turn serves practice at the end.

Strong Magneto-Chiroptical Effects through Introducing Chiral Transition-Metal Complex Cations to Lead Halide.

The interplay between chirality with magnetism can break both the space and time inversion symmetry and have wide applications in information storage, photodetectors, multiferroics and spintronics. Herein, we report the chiral transition-metal complex cation-based lead halide, R-CDPB and S-CDPB. In contrast with the traditional chiral metal halides with organic cations, a novel strategy for chirality transfer from the transition-metal complex cation to the lead halide framework is developed.

Boosting Enzyme-like Activities Atomization of Cerium for Tumor Microenvironment-Responsive Cascade Therapy.

Nanozyme catalytic therapeutic efficacy is limited by the finite enzyme activity and specificity. In this work, nitrogen-doped carbon loaded with a cerium single-atom nanozyme (Ce SAs@NC) is synthesized, exhibiting tumor specificity and excellent multiple enzyme-like activities. Compared with nitrogen-doped carbon loaded with CeO nanoparticles, Ce SAs@NC shows excellent peroxidase-like and catalase-like activity.

Ultra-small Metallic Nickel Nanoparticles on Dealuminated Zeolite for Active and Durable Catalytic Dehydrogenation.

Each step in the catalyst synthesis process plays an important role in tuning the catalyst structures. For zeolite-supported nickel catalysts, we found the conventional calcination-reduction method typically leads to the formation of large nickel particles, but a pre-aging in hydrogen or nitrogen at a low temperature prior to final reduction can result in ultra-small nickel nanoparticles in a metallic state. This pre-aging treatment facilitates the interaction between Ni cations and silanol nests on zeolite before the decomposition of the metal salt, leading to the formation of nanoparticles with an average diameter of ~1.

Suppressed Non-Radiative Recombination in Formamidinium Lead Triiodide under Electric Activation.

The high carrier lifetime of metal halide perovskite (MHP) materials is closely related to the microscopic crystallographic structure. However, the detailed correlation between the lattice structure and carrier dynamics remains unclear. In this work, we found a correlation between lattice strain and open-circuit voltage () of MHP under electric activation.

Controllable Structure Design of an Organic Gel-Infused Porous Surface for Efficient Anti- and De-icing.

Icing causes many problems in daily life and with equipment stability, and many efforts have been made to remove surface icing. Herein, a novel organic gel-infused porous material is developed to achieve excellent de-icing performance. Porous polydimethylsiloxane (P-PDMS) composites with different pore sizes were prepared by a template method.

Recycling Sulfur-Poisoned Pd Catalysts via Thermal Atomization for Semi-Hydrogenation of Acetylene.

Palladium catalysts are highly efficient for a variety of chemical industrial processes but are prone to being affected by poisons during practical application. Sulfur is one of the major poisons in Pd-based catalysts. The recycling of deeply poisoned Pd species like Pd sulfides is challenging due to the strong Pd-S bond.

Anodization-Processed Colored Radiative Thermoregulatory Film.

Colored radiative thermal management materials (RTMM) not only provide superior thermoregulatory performance but also satisfy aesthetic requirements. However, the complexity of the preparation procedures and constrained color selection have hindered their widespread adoption. Here, we presented a facile one-step anodizing strategy for fabricating colored dual-mode RTMM based on titanium film (Ti) and P(VDF-HFP) with mid-infrared (MIR) emissivities of 0.

Rebuilding Peripheral F, Cl, Br Footprints on Acceptors Enables Binary Organic Photovoltaic Efficiency Exceeding 19.7 .

Given homomorphic fluorine (F), chlorine (Cl) and bromine (Br) atoms are featured with gradually enlarged polarizability/atomic radius but decreased electronegativity, the rational screen of halogen species and locations on small molecular acceptors (SMAs) is quite essential for acquiring desirable molecular packing to boost efficiency of organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, three isomeric SMAs (CH-F, CH-C and CH-B) are constructed by delicately rebuilding peripheral F, Cl, Br footprints on both central and end units. Such a re-permutation of peripheral halogens could not only maintain the structural symmetry of SMAs to the maximum, but also acquire extra asymmetric benefits of enhanced dipole moment and intramolecular charge transfer, etc.

Single-Atom Barium Promoter Enormously Enhanced Non-Noble Metal Catalyst for Ammonia Decomposition.

As a well-established topic, single-atom catalyst has drawn growing interest for its high utilization of metal. However, researchers prefer to develop various active metals with single-atom form, the intrinsic roles of single-atom promoters are usually underrated, which are significant in boosting reaction activity. In this work, Ba single atoms were in situ prepared in the Co-Ba/YO catalyst with crystallized BaCO as the precursor under the ammonia decomposition reaction condition.