Photocatalytic synthesis of chemicals is highly recognized for its eco-friendliness and mild reaction conditions, yet it faces considerable challenges regarding catalytic efficiency, stability and cost. The selective photooxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-diformylfuran in water is a cost-effective and sustainable route for biomass valorization. The capability of a photocatalyst to capture visible light is paramount for efficiently harnessing solar energy and is the most critical initial step. Therefore, metal nanocatalysts with visible-light response and localized surface plasmon resonance have received widespread attention. In this work, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) with different morphologies was synthesized through high-temperature calcination of various organic precursors. Following that, the photodeposition of Au nanoparticles was used to construct a Schottky junction photocatalyst endowed with the localized surface plasmon resonance effect. The optimal Au/CN(I) catalyst achieved a 26% yield of 2,5-diformylfuran and productivity of 72.7 mg_DFF g_catal.^-1 h^-1 under simulated sunlight in oxygen and water without any additives. This outstanding result outperformed most g-C₃N₄ and metal oxide photocatalysts ever reported in the literature. The interfacial electronic interactions between Au nanoparticles and g-C₃N₄ semiconductors were meticulously elucidated using comprehensive characterizations and computational calculations. The roles of different reactive oxygen species were clarified by a series of controlled experiments. A plausible mechanism explaining the origin of visible-light response and photocatalytic performance was discussed.

Currently, designing highly efficient catalysts for biomass hydrogenation at low temperatures remains a significant challenge. This paper proposes a straightforward solvent-treatment strategy to create rich oxygen vacancies (O_V), facilitating the loading of ultra-small (1.6 nm) Pt nanoparticles (NPs) onto a metal-organic framework (MOF) (LaQS) with rich O_V (LaO_V-r). Consequently, a bifunctional Pt₂/LaO_V-r catalyst, featuring Lewis acid and metal hydrogenation sites, was synthesized. Under mild conditions (80 °C), the Pt₂/LaO_V-r catalyst exhibited a catalytic yield of >99% in converting biobased ethyl acetylpropionate [ethyl levulinate (EL)] to valerolactone [γ-valerolactone (GVL)]. This yield was 3.2 and 13.3 times higher than those measured by Pt₂/LaQS and commercial Pt/C catalysts, respectively. Specifically, Pt₂/LaO_V-r catalyzed the full conversion of EL to GVL even at room temperature. The results revealed that the synergistic effect between ultra-small Pt NPs and O_V in the MOF catalyst is important for the efficient conversion of EL into GVL. Especially, the abundant O_V defects in LaO_V-r not only enhanced the electron cloud density of Pt NPs at active sites of hydrogenation, but also elevated the content of moderately-strong acidic sites. This enhances the ability to activate H₂ and EL, and promotes the intra-molecular dehydration of intermediates to GVL. The synergistic catalytic mechanism of O_V and ultra-small Pt NPs in MOFs is proposed. This study presents an effective strategy for defect engineering aimed at enhancing catalytic biomass conversion using MOFs-loaded metal NPs.

With the fast development of electronics, electric vehicles and electric airplanes, lithium metal batteries (LMBs) with a high energy density attract increased attention for their long-voyage-capability. However, the dendrites from uneven Li plating may cause serious safety issues, especially under low-temperature conditions, thus limiting the practical application of LMB. Tremendous efforts to develop various Li hosts based on thermodynamics, trying to provide lithophilic sites for homogeneous deposition, did not yet push the cycle life of Li anodes long enough to compete with current graphene anodes, especially under harsh conditions, such as subzero temperatures. The focus of this review is on the recent progress in chemical bonding strategies for boosting lithium ions/atoms (Li⁺/Li) transport via liquid, interphase, and solid phases through rational design of electrolytes, interphases, and Li hosts. Research results on understanding the working mechanism of chemical interaction between Li⁺/Li and other molecules in bulk electrolytes, interphases, or electrodes during charge/discharge are discussed. These understandings may provide new perspectives on designing advanced LMB systems.

Nanoscale metal particle-decorated single-atom catalysts (SACs) have been widely used in the fields of photocatalysis, electrocatalysis and thermal catalysis due to the combination of the advantages of nanoparticles and SACs. Herein, a strategy based on Pt-Bi atomic exchange is proposed for the formation of ultrafine (sub-2 nm) PtBi nanoclusters on single atomic Bi-N-C. The dynamic structural evolution between single atomic Bi-N-C on nitrogen-doped carbon nanosheets and Pt nanoclusters on the reconfiguration of stable PtBi alloy nanoparticles was demonstrated through a spherical aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope, X-ray absorption spectroscopy and density functional theory calculations. By our synthesis strategy, the Bi-N-C sites significantly improve the dispersion of PtBi alloy nanoparticles, resulting in a high turnover frequency of up to 224.4 h^-1 and the 1,3-dihydroxyacetone selectivity of 77.4%, 3.5 times higher than that of commercial 5Pt/C. On the other hand, the strong interaction between SAC and nanoparticles enhanced the catalytic stability by preventing leaching of Bi. It opens new avenues toward the rational design of high-performance nanoparticle-SACs, enabled by the in-depth understanding of the interaction between nanoparticles and SACs, which determines the structure of real active sites.

Photocatalytic CO₂ reduction for solar fuel generation is a promising approach to alleviating the environmental and energy crisis. Herein, a flower-like composite was obtained by assembling Zn vacancy-rich ZnIn₂S₄ (V_Zn-ZIS) with up-conversion nanoparticles (UCNPs, NaYF₄: Yb, Er). Specifically, the optimized UCNPs@V_Zn-ZIS demonstrates superior CO generation of 32.57 μmol/g in the near-infrared (NIR)-driven photocatalytic CO₂ reduction process within 8 h. Fortunately, the performance of photocatalytic CO₂ reduction based on optimized UCNPs@V_Zn-ZIS is superior to most reported photocatalysts under NIR irradiation. The enhanced photocatalytic CO₂ reduction activity is attributed to the extended light absorption, enhanced charge separation, and improved CO₂ activation of the surface vacancy. The work presented here provides a facile approach to developing novel broad spectral responsive photocatalytic CO₂ reduction photocatalysts, which hold great potential for solar fuel generation in future applications.

With the explosive growth of research focused on building units and types of crystalline materials, disruptive changes in the physical and/or chemical properties of crystals have been discovered. As the most studied subclass of metal-organic frameworks, zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) have shown huge potential in a wide range of applications, such as gas separation, adsorption catalysis, and so on. Specifically, when formed with multivariate (MTV) linkers or multi-metallic ions, named MTV-ZIFs, they exhibit significant differences in their thermodynamics, kinetics and properties in applications. Unraveling MTV-ZIFs, ranging from their unique structures and sequences to performance and reaction mechanisms, is crucial to further advance and expand the ZIFs. In this review, we discuss the construction methodology and properties of MTV-ZIFs, classified by MTV organic linkers and nodes, and identify challenges and opportunities, particularly linked to the chemical synthesis corresponding to their new physical chemistry. Ultimately, we outline the future direction in designing and synthesizing MTV-ZIFs to further our understanding of these promising materials.

Owing to the abundant resources, environmental benignity, structural designability, and reasonable theoretical capacity, organic electrode compounds are considered to be an excellent substitute for traditional inorganic electrode materials, which can be applied in green and sustainable recharge batteries. Consequently, organic electrode materials have received considerable attention over the past decade, and numerous organic and polymeric materials have been prepared as high-efficiency electrode materials for batteries. Among them, conjugated ladder-type porous polymer networks (PPNs) with intralayer π-conjugation, interlayer π-π stacking interactions, and rigid backbones have emerged as attractive platforms for rechargeable batteries. This review summarizes the linkage chemistry, synthesis methods, and typical structure of ladder PPNs, the redox activity of the linkage, and their applications in secondary batteries. Further, approaches to enhance the performance and efficiency of these electrode materials are presented. The potential battery applications of the ladder PPNs structure are also discussed.

Bimetallic small-pore zeolites containing Cu ions and secondary metal ions present a potential application value for ammonia-assisted selective catalytic reduction of nitrogen oxides (NO_x), showing superior catalytic activity and excellent hydrothermal stability compared to monometallic Cu-zeolites. The idea of introducing secondary metal ions aims to modulate the properties of Cu active sites. This review first summarizes the strategies of incorporating secondary metal ions into zeolites. Then, we delve into the impacts of varying loadings of secondary metal ions on the catalytic performance of zeolites. Finally, we emphasize the synergistic interactions between secondary metal ions and active Cu sites, focusing on their effects on the distribution, stability, and activity of the Cu active sites, which are adjusted by the presence of secondary metal ions. In conclusion, we wrap up this review and provide perspectives on the design and in-depth study on metal ions-doped Cu-zeolite catalysts.

The exploration of novel oxide photocatalysts with narrow bandgaps is highly desirable for efficient photocatalytic water splitting. However, this is rather challenging as reducing the bandgap generally leads to severe charge recombination in photocatalysts. To address these issues, the present work demonstrates, for the first time, the synthesis and application of triclinic FeVO₄ with an absorption edge of 575 nm for visible-light-driven photocatalytic water reduction and oxidation. Based on it, the Cr doping strategy is implemented on the FeVO₄ photocatalyst to further promote the charge separation and the photocatalytic water splitting performance, achieving an apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) of 0.26% at 420 nm (± 15 nm) for an O₂ evolution reaction. Detailed analysis shows that an impurity level below the conduction band minimum originating from the Cr 3d orbital is formed after Cr doping, facilitating the prolonged absorption edge and the enhanced charge separation. This work inaugurates the application field of the narrow bandgap particulate FeVO₄ photocatalyst in photocatalytic water splitting, and validates that charge separation can be promoted by Cr doping, both of which are promising to be further developed for efficient solar energy conversion.

Selective conversion of glucose to valuable 1,2-propanediol (1,2-PDO) has been a research priority, but the process often suffers from problems such as harsh reaction conditions. Therefore, the development of efficient catalysts for the efficient synthesis of 1,2-PDO from glucose under mild conditions is essential. Herein, we prepared Pt-WO_x-metal-organic framework (MOF)-74(Co) catalysts by a simple two-step method, achieving a high yield of 52.9% of 1,2-PDO under milder conditions (160 °C, 0.2 MPa H₂, 4 h), surpassing the majority of recent studies in this field. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) revealed that Pt nanoparticles (~2.1 nm) and WO_x species were uniformly dispersed within the structure of MOF-74(Co). The experimental results confirmed that MOF-74(Co) facilitated the isomerization of glucose into fructose, which then underwent further conversion to yield 1,2-PDO. In addition, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and NH₃ temperature-programmed desorption (NH₃-TPD) results revealed that Pt-WO_x-MOF-74(Co) has more oxygen vacancies to act as acidic sites. In situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) further confirmed the efficient conversion of glucose to intermediate and final products over Pt-WO_x-MOF-74(Co). Furthermore, cycling experiments confirmed that Pt-WO_x-MOF-74(Co) can be reused several times. This is the first report that MOFs can be employed as the catalyst support in facilitating glucose conversion to diols, which provides important guidance for using MOFs in biomass utilization in the future.

Today, the energy and environmental crisis originating from the use of fossil fuels and carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions has become a common concern in lives of people. Photocatalysis is a promising clean technology receiving much attention. There are diverse strategies to enhance the efficiency of photocatalysis, and high entropy photocatalysts (HEPs) show great potential as new efficient photocatalysts. The tunability of HEPs provides more possibilities for the design of the electronic structure of the catalysts, which leads to the efficient separation of electron-hole pairs and substantially enhances the photocatalytic performance. This review discusses the composition of HEPs, their advantages in photocatalysis, characterization, and prediction, and the latest applications of various photocatalytic systems. Finally, we discuss and summarize the challenges and the prospects of HEPs.

Rechargeable sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have attracted increasing research interest because of their inherent advantages such as a similar working principle to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and plentiful, even-distributed, and inexpensive Na resources. However, Na ions possess a larger ionic radius (1.07 Å) compared to that of Li ions (0.76 Å), which brings key challenges such as irreversible capacity loss, sluggish kinetics, a considerable volume expansion, and low initial coulombic efficiency (ICE) of SIBs, especially for anodes. Despite these challenges, there have been ongoing efforts to develop various synthesis and regulation strategies to enhance the electrochemical performance of SIB anode materials and they are summarized here. In this review, the significance of developing SIBs, the types of SIB anode materials, and the key issues SIB anode materials face are discussed first. Then various developed synthesis and regulation strategies such as compositional, structural, and interfacial regulations based on different synthesis methods to enhance the electrochemical performance of SIB anode materials are summarized. Finally, in conclusions and outlooks, the present status of SIB anode materials is concluded and the future development directions are proposed.

Recycling of carbon fiber reinforced epoxy resin (CFREP) is challenging due to its thermosetting property, in which amine-cured one shows more difficulty due to the hard C–O bond or C–N bond breaking via simple solvolysis. Here, a mix-solvent system with low concentrated catalyst is developed for chemical recycling carbon fiber (CF) reinforced dicyandiamide (DICY) cured CFREP, where the portion of tetrahydrofuran (THF), H₂O and ZnCl₂ is 8.1:0.9:0.5. The strong swelling ability of THF facilitates the incorporation of H₂O and ZnCl₂ into the covalent matrix, resulting in the removal of as high as 99.0% epoxy resin (EP) polymers after 5 h at 230 °C. The system can be reused three times and is scalable. The degraded product is the oligomers containing N and the unit of bisphenol A, which can be further hydrogenated to (alkyl)cyclohexane, a constituent of jet fuel. The recovered CFs still maintain their structure and a tensile strength of 87%.