The photocatalytic conversion of methane (CH₄) into value-added oxygenates without overoxidation under mild conditions remains a significant challenge in heterogeneous catalysis. Here, we rationally designed a series of S-scheme MIL-125-NH₂(Ti)/WO₃-x (MW-x) heterostructures via electrostatic self-assembly for efficient CH₄ photooxidation. The direct S-scheme charge transfer mechanism at the MIL-125-NH₂(Ti)/WO₃ interface enhances spatial separation of photogenerated electron-hole pairs, thereby optimizing redox efficiency. The WO₃ nanosheets, with their strong oxidative capacity, promote in situ H₂O₂ generation from water, whereas the Ti³⁺/Ti⁴⁺ redox centers in MIL-125-NH₂(Ti) catalyze H₂O₂ decomposition into hydroxyl radicals (·OH). These ·OH species efficiently activate the C–H bonds of adsorbed CH₄, yielding methyl radicals (·CH₃). The concurrent generation and coupling of ·OH and ·CH₃ radicals drive selective formation of C₁ oxygenates. Notably, the optimized MW-3 catalyst exhibits exceptional performance, achieving a total C₁ oxygenate yield of 502.17 μmol·g_cat⁻¹ under ambient conditions, surpassing most reported photocatalysts for CH₄ conversion.

Global energy crisis, freshwater shortage, and other problems make the development and utilization of green energy particularly urgent. As an efficient solar-thermal technology, solar interface evaporation has demonstrated great application potential in fields such as water purification and steam power generation. The browning of the waste biomass materials (WBM) result in the production of eumelanin or melanoidin, which adheres to the fibrous surface structure of the peel and promotes light absorption. The utilization of WBM as biomass solar-thermal materials is characterized by low cost, environmental friendliness, and renewability. In this work, an environmentally friendly and highly efficient solar evaporator was constructed using WBM and polyvinyl alcohol carrier. When exposed to 1.0 kW m⁻² simulated sunlight illumination, the system achieves an outstanding evaporation rate of 1.48 kg m⁻² h⁻¹, corresponding to an energy conversion efficiency of 82.49%. By utilizing waste heat from the solar-driven evaporation process, the system enables concurrent water–electricity cogeneration, yielding a consistent voltage output of 137 mV under 5.0 kW m⁻² solar illumination. Additionally, the hydrogel can serve as highly effective organic dye adsorbents, showcasing significant promise for wastewater treatment applications. This approach to fabricating solar absorbers not only reduces production costs but also enhances potential practical utility by repurposing discarded materials.

Efficient charge separation remains a key challenge limiting the photocatalytic performance of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs). In a recent advance, Huang et al. developed an ultrathin 2D/2D MOF-based S-scheme heterojunction to overcome this limitation. By exfoliating Cu-TCPP and Cd-TBAPy MOFs into few-layer nanosheets and assembling them via pH-controlled electrostatic attraction, they formed an intimate face-to-face metal–organic layer (MOL) interface with a built-in electric field. A suite of characterizations confirmed an S-scheme band alignment that promotes directional charge transfer and maintains strong redox potentials. The optimized Cu/Cd-MOL achieved an H₂ evolution rate of 1342 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹, whereas a Cu/Ni-MOL variant reached 2027 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹ with a 2.75% apparent quantum yield. This study provides a general strategy for constructing ultrathin MOF heterostructures with accelerated charge kinetics for efficient solar-to-hydrogen conversion.

Photocatalytic CO₂ conversion driven by solar energy offers a sustainable pathway for carbon neutrality, but remains limited by inefficient charge dynamics and poor spectral utilization. However, copper chalcogenides exhibit dual UV–vis absorption and near-infrared (NIR) plasmonic resonance suffer from rapid electron–hole recombination and insufficient catalytic activity. This study introduces nested metallic-semiconductor Cu-based heterostructures (Cu/CuSe) synthesized through dissolution–reduction to address these limitations. The engineered architecture incorporates metallic Cu clusters and selenium vacancies within CuSe nanosheets, which collectively broaden NIR absorption through defect-induced gap states for enhanced photothermal activation. This approach promotes directional electron transfer to Cu clusters, which suppress electron–hole recombination and serve as catalytically active sites. Additionally, seamless coupling between the components lowers interfacial energy losses. Density functional theory calculations reveal that Cu clusters effectively reduce CO₂ activation barriers by stabilizing critical reaction intermediates. The heterostructures achieve a threefold increase in CO yield (27.06 μmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹) under full-spectrum irradiation compared to pristine CuSe, with a 90% selectivity without sacrificial agents. The photothermal–photocatalytic synergy harnesses a cascade energy conversion pathway, outperforming conventional plasmonic semiconductor systems. This work establishes a defect-engineering strategy to enhance infrared energy harvesting and charge management in broadband-responsive photocatalysts.

Electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia (eNRA) offers a sustainable and green pathway for ammonia (NH₃) synthesis. Although due to the inferior hydrogenation ability, Cu-based nonprecious electrocatalysts often suffer a low NH₃ Faradaic efficiency and high overpotential are often needed to deep reduction of *NO₂, resulting in a high energy consumption. Herein, a galvanic replacement strategy is proposed to synthesize a CuCoRu Aerogel (CuCoRu AG) electrocatalyst with low-content Ru (10.7 at%) to realize efficient eNRA at a significantly reduced overpotential. The optimized Cu₅Co₅Ru AG displays a remarkable NH₃ yield rate of 2.7 ± 0.1 mmol cm⁻² h⁻¹ with an ultrahigh Faradaic efficiency of 97.0 ± 3.81% at −0.1 V versus RHE, surpassing most reported Cu-based electrocatalysts. Systematic characterizations and theoretical calculations indicate that the rational incorporation of low amounts of Ru can further regulate the electronic state to significantly reduce the hydrogenation barrier. Furthermore, the robust Aerogel network architecture provides a good self-supportability to avoid excess agglomeration and ripening, endowing a long-term operational durability over 100 h of continuous electrolysis. This work underscores the pivotal role of electronic structure regulation and three-dimensional porous architectures in the design of next-generation, low-cost, and high-efficiency eNRA electrocatalysts.

The selective conversion of cellulose into ethylene glycol (EG) under aqueous conditions is an attractive yet challenging route for sustainable biomass valorization. Herein, a multifunctional Pd/WMoAlNiSiO_x catalyst was developed through a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-assisted sol-gel strategy, where Pd nanoparticles and PdNi alloy domains were uniformly embedded within an entropy-stabilized high-entropy oxide (HEO) matrix. The high configurational entropy promoted the generation of abundant oxygen vacancies and stabilized Pd-O(H)-M (M = W, Mo, Al, Ni, and Si) interfacial linkages, creating a robust bifunctional interface with cooperative hydrogenation and Lewis acid sites. Under mild hydrothermal conditions (245°C, 4.5 MPa H₂), the catalyst achieved complete cellulose conversion and 68.3% EG selectivity, outperforming conventional Pd/WO₃ systems. Characterization and kinetic studies confirmed that the enhanced performance originated from synergistic interactions between PdNi alloy domains and oxygen-deficient HEO interfaces, which facilitate tandem hydrolysis, retro-aldol cleavage, and hydrogenation. The catalyst also exhibited excellent structural stability and minimal Pd leaching after multiple recycling cycles. This study demonstrates a sustainable catalyst design concept based on entropy-stabilized oxide–metal interfaces, providing a promising approach for efficient biomass conversion in aqueous-phase environments.

Photocatalytic-self-Fenton system (PSFs) hold great promise for water purification through in situ generation-consumption of H₂O₂, yet is constrained by two main obstacles: (1) the scarcity of cost-effective and sustainable photocatalysts, which restricts the overall H₂O₂ production, and (2) the dependence on exogenous Fe²⁺, leading to issues such as Fe sludge formation and narrow pH operating ranges. Herein, a highly crystalline CN bearing K⁺, cyano groups and polyethyleneimine is synthesized through doping and molten-salt assistance calcination. The obtained catalyst exhibits a strong built-in electric field (KPFM and SPV) and efficient spatial charge separation (series photoelectric tests and DFT calculations). The exposed active sites (S_BET = 102.2 m²·g⁻¹) and abundant terminal -NH₂ groups create quasi-homogeneous system (SEM/TEM/AFM and free deposition experiment). The catalyst also exhibits high oxygen adsorption capacity and promotes the reaction pathway of O₂→·O₂⁻→H₂O₂→·OH, enabling photosynthesis H₂O₂ rate up to 14.90 mmol·g⁻¹ h⁻¹ (22.2 times that of CN). The constructed Fe-free PSFs achieves 100% degradation of high-concentration tetracycline (100 mg L⁻¹) within 10 min with a kinetic constant 3.46 times higher than that of common photodegradation system while overcoming the limitation of a narrow operational pH range. Furthermore, the Fe-free PSFs can also 100% degrade sulfamethoxazole, ofloxacin, and diclofenac sodium. At last, the improved degradation mechanisms, key reactive species, degradation pathways, and toxicity are systematically elucidated. This study overcomes key limitations of CN-based photocatalysts and provides novel insights into developing efficient Fe-free PSFs for pollutant photodegradation over a wide-pH.

Mo₂TiC₂ MXene was exfoliated in situ using hydrofluoric acid solution and subsequently integrated with CdIn₂S₄ through physical stirring and grinding. The composite material demonstrated exceptional photocatalytic hydrogen evolution (PHE) activity without the loading of any noble metal co-catalysts, achieving a hydrogen production rate as high as 3.35 mmol·h⁻¹ g⁻¹. This represents a 55.83-fold enhancement compared to pristine CdIn₂S₄ and surpasses the performance of most reported CdIn₂S₄-based photocatalytic materials. Furthermore, the composite material maintained consistent hydrogen evolution performance throughout four consecutive cycling tests, demonstrating excellent cycling durability. Through systematic experimental analysis and theoretical simulations, it was confirmed that a Schottky heterojunction forms between CdIn₂S₄ and Mo₂TiC₂ MXene. In this composite system, CdIn₂S₄ primarily serves as the light-absorbing component, whereas Mo₂TiC₂ MXene functions as an efficient co-catalyst. The formation of the Schottky junction drives the directional migration of photogenerated electrons from CdIn₂S₄ to Mo₂TiC₂ MXene. The resulting interfacial potential barrier significantly suppresses electron backflow, whereas the inherent high electrical conductivity of Mo₂TiC₂ MXene and its abundant exposed active sites further accelerate the hydrogen evolution process. This study demonstrates the significant potential of Mo₂TiC₂ MXene as a novel co-catalyst for photocatalysis oriented toward renewable energy.

Reducing aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) and enhancing molecular stability are key challenges in the development of high-performance solid-state light-emitting organic dye materials and devices. Herein, a red-emitting hybrid glass was fabricated by dissolving rhodamine B (RhB) into a zinc-based coordination polymer glass (a_gZn-P-bIm) melt via a melt-quenching process. The resulting amorphous composite after quenching exhibited significantly enhanced solid-state photoluminescence with a high photoluminescence quantum yield of 79.3%, attributed to effective dispersion and subsequent suppression of RhB aggregation through strong interfacial interactions within the glassy matrix. The material also demonstrated excellent thermal and ambient stability, along with reversible thermochromic behavior, making it suitable for optical temperature sensing. Moreover, by hosting various other emissive molecules, the coordination glass enabled tunable light emission in backlit OLED configurations, highlighting its potential as a versatile platform for advanced solid state optical applications.

The pressing challenges of resource shortage and environmental issue demand innovative technologies that matching circular economies. Here, we proposed an integrated strategy that enables direct waste reuse and sustainable electrosynthesis by converting expired bismuth (Bi)-drugs into impressive precatalysts, achieving the efficient electro-upcycling of carbon dioxide to formate in a universal electrolyzer with a stabilized Faradaic efficiency exceeding 90%. Systematically, we evaluated a range of expired Bi-drugs without any pretreatment, confirming consistently superior catalytic performance comparable to the benchmark in a flow cell system. This finding provides crucial experimental evidence for the feasibility of nonsorted direct utilization of expired Bi-drugs. Furthermore, to broaden the scope toward practical application, we also assessed the impact of water quality and the feasibility of tandem electro-chemo synthesis by employing the formate-containing electrolyte, which, for instance, allowed for the value-added synthesis of benzimidazole in a yield of 85%. This work establishes a scalable sustainable paradigm for interdisciplinary, integrating waste upcycling, energy-efficient synthesis, and up–downstream resource optimization.