Abiotic–biological hybrid systems that combine the advantages of abiotic catalysis and biotransformation for the conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂) to value-added chemicals and fuels have emerged as an appealing way to address the global energy and environmental crisis caused by increased CO₂ emission. We illustrate the recent progress in this field. Here, we first review the natural CO₂ fixation pathways for an in-depth understanding of the biological CO₂ transformation strategy and why a sustainable feed of reducing power is important. Second, we review the recent progress in the construction of abiotic–biological hybrid systems for CO₂ transformation from two aspects: (i) microbial electrosynthesis systems that utilize electricity to support whole-cell biological CO₂ conversion to products of interest and (ii) photosynthetic semiconductor biohybrid systems that integrate semiconductor nanomaterials with CO₂-fixing microorganisms to harness solar energy for biological CO₂ transformation. Lastly, we discuss potential approaches for further improvement of abiotic–biological hybrid systems.

FePS₃, a classical 2D layered material with transition metal phosphorous trichalcogenides, was investigated as an anode material for Mg ion batteries. We used density functional theory to calculate the Mg storage properties of FePS₃, such as Mg adsorption energy, theoretical specific capacity, average voltage, diffusion energy barriers, volume change, and electronic conductivity. The theoretical specific capacity of the FePS₃ monolayer is 585.6 mA h/g with a relatively low average voltage of 0.483 V (vs. Mg/Mg²⁺), which is favorable to a high energy density. The slight change in volume and good electronic conductivity of bulk FePS₃ are beneficial to electrode stability during cycling.

Heat-resistant poly(m-phenylene isophthalamide) (PMIA) has attracted considerable attention as a novel separator for application in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs); however, its mechanical strength and electrolyte wettability are not ideal. Herein, a nano-silica-decorated poly(m-phenylene isophthalamide) (PMIA@SiO₂) separator was fabricated with SiO₂ nanoparticles uniformly attached to the pores and pore walls of the PMIA separator. The as-prepared PMIA@SiO₂ separator has good mechanical strength (a 16% improvement compared with pristine PMIA) and wettability toward the electrolyte (the contact angle decreases from 34.0° to 23.1°). The PMIA@SiO₂ separator also had a high ionic conductivity (0.75 mS/cm) and low interfacial electric resistance (75 Ω). The assembled LiCoO₂/PMIA@SiO₂-liquid electrolyte/Li cell displays good cycle performance with a capacity retention of 88.1% after 50 cycles. Furthermore, the cycling performance and rate capacity rarely changed after high-temperature treatment. Therefore, the nano-silica-decorated PMIA separator is a potential candidate for application in LIBs with high safety.

The analytical description of the trap signature in the charge conduction process of turmeric dye-based organic semiconductor has been presented in this study. An analytical explanation of the built-in potential V _x–V graph that emphasizes the presence of trapping states has been provided. Differential analysis of current–voltage (I–V) characteristics has also been conducted to verify the trap signature of the carrier in the device. The non-monotonous decrement of the G(V)–V plot verifies the trap signature. The values of trap energy (E _t) and trap factor ($ \theta $) have been derived from the logarithmic I–V relationship. From the analysis of the semilogarithmic I–V plot, the barrier height (ϕ _bi) of the device has also been determined. The overall I–V curve has been taken into account to examine the Richardson–Schottky and Poole–Frenkel effects on the trap-assisted charge conduction process. From the results of the experiment, the Schottky effect has been observed to be effective, which leads to a bulk-limited charge conduction process.

We developed the high-gravity coupled liquid–liquid interface reaction technique on the basis of the rotating packed bed (RPB) reactor for the continuous and ultrafast synthesis of silver sulfide (Ag₂S) quantum dots (QDs) with near-infrared (NIR) luminescence. The formation of Ag₂S QDs occurs at the interface of microdroplets, and the average size of Ag₂S QDs was 4.5 nm with a narrow size distribution. Ag₂S QDs can disperse well in various organic solvents and exhibit NIR luminescence with a peak wavelength at 1270 nm under 980-nm laser excitation. The mechanism of the process intensification was revealed by both the computational fluid dynamics simulation and fluorescence imaging, and the mechanism is attributed to the small and uniform droplet formation in the RPB reactor. This study provides a novel approach for the continuous and ultrafast synthesis of NIR Ag₂S QDs for potential scale-up.

A hollow glass microsphere (HGM)/TiO₂ composite hollow sphere was successfully prepared via a simple precipitation method. The TiO₂ coating layers grew on the surface of the HGMs that range from 20 to 50 μm in diameter as nanoparticles with the formation of the Si‒O‒Ti bonds. The growth mechanism accounting for the formation of the TiO₂ nanolayers was proposed. The morphology, composition, thermal insulation properties, and visible–near infrared (VIS–NIR) reflectance of the HGMs/TiO₂ composite hollow spheres were characterized. The VIS–NIR reflectance of the HGMs/TiO₂ composite hollow spheres increased by more than 30% compared to raw HGMs. The thermal conductivity of the particles is 0.058 W/(m K). The result indicates that the VIS–NIR reflectance of the composite hollow spheres is strongly influenced by the coating of TiO₂. The composite hollow spheres were used as the main functional filler to prepare the organic–inorganic composite coatings. The glass substrates coated by the organic–inorganic coatings had lower thermal conductivity and higher near infrared reflectivity. Therefore, the HGMs/TiO₂ composite hollow spheres can reflect most of the solar energy and effectively keep out the heat as a thermal insulation coating for energy-saving constructions.

Hierarchical nano-sized ZSM-5 aggregates were successfully synthesized via a seed-assisted method in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) through a facile one-step crystallization process. Commercial ZSM-5 zeolites with a SiO₂/Al₂O₃ ratio comparable to that of ZSM-5 products were treated with alkali and used as the seed particles. The influences of crystallization conditions were investigated, and the possible synthesis mechanism was proposed. ZSM-5 zeolites with different amounts of CTAB added were characterized using many techniques and evaluated in toluene alkylation with methanol. The results showed that a trace amount of CTAB significantly promoted the crystallization of ZSM-5 zeolite, with the morphology changing from hexagonal-shape crystals to uniform spherical aggregates. CTAB may act as the structure-directing agent and assemble the primary crystallites to generate hierarchical ZSM-5 aggregates. The ZSM-5 zeolite with the smallest primary particles of 50–80 nm exhibited large specific surface area, abundant mesopores, and the greatest microporosity. The hierarchical nano-sized ZSM-5 aggregate showed higher toluene conversion and a longer lifetime without compromising the selectivity to xylene and p-xylene in toluene alkylation with methanol.

The effect of Zn interlayer on the microstructural evolution and mechanical behavior of dissimilar ultrasonic-spot-welded Al/Cu joints was investigated. The tensile lap shear strength in relation to welding energy was analyzed. The experimental results show that two intermetallic compounds, Cu₅Zn₈ and Al₂Cu, were generated at the interface of the ultrasonic-spot-welded Al/Cu joint with a Zn interlayer. The primary joining mechanisms of the joint included the intermetallic compound bonding and metallic bonding caused by solid shear plastic deformation. Meanwhile, with increasing welding energy, the plastic deformation of the material became more substantial. With increasing welding energy, the tensile lap shear strength of the joints first increased and then decreased for the ultrasonic-spot-welded Al/Cu joints with and without Zn interlayers. Under the energy input of 700 J, the bearing load capacity of the ultrasonic-spot-welded Al/Cu joints with a Zn interlayer improved significantly due to the observed intermetallic compound (Cu₅Zn₈).

Natural rubber (NR) grafted with 2-ethylhexyl acrylate (2-EHA) and methacrylic acid (MAA, collectively NR-g-PEHA/MAA) was synthesized by emulsion polymerization. Tetraethylenepentamine and cumene hydroperoxide were used as redox initiators. The successful grafting of 2-EHA and MAA onto NR was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The morphology of the NR latex particles was observed by transmission electron microscopy. The effects of reaction temperature, initiator dosage, feeding mode, and hard monomer content on the mechanical properties of the modified NR film were investigated. Grafted polymer chains were unevenly wrapped on the outside of NR particles, and smaller particles were more easily grafted. Crosslinking was characterized using a toluene swelling method. Thermal stability and glass transition temperature were examined by differential scanning calorimetry and thermogravimetric analysis. The results showed that the thermal stability of NR-g-PEHA/MAA had been improved, and the glass transition temperature (T _g) was unchanged.