Themed collection Hydrogen and clean fuels

Air-to-ammonia via plasma-generated NO and NORR: engineered microenvironments, gas-fed interfaces, and techno-economic-constrained design rules link catalyst choice to stack architecture for scalable, distributed NH₃.

This perspective explores seawater electrolysis and electrodeionization, focusing on challenges and opportunities in production of green X.

Two-dimensional materials with various electronic properties were utilized as electrodes, interlayers, and catalysts in catalytic electrodes for the hydrogen evolution reaction.

Direct seawater electrolysis presents a promising solution to address both freshwater scarcity and the growing demand for green hydrogen in regions abundant in renewable energy.

This review highlights advances in perovskite-MOF hybrids for PEC water splitting, offering design guidelines for high-performance photoelectrodes while emphasising critical factors that affect their photoelectrochemical activity and application.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are promising materials for hydrogen (H₂) storage due to their versatile structures, high surface areas and substantial pore volumes.

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the recent progress in non-noble metal-based nanocatalysts for hybrid water splitting, including fundamental concepts, catalysts design, reaction mechanism and typical hybrid water splitting systems.

Photocatalytic innovations are employed in the production of H₂, environmental remediation, CO₂ reduction, and additional critical disciplines because of their sustainability, ease of implementation, and dependence on solar energy.

This review provides an overview of Cu-based catalysts for electrocatalytic nitrate reduction to ammonia. It encompasses materials, reaction mechanisms, analysis methods and insights into the practical applications and economic prospects.

A quantitative review of 89 hydrogen production cost forecasts, providing future prospects and multifaceted analyses.

Hydrogen spillover, involving active H species migration between high- and weak-affinity sites, gains attention for its unique mechanism and accelerated kinetics.

The conversion of lignocellulose biomass to furfural can be performed using one-step and two-step strategies. A techno-economic analysis plays a crucial role in evaluating the overall economic feasibility of industrial-scale furfural production.

A major challenge in organic single-component photocatalysts (SCPCs) for hydrogen (H₂) generation is their intrinsically inefficient exciton separation and charge generation.

Surface modification of CdS with positively charged diethylenetriamine molecules and Pt species induces interfacial electrical double layers to optimize charge carrier dynamics, achieving a 26.7-fold enhanced H₂ evolution compared to pristine CdS.

This work presents an integrated approach to industrial decarbonization by converting mixed polyolefin waste into structured carbon with exceptional Joule heating properties, enabling efficient electrified hydrogen production via NH₃ decomposition.

Amorphous Ni(OH)₂·0.75H₂O@Ni(OH)₂/FeOOH heterojunction nanosheets with enhanced OER catalytic activity were synthesized. The introduction of Fe effectively regulated the electronic structure of Ni, improving the catalyst performance.

The Mg@DL-Ti₂CCl_x composite, synthesized using MXene with partially removed terminal groups, shows enhanced hydrogen storage properties by forming a direct Ti–Mg interface which promotes charge transfer and weakens the Mg–H bond.

A sub-nano interfacial catalytic structure is orchestrated by tailor-designing a hollow bowl-like porous carbon-confined Ru–MgO hetero-structured nanopair as a high-performance catalyst for ammonia borane hydrolysis.

Ru₁–Mo₂C, a novel dual-site synergistic catalyst, demonstrated exceptional performance for the alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) through a reversible hydrogen spillover mechanism.

MoS₂ serves as low-cost and Pt-free co-catalyst that improves charge carrier dynamics in Mo/Sb₂Se₃/CdS/MoS₂ photocathode. Its optimized integration minimizes interfacial recombination, leading to record J_ph of 31.03 mA cm⁻² and HC-STH of 3.08%.

g-C₃N₄ modified with Pd single atoms – decorated by reactive deposition – exhibits remarkable photocatalytic hydrogen production efficiency with a low loading of 0.05 wt%, far outperforming g-C₃N₄ decorated with Pd nanoparticles.

A bipolar membrane generates ultrahigh pH (∼15) locally, achieving 93% selectivity for liquid products (ethanol/ethylene = 70 : 1) with 12× less crossover and long-term stability, advancing scalable electrosynthesis of carbon-neutral fuels.

We systematically study the key process parameters of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) microplastic photoreforming. We uncover that not only hydrogen (H₂) but also methane (CH₄) is generated and provide valuable mechanistic insights into the process.

This study models a future methanol economy where combining biomass, biogas, and air-captured CO₂ achieves net-zero emissions at about 32 USD₂₀₂₅ per person per month, close to Paris Agreement-aligned costs while delivering deeper emission cuts.

A single-atom zinc catalyst prepared by loading zinc phthalocyanine on carbon nanotubes enables highly efficient transformation of biomass-derived furfural to hydrofuroin, a sustainable aviation fuel precursor, with near-unity efficiency.

The selection of pretreatment methods is critical to achieving high product yields during bioconversion of lignocellulosic biomass.

Schematic of photocatalytic type 2 Z-scheme raceway design with hydrogen reactor cylinders floating on an oxygen reactor raceway pool. The raceway concept enables a scalable, low-cost, and low-carbon intensity method of hydrogen production.

(a) Crystal structure of 1T-MoS₂ and 1T-MoSeS with and without hydrogen atom adsorption. (b) Calculated Gibbs free energy (ΔG_H) for the HER showing 1T-MoSeS as the best performing one. (c) A schematic depiction of the plausible mechanism for the HER.

This work highlights the potential of nitrate reduction as a viable and sustainable alternative for green ammonia production, bridging the gap between fundamental research and industrial application.

Biowastes are produced daily. These wastes are rich in organic components with high potential to produce valuable products such as BioH₂ and CO₂. This study explores wastes converted into low-cost BioH₂ through integrated processes.

An effective route that produces flat, planar protonic half-cells with impressive dimensions of up to 50 × 50 mm², constructed using NiO–SrZr_0.5Ce_0.4Y_0.1O_3−δ as the fuel electrode, ensuring minimal warping and no cracks in the end-fired state.

The social acceptance of domestic hydrogen and prospects for deploying hydrogen homes will be shaped by public trust in key actors and stakeholders.

Exploring earth-abundant electrocatalysts for efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is important for the development of clean and renewable hydrogen energy.

We introduce high-entropy single-atom catalysts (HESACs) from FeRuPtNiCoPd HEA on GO via pulsed laser irradiation in liquids. Synergistic interactions and rapid Fe²⁺ photoreduction enhance active sites, achieving superior overall water splitting.

In this work we systematically explored the stability of N to 4N defect substitution in graphene and highlighted the effect of nitrogen coordination environments on the HER activity of Ru and Fe SACs supported on N-doped substrate.

Photocatalytic techniques are considered clean, sustainable and cost-effective in energy conversion and environmental restoration.

The electronic conductivity of a catalyst can be enhanced by strategically doping with specific elements.

The need to minimize carbon emissions and improve sustainable energy systems has stimulated significant research into multifunctional materials.

A tandem Pt/C-γ-Al₂O₃ multicomponent catalyst system to improve glycerol-to-lactic acid selectivity through combined electrochemical and chemical reaction pathway.

A membraneless, precious metal-free natural sea-water electrolyzer for exclusive green hydrogen production using a unidirectional redox competitive agent.

A facile, rapid Joule heating protocol for forming amorphous-structured transition metal phosphate electrocatalysts with low overpotentials, fast kinetics, and long-term stability for oxygen evolution reaction (OER).

Enhancing liquid organic hydrogen carrier performance: efficient room temperature hydrogen generation from amines via electro-dehydrogenation.

The production cost of green methanol from renewable electricity-based hydrogen and atmospheric carbon dioxide could reach market prices by 2040, making it a potential solution for defossilisation of the global chemical industry and marine transport.

Low-carbon ammonia competitive with conventional process with policy support. Novel hybrid processes and biomethane integration can offer additional benefits.

We quantified the life-cycle environmental impacts of H₂ production at the regional and global levels for the first time.

A urea-assisted water splitting electrolyzer based on Pt nanoparticle-anchored Ni(OH)₂@Ni-CNF catalyst and Pt@Ni-CNF catalyst is constructed for effectively reducing the energy consumption of H₂ production.

Efficient and durable carbon core-shell Pt@Co nanoparticles interconnected porous carbon electrocatalyst for anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer application.

Meticulously designed neighboring WOR and ORR active sites significantly enhance the overall photocatalytic synthesis of hydrogen peroxide.

The solubility of PET waste bottles was improved to 91 g L⁻¹ by alcohol–alkali combined depolymerization. Iron, cobalt co-modified nickel phosphide nanosheet arrays on nickel foam were used as a bifunctional electrocatalyst for PET hydrolysate electroreforming-assisted green hydrogen evolution.

Green H₂ production reduces emissions by 80–95% compared to grey H₂ thus meeting the REDII directive. However, blue and turquoise H₂ fall short of meeting this criterion without CO₂ sequestration.