Themed collection 2025 Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers HOT articles

This review aims to bridge the gap in the applications of DACs by presenting a thorough and multidimensional analysis of DACs in advanced oxidation processes, a pivotal area in addressing environmental and energy challenges.

This review article focuses on current achievements and identifies future research directions by designing biomimetic catalytic systems for CO₂ reduction to formate using NAD(P)H.

We review the latest developments in scintillator materials for X-ray detection thoroughly, including perovskites, nano-clusters, organic and rare-earth-doped compounds and specialized structures, and provide an in-depth insight for future prospects.

The authors summarize recent research progress on pristine MOFs and their derivatives for high-performance AZIBs and discuss the energy storage mechanisms.

This review summarized the methods for synthesizing MoS₂-based nanomaterials and their application in capacitive deionization.

This review summarizes the reported iminophosphonamide complexes of s-block, p-block, transition and f-block metals. Furthermore, the recent development in the field of chiral iminophosphonamide metal complexes is also discussed.

This review offers an overview of recent advancements in novel multi-component chalcogenidometalates, emphasizing the intrinsic relationships between composition, structure, and photocurrent properties.

Selected studies carried out in the field of protein metalation, where the structural information achieved by X-ray crystallography has been complemented by other biophysical techniques, are described.

This work reviews selenoborates, categorizing them by structure, synthesis methods, and highlighting their bandgaps, nonlinear optical properties, and potential as IR functional materials.

Ti₃C₂/TiO₂ and C@TiO₂ based composites for photocatalytic applications.

We summarize the design strategies for improving the ECL of metal nanoclusters, including 1. aggregation-induced emission; 2. anodic pre-oxidation; 3. aggregation-induced self-loading; 4. Anionic substitution; 5. ion doping; 6. valence engineering.

This summary describes and elucidates an enhanced strategy for photocatalytic nitrogen fixation over Bi₂MO₆ (M = Mo, W)-based catalysts and points out the development prospects of photocatalytic nitrogen fixation.

In this review, we have highlighted computational studies on actinide-based mononuclear single-molecule magnets, focusing on compounds containing the elements U, Np, Pu, and Cf.

Pt/FeCe–NC catalysts for oxygen reduction reactions in proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

Supercoiled plectonemes with three consecutive unusual circles are formed from a ditopic ligand driven by cooperative sulfate and platinum coordination.

Structurally similar Cu₁₄ and Cu₁₃ NCs were synthesized as model OER catalysts. Cu₁₄ exhibited superior activity due to an extra Cu atom acting as the key active site, which significantly lowers the energy barrier of the rate-determining step.

We present two novel hybrid chalcogenides that exhibit narrow band gaps, high conductivity, exceptional stability, and remarkable piezoelectric properties.

Linker engineering by tuning the non-nitrogen heteroatom and conjugation core enables optimization of the electronic structure of the electron acceptor in D–A COFs and thereby yields a photocatalyst with an H₂ generation rate of ca. 35 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹.

Cyclic voltammetry, UV-vis, and X-ray absorption spectroscopy were used to demonstrate that aqueous plutonium coordination chemistry and electron transfer reactivity can be controlled by judicious manipulation of hydrochloric acid concentrations.

An ingenious carbon-nanotube wall nanoengineering strategy is developed to synthesize a bifunctional electrocatalyst consisting of single-atom Fe–N₄ moieties for oxygen reduction and nanosized FeNi species for oxygen evolution.

This study reports a novel hydroxyl-modified fullerene compound which can induce both apoptosis and pyroptosis in HeLa cells under light irradiation. Additionally, C₇₀(OH)₈@NP demonstrates significant anti-tumor activity in vivo.

Layered hybrid perovskite ferroelectrics have made significant strides in high-performance X-ray detection, attributed to their polarization-induced large built-in electric fields and excellent carrier mobility.

Anionic F-doping-induced engineering of P2-type K_0.6Zn_0.1Ti_0.05Al_0.05Mn_0.8O₂ (KTMO) cathode materials is proposed for high-performance potassium-ion batteries.

A multifunctional covalent organic framework (Ni-COF) with an extended π-d conjugated structure was synthesized and used for separator modification for Li–S batteries.

Strong far-UVC afterglow from the charged CaSO₄:Pr³⁺ and CaSO₄:Pb²⁺ phosphors can be clearly detected by using a solar-blind UV camera in bright indoor and outdoor environments owing to the absence of background noise from ambient light.

Hollow alloyed CoFe-ZIF/CNF composite fibers were successfully synthesized. The carbon fiber with dielectric loss wraps hollow alloyed CoFe-ZIF nanocages with magnetic loss to form a bamboo-shaped composite fiber to achieve magnetoelectric synergy.

Sulfur-vacancy-rich CdS photocatalysts with various controlled morphologies have been investigated towards the optimization of CO₂ photoreduction under visible light irradiation.

A conformal phosphating strategy was employed to fabricate thin-walled, hollow, and porous CoNiMn-P. DFT calculations demonstrated that CoNiMn-P significantly enhances OH⁻ adsorption and exhibits exceptional electrochemical stability.

This article presents the influence of lanthanide size and ligands conformational flexibility on the lanthanide assemblies and their corresponding luminescent properties.

The positive synergies between the metallic 1T-WS₂ and Ni₂P dual cocatalysts in electronic structure engineering and charge transfer kinetics greatly contribute to the significantly enhanced H₂ evolution performance of the ZnIn₂S₄ catalyst.

PTO-NH₃⁺, a planar, delocalized organic anode with stable intermolecular H-bond networks and 4-step H⁺ chemistry, achieves high-rate and long-life (10 000 cycles) proton storage, shedding light on further avenues towards advanced proton batteries.

Biomimetic bromination of unactivated C–H bonds catalyzed by an iron porphyrin complex with LiBr was achieved. Introduction of Li⁺ completely inhibited the oxygen-rebound pathway. A carbocation was proposed as the key intermediate for the reaction.

A novel approach to time-resolved, multi-stage information encryption and anti-counterfeiting was presented, using hybrid antimony chloride materials capable of stepwise structural transformations and tunable photoluminescent properties.

PROTAC–Pt(IV) represents a new class of dual-action Pt(IV) prodrugs integrating platinum drugs with PROTAC-mediated protein degradation, exhibiting superior antitumor efficacy compared to conventional Pt(IV) prodrug and PROTAC alone in vivo.

The implantation of distortable functionalized ligands in ultra-microporous MOFs enables the simultaneous regulation of the pore structure and binding active sites, which offers a promising approach for efficient C₂H₂ purification.

The precision engineering of the molecular framework has synthesized two superclusters based on the {Sr⊂P₆M₂Mo₁₆O₇₃} motif, which exhibit closely related topological structures: Co₁₂Sr₄Mo₈₀P₃₆ and Na₄Ni₂₃Sr₄Mo₈₈P₅₂.

A novel ferroelectric material was synthesized using a CH₃/OH substitution strategy. Its ferroelectric property was elucidated through crystal structure and quantum chemical analyses, offering a new approach for ferroelectric material design.

A novel LaMgGa₁₁O₁₉:Cr³⁺,Yb³⁺ near-infrared broadband phosphor with high performance has been designed via a lattice occupation and energy transfer strategy. The application of the above phosphors in the LED field was also demonstrated.

Surface etching to expose (211) of SnO₂ : F (FTO) led to uniform synthesis of low-defect CN film, which produces a state-of-the-art photovoltage of 0.64 V and excellent biased and unbiased photoelectrochemical water splitting performances.

In situ transformed LiC₆ endowed carbon fiber (CF) host with self-lithiophilic property, while heterogeneous Pt nanoparticles further boosted the lithiophilicity and Li nucleation to achieve an even Li plating.

CuIn(3-ain)₄, functionalized with NH₂, demonstrates exceptional natural gas separation, durability, and low-pressure adsorption, underscoring its industrial potential.

Metal halide perovskites, particularly lead-based compounds, manifest great potential in X-ray detection due to their exceptional light absorption coefficients, superior carrier mobility and cost-effective preparation methods.

CoFePv with phosphorus vacancies (Pv) was prepared via Ar plasma-assisted phosphidation. CoFePv and its reconstructed CoFeOOH-PO₄³⁻ serve as active species for the HER and the OER, demonstrating excellent catalytic performance and stability.

Heavy atom engineering of Ru(II) complex based sonosensitizers for in vitro and in vivo antifungal therapy.

A novel Eu-based chalcogenide, β-EuZnGeS₄, has been designed using an isovalent cation substitution strategy, starting from the centrosymmetric Eu₂GeS₄, and it demonstrates well-balanced IR NLO performance.

Four novel crystals of the RE(III)–Te(IV)–B–O system (β-LaTeBO₅ and RETeBO₅ (RE = Y, Gd, Tb)) have been obtained, which exhibit wide transparency (0.4–6.5 μm), large birefringence and high thermal stability.

CdF(C₆H₄NO₂)(H₂O) emerges as a UV nonliner optical material that exhibits unprecedented second harmonicgeneration (3.2×KDP) and birefringence (0.26@546 nm), achieved through the presence of π-conjudated rings and a distinctive “Warren truss structure”.

An energy transfer-based full-spectrum ML construction approach simplifies the design of multifunctional sensors and helps achieve long-range dual-mode sensing.

Rh/TiO₂/Ti exhibits remarkable HER performances due to the nanoarray structure, surface roughness, and optimized absorption energy and metal–support interaction.

Cage orbital distributions well determine the metal positions in all actinide mono-metallofullerenes and are more effective than the widely used electrostatic potentials due to the strong metal–cage covalency.

A cholic acid-modified ruthenium(II) (Ru1) photosensitizer was synthesized. Ru1 induced pyroptosis and sequentially engaged the downstream proteins p-TBK1 and p-IRF3 within the STING pathway, thus promoting the elicitation of tumor immune responses.

Iridium(III) 2-cyanobenzothiazole complexes were designed as N-terminal cysteine-specific labels to prepare peptide-based phosphorogenic probes and hydrogels for matrix metalloproteinase-2/9 sensing, cancer imaging and photocytotoxic applications.

Pre-construction of the Co/CoO@C heterostructure to achieve the precise synthesis of the Co₂P/CoP@C heterostructure based on the oxygen-coordinated MOF membrane for water electrolysis.

Self-supporting layers containing high-entropy materials (HEMs) with adsorption–catalytic-conversion integrated functions were designed and synthesized for the first time for separator modification of Zn–I₂ batteries.

A series of trigonal antiprismatic (aTPR) mononuclear Cr(II) complexes were prepared and magnetically studied, which suggested that the aTPR configuration is advantageous for facilitating spin crossover, while the dynamics of spin transitions are closely linked to the structural distortions.

Design of 3D metal-porphyrin-based COFs with Co–N₄ sites as highly efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for the ORR and OER.

Combined machine-learning with experimental evaluations, the thermal conductivities in IR nonlinear optical chalcogenides Li_xAg_1−xGa_yIn_1−ySe₂ series are investigated, and three compositions exhibit balanced properties.

A strategy assisted by crystal growth modifiers (CGMs) has been proposed to effectively customize the morphology of TS-1 zeolites, enhancing their selectivity and activity in targeted catalytic reactions.

This work constructed a versatile platform labeled as ZTBH using a post-ligand modification approach, thereby enabling two-photon fluorescence lifetime imaging-guided photodynamic therapy.

The artificially constructed porous layered basic zinc acetate nanosheets can effectively reduce the electric field's tip effect and hydrogen evolution reaction, leading to uniform Zn nucleation and deposition.

The switching from fluorescence (Fl)–phosphorescence (Ph) co-dominant emission to thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) triggered by crystallization significantly improves the photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of Ag₁₄ nanoclusters.