Themed collection ChemComm Electrocatalysis

Focusing on azine-linked COFs, this review covers their design and synthesis, highlighting their uses in CO₂ capture, hydrogen evolution, organic transformations, and pollutant degradation, and discusses current challenges and future prospects.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs), e.g., MoS₂ and MoSe₂, are widely used as catalysts for electrochemical water splitting and green energy conversion because of their high stability and favorable hydrogen adsorption energies.

NiFe-based electrocatalysts exhibit high oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity and durability at high current densities (HCDs), highlighting their potential for industrial water electrolysis applications.

In the current landscape, the world is grappling with mounting environmental crises and a persistent fossil fuel crunch.

The electrochemical reduction of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) to 2,5-bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) is an efficient and sustainable approach for biomass-based chemical production.

This review compares electrocatalytic ammonia synthesis reactor types, performance, and scalability, highlighting key challenges and future directions for efficient, stable, and industrially viable green ammonia production.

Machine learning is reshaping the design of MOF electrocatalysts for sustainable ammonia synthesis.

A NiCoFeCrZn-based HEO was directly synthesized over carbon cloth via one step CO₂ laser-irradiation of metal salts.

An oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalyst LFP₁G₁₃Ni_0.5Urea_1.5 was designed by the upcycling of waste LiFePO₄ and graphite in spent lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), exhibiting excellent OER performance in anion exchange membrane water electrolysis.

This work identified the Fe-ion concentration as a key descriptor governing the dynamic evolution of NiFe-LDH through corrosion engineering.

We developed a “carve-and-patch” strategy that establishes Mo vacancies as the dominant anchoring sites for Pt single atoms, enabling voltage-programmed catalyst design.

This work presents a strategy to overcome this bottleneck by engineering atomically dispersed, spatially neighboring Ru–Co pairs anchored on hollow S,N-doped carbon, delivering high activity while maintaining exceptional durability in acidic media.

Interfacial engineering of Pd/Ni(OH)₂ enables selective electrooxidation of veratryl alcohol to veratraldehyde with >95% faradaic efficiency under ambient conditions.

d-State engineering in Cu₂SnS₄ facilitates dopant-selective modulation of electronic structure and VOC adsorption characteristics.

Multiscale modelling links theory and experiment, showing that mesoscale mass transport controls oxygen reduction on catalyst surfaces and that transport-governed local pH and active site density determine electrocatalytic activity.

A terephthalic-acid intercalation strategy reinforces NiFe-LDH through C–O–Fe coordination, expanding interlayer spacing and optimizing charge transfer.

Perovskite–mixed oxide coupling stabilizes high-valent metal centers, driving energy-efficient water splitting in alkaline media.

Two-dimensional coupled waveform channels enhance gas mixing and mass transfer inside SOECs, reducing electrolysis voltage by 6.57% at 1 A cm⁻².

The hydrogen evolution reaction mechanism for oxygen-terminated MOenes.

Bifunctional β-NaYF₄:Yb³⁺/Er³⁺ and β-NaYF₄:Yb³⁺/Tm³⁺ upconversion nanoparticles for overall water splitting.

Porous CC@CoFeO_x–Cu₂O air photocathodes were prepared to facilitate the OER/ORR process for high power-density zinc-air batteries with reduced charging potentials.

Among Fe–N-doped fullerene-encapsulated Pt cluster models, the Pt₁₀@FeN₄C₁₈₀ and Pt₁₁@FeN₄C₁₈₀ exhibit outstanding overpotential for the ORR (0.41 V) and OER (0.43 V), respectively, along with high thermodynamic stability and poisoning resistance.

Supercritical water flow-synthesis yielded crystalline SrRuO₃ with perovskite structure and improved OER activity relative to batch hydrothermally synthesised samples.

The thermal phase transformation of CoSe₂ to Co₃Se₄ optimizes the spin state of cobalt ions, thus enhancing oxygen electrocatalysis.

The development of efficient oxygen evolution electrocatalysts is pivotal for green hydrogen production. Herein, we demonstrate a defect engineering strategy to boost OER by facilitating structural transformation from MOFs to metal oxyhydroxides.

A phosphate-assisted route was proposed to synthesize N-doped carbon-coated RuP_x nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes containing RuP/RuP₂ heterostructures, showing excellent activity on par with Pt/C for the pH-wide hydrogen evolution reaction.

We have successfully developed highly active and durable bifunctional catalysts based on ordered PtM (M = Fe, Co, Ni) intermetallic nanoparticles supported on nitrogen-doped carbon for the oxygen reduction reaction and methanol oxidation reaction.

This study identified three potential rare earth single-atom catalysts (ScN₆C₀, LaN₀C₆ and LuN₆C₀) for the HER (|ΔG_*H| < 0.20 eV).

A site-selective electrochemical carboxylation of biomass-derived methyl 2-furoate affords dimethyl furan-2,5-dicarboxylate and enables sustainable, closed-loop recyclable furan-based polyesters.