Themed collection 2023 Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers HOT articles

Tin (Sn) as a co-catalyst exerts a substantial influence on multiple electrocatalytic reactions. Delving into Sn's role in electrocatalysts and pioneering novel strategies have an immense impact for green synthesis and energy production.

This review article focuses on catalytic interconversion between hydrogen and liquid or solid solar fuels using metal complexes as redox catalysts.

The mechanisms, synthesis methods and strategies for application of W/Mo-based ORR electrocatalysts are briefly introduced. Recent advances in W/Mo-based ORR electrocatalysts are discussed in detail.

Exploring the nanostructures of platinum-based fuel cell electrocatalysts through the lens of advanced transmission electron microscopy techniques unveils the secrets of structure-activity-stability relationships.

The manifold chemistry of terpyridine (tpy) ligands with main-group elements is reviewed not only to provide an overview on this topic but to also inspire intensified research in this often disregarded field.

The role and classification of rare earth elements in photocatalysts are summarized, with the aim of providing suggestions for the future development of rare earth photocatalysts.

In this review, we discuss the catalytically active sites of single-atom catalysts regulated by modulating the metal single-atoms and coordination environment, as well as summarizing major challenges and development opportunities for the field of SACs.

In this review article, we aim to offer a focused overview of metal oxide CTLs for large-area PSCs, emphasizing recent advancements in deposition techniques, modification strategies, and their suitability for large-area device applications.

The effects of climate change have arisen due to greenhouse gases emitted into the atmosphere, and the finite supply of fossil fuels will eventually be unable to support the needs of the petrochemical industry.

Pt, an ideal HER catalyst, is costly, hindering its use in wide-scale applications. Here, we discuss how advances to Pt alloys, heterostructures, and SACs improve Pt atomic utilization for HER, and how spectator ions and pH affect performance.

Secondary interactions occur beyond the primary coordination sphere and can influence the performance of single molecule magnets (SMMs). This article highlights the role that secondary interactions play in the synthesis and performance of SMMs.

Ammonia (NH₃) is a crucial chemical commodity used extensively in fertilizer production and as a renewable potential energy carrier.

The latest progress of proton-conductive HOFs in terms of preparation, structural characteristics, proton conductivity, and proton-conducting mechanism are presented. The future trends and design ideas are also highlighted and prospected.

Developing bifunctional catalysts is critical for ensuring renewable energy applications via small molecule activation.

This article summarizes recent advances in metal oxides catalyzed ammonia production via the electrocatalysis of N₂ and nitrates. Critical challenges and future research directions to accomplish their potential industrialization are discussed.

We analyze the unique roles played by rare earth elements from the three perspectives of cathode, anode and electrolyte. We summarize their potential applications and rational optimization strategies towards electrodes, separators and electrolytes.

This review summarizes the preparation of MoSe₂-based materials, their application in hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), the catalytic mechanism for improved HER performance, structure–performance correlations and the challenges in the future.

Incorporating Ln(III) ions into coordination framework structures confers multifunctional properties such as single-ion magnetism, host–guest interactions, and more, which could have broad applications in diverse fields.

First-row transition metal-based electrocatalysts, including Cu, Fe, Co, Ni, and Ti-based electrocatalysts, for high-efficiency NO_x⁻ reduction are reviewed. These electrocatalysts should possess three advantages indicated in the figure above.

This review summarizes recent advances in the application of manganese dioxide and its composites for theranostics.

Bimetallic-based compounds are regarded as promising anode materials. This review highlights design strategies of various bimetallic-based compounds and summarizes the latest research progress, challenges and prospectives for their applications in PIBs.

Photoelectrocatalytic NH₃ synthesis from N₂ and H₂O is a promising approach for N-neutralization goal based on catalytic strategies, such as vacancy engineering, ion doping, frustrated Lewis pair design, heterojunction construction, etc.

The urgent demand for sustainable energy resources has boosted research into highly efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

In this study, the preparation methods of MXenes and layered dihydroxides (LDHs) are reviewed. In addition, the preparation and the electrochemical performances for supercapacitors of MXene/LDHs composites are summarized in detail.

Atomically precise nanoclusters provide a good platform for investigating the actual active sites and reaction mechanisms of electrocatalysis at the atomic or molecular scale, which has been investigated for numerous electrocatalytic applications.

This review presents a survey of representative mononuclear and multinuclear actinide SMMs to look back at how far we have come, trying to seek out a feasible strategy for top-performing An-SMMs.

This review summarizes recent advancements in catalysts for NH₃ electrosynthesis from NO₃⁻, highlights various strategies to regulate their apparent or intrinsic activities, and proposes the perspective and challenges in this emerging area.

Specific adsorption on a surface can substantially enhance the sensitivity of vibrational modes to an interfacial electric field by altering their electronic states.

In RuO₂-DNCTs, electrons are transferred from defective N to Ru, modifying Ru electronic structure, optimizing the adsorption energy of intermediate species, resulting in an enhanced reaction kinetics for both HER and OER.

High-energy conditions stabilize iodoplumbic acid in the form of hydronium acid hydrates. The high-pressure reaction of PbI₂ and aqueous concentrated hydriodic acid led to two types of hydrated acids and revealed a new polymorph of lead(II) iodide.

Here is a red light-responsive half-sandwich iridium(III) complex designed for treating hypoxic tumors through a synergistic effect involving apoptosis and ferroptosis.

The heterojunction of NiO/Ni synergistically optimizes the kinetics during the alkaline hydrogen evolution process, thereby enhancing the catalytic performance beyond that of Pt/C.

Component-dependent trap sites in copper-related emission were studied using chalcogenide cluster models. In³⁺ ions in the clusters induce shallow-delocalized traps while Ga³⁺ ions are associated with carrier localization at deep-localized traps.

We report two imine-linked donor–acceptor (D–A) MOFs with Cu(I) cyclic trinuclear units (CTUs) via Schiff base condensations and their high photocatalytic activity for aerobic oxidation reaction of benzylamines.

A novel strategy combined with the virtues of both Nb₂O₅ and g-C₃N₄ is designed to construct a type II heterojunction, which realizes efficient photocatalytic CO₂RR and shows great CH₄ selectivity.

Heterogeneous CoS₂/MS₂ microspheres lower the overpotential of the oxygen evolution reaction.

The defects optimized the adsorption capacity of the reaction intermediates during the catalytic process and finally improved the catalytic efficiency.

Combining non-π-conjugated heteroanionic groups and π-conjugated groups is an effective strategy for obtaining crystals with excellent optical properties.

Direct coupling of two inert CO₂ molecules to form a CO₂ dimer with strong C–C bond over the Cu⁰ atomic interfaces is proposed based on our periodic density functional theory calculations.

In the pursuit of advancing electrocatalysts for alkaline oxygen evolution reaction (OER), the development of nickel-based metal–organic frameworks with a judicious balance of cost-effectiveness and catalytic efficacy is of paramount importance.

The introduction of Cu²⁺ and Sn⁴⁺ ensures the remarkable structure stability of O3-Na_0.993Ni_0.382Mn_0.428Cu_0.098Sn_0.049O₂ to depress the Na⁺/vacancy rearrangement and P3 → O3′ phase transition, and hence good electrochemical performance.

Electrotherapy (ET) effectively ablates solid tumors, inhibiting their growth.

Due to strong overlap between the triplet emission of DPTA and ¹S₀ → ³P_x absorption of Sb³⁺, efficient triplet energy transfer occurs between DPTA and Sb and the afterglow persistence time of DIC:x% Sb can be easily tailored through Sb³⁺ doping.

CH₄ production enhancement upon periodic irradiation cycles.

Electrophilic borane and nucleophilic boryl transition metal catalysts for H₂ activation.

An artificial monooxygenase Cu(I)W–TPT was synthesized from Cu(I), photosensitizer and electronic sponge [P₂W₁₈O₆₂]⁶⁻, which gave an excellent yield and selectivity in the phenylboronic acid oxidation with the generated ˙O₂⁻ through Type I partway.

In this work the design of a critical phase point where reversible transition from the ergodic relaxor state to an unstable long-range ordered ferroelectric state takes place is reported.

Two novel Cs₃REGe₃O₉ (RE = Y, Gd) crystals were extracted and exhibit a breakthrough of UV cutoff edge at 210 and 215 nm, respectively, the shortest value among boron-free germanate-based NLO materials.

A flexible Cu(I) coordination polymer is reported as the luminescence sensor for the detection of CH₂Cl₂. The adsorption of guest molecules lengthens the Cu⋯Cu distance, resulting in luminescent blue shifts and higher emission energy.

Two novel endohedral metallofullerenes, Th@C₂(8)-C₈₄ and Th@C_s(15)-C₈₄, have been successfully synthesized and fully characterized. Spectroscopic studies suggest that endohedral actinide metal atoms have an important impact on the electronic structures of actinide metallofullerenes.

The introduction of glycine as an additive in NaCl can improve the high-current-density discharge performance of the commercial AZ31 alloy for Mg–air batteries.

Confinement laser dye into two novel adenine-containing metal-organic frameworks with the same components but different pore environments and topologies exhibited distinct adsorptive luminescence behaviours.

The challenge of achieving high-performance iridium-based catalysts towards the oxygen evolution reaction in proton exchange membrane electrolyzers remains unresolved due to the highly acidic catalyst/PEM interface and oxidation conditions.

Intrinsic selectivity and activity correlation by machine learning for the nitrogen reduction reaction.

The Zn(II) complex could efficiently produce ˙O₂⁻ to damage lung cancer cells by photodynamic therapy. Simultaneously, the complex can cause cell damage by chemotherapy.

An ultrathin 2D MOF nanosheet with cage-like cavities was constructed, which showed an outstanding Pb²⁺ uptake capacity of 738.65 mg g⁻¹ as well as ultrahigh selectivity and anti-interference performance.

A novel NLO tellurate crystal, LiVTeO₅, was extracted via spontaneous crystallization. It features the attractive merits of a strong SHG response, a large band gap, a wide transmittance range, and a notable birefringence.

Na ions can be effectively inserted into carbon layers with suitable spacing and pseudo-graphitic domains play a crucial role in sodium storage. The plateau capacity is positively correlated with the proportion of pseudo-graphitic domains.

Extremely active RuO₂/NiO/NF nanosheet arrays with efficient pH-universal HER electrocatalysis were fabricated via a simple in situ hydrothermal growth strategy.

Two stereoisomers, one C₂ symmetric and one C_s symmetric, of saturated N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) were placed on gold films and they demonstrate different reactivity.

We report the self-adaptability of 2D hydrophilic channels of HOFs to guest molecules based on the cyclic SCSC transformation. The studies indicate that the proton conductivity of HOFs depends on the guest-induced hydrogen bonding networks.

This study employs diacylhydrazone-derived ligands to realize controllable construction of differentiated hexanuclear lanthanide clusters with identical cores but different template-motif arrangements for the first time.

Two isostructural metal–organic cubes were self-assembled from large-sized tetradentate ligand constructs with hexanuclear vanadium clusters. They have excellent iodine vapor adsorption properties due to large cavities and host–guest interactions.

Carbon nanofibers have been used as a medium to encapsulate FeC, FeN, and MnO together through the electrospinning technology, aiming to synergistically enhance the electrochemical oxygen reduction reaction performance.

Based on the “electronic structure engineering bucket effect”, a new AEM-containing sulfide BaZnGeS₄ with a wide band gap (∼3.36 eV) and large SHG response (∼0.8× AGS) has been designed and synthesized via high-temperature solid-state reactions.

Three sandwich-type Er(III) SMMs were reported. The relaxation times in the three SMMs are closely correlated with the number of TMS groups on the ligands, that one TMS group resulted in one-order of magnitude change of magnetic relaxation times.

A novel series of host-guest donor-acceptor (D-A)  coordination polymer (CP) materials have been fabricated by subtle structural engineering, which presented multifarious  emission properties and illustrated the great potential in achieving fluorescence modulation.

Single Ni atoms on g-C₃N₄ are verified as an efficient catalyst for electrocatalytic converting NO₂⁻ to NH₃, which is attributed to the critical role of low-coordination Ni₁–N₂ moieties in activating and hydrogenating NO₂⁻ and retarding the HER.

The oxidized Pt atomic cluster-supported Au electrode (Pt_AC–O–Au) with ultra-low loading exhibits a very high mass activity, and the active site is the oxidized platinum (Pt–O).

P-doping regulates the morphology and microscopic characteristics of hard carbon microspheres to obtain excellent rate and cyclic sodium storage performance. This study provides a method for preparing high-performance P-doped hard carbon.