Themed collection Editor’s Choice 2023: Advancing electrocatalysts for a sustainable future.

Dr Subrata Kundu introduces a Journal of Materials Chemistry A Editor’s choice collection on electrocatalysis for sustainability.

This perspective details every single aspects of iRu drop correction in controlled-potential electrocatalysis from fundamentals to the best practices.

Using homogeneous and heterogeneous metalloporphyrin-based catalysts for electroreduction of CO₂ to value-added materials.

Synthesis strategies, characterization methods, and various supports for Ru-based single-atom catalysts and their HER performance are reviewed.

Herein, electrocatalysts for water-splitting and supercapacitor electrode materials based on MOF-derived sulfides are reviewed, considering their key multifunctional roles on the path to a more sustainable society.

In this review, recent advances in MXenes and MXene-based nanomaterials applied in HER electrocatalysis are overviewed in terms of their synthesis, characterization, functional mechanisms, and HERperformance/optimization.

This review summarizes recent advances relating to transition metal sulfide (TMS)-based bifunctional electrocatalysts, providing guidelines for the design and fabrication of TMS-based catalysts for practical application in water electrolysis.

Synthesis of biomass-derived N-doped porous carbon for energy storage and catalysis applications is a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach.

The progress in the design strategies and synthetic mechanisms for each class of NiFe LDH electrocatalysts as well as the key trends in structural characterizations in catalyzing the water splitting process are discussed.

In this review, electrocatalysts for HER/OER/ORR and energy storage electrode materials based on MnCo₂O₄ were reviewed considering their key multifunctional role in the way to a more sustainable society.

Recent progress about transitional metal sulfide–MoS₂ heterostructure composites are reviewed based on the view point of interface engineering.

This review covers the recent developments in catalysis, water splitting, fuel cells, batteries, supercapacitors, and hydrogen storage enabled by high entropy materials.

As an alluring metal-free polymeric semiconductor material, graphite-like carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄; abbreviated as GCN) has triggered a new impetus in the field of photocatalysis, mainly favoured from its fascinating physicochemical and photoelectronic structural features.

Seawater electrolysis can be considered the solution to the global energy demand. The current review discusses the recent advancements and limitations related to its practical application for providing clean hydrogen gas.

Mo₃Si is a superior catalyst for electrochemical N₂ reduction in 0.1 M Na₂SO₄, offering a large NH₃ yield of 2 × 10⁻¹⁰ mol s⁻¹ cm⁻² and a high Faraday efficiency of 6.69% at −0.4 V and −0.3 V vs. a reversible hydrogen electrode, respectively.

As an effective eNRR catalyst, bimetallic RhRu nanoalloys (NAs) with cross-linked curly nanosheets were successfully prepared and exhibited exciting results in the eNRR process.

An approach to eliminate the use of external power to drive NH₃ synthesis is presented. A trifunctional Co₂B catalyst enables high power density ZABs (500 mW cm⁻²) to drive NH₃ synthesis with a production rate of 1.048 mg h⁻¹ mg_cat.⁻¹ after 2 h.

A MOR/HER system comprising a heterostructured NiSe/MoSe₂ bifunctional catalyst shows energy-saving hydrogen production, predicting the coordination of electrosynthesis and electrocatalysis for future energy and chemical engineering applications.

An efficient and sustainable gas diffusible OER anode toward industrial alkaline water-splitting is fabricated by simply immersing Ni foam in ethanolic FeCl₃ etchant, which produces a microporous Ni backbone decorated with nanocatalysts.

A manganese selenide and multiwalled carbon nanotube-based composite shows promising bifunctional electrocatalytic activity for the oxygen evolution and oxygen reduction reactions with superior stability and lower overpotential for both OER and ORR.

Carbon-based transition metal (TM) single-atom catalysts (SACs) have shown great potential toward electrochemical water splitting and H₂ production.

Platinum is atomically dispersed within P-doped C₃N₄ forming Pt–N/P/Cl coordination interactions, and exhibits markedly enhanced electrocatalytic activity towards the hydrogen evolution reaction in acidic media, as compared to the P-free counterpart.

Ni₂O₃ exhibits a high current density for urea electro-oxidation due to efficient interaction of NiO(OH) active catalyst species with reactants compared to the as-synthesized NiO and also shows sustained UOR facilitated by better CO_x tolerance.

Vacancy enriched NiMoO₄(V_o) nanorods have been synthesized by utilizing microwave heating. The oxygen vacancy has bought an excellent OER/HER activity and to reach 10 mA cm⁻², NiMoO₄(V_o) as anode and cathode just required 360 mV as overpotential.

A reproducible and efficient electrodeposition method in a 3D-printed flow cell is used to synthesize high-quality Ni–S–P–O films on nickel foam for overall water splitting.

Ni@Mo₂B₂ can be used as a HER/OER bifunctional electrocatalyst while Cu@Mo₂B₂ can be used as an OER/ORR bifunctional electrocatalyst.