Solar-driven photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting is a promising route for sustainable hydrogen production, addressing the growing global energy demand projected to increase by ∼50% by 2050. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), with high surface areas (up to 6240 m2 g−1) and tunable band gaps (1.5–3.5 eV), have emerged as advanced photoelectrode materials. This review critically examines recent progress in MOF-based photoelectrodes, focusing on design strategies, charge transport mechanisms, and performance optimization. The thermodynamic requirement of 1.23 V for water splitting typically increases to ∼1.8–2.0 V due to kinetic overpotentials (η_OER: 0.3–0.6 V; η_HER: 0.05–0.3 V). Pure MOF systems exhibit limited photocurrent densities (<0.5 mA cm−2), whereas MOF-based heterostructures (e.g., MOF/BiVO4, MOF/Fe2O3) achieve enhanced values up to ∼5 mA cm−2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE. Integration with co-catalysts further improves charge separation efficiency (>80%) and stability (>30 h). Strategies such as band gap engineering, interface modification, and MOF-derived nanostructures significantly boost PEC performance. Despite these advances, challenges including low conductivity (10−10–10−4 S cm−1) and long-term stability remain. This review provides insights into next-generation MOF architectures for efficient solar hydrogen production.
Objectives To identify and analyze the individual, interpersonal, community, and environmental factors associated with active commuting to school (ACS) among Spanish adolescents, and to examine the contribution of correlates from multiple ecological domains to ACS. Methods A total of 307 Spanish adolescents (14.4 ± 0.6 years) participated. Data on potential correlates of ACS were collected using validated questionnaires (individual and interpersonal levels), school and city information (community level), and GIS-based indicators and MAPS-Global audits (environmental level). Binary logistic regression models were conducted separately for each ecological level, followed by a multivariable model including all significant factors. Results At the individual level, ownership of two or more motorized vehicles, identified motivation, and perceived environmental/safety barriers were associated with lower odds of ACS, whereas independent mobility, perceived competence for ACS, and integrated motivation were associated with higher odds. At the interpersonal level, parental barriers were associated with lower odds of ACS, whereas greater perceived proximity to destinations was associated with higher odds of ACS. At the community level, attending high-SES schools reduced the odds of ACS compared with low-SES schools. Environmentally, shorter home-school distance, greater leisure-time PA opportunities around the school, and higher aesthetic and social quality of the home neighborhood were significant correlates. In the final multivariable model, ACS was positively associated with perceived competence, integrated motivation, aesthetic and social quality, and higher active transport score around the home, whereas motorized vehicle ownership, identified motivation, perceived environmental/safety barriers, destinations and land use score, higher home-school distance, and higher grand score for leisure PA for home were negatively associated. Conclusion ACS among Spanish adolescents was associated with multiple individual and environmental correlates.
This study presents a highly efficient and accurate approximate method based on a convergence acceleration parameter to approximate a nonlinear multidimensional aggregation population balance equation. Optimal tuning of the acceleration parameter significantly enhances solution quality over extended temporal domains and overcomes key limitations of existing approaches. Deeper mathematical insight is provided through a discussion of the existence of the proposed approach within the framework of a nonlinear aggregation model. Convergence analysis and error estimates are established using the fixed point theorem and the contractive mapping principle, thereby proving the existence of solutions to the aggregation model. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed approach are demonstrated by computing approximate solutions for the number density function and its moments for physically relevant kernels. For analytically tractable kernels, results are validated against exact solutions. For complex size-dependent kernels, including polymerization, Ruckenstein–Pulvermacher, and shear kernels, the obtained results are compared with the existing finite volume scheme, homotopy analysis method, and optimal decomposition method. The results show that the proposed approach achieves higher accuracy in capturing number density functions and their integral moments while requiring significantly fewer series terms than existing methods.
Management education has been criticised for over-reliance on transmission-oriented pedagogies poorly suited to developing the competences contemporary business graduates require. The case for moving beyond the lecture is strengthened by generative artificial intelligence, which performs the analytical and reproductive tasks underpinning conventional assessment, shifting educational value toward judgement, situated decision-making, and reflection. This integrative conceptual review of creative and innovative pedagogies draws on literature published principally between 2013 and 2026, organising the field into six clusters: experiential and simulation-based learning; game-based and gamified approaches; arts-based methods; design-based pedagogies; problem-based learning; and student-generated multimodal artefacts. For each cluster it examines theoretical foundations, evidence strength, and implementation challenges, distinguishing outcomes with stronger evidence (engagement, motivation) from those with weaker evidence (durable transfer). Three cross-cutting themes are identified: the centrality of learner agency, the neglect of structured reflection, and institutional conservatism as a barrier to change. The review contributes a typology of creative pedagogy organised by locus of creation and mode of engagement, which is used to make explicit the trade-offs each configuration entails and where institutional conservatism constrains change, together with implications for programme design, assessment and facilitation, and a research agenda spanning longitudinal measurement, equity, programme-level integration, and generative AI.
The exponential proliferation of electric vehicles, portable electronics, and renewable energy storage devices has led to a huge rise in battery waste, encompassing lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), zinc–carbon and alkaline batteries, nickel–metal hydride (NiMH), nickel–cadmium batteries (NiCBs), and lead–acid batteries (LABs). Improper disposal of these spent batteries poses a high risk to human health and the ecosystem owing to the presence of toxic and critical metals, including lithium (Li), zinc (Zn), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), manganese (Mn), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd). Traditional recycling approaches, including pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy, are costly, high-power-consuming, and environmentally hazardous owing to the utilization of toxic chemicals and complex operational conditions. In response, choline chloride-based deep eutectic solvents (ChCl-DESs), which have low volatility, excellent metal selectivity, and minimal environmental impacts, have emerged as an appealing green alternative for all types of battery waste. This review comprehensively examines the fundamentals of ChCl-DESs, their classification, and the distinctive benefits they offer in the selective leaching of valuable metals, such as Ni, Co, Mn, and Li. It highlights recent developments in ChCl-DES-based leaching approaches, including key leaching parameters that influence recovery efficiency, the mechanisms involved in binder dissolution, and the mechanisms underlying the reclamation of graphite and valuable metals from various types of battery waste. The review also addresses techno-economic analysis, environmental assessment, and the current challenges to industrial scalability. Finally, future directions are outlined to address present challenges and improve the practicality of ChCl-DESs in sustainable battery recycling.
