Developing efficient urea oxidation reaction (UOR) electrocatalysts is crucial for simultaneous urea-rich wastewater purification and energy-saving hydrogen production, yet it still remains a great challenge. Herein, based on the Hume- Rothery rule, one CeO2/Ce-NiCo2O4 UOR electrocatalyst integrating Ce single atoms and CeO2 nanoparticles has been fabricated to synergistically trigger electron cascade transfer. As-introduced Ce single atoms in Ce-O-Co symmetrical configuration can regulate the electron density of Co site, further enhancing the adsorption of reaction intermediates and lowering the energy barrier for the rate-determining step of UOR. The strong built-in electric field (BIEF) induces electron transfer from Ce-NiCo2O4 to CeO2, thus increasing the Ni oxidation state and promoting the formation of the gamma-NiOOH active phase for UOR. As-prepared CeO2/Ce-NiCo2O4 exhibited enhanced UOR kinetic and thermodynamic, achieving 10 mA cm- 2 at 1.31 V with operational stability of 180 h. In an AEM electrolyzer, the CeO2/Ce-NiCo2O4 requires only 1.75 V to reach 500 mA cm- 2, and continuously works well for over 60 h. Our work provides a facile strategy for constructing a highly efficient heterojunction-type UOR electrocatalyst, and offers deep insights into electron transfer on boosting urea-assisted hydrogen production.

The proliferation of multidrug-resistant pathogens and persistent microbial contamination in industrial settings necessitates the development of robust, processable, and highly efficient antimicrobial additives. Herein, we report a HZSM-5 zeolite/ionic liquid composite, constructed by confining and chemically anchoring a bromine-containing ionic liquid (IL) within the microporous channels of HZSM-5 zeolite. This unique structure imparts exceptional thermal stability, with the confined IL withstanding temperatures exceeding 330 degrees C and retaining full bactericidal activity after high-temperature (250 degrees C) processing, demonstrating its suitability for industrial melt-processing applications. Then, a potent synergistic mechanism wherein the host-guest system catalytically activates molecular oxygen to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS), which in turn oxidizes the bromide anions (Br-) into elemental bromine (Br2) in situ, is proposed. This self-enhancing cycle, confirmed by XPS, EPR, and UV-vis spectroscopy, enables the composite to achieve superior bactericidal efficacy against a range of pathogens, including MRSA, at a significantly reduced IL dosage compared to the pure IL and conventional agents. The mechanism involves a multi-pronged attack combining electrostatic adsorption, dual-action membrane disruption (IL and Br2), and an intracellular ROS burst. This work presents a new design paradigm for creating thermally stable, high-performance antimicrobial materials with significant potential to address pressing industrial challenges in polymer processing, medical devices, and functional coatings.Keywords: Ionic liquids; Confinement; Antibacterial activity; Bromide oxidation; Synergistical effect.

The control of vehicle evaporative emissions has become increasingly critical, as they represent a significant source of atmospheric pollution. Activated carbon used in canisters serves as the key material for managing these emissions. However, research on the structure-property relationship between activated carbon pore structure and gasoline vapor adsorption performance remains insufficient. To address this, this work proposes a "waste control by waste" strategy, using distiller's grains (DG) from Baijiu production to produce biochar with a narrow pore size distribution for efficient gasoline vapor adsorption. The effects of activating agent ratio, activation atmosphere, and post-treatment (desiliconization) on pore structure were systematically investigated. By combining online analysis of evolved gases during activation with multiple characterization methods, the pore structure formation mechanism of DG-based biochar was elucidated. Among these activation factors, the activating agent H3PO4 acts as a dehydrating agent and a cross-linking promoter, inhibiting biomass pyrolysis and creating pores. Oxygen in the activation atmosphere helps form microporous structures. The post-treatment, desiliconization process, tailored etches Si and creates controlled 1-2 nm pores. Furthermore, through adsorption experiments at varying n-butane (gasoline vapor substitute) concentrations, the correlation between pore structure and adsorption performance was clarified. Notably, this work challenges the conventional understanding of the optimal pore size for VOC adsorption, which is regarded as 1.5-3 times the adsorbate kinetic diameter. The novel pore-concentration dependency is put forward. The optimal sample (1.75DGP-Air) demonstrated high adsorption capacity, low isosteric adsorption heat, and excellent cycling stability, providing both theoretical and practical guidance for developing high-performance gasoline vapor adsorption materials.

Due to lower energy consumption, great separation performance, and simple operation process, membrane technology plays an important role in gas separation. However, separation membranes often face a trade-off between permeance and selectivity. For instance, the pure layered double hydroxide (LDH) or metal organic framework (MOF) membranes exhibit high gas permeance but suffer from low selectivity. However, conventional Pd membranes typically have a thickness exceeding 50 μm, resulting in high costs and limited permeance. This article develops a novel strategy to fabricate a CoAl LDH/zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF)-67 heterostructure on a polydopamine-modified substrate, following by the infiltration of Pd nanoparticles (Pd NPs) into the LDH/ZIF framework via magnetron sputtering, resulting in a well-integrated LDH/ZIF@Pd membrane for highly efficient H2/CH4 separation. In this architecture, the LDH sheets not only create nanocorridors for gas permeation but also provide the nucleation sites for ZIF grains. The incorporated Pd NPs and LDH/ZIF network form a well-integrated heterostructure, which endows the LDH/ZIF@Pd hybrid membrane with exceptional comprehensive performance, achieving H2/CH4 selectivity of 48.3 and ultrahigh H2 permeance of 8.4  × $\times$  105 GPU (75°C, 1 bar). This result sets a new benchmark for membrane-based gas separation, demonstrating outstanding potential for advanced hydrogen purification and sustainable energy applications.

Dichloromethane (DCM), a kind of typical chlorinated volatile organic compounds (Cl-VOCs), poses severe threats to atmospheric environment and human health due to its high volatility, chemical stability, and biotoxicity. Catalytic oxidation is recognized as the most promising technology for DCM purification, with the development of high-performance catalysts being the key challenge. This study prepared a series of metal oxides (SmMn2O, MnOx, Sm2O3)/HZSM-5 composite catalysts, and systematically investigated their catalytic performance for DCM oxidation. The results showed that the SMO/HZSM-5 composite catalyst exhibited the optimal performance, achieving 90% DCM conversion (T-90) at 325 degrees C, along with excellent long-term stability (over 95% conversion after 20 h of reaction at 350 degrees C) and water vapor resistant ability. The catalytic performance of SMO/HZSM-5 is much higher than that of single HZSM-5 and SMO (T-90 > 400 degrees C). A significant synergistic effect between SMO and HZSM-5 was identified: HZSM-5 provided abundant acid sites for DCM adsorption and a stable framework to suppress SMO particle agglomeration, while SMO enhanced the catalyst's redox capacity and increased surface adsorbed oxygen species. This synergy effectively improved catalytic activity, selectivity, and stability. The findings of this study offer valuable insights for the design and development of efficient catalysts for the low-temperature degradation of Cl-VOCs.

Catalytic decomposition of CH4 is expected to yield pure hydrogen and carbon, which is important for reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Nickel-based catalyst are currently the most common catalyst for methane cracking but sintering and carbon accumulation can cause catalyst deactivation. Therefore, stabilizing the particle size of nickel-based catalysts by enhancing the metal-support interaction is crucial for designing methane cracking catalysts. In this study, the effect of added Cr and Cu on the performance of NiAl catalyst was studied. The results indicated that the co-doping of Cu and Cr improved the metal-support interaction and promoted the formation of oxygen vacancies. Cu doped NiAl catalyst increased the Ni-Ni bond length and decreased the coordination of Ni-Ni by alloying with Ni. This effectively stabilized the catalyst size during the CH4 cracking reaction. It was showed that the smaller the variation in particle size of the catalyst during the reaction, the higher the stability of methane decomposition. The Ni2.4Cu0.3Cr0.3Al catalysts retained 60 % hydrogen yield for up to 630 min at 600 degrees C. By coupling "hydrogen preparation" and "carbon production", this paper is expected to open up a new path for the integration of clean energy production and advanced carbon materials manufacturing in a resourceefficient and environmentally friendly way.

ABSTRACT The influence of high indoor humidity on building and equipment safety and human health has led to an urgent demand for the development of high‐performance dehumidification technologies. To simultaneously satisfy the requirements of easy shaping, nontoxicity, and low energy consumption for indoor dehumidification, an effective strategy involving the combination of non‐toxic microporous materials with a shaping matrix equipped with switching functionalities via a synergetic porous interface can be used. This study proposes an in situ interface‐controlled growth method to produce a novel hierarchically porous hydrogel adsorbent for indoor dehumidification by combining metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) with a poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) thermoresponsive hydrogel matrix. The obtained composite hydrogel monolith, ThermoGel‐23, exhibits a moisture uptake capacity of 1.64 g·g −1 , high adsorption rate, and desorption activation energy as low as 31.0 kJ·mol −1 , meeting the requirements of indoor adsorption dehumidification. Combining experiments and simulations, we elucidated the transport pathways of water clusters within the hierarchical pores and highlighted the essential role of porous structure and thermal response in enhancing both adsorption and desorption. This work demonstrates the potential of MOF–polymer composites as efficient, scalable desiccants, paving the way for sustainable and energy‐saving humidity control materials.

As one of the most notorious long-lived radionuclides with strong radioactivity, Cs+ is particularly difficult to sequester due to its alkali-metal-ion chemical properties. Therefore, selective Cs+ adsorbents are urgently needed in radioactive wastewater treatment. Stabilized potassium hexacyanoferrates(Ⅱ) have proven effective for selective Cs+ removal; however, their practical application is severely constrained because they are typically obtained as nano- or microparticles that are extremely difficult to granulate. When granulated or supported particles are subjected to water flow, fine solids tend to be washed away, significantly increasing the radioactivity of the effluent due to the entrained Cs+-laden particulates. To address this issue, composite materials with high selective Cs+ uptake were prepared by incorporating stabilized potassium hexacyanoferrates(Ⅱ) into porous spherical activated carbon. The spherical activated carbon support was derived from strong-acid ion-exchange resin beads through calcination and activation. Using a rationally designed procedure, co-precipitation reactions that yield stabilized potassium hexacyanoferrates(Ⅱ) were conducted within the internal pores of the spherical carbon. The resulting composites were characterized by XRD, N2 adsorption-desorption(BET method), SEM-EDX, and ICP-OES/MS. The results show that the specific surface areas of the samples exceed 700 m2/g, with micropores, mesopores, and macropores all being present. It can be safely concluded that the stabilized potassium hexacyanoferrates(Ⅱ) were successfully embedded in the inner crevices of the porous spherical activated carbon, and the composites exhibited excellent selective Cs+ capture ability, with distribution coefficients(Kd) of 344170, 57919, and 42540 mL/g in the presence of 0.1 mol/L Na+, K+, or H+, respectively. Under strong acid interference(1.0 mol/L HNO3), the sample using copper-stabilized potassium hexacyanoferrate(Ⅱ) as the active ingredient achieved the highest Kd of 14692 mL/g. In the presence of concentrated K+(1.0 mol/L), the cobalt-stabilized analogue gave a Kd of 92872 mL/g. The outer shell of the porous spherical carbon is permeable to water and ions but impermeable to the stabilized hexacyanoferrate(Ⅱ) nanoparticles. Hence, the active sites remain fully accessible to Cs+ in solution without being washed away, and the treated liquids remained completely colorless. Moreover, the smooth shell endows the composites with good abrasion resistance and crack-proof properties, preventing pulverization or scaling-off during solid-liquid contact. These characteristics make the prepared materials a promising candidate for treating real radioactive wastewater.

Plasma-catalytic oxidation is a promising approach for the abatement of volatile organic compounds (VOCs), yet its efficiency is often limited by the ineffective utilization of plasma-generated reactive oxygen species and incomplete oxidation pathways. In this work, a composite catalyst was constructed by integrating spinel-type NiCo2O4 with three-dimensional cubic mesoporous KIT-6 to couple efficient mass transfer with redox-active surface functionality for plasma-catalytic degradation of toluene. The performance of NiCo/KIT-6 was systematically evaluated in a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor and compared with Ni/KIT-6, Co/KIT-6, and NTP-only systems. XPS, O-2-TPD, H-2-TPR, and apparent dielectric measurements were employed to elucidate catalyst properties relevant to plasma-surface interactions. NiCo/KIT-6 exhibits superior overall performance in terms of toluene conversion, COx selectivity, and CO2 selectivity over a wide range of specific input energies. This enhancement is closely associated with the integrated regulation of surface redox properties, oxygen activation capability, and apparent dielectric response by the NiCo2O4/KIT-6 composite structure, which may promote reactive oxygen utilization and facilitates effective plasma-surface redox processes. These results provide insights into the rational design of composite catalysts for plasma-assisted oxidation of aromatic VOCs.

To investigate the application potential of nonthermal plasma technology in methane cracking for hydrogen production, this study systematically examined the effects of key experimental conditions on methane conversion, hydrogen selectivity, and yield. This study employed a dielectric barrier discharge reactor, focusing on the synergistic mechanisms of multiple variables-including discharge power, reaction gas flow rate, external electrode length, external electrode material, discharge gap, and dielectric material-on the hydrogen production process. In-depth studies were conducted on the stability of the reaction and the solid product. The experimental results show that optimizing the reactor structure and operating parameters can significantly improve the hydrogen production efficiency. When the length of the outer electrode copper mesh was 5 cm, the flow rate was 10 mL/min, the input power was 30 W, the methane conversion rate was 69.8%, the hydrogen yield was 34.7%, and the hydrogen selectivity was 49.7%. Increasing the input power, reducing the flow rate, and increasing the length of the outer electrode can effectively improve methane conversion and hydrogen yield. The external electrode material had no significant effect on methane conversion at high power. Reducing the discharge gap increases methane conversion, while decreasing hydrogen selectivity. The introduction of BaTiO3 as a dielectric material inhibits methane coupling and promotes hydrogen formation. The effective conversion of methane over 600 min demonstrates the long-term operational stability of the plasma reaction system. The solid byproduct obtained from the reaction mainly consists of carbon black, with an I D/I G value of 0.97. This study provides important experimental evidence for the design and process optimization of high-efficiency plasma methane hydrogenation reactors.

Design of active but stable interfaces in supported metal catalysts represents an emerging research theme lately, given its critical importance for tailoring and enabling selectivity and efficiency of heterogeneous reactions. Herein, we report a generic sunlight-driven epitaxial growth strategy to engineer catalytically active interfacial perimeters defined by subnanometric Pt dispersed on TiO2 nanoparticle supports. Such interfacial perimeters are populated with a unique type of Pt4+-O-Ti3+ reactive sites, resulting in much more efficient and robust CO oxidation than most supported Pt catalysts reported so far. These subnanometric PtOx-TiO2 interfacial structures are found to dynamically evolve during CO oxidation, adaptively optimizing their adsorption behaviors toward reactants and SO2. Combined with the activated interfacial lattice oxygen species via the electronic metal-support interaction effect, the Mars-van Krevelen pathway is activated at low temperature to oxidize CO at high conversion efficiency. The sunlight-driven synthetic strategy is successfully extended to other metal catalysts supported by metal oxide and perovskite materials, offering a new paradigm for designing adaptive catalysts toward a variety of heterogeneous catalytic reactions.

Enabling RuO2-based catalysts with high efficiency and stable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) performances is vital for lowering Ir loading in the large-scale application of proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzers. However, the poor stability and electrolytic efficiency of RuO2-based catalysts are still huge challenges under practical industrial working conditions due to their unavoidable overoxidation. Here, one strategy of local heterogeneous dual atom-doping has been proposed to gradiently tune Ru-O covalency and built-in electric field (BEF) strength, thus achieving the simultaneous improvement of stability and activity of Ru/RuO2. Based on the experimental results and density functional theory calculations, La and Co co-doping can endow Ru/LaCo-RuO2 with a moderate Ru-O covalency, which could help to increase the demetallation energy of Ru atoms, thus preventing the leaching of Ru species and further enhancing OER stability. Meanwhile, the strong BEF in Ru/LaCo-RuO2 facilitates charge transfer and reduces the reaction energy barrier, thus boosting OER activity. Significantly, Ru/LaCo-RuO2 displays a low overpotential of 237 mV and a low decay rate of 0.30 mV h-1 for 210 hat 10 mA cm-2. Furthermore, a PEM electrolyzer using Ru/LaCo-RuO2 catalysts shows a low voltage of 1.69 Vat 1 A cm-2 and remains stable for 48 hat 100 mA cm-2. Our work provides a paradigm for constructing robust RuO2-based electrocatalysts by coupling BEF with heterogeneous atom doping. (c) 2026 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier B.V. and Science Press. All rights are reserved, including those for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies.

Metal oxide semiconductor (MOS) gas sensors are promising in indoor air pollution monitoring, which however are still struggling to balance sensitivity and selectivity. In this study, transition metal oxide (TMO) modified SnO2 sensing materials are synthesized through a simple coprecipitation method. The sensitivity and selectivity are both modulated by ozone toward the typical indoor air pollutants, such as p-xylene and formaldehyde as analytes and ethanol as an interferent. The TMO modification enriches surface active sites, resulting in a nearly 5-fold performance enhancement versus pristine SnO2. Ozone thickens the electron depletion layer (EDL) to amplify the change of conductivity signal and deeply oxidizes the residual intermediates on the surface, making the electron transfer more significant compared to that in air. All of these contribute to lowering the optimal operating temperature for p-xylene, doubling the response to 5 ppm from 7.18 (300 °C, air) to 16.73 (260 °C, ozone) with a limit of detection (LOD) of 35.98 ppb, while the performance in formaldehyde detection is the opposite. The differentiated amplification between various analytes and interferents improves the accuracy of the array for p-xylene with a relative mean absolute error (RMAE) of less than 5%. This optimization strategy offers new insights into material regulation and gas interaction.

The authors’ institution does not approve of the second-listed position as a co-first author [...]

Constructing synergistic active sites in manganese dioxide (MnO2) catalysts has attracted increasing attention as an effective strategy to improve ozone decomposition. Herein, we report a composite structure of amorphous MnO2/MnC2O4 heterostructures as an efficient synergistic catalyst for ozone decomposition. Structural and surface analyses reveal the formation of a multiphase composite featuring high-density oxygen vacancies, abundant heterointerfaces, and a large specific surface area. In situ diffuse reflectance Fourier transform infrared (in situ DRIFT) spectroscopy reveals a synergistic mechanism: amorphous MnO2 promotes ozone adsorption and activation, while the heterointerface accelerates electron transfer to prevent the accumulation of deactivating oxygen species. Benefiting from this synergy, the catalyst achieves 94 % conversion under an ultra-high weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) of 1,440,000 mL/(g·h). It also demonstrates excellent performance in different scenarios, including high ozone concentrations (1000 ppmV), humidity resistance (65 % RH), cycling durability (5 cycles), and long-term stability (20 h). Furthermore, the monolithic catalyst maintains high efficiency for over 24 h. This work not only provides an effective room-temperature strategy for synthesizing active MnO2-based catalysts but also significantly alleviates the poisoning effect of adsorbed impurity ions on active sites, demonstrating great potential for practical application.

A nanocrystalline cuprous oxide material was synthesized via a self-exothermic reaction approach for highly efficient ozone decomposition at room temperature, demonstrating scalable production capability at the kilogram level.

Ground-level ozone is a typical atmospheric pollutant, making the development of efficient and stable ozone degradation technologies highly important. In this study, a self-exothermic reaction was utilized to successfully achieve kilogram-scale synthesis of nanocrystalline Cu2O, using high-concentration ascorbic acid aqueous solution and solid Cu(OH)2 as the precursors. Experimental results show that when the concentration of ascorbic acid is 0.77 mol L-1, the obtained catalyst exhibits an ozone conversion rate of up to 98% at 25 degrees C at a high space velocity of 960 000 mL g-1 h-1, along with good moisture resistance and low-temperature stability. Furthermore, after processing the powder catalyst into a structured monolithic catalyst, the ozone removal rate remains above 92% at a high space velocity of 48 000 h-1. Characterization analyses indicate that the high catalytic activity originates from the abundant defect structures and oxygen vacancies introduced during the self-exothermic synthesis process, which significantly increases the number of active sites. This study presents a simple and efficient method for large-scale production of high-performance Cu2O catalysts, demonstrating broad application prospects in ozone pollution control.

This work considers different catalyst design ideas for enhancing the low-temperature WGSR performance based on the combination of two half-reactions, which occur on different active sites with different optimizing strategies.

Understanding the relationship between catalytic properties and gas sensing performance in metal oxide semiconductors is essential for elucidating reaction mechanisms and designing highly-sensitive, active materials. In this study, cubic CoO with octahedral [CoO6] coordination, wurtzite CoO with tetrahedral [CoO4] coordination and spinel Co3O4 with mixed [CoO6] and [CoO4] coordination were synthesized. Though cubic CoO showed higher catalytic activity at 20-100 ℃ and wurtzite CoO had higher activity at 60-100 ℃, the ozone sensing response of Co3O4 was higher at the optimized working temperature of 60 ℃. In situ infrared reflectance spectroscopy revealed the presence of abundant intermediates in the catalytic process of Co3O4, benefiting the electron transfer and the resultant resistance change of the sensor. Furthermore, Co3O4 calcined at 600 ℃ with 3 at.% Sn doping showed the highest sensitivity (response = 55 to 1 ppm ozone) at 60 ℃ and excellent selectivity toward interfering gases, including formaldehyde, ethanol, acetone, and xylene. These findings infer that catalytic intermediates rather than decomposition efficiency play a more important role in gas sensing.