The selective electrocatalytic oxidation (ECO) of aromatic CH bonds paired with the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) offers promising paths to efficient energy use and sustainable organic electrosynthesis. Nevertheless, the intrinsic inertness of CH bonds and the complex electrooxidation pathway remain challenges. Herein, the NiO‐MnO 2 /GF and Pt/MnO/GF with heterointerfaces were fabricated and integrated into a flow electrolyzer for 4‐methylanisole selective electrooxidation to 4‐methoxybenzaldehyde with HER. The anode achieved 1.48 kg m −3 h −1 space–time yield of 4‐methoxybenzaldehyde, while the cathode concurrently produced 9.0 mmol h −1 H 2 . In situ spectroscopy and theoretical calculations demonstrated that Mn 3+ ‐O species promoted the activation of 4‐methylanisole during the electrooxidation process, while the NiO‐MnO 2 heterointerface enhanced 4‐methoxybenzaldehyde desorption and the Pt/MnO interface created electron‐rich Pt δ− sites, thereby accelerating HER kinetics. The ECO‖HER system achieved scalable performance in a three‐layer flow electrolyzer, confirming potential for industrial application. This study demonstrates a platform enabling concurrent fine‐chemical electrosynthesis and clean energy production.

The stability and efficiency of direct seawater electrolysis are constrained by competitive Cl- adsorption and corresponding chlorine oxidation reaction, which further restricts diffusion and accumulation of OH-, as well as transfer of electrons involved in counterpart oxygen evolution reaction (OER), leading to severe Cl--corrosion. Herein, intensified popular-OH- accumulation and electron transfer are achieved through Ag-mediated reactive chlorine-resistant AgCl layer integrated onto NiCo-oxyhydroxide (AgCl/NiCo-OOH). Specifically, under external electric field driving, Ag species on the NiCo-OOH surface undergo electrochemical transformation and free Cl--immobilization via in situ formation of robust AgCl layer, subsequently leveraging common-ion repulsion effect to sieve and control composition of ions in Stern layer, and thereby preventing Cl- corrosion. Simultaneously, the AgCl with high-curvature induces electric fields across scales, incorporating mesoscale proximal-tip and microscale built-in electric fields, which significantly accelerates OER kinetics by intensifying diffusion and accumulation of reactant OH- and transfer of electron. Resultantly, the AgCl/NiCo-OOH achieves an ultralow overpotential of 331 mV in alkaline simulated seawater and sustains stable operation for over 2200 h at Ampere-level current density in alkaline seawater without Cl--related corrosion. Further, the corresponding anion-exchange membrane electrolyzer demonstrates a low energy consumption (4.50 kWh m-3 H2) and long-term durability (over 1500 h) at 500 mA cm-2.

ABSTRACT Direct seawater electrolysis offers a promising route for green hydrogen by utilizing marine resources and offshore renewables, but is hindered by chloride‐induced corrosion and poor catalyst durability. Herein, the Helmholtz plane microenvironment is reshaped by in situ MoO 4 2− release from a nickel‑molybdate precursor (Ni 0.36 Mo 0.64 ‐OH). The anions enrich within the Stern layer, forming a high‐concentration gradient of an anionic layer that electrostatically repels Cl − and prevents chloride‐corroded side reactions. Unlike the conventional strategy of bulk anion addition, this in situ self‐delivery approach bypasses long‐range diffusion and breaks mass‐transfer limitation, enabling rapid anion shielding via short‐range interfacial transport. Concurrently, the leaching of MoO 4 2− induces surface electronic redistribution that enhances Ni─O bond covalency, thereby triggering the lattice oxygen mechanism (LOM) for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) while partially retaining the adsorbate evolution mechanism (AEM). The coexistence of two pathways ensures AEM‐induced structural stability and simultaneously enhances LOM‐dominated intrinsic activity. Consequently, the activated catalyst (A‐Ni 0.36 Mo 0.64 ‐OH) achieves low overpotentials (201 mV@10 mA cm −2 ; 560 mV@2 A cm −2 ) and long‑term stability (3500 h@250 mA cm −2 ) with negligible chlorine corrosion in alkaline seawater. This work presents an interfacial design that concurrently resists chloride corrosion and enhances OER activity by manipulating both ionic and electronic environments.

The introduction of guest metal molecules into metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) is an outstanding method to prepare dual-atom catalysts (DACs) with good oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity. However, most of the MOF-derived dual-atom catalysts reported to date exhibit a microporous structure and, therefore, suffer from the underutilization of active sites and poor mass transfer. This study employed NH2-MIL-101 as a precursor to form defect-bearing mesoporous Fe-NC via one-step pyrolysis for adsorbing [Co(en)3]3+, followed by secondary pyrolysis to generate Fe-Co binuclear site catalysts. The mesopores of NH2-MIL-101 are beneficial to [Co(en)3]3+ introduction and can improve the mass transfer of the ORR. Furthermore, the elevated nitrogen content within the [Co(en)3]3+ complex facilitates the co-coordination of Fe and Co with nitrogen, thereby enhancing the formation of Fe-Co diatomic sites. As a result, the obtained FeCo-NC-40 catalyst showed excellent ORR performance with a half-wave potential of 0.915 V (vs RHE). In addition, the liquid-phase Zn-air battery employing FeCo-NC-40 as the cathode catalyst demonstrated a peak power density of 178.13 mW·cm-2 and achieved a discharge specific capacity of 806.13 mAh·g-1 at 10 mA·cm-2, and there was no significant decay in stability for 10 days of continuous cycling.

Direct seawater electrolysis is key for achieving sustainable green-hydrogen production and transitioning toward a decarbonized energy system. However, its performance is limited by significant challenges, mainly catalyst instability, which is caused by excessive reconstruction, low catalytic activity, and aggressive chlorine-corrosion. Herein, high-electronegativity F is introduced into NiFe layered double-hydroxide (F-NiFe-LDH) through fluorination engineering to induce electron-deficient regions around Ni, thus creating abundant intrinsic high-valence Ni sites. Correspondingly, the features of weak reconstruction accompanied by high stability, chlorophobic surface, and high-activity lattice oxygen are produced on the F-NiFe-LDH, confirmed detailedly by experiment and theory. Consequently, the F-NiFe-LDH exhibits a superior oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity with low overpotentials of 306 and 375 mV to reach 500 mA cm-2 at alkaline simulated seawater and alkaline seawater, respectively. Also, it demonstrates a chlorine-corrosion resistance, along with ultra-stability seawater electrolysis for over 1000 h at 1000 mA cm-2 without performance degradation, structural collapse, or chlorine oxidation reaction. Furthermore, an anion exchange membrane electrolyzer assembled by the F-NiFe-LDH anode shows an energy consumption of only 4.87 kWh Nm-3 for hydrogen production. This work provides an inspiration for designing corrosion-resistance electrocatalysts aimed at chlorine oxidation-free seawater electrolysis, which simultaneously achieve high stability and OER activity.

Improving and optimizing the target properties of ceramics via the high entropy strategy has attracted significant attention. Rare earth niobate is a potential thermal barrier coating (TBCs) material, but its poor high-temperature phase stability limits its further application. In this work, four sets of TBCs high-entropy ceramics, (Sm1/5 Dy1/5 Ho1/5 Er1/5 Yb1/5 )(Nb1/2 Ta1/2 )O4 (5NbTa), (Sm1/6 Dy1/6 Ho1/6 Er1/6 Yb1/6 Lu1/6 ) (Nb1/2 Ta1/2 )O4 (6NbTa), (Sm1/7 Gd1/7 Dy1/7 Ho1/7 Er1/7 Yb1/7 Lu1/7 )(Nb1/2 Ta1/2 )O4 (7NbTa), (Sm1/8 Gd1/8 Dy1/8 Ho1/8 Er1/8 Tm1/8 Yb1/8 Lu1/8 ) (Nb1/2 Ta1/2 )O4 (8NbTa) are synthesized using a solid-state reaction method at 1650 degrees C for 6 h. Firstly, the X-ray diffractometer (XRD) patterns display that the samples are all singlephase solid solution structures (space group C 2/ c ). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and the hightemperature XRD of 8NbTa cross-check that the addition of Ta element in 8HERN increases the phase transition temperature above 1400 degrees C, which can be attributed to that the Ta/Nb co-doping at B site introduces the fluctuation of the bond strength of Ta-O and Nb-O. Secondly, compared to high-entropy rare-earth niobates, the introduction of Ta atoms at B site substantially reduce thermal conductivity (reduced by 44 %, 800 degrees C) with the seven components high entropy ceramic as an example. The low thermal conductivity means strong phonon scattering, which may originate from the softening acoustic mode and flattened phonon dispersion in 5-8 principal element high entropy rare earth niobium tantalates (5- 8NbTa) revealed by the first-principles calculations. Thirdly, the Ta/Nb co-doping in 5-8NbTa systems can further optimize the insulation performance of oxygen ions. The oxygen-ion conductivity of 8NbTa (3.31 x 10-6 S cm-1 , 900 degrees C) is about 5 times lower than that of 8HERN (15.8 x 10-6 S cm-1 , 900 degrees C) because of the sluggish diffusion effect, providing better oxygen barrier capacity in 5-8NbTa systems to inhibit the overgrowth of the thermal growth oxide (TGO) of TBCs. In addition, influenced by lattice distortion and solid solution strengthening, the samples possess higher hardness (7.51-8.15 GPa) and TECs (9.78 x 10-6 K-1 -10.78 x 10-6 K-1 , 1500 degrees C) than the single rare-earth niobates and tantalates. Based on their excellent overall properties, it is considered that 5-8NbTa can be used as auspicious TBCs. (c) 2024 Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The editorial office of Journal of Materials Science &

Hybrid water electrolysis is a potential system for simultaneously efficiently producing hydrogen and value-added chemicals. Owing to the superior electrochemical oxidation capabilities, Ni-based electrocatalysts have emerged as the dominant electrocatalyst for the anode in hybrid water electrolysis systems. However, the slow catalytic conversion of Ni-based electrocatalysts limits their further development for oxidation reactions. Herein, we prepared an efficient anodic Ni-based electrocatalyst under Mn species-induced effects for the 5-hydroxymethylfurfural oxidation reaction, achieving co-production of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid and hydrogen. Such an anodic electrocatalyst has a capability of promoting the Ni species oxidation to high valence active species NiOOH, leading to the rapid conversion of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to the 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid products efficiently. Furthermore, the catalyst was used as an anodic catalyst for a membrane electrode assembly electrolyzer with about 20 % lower energy consumption for hydrogen production, enabling the preparation of 4.65 g of 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid products. Such a catalyst design concept will facilitate the rational design of Ni-based catalysts based on the electrochemical reaction mechanism, which promotes the development of green hydrogen production and the hybrid water electrolysis system.

Inspired by the active site of carbon monoxide dehydrogenase (CODH), where a pair of amino acids facilitating hydrogen bonding manages the reversible interconversion of CO and CO2 with high efficiency, we developed a family of manganese terpyridine derivatives (1-4), in which a benzimidazole moiety functions as a proton relay to assist the CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR). To regulate the position of the proton donor, the benzimidazole moiety was introduced into the framework by two approaches, and the pK a of the proton relay was adjusted by methylation of the benzimidazole moiety. We found that all such designs led to a sharp corruption in the activity of electrochemical CO2 reduction compared with that of our previously reported analogues. The corruption was ascribed to the pK a of the benzimidazole moiety, which resulted in inefficient proton exchange.

Reclaiming the spent graphite (SG) in the anodes of end-of-life lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is of tremendous significance for addressing resource shortage and eco-friendliness. The impurities embedded into the graphite interlayer after multiple charge-discharge cycles hinder the free migration of lithium ions, resulting in inferior lithium storage capacity. Herein, a space-confined intercalation of deep eutectic solvent (DES) strategy is proposed, to dissolve the impurities by utilizing its great ability to form hydrogen bonds (O-H...Cl-,- , O-H...O and O-H...F) with PVDF binder, SEI film and the residual electrolytes within the SG, simultaneously enlarging the interlayer distance to upgrade the anode graphite. After the further pyrolysis, the as-obtained mildly expanded graphite (MEG-800) exhibited well-defined graphite microcrystalline layer structure and high graphitization degree. The moderately enlarged graphite layers provided more space for the insertion and extraction of lithium ions, endowing MEG-800 with exceptional performance in LIBs, such as extremely high charge capacity of 477.4 mAh/g at a current density of 0.1 A/g and superior reversibility and desirable cycle stability. After 100 cycles at 0.1 A/g, its capacity still retained 470.9 mAh/g with a Coulombic efficiency as high as 99.76 %. The structure- dependent lithium-ion diffusion features of MEG-800 were also examined by electrochemical kinetics analysis. This study opened up a prospective avenue for the green and efficient recycling of spent anode graphite in retired LIBs, offering a solution to the problem of shortage of battery materials and promoting sustainable development.

Dual-atom catalysts demonstrate promising activity in the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In the present work, a two-step pyrolysis method was used to prepare an Fe/Co dual-atom catalyst (FeCo-NC). First, Fe-Zn-ZIF was pyrolyzed to fix the zeolitic-imidazolate framework (ZIF) structure and form defects with a negative charge via Zn evaporation. Second, the defect-rich carbon matrix was used to adsorb guest molecules with nitrogen-rich ([Co(en)3]3+), and then it underwent a secondary pyrolysis to yield FeCo-NC. The presence of defects can confine [Co(en)3]3+, and the abundant nitrogen within [Co(en)3]3+ facilitates coordination with Fe and Co atoms, effectively preventing the aggregation of metal species. Furthermore, there are a large number of nanotubes in FeCo-NC that combine with pyrolyzed ZIFs to enhance electron transfer. The density functional theory results suggest that the hydrogenation of OH* is the decisive step for ORR. The asymmetric charge distribution between Fe and Co atoms is able to lower the activation energy for the resolution step of OH*, which leads to a remarkable ORR performance with a positive E1/2 in 0.1 M KOH (0.92 V). Moreover, the assembled liquid Zn-air battery achieved a power density of 180.02 mW cm-2 and was able to operate continuously for more than 200 h. Solid Zn-air battery measurements confirm the practical applicability of the FeCo-NC.

Abstract Electrocatalytic water splitting that is coupled with electrocatalytic chemical oxidation is considered as one of the promising methods for efficiently obtaining hydrogen energy and fine chemicals. Herein, we focus on an electrochemical redox activation strategy to rationally manipulate the microstructure and surface valence states of copper foam (CF) and boost the corresponding performance towards electrocatalytic benzyl alcohol oxidation (EBA), accompanied by the efficient hydrogen production. Correspondingly, the Cu(II)‐dominated species are gradually formed on the CF surface with the dissolution and redeposition of copper in the suitable potential range. The new species containing Cu2O, CuO, and Cu(OH)2 during surface reconstruction process of the CF were confirmed by multiple characterization techniques. After 220‐cycled activation (CF‐220), the activated CF achieves an increase of current density for EBA in anode from 9.5 for the original CF to 29.3 mmol/cm2, while the pure hydrogen yield increases threefold than that of the original CF at 1.5 VRHE. The produced new species can endow the CF‐220 with abundant acidity sites, which can enhance the adsorption toward Lewis‐basicity benzyl alcohol, confirmed by NH3‐temperature‐programmed desorption. In situ Raman result further reveals that the as‐produced CuO, Cu(OH)2, and Cu(OH)42− are the main active species toward the EBA process.

The design of novel electrocatalyst for CO2 reduction reaction to available chemical substance is a meaningful approach to mitigate the CO2 emission problem. However, it is challenging to achieve uniform dispersion of the metals in the carbon substrate to enhance catalytic performance. Surprisingly, layered double hydroxide nanosheets have uniform metal distribution, which are appropriate metal negative supports for CO2RR catalyst. Herein, we have successfully prepared a simple, green and efficient novel CO2RR metal catalyst using monolayer NiCu-LDH nanocomposites as precursor. Based on solid phase exfoliation, monolayer NiCu-LDH nanocomposite material was obtained, and then the ultra-thin two-dimensional carbon substrate with homogeneous metals dispersion was formed by in-situ nitridation. The obtained Ni2Cu1-CN shows excellent CO2RR performance with CO current density of 12.65 mA cm-2 and great CO faraday efficiency of 96.9 % at -0.8 V (vs. RHE). But metals formed nanoparticles due to vibration migration at high temperature, which caused active sites to be obscured. Surprisingly, introduction of Zn prevented Cu and Ni metals from agglomerating and exposed more active sites. The as-prepared Ni2Cu1Zn1-CN shows excellent catalytic performance with the greatest CO faraday efficiency of 98.1 % and high CO current density of 16.6 mA cm-2 at -0.8 V (vs RHE) and remarkable stability.

2,5-Furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA), a critical polymer platform molecule that can potentially replace terephthalic acid, coupled hydrogen coproduction holds great prospects via electrolysis. However, the electrosynthesis of FDCA faces challenges in product separation from complex electrolytes and unclear electrochemical and nonelectrochemical reactions during the 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) oxidation. Herein, an electrochemical/chemical integrated system of alkaline HMF-H2O co-electrolysis is proposed, achieving distillation-free synthesis of high-purity FDCA by acidic separation/purification and hydrogen coproduction. This system achieves ampere-level current densities of 812 and 1290 mA cm-2 at potentials of 1.50 and 1.60 V, with nearly 100% FDCA yield and HMF conversion in only 6 min at 1.50 V. The electrooxidation of HMF involves a coupling of electrochemical and nonelectrochemical reactions, wherein the aldehyde group is dehydrogenated and oxidized, followed by dehydrated and oxidized of the hydroxyl group, ultimately forming FDCA. Concurrently, nonelectrochemical reactions of intermolecular electron transfer occur in HMF and aldehyde group-containing intermediates.

With the rapid development of society, polymer materials are widely used in automotive, construction, and electronic components due to their excellent properties such as easy processing, cheap price, and corrosion resistance. However, most polymers, such as rubber and leather, suffer from poor mechanical properties, susceptibility to micro cracking and flammability. In this paper, an epoxidized natural rubber (ENR)/polylactic acid (PLA)/chitosan (CS)/guanidine phosphate (GP) composites with certain self-healing and flame-retardant properties are successfully prepared. The network structure is constructed by forming thermoplastic elastomers (TVPs) through ENR and PLA, and the amino groups on CS and GP can form hydrogen bonds with ENR, which improves the mechanical properties of ENR/PLA composites and gives the ENR/PLA/CS/GP composites excellent self-healing properties. Meanwhile, CS and GP can also form intumescent flame retardants to improve the flame-retardant properties of ENR/PLA composites. The results show that the mechanical strength of ENR/ PLA /CS/GP composites can reach 4.2 MPa when the addition of CS and GP is 2phr and 4phr, respectively. The self-healing effectiveness of the ENR/PLA/CS/GP composite reaches up to 78% after 3 h at 130 °C. The stress intensity of the original ENR/PLA composite is 3.4Mpa, and that of healing ENR/PLA/CS/GP composite is 3.3Mpa. Meanwhile, the peak heat release rate (HRR) of ENR/PLA could decease 35.8% owing to 2phr CS and 4phr GP.

Seawater electrolysis for the production of fuels and chemicals involved in onshore and offshore plants powered by renewable energies offers a promising avenue and unique advantages for energy and environmental sustainability. Nevertheless, seawater electrolysis presents long-term challenges and issues, such as complex composition, potential side reactions, deposition of and poisoning by microorganisms and metal ions, as well as corrosion, thus hindering the rapid development of seawater electrolysis technology. This review focuses on the production of value-added fuels (hydrogen and beyond) and fine chemicals through seawater electrolysis, as a promising step towards sustainable energy development and carbon neutrality. The principle of seawater electrolysis and related challenges are first introduced, and the redox reaction mechanisms of fuels and chemicals are summarized. Strategies for operating anodes and cathodes including the development and application of chloride- and impurity-resistant electrocatalysts/membranes are reviewed. We comprehensively summarize the production of fuels and chemicals (hydrogen, carbon monoxide, sulfur, ammonia, etc.) at the cathode and anode via seawater electrolysis, and propose other potential strategies for co-producing fine chemicals, even sophisticated and electronic chemicals. Seawater electrolysis can drive the oxidation and upgrading of industrial pollutants or natural organics into value-added chemicals or degrade them into harmless substances, which would be meaningful for environmental protection. Finally, the perspective and prospects are outlined to address the challenges and expand the application of seawater electrolysis. The production of value-added fuels and chemicals via seawater electrolysis is a promising step or support towards sustainable energy development and carbon neutrality.

Seawater splitting into hydrogen,a promising technology,is seriously limited by the durability and tolerance of electrocatalysts for chlorine ions in seawater at large current densities due to chloride oxidation and corrosion.Here,we present a robust and weak-nucleophilicity nickel-iron hydroxide electrocatalyst with excellent selectivity for oxygen evolution and an inert response for chlorine ion oxidation which are key and highly desired for efficient seawater electrolysis.Such a weak-nucleophilicity electrocatalyst can well match with strong-nucleophilicity OH-compared with the weak-nucleophilicity Cl - ,resultantly,the oxidation of OH-in electrolyte can be more easily achieved relative to chlorine ion oxidation,confirmed by ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid disodium probing test.Further,no strongly corrosive hypochlorite is produced when the operating voltage reaches about 2.1 V vs.RHE,a potential that is far beyond the thermodynamic potential of chlorine ion oxidatio n.This concept and approach to reasonably designing weaknucleophilicity electrocatalysts that can greatly avoid chlorine ion oxidation under alkaline seawater environments can push forward the seawater electrolysis technology and also accelerate the development of green hydrogen technique.

By virtue of the hydroxyl and carboxyl groups on the graphene oxide (GO) plane, three-dimensional tremella-like Zn-Al-Zr-layered double-hydroxide/GO (Zn-Al-Zr LDH/GO) nanocomposites have been successfully prepared via the self-assembly process. As compared to Zn-Al-Zr LDH, the Zn-Al-Zr LDH/GO nanocomposite (LDH/GO-4) possesses a hierarchical pore structure; it shows an enlarged pore width which endows it with enhanced phosphorus (P) adsorption capacity, and the fitting of nonlinear Langmuir showed that the maximum adsorption capacity reaches 36.86 +/- 0.76 mg-P/g. The fitting of the kinetic model confirmed that the adsorption process was predominantly chemisorption. Meanwhile, fitting of the thermodynamic model indicated that the adsorption process was endothermic, stochastic, and spontaneous. For LDH/GO-4, the [-C-O-Zn(OH)(x)] and [-COO-ZrO(OH)(x)] groups are its chief active sites to chemically absorb P. In this study, LDH/GO-4 can make the total phosphorus (TP) concentration of the real river water decline from 0.28 mg/L to near zero in 24 h, while the Phoslock commercial product only achieves a TP removal rate of 46.43% under the same conditions. Moreover, LDH/GO-4 also has good reusability in a steady recovery of P, and the removal rate of TP was still over 95% after it experienced the adsorption-desorption of P for five cycles. Thus, LDH/GO-4 shows great potential for application in the sustainable P recovery field.

Electrooxidation of biomass into fine chemicals coupled with energy-saving hydrogen production for a zero-carbon economy holds great promise. Advanced anode catalysts determine the cell voltage and electrocatalytic efficiency greatly, further the rational design and optimization of their active site coordination remains a challenge. Herein, a phosphorus-oxygen terminals-rich species (Ni2P-O-300) via an anion-assisted pyrolysis strategy is reported to induce strong electronic coupling and high valence state of active nickel sites over nickel phosphide. This ultimately facilitates the rapid yet in-situ formation of high-valence nickel with a high reaction activity under electrochemical conditions, and exhibits a low potential of 1.33 V vs. RHE at 10 mA cm-2, exceeding most of reported transition metal-based catalysts. Advanced spectroscopy, theoretical calculations, and experiments reveal that the functional P-O species can induce the favorable local bonding configurations for electronic coupling, promoting the electron transfer from Ni to P and the adsorption of benzyl alcohol (BA). Finally, the hydrogen production efficiency and kinetic constant of BA electrooxidation by Ni2P-O-300 are increased by 9- and 2.8- fold compared with the phosphorus-oxygen terminals-deficient catalysts (Ni2P-O-500). This provides an anion-assisted pyrolysis strategy to modulate the electronic environment of the Ni site, enabling a guideline for Ni-based energy/catalysis systems. High-valence nickel driven by phosphorus-oxygen terminals-rich species integrated on nickel foam substrate (Ni2P-O-300) is constructed by an anion-assisted pyrolysis strategy, which promotes the rapid yet in situ formation of much high-valence nickel with a high reaction activity at a relatively low potential under electrochemical conditions. Resultantly, the hydrogen production efficiency and kinetic constant of electrooxidation of benzyl alcohol driven by Ni2P-O-300 are 9- and 2.8- fold higher than that of Ni2P-O-500 with the deficient phosphorus-oxygen terminals, respectively. image

To promote the electrocatalytic transformation from CO2 to value-added chemicals with boron doped diamond (BDD) electrode, it is critical to make clear that the relationship between the B doping state and the position of B atom in BDD materials and CO2 reduction performance. Here, a series of BDD electrodes with constant B dopant amount on the surface were prepared by the same process but based on different deposition time (3, 6, 12, and 24 h) using the heat filament chemical vapor deposition. The results demonstrated that the surface grain size, abundances of B–C relative to B–B bonds of the BDD films increased with increasing the deposition time. Moreover, the formic acid yield and faradaic efficiency also increased as well during electrochemical CO2 reduction due to more available B atoms doped in crystallinity (B–C bonds) rather than in grain boundary (B–B bonds) of BDD. Finally, electrochemical analysis revealed that the B–C bonds in the crystal of BDD films is the active sites for the reduction of CO2. This study provides a simple and convenient path to figure out what is the active site of the BDDs and its how to impact the CO2 reduction.

The electrocatalyst NiFeRuOx/NF, comprised of NiFeRuOx nanosheets grown on Ni foam, was synthesized using a hydrothermal process followed by thermal annealing. NiFeRuOx/NF displays high electrocatalytic activity and stability for overall alkaline seawater splitting: 98 mV@ 10 mA·cm−2 in hydrogen evolution reaction, 318 mV@ 50 mA·cm−2 in oxygen evolution reaction, and a cell voltage of 1.53 V@ 10 mA·cm−2, as well as 20 h of durability. A solar-driven system containing such a bifunctional NiFeRuOx/NF has an almost 100