Search

Photocatalysis and electrocatalysis have emerged as promising technologies for addressing the energy crisis and environmental issues. However, the widespread application of these technologies is hampered by the challenge of scaling up the production of photo/electrocatalysts that are not only highly active and stable but also cost‐effective and environmentally benign. This review delves into the latest advancements in the large‐scale synthesis of photo/electrocatalysts. The factors to be considered in the large‐scale production of catalysts are discussed first. The synthesis methods for batch preparation of photo/electrocatalysts are then comprehensively introduced, with a thorough discussion of their respective advantages and limitations. Moreover, the data analysis via machine learning techniques, which not only accelerates the identification and refinement of potential new catalysts but also offers insights for enhancing the high‐throughput synthesis of catalysts, is introduced in detail. Then the representative examples are presented to illustrate the applications of large‐scale catalysts in the field of industrial‐level photo/electrocatalysis. Finally, the challenges and prospects in the development of large‐scale production of photo/electrocatalysts are discussed. By bridging the gap between laboratory research and industrial application, this review aims to provide a reference for the future of large‐scale preparation of photo/electrocatalysts in sustainable energy conversion and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near‐infrared light‐driven photocatalytic CO2 reduction (NIR‐CO2PR) holds tremendous promise for the production of valuable commodity chemicals and fuels. However, designing photocatalysts capable of reducing CO2 with low energy NIR photons remains challenging. Herein, a novel NIR‐driven photocatalyst comprising an anionic Ru complex intercalated between NiAl‐layered double hydroxide nanosheets (NiAl‐Ru‐LDH) is shown to deliver efficient CO2 photoreduction (0.887 μmol h−1) with CO selectivity of 84.81 % under 1200 nm illumination and excellent stability over 50 testing cycles. This remarkable performance results from the intercalated Ru complex lowering the LDH band gap (0.98 eV) via a compression‐related charge redistribution phenomenon. Furthermore, transient absorption spectroscopy data verified light‐induced electron transfer from the Ru complex towards the LDH sheets, increasing the availability of electrons to drive CO2PR. The presence of hydroxyl defects in the LDH sheets promotes the adsorption of CO2 molecules and lowers the energy barriers for NIR‐CO2PR to CO. To our knowledge, this is one of the first reports of NIR‐CO2PR at wavelengths up to 1200 nm in LDH‐based photocatalyst systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intercalation of the [ Ru( dpds) 3] 4 complex into a layered double hydroxide structure is reported byLihong Liu, Wenkai Zhang, Yufei Zhao et al. in their Research Article ( e202407638). Under infrared light irradiation at 1200 nm, the obtained intercalation structure exhibits remarkable photocatalytic performance in converting CO2 to CO with excellent stability, demonstrating for the first time CO2 reduction at such long wavelengths. [Extracted from the article]

Main observation and conclusion: Block copolymers not only combine properties of different segments but also generate new application prospects. Poly(α‐amino acid)‐b‐poly(tetrahydrofuran)‐b‐poly(α‐amino acid) (PAA‐PTHF‐PAA) is one of the copolymers. In this contribution, di‐hydroxyl‐ended HO‐PTHF‐OH is transferred into di‐oxyamino‐ended H2NO‐PTHF‐ONH2 quantitatively, which is used as a macroinitiator to polymerize sarcosine N‐thiocarboxyanhydride (Sar‐NTA) and N‐phenyoxycarbonyl N‐ε‐carbobenzyloxy‐D‐lysine (ZDL‐NPC). Well‐defined triblock PAA‐NHO‐PTHF‐ONH‐PAA is produced with high molecular weight (up to 25.3 kg/mol) and narrow dispersity. The amphiphilic PSar‐NHO‐PTHF‐ONH‐PSar (STS) self‐assembles into micelles with uniform diameters of 30—40 nm according to DLS. Owing to oxygen amide groups inside the backbone of these copolymers, the polyether‐poly(amino acid)s block copolymers are cleavable under an acidic environment and therefore have potential applications in smart biomedicine and engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural adhesives that do not require heating are in high demand in the automotive and electronics industries. However, it remains a challenge to develop robust adhesives that rapidly achieve super adhesion near ambient temperature. Herein, a room‐temperature curable, fast‐bonding, and super strong epoxy‐based structural adhesive was designed from the perspective of cross‐scale structure, which lies in threefold pivotal aspects: (i) high branching topology of glycerol carbonate‐capped polyurethane (PUGC) increases the kinetics of the ring‐opening reaction, contributing to fast crosslinking and the formation of abundant urethane and hydroxyl moieties; (ii) asynchronous crosslinking of epoxy and PUGC synergistically induces phase separation of PUGC within the epoxy resin and the resulting PUGC domains surrounded by interpenetrated shell serves to efficiently toughen the matrix; (iii) abundant dynamic hydrogen bonds including urethane and hydroxyl moieties, along with the elastomeric PUGC domains, dissipate energy of shearing force. As a result, the adhesive strength rapidly grows to 16 MPa within 4 hours, leveling off to 21 MPa after 7 hours, substantially outperforming commercial room‐temperature curable epoxy adhesives. The results of this study could advance the field of high‐performance adhesives and provide valuable insights into designing materials for efficient curing at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Structural adhesives that do not require heating are in high demand in the automotive and electronics industries. However, it remains a challenge to develop robust adhesives that rapidly achieve super adhesion near ambient temperature. Herein, a room‐temperature curable, fast‐bonding, and super strong epoxy‐based structural adhesive was designed from the perspective of cross‐scale structure, which lies in threefold pivotal aspects: (i) high branching topology of glycerol carbonate‐capped polyurethane (PUGC) increases the kinetics of the ring‐opening reaction, contributing to fast crosslinking and the formation of abundant urethane and hydroxyl moieties; (ii) asynchronous crosslinking of epoxy and PUGC synergistically induces phase separation of PUGC within the epoxy resin and the resulting PUGC domains surrounded by interpenetrated shell serves to efficiently toughen the matrix; (iii) abundant dynamic hydrogen bonds including urethane and hydroxyl moieties, along with the elastomeric PUGC domains, dissipate energy of shearing force. As a result, the adhesive strength rapidly grows to 16 MPa within 4 hours, leveling off to 21 MPa after 7 hours, substantially outperforming commercial room‐temperature curable epoxy adhesives. The results of this study could advance the field of high‐performance adhesives and provide valuable insights into designing materials for efficient curing at room temperature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing chiral electrode catalysts for enantioselective electrosynthesis is a great challenge, as it requires catalysts that possess both high activity and enantioselectivity. Precise synthesis of nanoclusters and single atoms coexisting chiral catalysts provide a promising pathway for enhancing asymmetric catalytic performance. Herein, chiral electrode catalysts are fabricated comprising gold clusters (R‐AuC) and single atoms (R‐AuS) on graphene oxide (R‐AuC/S@GO) through an assembly‐irradiation strategy. Thereinto, the R‐Aus is in situ generated from R‐AuC under light irradiation. The monoatomization process can be precisely regulated by changing the wavelength of the light, resulting in four Au‐based chiral electrode (R‐Au@GO) catalysts with different ratios of nanoclusters and single atoms. These chiral electrodes are applied in the electrocatalytic enantioselective hydrogenation of methyl benzoylformate (MB) to chiral methyl mandelate (S‐MM), and the R‐AuC/S‐2@GO with ≈26% R‐AuC and 74% R‐AuS achieve the highest catalytic activity (35 µmol cm−2 h−1 productivity) and enantioselectivity [97% enantiomeric excess (ee)]. Detailed experimental analysis and density functional theory calculations reveal that the R‐AuS on GO promotes the in situ generation of H* species, and R‐AuC mainly drives the enantioselective conversion of MB by transferring the H* species to the carbonyl group of MB, ultimately yielding chiral S‐MM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]