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The efficient acetate conversion from CO electroreduction is challenging due to the poor selectivity at high reaction rate, which requires the competition with H2 and other C2+ (i. e., ethylene, ethanol, n‐propanol) reduction products. Electrolyte engineering is one of the efficient strategies to regulate the reaction microenvironment. In this work, the adding of sulfite (SO32−) with high nucleophilicity in KOH electrolytes was demonstrated to enable improving the CO‐to‐acetate conversion via generating a S−O chemical bond between SO32− and oxygenated *C2 intermediates (i. e., *CO−CO, *CO−COH) compared with that in pure KOH system on both synthesized Cu(200)‐ and normal commercial Cu(111)‐facets‐exposed metallic Cu catalysts. As a result, the prepared Cu(200)‐facets‐exposed metallic Cu catalyst with surface ions modification showed an superior Faradaic efficiency of 63.6 % at −0.6 A ⋅ cm−2, and extraordinary absolute value of peak partial current density as high as 1.52 A ⋅ cm−2 with adding SO32− in KOH electrolytes, compared to the best reported values in both CO and CO2 electroreduction. Our work suggests an attractive strategy to introduce the oxyanion with high nucleophilicity in electrolytes to regulate the microenvironment for industrial‐current‐density electrosynthesis of acetate from CO electroreduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aerogels present a huge potential for removing organic dyes from printing and dyeing wastewater (PDW). However, the preparation of aerogels with multiple dye adsorption capabilities remains a challenge, as many existing aerogels are limited to adsorbing only a single type of dye. Herein, a composite aerogel (CG/T‐rGO) with the addition of carboxymethyl chitosan, gelatin and tannic acid reduced graphene oxide (T‐rGO) was synthesized by freeze‐drying technology. The electrostatic interactions between dye molecular and GEL/CMCS (CG) networks, as well as the supramolecular interactions (H‐bonds, electrostatic interactions and π–π stacks) between T‐rGO, have endowed the aerogel with the ability to adsorb multiple types of dye, such as methylene blue (MB) and methyl orange (MO). Results exhibited that the prepared CG/T‐rGO aerogel possessed strong mechanical strength and a porous 3D network structure with a porosity of 96.33 %. Using MB and MO as adsorbates, the adsorption capacity (88.2 mg/g and 66.6 mg/g, respectively) and the mechanism of the CG/T‐rGO aerogel were investigated. The adsorption processes of aerogel for MB and MO were shown to follow the pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model and Langmuir isotherm model, indicating the chemical adsorption of a monolayer. The proposed aerogel in this work has promising prospects for dye removal from PDW. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical CO2 reduction to CH4 has been extensively demonstrated, but still suffers from relatively poor activity and requires high overpotentials especially at large electrolysis rates. Perovskite oxides (AxByO) are one type of promising electrocatalyst for the CO2 reduction due to their tunable electronic structures. In this work, a Ca2CuO3 perovskite oxide catalyst is developed with alkaline‐earth A‐sites, featuring an inherently strong basic strengthand outstanding capability for CO2 adsorption, as well as the undercoordinated Cu sites generated through partial surface Ca2+ cation leaching. The Ca2CuO3 catalyst exhibitsa high partial current density of 517 ± 23 mA cm−2 for producing CH4 at a low applied potential of −0.30 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode, which further reached to a peak value of 1452 ± 156 mA cm−2. Density functional calculations show that the undercoordinated Cu sites allowed to promote the hydrogenation of *CO and subsequent *CHO intermediates, thus leading to the high CH4 activity. This work suggests an attractive design strategy for tuning the A‐sites in perovskite oxides to realize high‐rate CO2‐to‐CH4 electrosynthesis with low overpotentials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction features a promising approach to realize carbon neutrality. However, its competitiveness is limited by the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at anode, which consumes a large portion of energy. Coupling value‐added anodic reactions with CO2 electroreduction has been emerging as a promising strategy in recent years to enhance the full‐cell energy efficiency and produce valuable chemicals at both cathode and anode of the electrolyzer. This review briefly summarizes recent progresses on the electrocatalytic CO2 reduction, and the economic feasibility of different CO2 electrolysis systems is discussed. Then a comprehensive summary of recent advances in the coupled electrolysis of CO2 and potential value‐added anodic reactions is provided, with special focus on the specific cell designs. Finally, current challenges and future opportunities for the coupled electrolysis systems are proposed, which are targeted to facilitate progress in this field and push the CO2 electrolyzers to a more practical level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The electrochemical CO2 reduction to CH4 is a promising approach for producing highly specific combustion fuel but has relatively poor selectivity and activity at high‐current‐density electrolysis. In this work, ultrathin CuGaO2 nanosheets with highly exposed single‐interlayered Cu edges are synthesized via an induced anisotropic growth strategy. Density functional theory calculations indicate that the exposed single‐interlayered Cu(I) edges on the (001) surface of CuGaO2 present a high‐density of single‐atomic Cu sites, which feature excellent CO2 electroreduction catalytic activity toward CH4. The CuGaO2 nanosheet catalysts exhibit efficient and stable CO2‐to‐CH4 electroreduction with Faradaic efficiency (FECH4) of 71.7% at a high current density of –1 A cm−2, corresponding to a superior CH4 partial current density of 717 ± 33 mA cm−2. This work suggests an attractive design strategy for tuning both the crystal facets and Cu–Cu distance to promote the CH4 electrosynthesis at high‐current‐density CO2 reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aims: Understanding how maize roots proliferate in phosphorus (P)-rich soil patches is critical for improving nutrient acquisition and crop productivity. This study explores the mechanisms of root adaptation to heterogeneous P availability, focusing on sucrose metabolism and the role of local P signals., Methods: A split-root system with chambers of differing Pi concentrations (0 and 500 μM) was used to examine maize root responses. Various physiological and biochemical parameters, including root growth, sucrose partitioning, enzyme activities, and gene expression, were measured to elucidate the underlying mechanisms., Key Results: Root proliferation, particularly of second-order lateral roots, was markedly enhanced in P-rich patches. Sucrose was preferentially allocated to the Pi-supplied side, as confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) microscopy. Sucrose content in these roots decreased, indicating active metabolism. Higher activities of cell-wall invertase and sucrose synthase were observed in the Pi-supplied roots, supporting enhanced carbohydrate utilization., Conclusions: Local P availability triggers significant adjustments in sucrose metabolism and allocation, enhancing the sink capacity of maize roots in P-rich patches. These changes facilitate efficient lateral root proliferation and Pi utilization, highlighting the critical role of local P signals in nutrient acquisition strategies. This research provides deeper insights into the adaptive responses of maize to heterogeneous P environments, offering potential strategies for improving crop nutrient efficiency., (© The Author(s) 2024. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Annals of Botany Company. All rights reserved. For commercial re-use, please contact reprints@oup.com for reprints and translation rights for reprints. All other permissions can be obtained through our RightsLink service via the Permissions link on the article page on our site—for further information please contact journals.permissions@oup.com.)

Electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction features a promising approach to realize carbon neutrality. However, its competitiveness is limited by the sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at anode, which consumes a large portion of energy. Coupling value-added anodic reactions with CO 2 electroreduction has been emerging as a promising strategy in recent years to enhance the full-cell energy efficiency and produce valuable chemicals at both cathode and anode of the electrolyzer. This review briefly summarizes recent progresses on the electrocatalytic CO 2 reduction, and the economic feasibility of different CO 2 electrolysis systems is discussed. Then a comprehensive summary of recent advances in the coupled electrolysis of CO 2 and potential value-added anodic reactions is provided, with special focus on the specific cell designs. Finally, current challenges and future opportunities for the coupled electrolysis systems are proposed, which are targeted to facilitate progress in this field and push the CO 2 electrolyzers to a more practical level., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Electrochemical CO 2 reduction to valuable multi-carbon (C 2+ ) products is attractive but with poor selectivity and activity due to the low-efficient CC coupling. Herein, a lithium vacancy-tuned Li 2 CuO 2 with square-planar [CuO 4 ] layers is developed via an electrochemical delithiation strategy. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the lithium vacancies (V Li ) lead to a shorter distance between adjacent [CuO 4 ] layers and reduce the coordination number of Li + around each Cu, featuring with a lower energy barrier for COCO coupling than pristine Li 2 CuO 2 without V Li . With the V Li percentage of ≈1.6%, the Li 2- x CuO 2 catalyst exhibits a high Faradaic efficiency of 90.6 ± 7.6% for C 2+ at -0.85 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode without iR correction, and an outstanding partial current density of -706 ± 32 mA cm -2 . This work suggests an attractive approach to create controllable alkali metal vacancy-tuned Cu catalytic sites toward C 2+ products in electrochemical CO 2 reduction., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Electrochemical CO 2 reduction to produce valuable C 2 products is attractive but still suffers with relatively poor selectivity and stability at high current densities, mainly due to the low efficiency in the coupling of two *CO intermediates. Herein, it is demonstrated that high-density nitrogen vacancies formed on cubic copper nitrite (Cu 3 N x ) feature as efficient electrocatalytic centers for CO-CO coupling to form the key OCCO* intermediate toward C 2 products. Cu 3 N x with different nitrogen densities are fabricated by an electrochemical lithium tuning strategy, and density functional theory calculations indicate that the adsorption energies of CO* and the energy barriers of forming key C 2 intermediates are strongly correlated with nitrogen vacancy density. The Cu 3 N x catalyst with abundant nitrogen vacancies presents one of the highest Faradaic efficiencies toward C 2 products of 81.7 ± 2.3% at -1.15 V versus reversible hydrogen electrode (without ohmic correction), corresponding to the partial current density for C 2 production as -307 ± 9 mA cm -2 . An outstanding electrochemical stability is also demonstrated at high current densities, substantially exceeding CuO x catalysts with oxygen vacancies. The work suggests an attractive approach to create stable anion vacancies as catalytic centers toward multicarbon products in electrochemical CO 2 reduction., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)