Dan Zhao

Interfacial engineering has emerged as a critical approach for tailoring catalytic systems through precise regulation of charge transfer and surface properties. However, construction of well-defined and functionally coupled heterointerfaces to enhance electron transport efficiency, as well as the in-depth understanding of intrinsic relationship between interfacial coupling effects and electrocatalytic performance, remain significant challenges. In this work, a tightly coupled CeO₂/β-Ni(OH)₂ heterojunction catalyst was constructed via in-situ electrodeposition method, enabling efficient electrocatalytic oxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). CeO₂ modulated the electronic structure and surface properties of β-Ni(OH)₂ through a synergistic coupling mechanism between Ni³⁺-O moieties and Ce³⁺ species. The resulting heterojunction structure exhibited a pronounced built-in electric field, accelerating NiOOH formation and selective adsorption of substrate molecules. Meanwhile, the incorporation of CeO₂ significantly improved the hydrophilicity and reaction kinetics. This study offers new insights into the structure-activity relationship of interfacial charge transfer in heterostructured catalysts and provides guidance for future electrocatalyst design.

This review covers colloidal crystal templating and energy storage of 3DOM MOFs and derivatives, analyzing structure-performance relations and how ordered macropores speed ion transport, buffer strain, and boost active-site utilization.

Rare earth phosphates were disclosed as versatile components for cooperatively activating small molecules despite the difference in their crystal structures, boosting the complicated furfural upgradation reactions involving two small molecules.

A facile and solvent-free method was demonstrated to construct a highly dispersed Ni₂P/UiO-66 catalyst, which showed good catalytic performance for the hydrogenation of furfural to cyclopentanone.

A critical constraint impeding the utilization of Mn-based oxide catalysts in NH3 selective catalytic reduction (NH3-SCR) is their inadequate resistance to water and sulfur. This vulnerability primarily arises from the propensity of SO2 to bind to the acidic site in manganese oxide, resulting in the formation of metal sulfate and leading to the irreversible deactivation of the catalyst. Therefore, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the detrimental impact of SO2 on the acidic sites and elucidating the underlying mechanism of this toxicity are of paramount importance for the effective application of Mn-based catalysts in NH3-SCR. Herein, we strategically modulate the acidity of the manganese oxide catalyst surface through the incorporation of Ce and Nb. Comprehensive analyses, including thermogravimetry, NH3 temperature-programmed desorption, in situ diffused reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy, and density functional theory calculations, reveal that SO2 exhibits a propensity for adsorption at strongly acidic sites. This mechanistic understanding underscores the pivotal role of surface acidity in governing the sulfur resistance of manganese oxide.

In view of the industrial importance of high-grade unsaturated ether (UE) and the inconvenience of acquiring the compound, herein, a series of low-cost Al-Ni-P catalysts in robust AlPO₄/Ni₂P structure possessing novel bi-functional catalytic features (hydrogenation activation and acid catalysis) were innovated, and testified to be efficient for directly synthesizing UE with a superior yield up to 97% from the selective hydrogenation coupling carbonyl of unsaturated aldehyde (cinnamaldehyde or citral) with C1–C5 primary or secondary alcohol under 0.1 MPa H₂ and 393 K. The integrated advantages of high efficiency, green manner and convenient operation of the present heterogeneous catalytic system gave the system potential for feasibly harvesting high-grade unsaturated ether in related fine chemical synthesis networks.

Herein, we introduce a strategy to develop a kind of unprecedented microcatalyst, which owns self-stirring and catalytic performance based on pneumatic printing and magnetic field induction technology. A spindle-shaped microcatalyst based on metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with a certain aspect ratio and size can be obtained by tuning the printing parameters and the intensity of the magnetic field. One nozzle can print 18 000 microcatalysts per hour, which provides a prerequisite for the realization of large-scale production in the industrial field. Furthermore, this strategy can be widely applied to a variety of other heterogeneous catalysts, such as mesoporous SiO2, zeolite, metallic oxide, and so on. To demonstrate the superiority of the printed catalyst, the series of printed microcatalysts were evaluated by various catalytic reactions including liquid-phase hydrogenation, microdroplet dye-fading, and photocatalytic degradation in microreactor, all of which exhibited excellent catalytic performance.