Yuan Wang

Rapid solvent mixing enables scalable, surfactant-free decoration of low-dimensional nanomaterials with pristine C ₆₀ . The C ₆₀ hybrid materials show tuneable charge storage and delivers enhanced bifunctional water electrocatalysis.

Veronica Sofianos, Serena Cussen, Vasileios Tzitzios, Paul Westerhoff and Helena Wang introduce the Nanoscale and Journal of Materials Chemistry A themed collection on advanced nanomaterials for sustainable green hydrogen production.

Energy-efficient and sustainable hydrogen production is essential for mitigating environmental pollution and enabling the energy transition, yet practical water electrolysis is hindered by the sluggish, energy-intensive oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Replacing the OER with thermodynamically and kinetically favorable value-added anodic reactions can lower the required voltage while co-producing useful chemicals and, in some cases, enabling wastewater remediation. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) provide a distinctive catalyst platform for such hybrid electrolysis: their modular architectures enable tunable compositions, deliberately engineered active sites and microenvironments, and adjustable adsorption/activation behaviors; moreover, they can serve as versatile precursors to derived conductive phases. Despite rapid progress, advances remain scattered across diverse anodic reactions and catalyst formats, and a MOF-centered framework linking materials engineering, reaction pathways, and coupled-cell performance is still needed. Here, we review MOF-based electrocatalysts (pristine MOFs, MOF composites, and MOF-derived materials) for coupling the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) with OER-substituting anodic processes. We organize the literature by reaction classes, including alcohol/polyol oxidations (methanol, ethanol/ethylene glycol, glycerol, and benzyl alcohol), biomass-platform oxidations (5-hydroxymethylfurfural/furfural and glucose), and waste/inorganic oxidations (urea and hydrazine), highlighting catalyst performance and design strategies. We further summarize MOF-based bifunctional catalysts and recurring design principles, including self-supported architectures, MOF-derived phosphides/sulfides and mixed phases, heterostructure/interface engineering, and the roles of high-valent species and in situ reconstruction under operating conditions. Finally, key challenges and perspectives are outlined to guide next-generation MOF-based bifunctional catalysts for energy-saving hydrogen production coupled with green chemical synthesis.

The rapid growth of electric vehicles and portable electronics has led to a surge in lithium‐ion battery (LIB) consumption, creating an urgent need for efficient and sustainable recycling solutions. Among the established recycling methods, including pyrometallurgical, hydrometallurgical, and direct recycling, thermal treatment plays a critical role. However, conventional heating techniques are often energy‐intensive and time‐consuming due to their low heating rates. This highlights the importance of exploring advanced rapid heating technologies for recycling spent LIBs. This review examines the role of heating in various LIB recycling processes and systematically introduces emerging rapid heating technologies, such as microwave heating, joule heating, and short contact time heating. In addition, advanced approaches, including induction heating, plasma heating, and CSR heating processes, are discussed in terms of their principles, process flows, unique effects, and applications in LIB recycling. Finally, current challenges and future perspectives are outlined to support the efficient and scalable use of rapid heating technologies in spent LIB recycling, and the rapid heating process is also proposed for the efficient recycling of spent LIBs.

The surge in lithium-ion battery adoption has underscored the critical need for innovative recycling technologies, particularly for lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO₄, LFP) cathodes, which dominate the market due to their safety and cost advantages. However, the thermally stable olivine structure of LFP presents formidable challenges for conventional pyrometallurgical recycling, resulting in excessive energy consumption to break down the LFP structure, substantial lithium loss, and diminished economic viability. Herein, we introduce a carbothermal shock process, synergistically enhanced by deep eutectic solvents composed of choline chloride (ChCl) and urea, to address these limitations. This ultrafast approach (∼20 s) overcomes the issue of insufficient contact in solid-solid reactions through the complete encapsulation of spent LFP by ChCl, effectively preventing Li volatilization during the short reaction time. The process yields high-purity Fe₂P and Li₃PO₄, which are efficiently separated using magnetic methods, achieving high recovery efficiencies of Li (97.39%) and Fe (99.17%). Notably, the recovered Fe₂P demonstrates enhanced catalytic performance in the alcoholysis of waste polyethylene terephthalate plastics, creating a synergistic valorization pathway. This effective method not only eliminates complex separation processes but also advances the circular economy, enabling high-value resource recovery for the lithium-ion battery ecosystem.

Oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is pivotal to sustainable energy storage and conversion technologies. Yet, its sluggish kinetics in acidic media and reliance on expensive noble metal catalysts limit its efficiency in these applications. Spinel cobalt(II, III) oxide (Co₃O₄)‐based catalysts are cost‐effective alternatives with high theoretical catalytic activity. However, their practical deployment is hindered by their poor stability in acidic electrolytes. This review critically examines recent advances in enhancing the stability of spinel Co₃O₄‐based catalysts for acidic OER. The fundamental reaction mechanisms of acidic OER are first analyzed to illustrate how different catalyst design strategies can be used to improve their stability. Next, five key catalyst design strategies reported in recent studies are summarized: 1) constructing protective surface layers, 2) modulating reaction pathways, 3) controlling cobalt redox dynamics, 4) tuning cobalt‐oxygen covalency, and 5) stabilizing lattice oxygen. Further, recent research progress in understanding the structure‐activity‐stability relationship of spinel Co₃O₄‐based catalysts is summarized, with a focus on identifying their catalytically active sites, tracking surface reconstruction, and elucidating degradation mechanisms. This review ends with a discussion of future research directions for addressing key challenges in realizing durable, high‐performance Co₃O₄‐based catalysts for acidic OER applications.