Yu Yu

Engineering electronic metal-support interactions (EMSI) enables scalable proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) at ultralow Ir loadings by buffering Ir against overoxidation and dissolution under acidic oxygen evolution conditions (OER). However, a seemingly disparate interpretation has persisted: high-valent Ir is often associated with optimal intermediate adsorption, whereas low-valent Ir correlates with improved corrosion resistance, suggesting that static EMSI fails to rationalize the activity-stability trade-off. Here, we construct an atomically dispersed Ir-O-Co interface by anchoring isolated Ir single atoms on spinel Co₃O₄, providing a new perspective on a dynamic charge-compensation mechanism: at low bias, the Ir site is progressively oxidized to enhance water activation and intermediate turnover; at high bias, the Co₃O₄ compensates charge back to the Ir site, thereby suppressing overoxidation-driven dissolution. Such self-coordinating EMSI breaks the conventional activity-stability trade-off in acidic OER. In an integrated PEM electrolyzer, the Ir single-atom catalyst sustains operation for >1500 h at 1.0 A cm^-2 with an ultralow Ir loading of 0.1 mg cm^-2, highlighting the importance of self-coordinating EMSI for durable, precious-metal-minimized PEMWE anodes.

The dry reforming of methane (DRM) offers a compelling method to transform greenhouse gases into valuable syngas. However, the deactivation of DRM catalysts remains a significant challenge. Herein, we report a Co/CoCr ₂ O ₄ spinel composite in which metallic Co are ex‐solved in situ, generating highly active and durable metal–oxide interfaces, which delivers high CH ₄ (∼65.2%) and CO ₂ (∼75.1%) conversion at 300 000 mL·g _cat ⁻¹ ·h ⁻¹ (GHSV) and CH ₄ reaction rate of ∼762 µmol·g _cat ⁻¹ ·s ⁻¹ for DRM reaction. The obtained catalyst was stable at 650°C with only 1.30 wt% coke produced. Impressively, the superior H ₂ /CO ratio of 0.84 proved the high selectivity of Co/CoCr ₂ O ₄ , revealed that the undesired side reactions, such as RWGS reaction was weakened. The exsolved cobalt particles were embedded into CoCr ₂ O ₄ and created unique Co─O─Cr interface, which was the inherent active center for CH ₄ activation. The metal‐oxide interface facilitated CH _x * to CH _x O* pathway, suppressing methane deep dissociation as well as coke formation.

Metallic Ni stands out to be a promising electrocatalyst for nitrate reduction reaction (NO ₃ RR) to ammonia (NH ₃ ), yet is bottlenecked by limited water dissociation kinetics for active hydrogen (*H) supply particularly at low potentials and insufficient adsorption/activation capability toward NO ₃ ⁻ . We unveil for the first time that NO ₃ RR performance of Ni can be activated by synergistic unconventional phase design and alloying engineering. Specifically, anomalous hcp Ni with Cu alloying (NiCu‐hcp) is readily engineered via a facile metal–organic frameworks mediated route. Impressively, the NiCu‐hcp can deliver prominent NO ₃ RR performance with record NH ₃ yield rate of 2.24 mmol h ^{− 1} cm ^{− 2} and Faradaic efficiency of 98.3% at −0.4 V versus RHE, favorably rivaling the state‐of‐the‐art ones. Moreover, integrating NiCu‐hcp into Zn‐NO ₃ ⁻ battery delivers eminently high power density of 23.9 mW cm ^{− 2} . From experimental and theoretical studies, unusual hcp phase together with Cu alloying engineering over Ni can regulate interfacial water structure for facilitated dissociation to generate *H, and meanwhile, manipulate electronic state, thereby promoting NO ₃ ⁻ affinity/activation and lowering Gibbs free energy barrier of the rate‐determining step (*NO→*NOH). This contribution presents a new paradigm to unlock the potential of Ni for NO ₃ RR via elegant unusual phase design synergistic with alloying engineering.

Metallic Ni stands out to be a promising electrocatalyst for nitrate reduction reaction (NO ₃ RR) to ammonia (NH ₃ ), yet is bottlenecked by limited water dissociation kinetics for active hydrogen (*H) supply particularly at low potentials and insufficient adsorption/activation capability toward NO ₃ ⁻ . We unveil for the first time that NO ₃ RR performance of Ni can be activated by synergistic unconventional phase design and alloying engineering. Specifically, anomalous hcp Ni with Cu alloying (NiCu‐hcp) is readily engineered via a facile metal–organic frameworks mediated route. Impressively, the NiCu‐hcp can deliver prominent NO ₃ RR performance with record NH ₃ yield rate of 2.24 mmol h ^{− 1} cm ^{− 2} and Faradaic efficiency of 98.3% at −0.4 V versus RHE, favorably rivaling the state‐of‐the‐art ones. Moreover, integrating NiCu‐hcp into Zn‐NO ₃ ⁻ battery delivers eminently high power density of 23.9 mW cm ^{− 2} . From experimental and theoretical studies, unusual hcp phase together with Cu alloying engineering over Ni can regulate interfacial water structure for facilitated dissociation to generate *H, and meanwhile, manipulate electronic state, thereby promoting NO ₃ ⁻ affinity/activation and lowering Gibbs free energy barrier of the rate‐determining step (*NO→*NOH). This contribution presents a new paradigm to unlock the potential of Ni for NO ₃ RR via elegant unusual phase design synergistic with alloying engineering.

The Ni foam-supported Ni(OH)₂ nanosheet array with surface engineering of adipic acid is engineered to remarkably promote PET-derived ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) for value-added formate production.

A highly stable electrochemiluminescent (ECL) sensor based on graphitic carbon nitride (GCN)/Pb ²⁺ /polypyrrole (PPy) was developed to detect trace copper ions.

The bifunctional mechanism, involving multiactive compositions to simultaneously dissociate water molecules and optimize intermediate adsorption, has been widely used in the design of catalysts to boost water electrolysis for sustainable hydrogen energy production but remains debatable due to difficulties in accurately identifying the reaction process. Here, we proposed the concept of well-defined Lewis pairs in single-atom catalysts, with a unique acid-base nature, to comprehensively understand the exact role of multiactive compositions in an alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction. By facilely adjusting active moieties, the induced synergistic effect between Lewis pairs (M-P/S/Cr pairs, M = Ru, Ir, Pt) can significantly facilitate the cleavage of the H-OH bond and accelerate the removal of intermediates, thereby switching the rate-determining step from the Volmer step to the Heyrovsky step. Moreover, the representative Ru-P Lewis pairs deliver an impressive 266 h durability at a high industrial current density of 2 A cm^-2 without activity decay in anion-exchange membrane water electrolysis, and the concept can be extended to modify commercial noble-metal-based catalysts for performance enhancement. This work not only sheds light on the important effect of the bifunctional mechanism in alkaline water electrolysis at the single-atom scale but also offers a universal descriptor for the rational design of advanced catalysts.

To fight against antibacterial-resistant bacteria-induced infections, the development of highly efficient antibacterial agents with a low risk of inducing resistance is exceedingly urgent. Nanozymes can rapidly kill bacteria with high efficiency by generating reactive oxygen species via enzyme-mimetic catalytic reactions, making them promising alternatives to antibiotics for antibacterial applications. However, insufficient catalytic activity greatly limits the development of nanozymes to eliminate bacterial infection. By increasing atom utilization to the maximum, single-atom nanozymes (SAzymes) with an atomical dispersion of active metal sites manifest superior enzyme-like activities and have achieved great results in antibacterial applications in recent years. In this review, the latest advances in antibacterial SAzymes are summarized, with specific attention to the action mechanism involved in antibacterial applications covering wound disinfection, osteomyelitis treatment, and marine antibiofouling. The remaining challenges and further perspectives of SAzymes for practical antibacterial applications are also discussed.