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Electric‐driven conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) to carbon monoxide (CO) under mild reaction conditions offers a promising approach to mitigate the greenhouse effect and the energy crisis. Surface engineering is believed to be one of the prospective methods for enhancing the electrocatalytic activity of CO2 reduction. Herein, hydroxyl (OH) groups were successfully introduced to cadmium nanosheets to form cadmium and cadmium hydroxide nanocomposites (i. e. Cd/Cd(OH)2 nanosheets) via a facile two‐step method. The as‐prepared Cd/Cd(OH)2/CP (CP indicates carbon paper) electrode displays excellent electrocatalytic activity for CO2 reduction to produce CO. The Faradaic efficiency of CO reaches 98.3 % and the current density achieves 23.8 mA cm−2 at −2.0 V vs. Ag/Ag+ in a CO2‐saturated 30 wt% 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazole hexafluorophosphate ([Bmim]PF6)‐65 wt% acetonitrile (CH3CN)‐5 wt% water (H2O) electrolyte. And the CO partial current density can reach up to 71.6 mA cm−2 with the CO Faradaic efficiency of more than 85 % at −2.3 V vs. Ag/Ag+, which stands out against Cd/CP, Cd(OH)2/CP, and Cd/CdO/CP electrodes. The excellent electrocatalytic performance of the Cd/Cd(OH)2/CP electrode can be attributed to its unique structural properties, suitable OH groups, perfect interaction with electrolyte, abundant active sites and fast electron transfer rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel electrochemically assisted cycloaddition process is proposed, in which highly efficient coupling of CO2 with styrene oxide (SO) can be achieved to form styrene carbonate (SC) as a high‐value‐added product. A series of Cu catalysts with different morphologies and chemical states were fabricated on carbon paper (CP) by using in‐situ electrodeposition, and the sample with nano‐dendrimer structure was found to exhibit a relatively high activity of 74.8 % SC yield with 92.7 % SO conversion under gentle reaction conditions, thus showing its potential for practical applications. The relatively high electrochemically active surface area and charge transfer ability of dendrimer‐like Cu benefited the electrochemical reaction. In particular, the Cu2+ species that were formed in situ during the reaction played a vital role in enhancing the activity and selectivity of the proposed Cu/CP hybrid catalyst. Cu2+ atoms served as active sites that can not only electrochemically activate CO2 but also facilitate the ring opening of SO. Mechanistic analysis suggested that the reaction followed electrochemical and liquid‐phase heterogeneous paths, which provide a new green and sustainable route for efficient utilization of CO2 resources for fine chemical electrosynthesis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Single nickel atoms are uniformly formed over graphene sheets with the assistance of tris(2‐benzimidazolylmethyl)amine (NTB) ligands. Strong interactions of NTB ligands between graphene oxide (GO) sheets and nickel ions facilitates the homogenous dispersion of nickel atoms over the GO sheets. Homogeneously dispersed Ni(NTB)–GO sheets were then chemically transformed into highly active single‐atom nickel sites that show high faradaic efficiency and selectivity for electrochemical CO2 to CO reduction reaction. For more information, see the Full Paper by K. T. Nam et al. on page 18444 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The image illustrates the operation mechanism of the photothermal activation of Ru/Au nanoparticles deposited on Siralox. Upon absorption of light by Au nanoparticles, the photon energy is thermalized, leading to the heating of smaller Ru nanoparticles located on the Au surface. This local heating serves to promote the selective methanation of CO2 by H2. For more information, see the Full Paper by H. García et al. on page 18436 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Caging carbon dioxide: Self ‐ assembled discrete palladium(II) [Pd2(L)4]4+ cages with 2,6 ‐ bis(pyridin ‐ 3 ‐ ylethynyl)pyridine) ligands (L) have cavities, which bind guests containing carbonyl groups through hydrogen bonding interactions. In the solid state these cages have now been shown to bind up to four CO2 molecules, with selectivity over N2. Long ‐ range order in the packing of the molecules in powdered samples of the compound does not appear to be necessary for their activity, making their preparation easy. Additionally, the cages can be readily functionalized, opening up avenues for selective guest binding and gas separations. More information can be found in the Full Paper by B. F. Abrahams, J. D. Crowley et al. on page 10559. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol is one of the most attractive ways for carbon dioxide recycle and hydrogen storage. Our computationally designed Fe, Co, and Mn cyclopentadienone complexes are promising low‐cost catalysts for hydrogenation of CO2 to methanol. Density functional theory calculations also reveal a methanol‐ or water‐mediated proton‐transfer mechanism for H2 cleavage and a direct C−O bond‐breaking process for the formation of formaldehyde as key steps in the catalytic reaction. More information can be found in the Full Paper by X. Yang et al. on page 8850. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mn(bpy)‐type complexes bearing local proton source catalyse the electrochemical reduction of CO2. Depending on the strength of the Brønsted acid added to the solution, CO or formate are produced. Spectroelectrochemical studies under Ar and CO2 atmospheres show fast solvolysis and the dimer formation is suppressed, providing an atypical reduction mechanism of MnI catalysts. Spectroscopic evidence of Mn hydride formation supports the existence of different electrocatalytic CO2 reduction pathways. For more information, see the Full Paper by R. Gobetto, C. Nervi et al. on page 4782 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electrocatalysis The Ru complex is set on its path, along which it must cross either a high mountain (EEC pathway) or a smaller hill (ECE pathway) to reach the glittering green palace where it can fulfill its goal of converting CO2 to CO. The sun shines brighter on the ECE path, which is alluring and less energy‐demanding. The complex can tread that path provided that its Ru heart has electrons (e−) pumped in (tBu on terpyridine), and that the CH3CN is easily removed. This is achieved by a CH3 group at the bipyridine, which pushes the bipyridine into the CH3CN with the force of a bull, thereby facilitating CH3CN dissociation from the complex. More information can be found in the Full Paper by S. Ott, S. Maji et al. on page 14870 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Porphyrinoids CO2 is a cheap, abundant, and nontoxic C1 source, and the chemical conversion of CO2 into useful organic compounds has become increasingly important. In their Full Paper on page 6556 ff., C. Maeda, J. Hasegawa, T. Ema et al. describe the synthesis of bifunctional metalloporphyrins with quaternary ammonium bromides at the meta, para, or ortho positions of the meso‐phenyl groups and investigated their catalytic activities in the formation of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and CO2 under solvent‐free conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Supercritical carbon dioxide, an environmentally friendly medium, is promising as an alternative to traditional organic solvents. However, polar molecules and high molar mass compounds are often poorly soluble in supercritical carbon dioxide. The first host–guest complex obtained in such a solvent is discussed herein, together with an analysis of the driving forces for the formation of supramolecular structures and suggestions for possible applications to fix solubility issues. More information can be found in the Full Paper by F. Ingrosso, A. Marsura, M. F. Ruiz‐López et al. on page 2972 ff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon Dioxide Adsorbents An effective approach to functionalize water ‐ stable metal – organic frameworks (MOFs) by a combination of optimization and metalated ‐ ligand exchange (MLE) for enhanced CO2 separation performance is reported. The optimized UiO ‐ 66(Zr) shows a high BET surface area of 1730 m2 g−1 and a mesopore size of 3.9 nm. The approach described in the Full Paper by D. Zhao and colleagues on page 17246 ff. can enhance both CO2 working capacity and CO2/N2 selectivity simultaneously and thus is an alternative design to achieving water ‐ stable MOFs with high CO2 affinity for efficient CO2 separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]