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Cu–Sn bimetallic catalysts have been prepared, and exhibit efficient electrocatalytic activity towards the conversion of CO2 to formate with a faradaic efficiency of 92.9% and a current density of 632 mA cm−2.

The CuO/CeO2 composites with strong metal-support interaction were synthesised, which can efficiently electroreduct CO2 to C2H4. The Faradaic efficiency (FE) of C2H4 could reach 50.5% with a current density of 18 mA cm−2. The strong metal-support interaction could not only enhance the adsorption and activation of CO2, but also can stablize the CuO.

High-rate electrolysis of CO2 to C2+ alcohols is of particular interest, but the performance remains far from the desired values to be economically feasible. Coupling gas diffusion electrode (GDE) and 3D nanostructured catalysts may improve the efficiency in a flow cell of CO2 electrolysis. Herein, we propose a route to prepare 3D Cu-chitosan (CS)-GDL electrode. The CS acts as a “transition layer” between Cu catalyst and the GDL. The highly interconnected network induces growth of 3D Cu film, and the as-prepared integrated structure facilitates rapid electrons transport and mitigates mass diffusion limitations in the electrolysis. At optimum conditions, the C2+ Faradaic efficiency (FE) can reach 88.2% with a current density (geometrically normalized) as high as 900 mA cm−2 at the potential of −0.87 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), of which the C2+ alcohols selectivity is 51.4% with a partial current density of 462.6 mA cm−2, which is very efficient for C2+ alcohols production. Experimental and theoretical study indicates that CS induces growth of 3D hexagonal prismatic Cu microrods with abundant Cu (111)/Cu (200) crystal faces, which are favorable for the alcohol pathway. Our work represents a novel example to design efficient GDEs for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction (CO2RR).

Trimetallic Cu10La1Cs1 catalysts prepared via a one-step co-electrodeposition strategy can act as a robust electrocatalyst for CO2RR to C2H4.

The Ag/AgCl@SiO2 catalyst exhibits excellent photocatalytic activity in selective aerobic oxidation of methane to carbon monoxide with high selectivity, and extended real light simulation feasibility shows potential in practical application.

A NbOx catalyst with oxygen vacancies is synthesized and used for nitrate electroreduction to ammonia. The faradaic efficiency of 94.5% and the NH3 formation rate of 55.0 μg h−1 mgcat−1 can be achieved in a neutral electrolyte.

Development of a new and green strategy for C(sp

The design of catalysts with high activity, selectivity, and stability is key to the electroreduction of CO2 . Herein, we report the synthesis of 3D hierarchical metal/polymer-carbon paper (M/polymer-CP) electrodes by in situ electrosynthesis. The 3D polymer layer on CP (polymer-CP) was first prepared by in situ electropolymerization, then a 3D metal layer was decorated on the polymer-CP to produce the M/polymer-CP electrode. Electrodes with different metals (e.g. Cu, Pd, Zn, Sn) and various polymers could be prepared by this method. The electrodes could efficiently reduce CO2 to desired products, such as C2 H4 , CO, and HCOOH, depending on the metal used. For example, C2 H4 could be formed with a Faradaic efficiency of 59.4 % and a current density of 30.2 mA cm-2 by using a very stable Cu/PANI-CP electrode in an H-type cell. Control experiments and theoretical calculations showed that the 3D hierarchical structure of the metals and in situ formation of the electrodes are critical for the excellent performance.

The exploration of efficient electrocatalysts for the reduction of CO2 to C2H4 is of significant importance but is also a challenging subject. Cu-based bimetallic catalysts are extremely promising for efficient CO2 reduction. In this work, we synthesize a series of porous bimetallic Cu–Sb alloys with different compositions for the catalytic reduction of CO2 to C2H4. It is demonstrated that the alloy catalysts are much more efficient than the pure Cu catalyst. The performance of the alloy catalysts depended strongly on the composition. Further, the alloy with a Cu:Sb ratio of 10:1 yielded the best results; it exhibited a high C2H4 Faradaic efficiency of 49.7% and a high current density of 28.5 mA cm−2 at −1.19 V vs. a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE) in 0.1 M KCl solution. To the best of our knowledge, the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to C2H4 using Cu–Sb alloys as catalysts has not been reported. The excellent performance of the porous alloy catalyst is attributed to its favorable electronic configuration, large surface area, high CO2 adsorption rate, and fast charge transfer rate.

Cu–Pd bimetallic catalysts were fabricated on carbon paper (CP) by the electrodeposition method via a dynamic hydrogen bubble template approach. At a potential of −1.2 V vs. RHE, the Faradaic efficiency (FE) of C2H4 could reach 45.2% with a current density of 17.4 mA cm−2 in an H-type electrolytic cell. Detailed studies suggest that the enhanced performance of Cu–Pd/CP was attributed mainly to the synergistic effect, low interfacial charge transfer resistance, and the 3D architecture of the catalysts.

Design of active catalysts for chemical utilization of methane under mild conditions is of great importance, but remains a challenging task. Here, we prepared a Ag/AgCl with SiO

Use of multi-metallic catalysts to enhance reactions is an interesting research area, which has attracted much attention. In this work, we carried out the first work to prepare trimetallic electrocatalysts by a one-step co-electrodeposition process. A series of Cu-X-Y (X and Y denote different metals) catalysts were fabricated using this method. It was found that Cu

In this study, novel Gd/TiO2@rGO (GTR) nanocomposites with high photocatalytic performance were fabricated via a one-pot solvothermal approach. During the preparation step, graphene oxide (GO) was reduced to reduced graphene oxide (rGO), and subsequently, on the surfaces of which anatase TiO2 doped with Gd metal was grown in situ with a 3D petal-like structure. Gd doping into the classical TiO2@rGO system efficiently expands the absorption range of light, improves the separation of photogenerated electrons, and increases the photocatalytic reaction sites. The specific surface areas, morphological structures, and valence and conduction bands of the obtained GTR nanocomposites were analyzed and correlated with their enhanced photocatalytic performances for the degradation of an aqueous RhB solution. The experimental results indicated that the best performance was achieved with the 3% GTR composite, which exhibited the highest photoelectrocatalytic activity because of two aspects: the rapid separation of electrons and holes, and improvement in adsorption capacity. As compared with pure TiO2, the GTR composites demonstrated enhanced photoactivity due to synergetic effects between the effective photo-induced electron transfer from TiO2 to the surface of the rGO acceptor through interfacial interactions and the variation of structure and electrons under the adoption of Gd.

The design of catalysts with high activity, selectivity, and stability is key to the electroreduction of CO

We prepared a new three-dimensional, flower-like La–TiO2/g-C3N4 (LaTiCN) heterojunction photocatalyst using a solvothermal method. Analysis and characterization were performed by conducting scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Fourier transform-infrared spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, and nitrogen adsorption and desorption. The prepared g-C3N4 nanosheets could reach 100 nm in size and covered the TiO2 surface. A tightly bound interface formed between the g-C3N4 and TiO2, speeding up the effective transfer of photo-induced electrons. In addition, the incorporation of La3+ reduced the electron–hole recombination efficiency. Consequently, the prepared La–TiO2/g-C3N4 composite material exhibited better visible-light catalytic activity than pure TiO2.

A porous Ce/TiO2 composite exhibiting high photocatalytic activity was successfully prepared by a sol–gel method using β-cyclodextrin (β-CD) polymer microspheres as the template. The structural and morphological characteristics of the prepared Ce/TiO2 composites were examined by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, low-temperature N2 adsorption–desorption, thermogravimetry–differential thermal analysis, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The characterization results revealed that after the calcination of as-prepared Ce/TiO2 at 500 °C, it exhibits a porous structure with a TiO2 anatase phase. The photocatalytic performance of the as-prepared samples according to their different molar ratios was evaluated toward the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB). Compared to commercial TiO2, the porous Ce/TiO2 composite exhibited a higher photocatalytic activity under visible light irradiation at room temperature, with a photodegradation rate of up to 80% for RhB (5 mg L−1) within 60 min. Addition of β-cyclodextrin polymer microspheres as the template not only renders a porous structure but also inhibits the crystal growth and anatase-to-rutile transformation of TiO2. Doping with Ce was hypothesized to decrease the radiative recombination of the photogenerated electrons and holes in TiO2, extending its light response to the visible region.

Hollow Nd-doped TiO2 sub-microspheres are synthesised via a controlled hydrolysis reaction, where carbon spheres are employed as the template. The building blocks of TiO2 doped with Nd are deposited on the surface of carbon spheres and subsequently, the carbon spheres are removed by calcination in air. The structure and morphology of the hollow Nd/TiO2 sub-microsphere composites are characterised by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), low temperature N2 adsorption (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis), simultaneous thermal analysis (TG-DTA), diffuse reflectance UV-vis spectroscopy (DRS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The SEM and TEM micrographs reveal that the as-prepared hollow Nd/TiO2 sub-microsphere composite has an average diameter of 100 nm and a special uniform morphology, where the hollow sub-microspheres are constructed by TiO2 nano-chains, which resemble cage-like structures. The Nd-doped Nd/TiO2 composites exhibit high visible light absorption capacity, high adsorption ability and high photocatalytic activity towards Rhodamine B (RhB). Further, the effect of neodymium content on the physical structure and photocatalytic properties of hollow Nd/TiO2 sub-microspheres is investigated. Finally, it is concluded that the higher photocatalytic performance of as-prepared hollow Nd/TiO2 sub-microspheres stems from their hollow structure comprised of Nd/TiO2 nanostructures and a high light-harvesting efficiency.

In this study, novel Gd/TiO

We prepared a new three-dimensional, flower-like La-TiO