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Donnan electrical potential is widely adopted to describe ion distribution between two solutions separated by a permeable membrane with implications for many chemical and biological systems. Aydogan Gokturk et al. directly measures this potential for the first time and compare the data with theoretical models.

The need to reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations necessitates CO2 capture technologies for conversion into stable products or long-term storage. A single pot solution that simultaneously captures and converts CO2 could minimize additional costs and energy demands associated with CO2 transport, compression, and transient storage. While a variety of reduction products exist, currently, only conversion to C2+ products including ethanol and ethylene are economically advantageous. Cu-based catalysts have the best-known performance for CO2 electroreduction to C2+ products. Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are touted for their carbon capture capacity. Thus, integrated Cu-based MOFs could be an ideal candidate for the one-pot capture and conversion. In this paper, we review Cu-based MOFs and MOF derivatives that have been used to synthesize C2+ products with the objective of understanding the mechanisms that enable synergistic capture and conversion. Furthermore, we discuss strategies based on the mechanistic insights that can be used to further enhance production. Finally, we discuss some of the challenges hindering widespread use of Cu-based MOFs and MOF derivatives along with possible solutions to overcome the challenges.

The recycling of CO2 into storable chemicals is critical in order to mitigate climate change, although CO2’s inert nature has limited the reduction’s mechanistic considerations. Here, authors pair in-situ spectroscopy with quantum mechanics to elucidate CO2 adsorption on copper and silver surfaces.

Controlling structures at the atomic level provides an opportunity to design and understand catalysts. Here the authors use thin-film deposition to fabricate perovskite heterostructures in a non-equilibrium manner to assess the effects on electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction.

The surface chemical states of Pd(100) during CO oxidation were investigated using ambient pressure x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and mass spectroscopy. Under the reactant ratio of CO/O2 = 0.1, i.e. an oxygen-rich reaction condition, the formation of surface oxides was observed with the onset of CO oxidation reaction at T = 525 K. As the reactant ratio (CO/O2) increased from 0.1 to 1.0, ∼ 90 % surface oxides remains on surface during the reaction. Upon the formation of surface oxides, the core level shift of oxygen gas phase peak was observed, indicating that change of surface work function. As CO oxidation takes places, i.e. making a transition from CO covered surface to the oxidic surface, the work functions of surface oxide on Pd(100) and Pt(110) display opposite behavior.

The electrochemical double layer is a key concept in chemistry, but its properties are hard to probe experimentally. Here, the authors use ambient pressure X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to probe the electrochemical double layer potential profile at the solid/liquid interface, under polarization conditions.