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The electrochemical conversion of small organic molecules to value-added chemicals and hydrogen/electricity without CO2emissions integrates efficient energy conversions (hydrogen energy or electricity) and value-added chemical productions in one reaction system, which is essentially competitive in the carbon-neutral era. However, the activity, stability, and cost-effectiveness of electrocatalysts, as well as the safety, durability, and scalability of devices, are still challenging for their industrial applications. In addition, a lack of knowledge about relevant and detailed mechanisms restricts the further development of electrocatalysts and devices. A timely review of the electrocatalysts, devices, and mechanisms is essential to shed lights on the correct direction towards further development. In this review, the advances in the design of electrocatalysts, fabrication of devices, and understanding of reaction mechanisms are comprehensively summarized and analyzed. The major challenges are also discussed as well as the potential approaches to overcoming them. The insights for further development are provided to offer a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach to cogeneration of energy and chemicals production.

The current collector is a critical component of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Herein, copper-coated polymer films (P@Cu) with through-hole arrays are developed lightweight and flexible current collectors. The through-hole arrays are created by laser drilling the polyimide film substrate. P@Cu composite current collectors are fabricated by electroless Cu deposition on polyimide films with through-hole arrays, which form three-dimensional conductive paths. As the anode current collector for LIBs, P@Cu exhibit a total electrode mass-specific capacity that is 54.58 % higher than that of the commercial Cu foil. Due to the polyimide substrate, the tensile deformation of P@Cu is 6.69 % higher than that of the commercial Cu foil. After 30,000 bending cycles, the conductivity of P@Cu is only reduced by 3.39 %, while the commercial Cu foil current collectors have broken by this point. The P@Cu composite foils with through-hole arrays are high-performance lightweight and flexible current collectors for LIBs.

Electrocatalytic water splitting is an appealing method for generating renewable hydrogen. In acidic media, noble metals are commonly used as electrocatalysts, whereas in alkaline media, non-noble metals are used. However, due to the high cost and rarity of noble metals, as well as the low activity and stability of non-noble metals, industrial uses are severely constrained. Heterostructures are a possible alternative to costly electrocatalysts because of their tunable properties. The origin of activity and stability of heterostructures lies in the coupling between their constituent components. Thus, the establishment of interfacial component coupling effects such as the Mott-Schottky effect, the Strong-Metal-Support-Interaction effect, the support-stabilizing effect, and the synergistic effect is a promising technique for enhancing activity and stability. However, a lack of the generation rules for the interfacial coupling effects impedes their widespread application for the rational design. This review summarizes the progress made towards heterostructure design from the interfacial component coupling effects with respect to the various components. The challenges and future prospective have also been presented for the heterostructure electrocatalyst design. The findings reported in this review pave a way for the heterostructure electrocatalyst design for water splitting as well as other electrocatalytic processes such as oxygen reduction, CO2reduction, nitrogen reduction reactions, etc.

Graphical Abstract: A schematic diagram for the concept of fuel cell reactors for cogeneration of electrical energy and value-added chemicals

The present study investigates the mass loading effect of an infiltrated La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3[?]d (LSCF) nanoparticles (NPs) catalyst on the area-specific polarization resistance (Rp) of a screen-printed porous LSCF cathode for solid oxide fuel cells. The results show that Rp of the LSCF-NPs decorated LSCF cathode can be substantially reduced by as much as 89.3% after a single-step impregnation of 1.5 M nitrate solution containing La:Sr:Co:Fe = 0.6:0.4:0.2:0.8 with a mass loading of 3 wt%.

The present study investigates the mass loading effect of an infiltrated La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3−δ(LSCF) nanoparticles (NPs) catalyst on the area-specific polarization resistance (Rp) of a screen-printed porous LSCF cathode for solid oxide fuel cells. The results show that Rpof the LSCF-NPs decorated LSCF cathode can be substantially reduced by as much as 89.3% after a single-step impregnation of 1.5 M nitrate solution containing La:Sr:Co:Fe = 0.6:0.4:0.2:0.8 with a mass loading of 3 wt%.