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A novel electrochemical route for efficient cycloaddition of CO 2 and styrene oxide (SO) forming the value-added product of styrene carbonate (SC) was proposed in this manuscript using non-metallic nanocarbon material as the catalyst electrode. The synthesized hollow nanospheres (HNSs) nanocarbon materials exhibited unique advantages of porous structure with thin carbon layer, which effectively facilitated the mass and charge transfer process and promoted the electrochemical reaction kinetics. In addition, correlation between the detailed structure analysis and the catalytic activity evaluation results show that the cooperation of nitrogen and oxygen functionalities on nanocarbon played a vital role in enhancing the catalytic activity of the carbon materials. The optimized HNSs catalyst exhibited high SO conversion of 66.9% and SC selectivity of 99.8% under the chronoamperometry at −0.5 mA for 6 hs, showing great potential in practical applications. The structure-function relations reported here may shed light on the rational design of the nanocarbon catalyst electrode and related reaction system for electrochemical synthesis of SC. [Display omitted] • Electrochemical cycloaddition of CO 2 to value-added SC using non-metallic nanocarbon. • N, O co-doped hollow nanospheres nanocarbon with high mass and electron transport capacity. • N, O co-doped nanocarbon showing SO conversion of 66.9% and SC selectivity of 99.8% at −0.5 mA for 6 hs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] The presence of PVP affects formation and surface structure of RhPt nanoclusters. [•] PVP benefits Rh-atom enrichment on the surface of RhPt nanoclusters. [•] Choice of polymer helps to tune catalytic performance of bimetallic nanocatalyst. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The 8-hydroxyquinoline functionalized titanium-oxo clusters were synthesized which exhibit favorable catalytic activity for the visible-light-driven photocatalytic oxidative desulfurization (PODS). [Display omitted] • The 8-hydroxyquinoline functionalized titanium-oxo clusters were synthesized. • The clusters are constructed by the {Ti 3 (μ 3 -O)} and {Ti 6 (μ 3 -O) 6 } building units in a rarely observed assembly mode. • The clusters exhibit favorable catalytic activity towards the visible-light photocatalytic oxidative desulfurization. The 8-hydroxyquinoline functionalized titanium-oxo clusters (TOCs) of the formulation [Ti 9 (μ 3 -O) 7 (μ 2 -O) 3 (μ 2 -O i Pr)(O i Pr) 5 (O 2 C t Bu) 9 (OQ)]·HO i Pr (HOQ = 8-hydroxyquinoline) and [Ti 12 (μ 3 -O) 8 (μ 2 -O) 6 (μ 2 -O i Pr) 2 (O i Pr) 4 (O 2 C t Bu) 12 (OQ) 2 ]·4H 2 O were synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The assembly mode between the {Ti 3 (μ 3 -O)} and {Ti 6 (μ 3 -O) 6 } building units in the clusters has been rarely observed for titanium-oxo clusters. These two clusters exhibit intense visible absorption with narrow band gap of ~2.4 eV due to the presence of 8-hydroxyquinoline ligands. The clusters exhibit favorable catalytic activity for the visible-light-driven photocatalytic oxidative desulfurization (PODS) of dibenzothiophene. The results demonstrate that the core structure and functional ligands are important for the photocatalytic activity of titanium-oxo clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]