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Charge separation determines the efficiency of semiconductor-based photocatalysts. Here Li et al. show that, in BiVO4, photogenerated electrons and holes accumulate on different crystal facets and the targeted deposition of cocatalysts increases the efficiency of photocatalytic water oxidation.

Fast and scalable synthesis of a variety of transition metal telluride nanosheets by solid lithiation and hydrolysis is demonstrated and several interesting quantum phenomena were observed, such as quantum oscillations and giant magnetoresistance.

Ferroelectrics, which exhibit excellent charge separation ability, suffer from poor photocatalytic activity. The authors unveil the limitations in charge extraction and offer strategies to design high-performance photocatalysts by eliminating surface defects.

Identifying active sites on oxide catalysts is often challenging. Here, the authors introduce a syngas-induced dispersion method to anchor ZnO species onto ZnCr₂O₄, forming monodispersed ZnO_x active sites that enhance catalytic performance in direct syngas conversion to light olefins.

Producing valuable chemicals like ethylene via catalytic CO conversion is an important nonpetroleum route. Here, authors demonstrate high-rate electrosynthesis of multicarbon chemicals via CO electrolysis, with a multicarbon product partial current density of 4.35 A cm⁻² at a cell voltage of 2.78 V.

Exploring highly active and durable Ru-based electrocatalysts for acidic water oxidation is challenging. Here authors reported an ion-exchange adsorption strategy to regulate oxygen vacancies and Rh dopant, with a corresponding fundamental investigation on the lattice oxygen oxidation and the oxygen vacancy site.

Catalyst activation commonly occurs during reactions. This study demonstrates that the surface’s active structure in nitride catalysts during the reverse water gas-shift reaction varies with the partial pressure of reaction products, resulting in enhanced catalytic activity through positive feedback between catalytic activity and the evolution of MoNx’s active structure.

Ammonia can be synthesized electrochemically from nitric oxide, but the catalytic performance has generally not been satisfactory. Here the authors report a highly active copper–tin alloy for nitric oxide reduction to ammonia, which they test in a flow cell and a membrane electrode assembly.

With extralarge pores, zeolites could catalyse reactions between larger molecules. Here a zeolite with the largest pores to date is synthesized, about 25 ångstroms across; the structure is also chiral, which is useful in the separation of enantiomorphic molecules. The synthesis is done by crystallization of a gel of germanate and silicate dissolved in a bulky organic molecular template, using high-throughput techniques.

The selective hydrogenation of acetylene to ethylene involves high H₂ consumption as well as a high energy input. Now, a thermocatalytic process for acetylene semi-hydrogenation using H₂O as H source and CO on a Au/α-MoC catalyst is introduced.

Strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) is critical in determining the catalytic performance of supported metal catalysts. Here the authors report a phenomenon of size-dependent classical SMSI in Au/TiO₂ catalyst where larger Au particles are more prone to be encapsulated than smaller ones.

Understanding of the direct methane conversion mechanism is essential for further development of efficient catalysts. Here, authors demonstrate a general methyl radical chemistry for metal single site catalysis regardless of the support (either zeolite or SiO₂) in non-oxidative methane activation.