Ru-based catalyst drives electrified lignin upgrading into high-value fuels

A Bi-Ru interfacial structure suppresses competing hydrogen gas formation and steers active hydrogen toward lignin bond cleavage

19-Jun-2026 - Lignin is one of the most abundant renewable aromatic resources on Earth. As a major component of plant biomass, it contains rich benzene-ring structures that could be transformed into high-value chemicals and fuel molecules. However, lignin is also highly complex and difficult to break down ...

Electrochemical breakthrough turns nitrate waste into ammonia fuel

Copper-palladium hydride interfaces enable highly efficient electrochemical ammonia synthesis

14-Jan-2026 - Ammonia (NH3) is essential for agriculture and plays an important role in next-generation carbon-free energy systems. RenewableNH3synthesisisa supplementary or alternative to thetraditional Haber-Bosch process.The electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NO3−RR) toNH3offers a promising ...

Unlocking the power of gold: a breakthrough in green chemistry

Researchers have discovered a powerful synergy between gold, manganese, and copper that could transform the way we produce valuable chemicals

20-Oct-2025 - Acetaldehyde is a key chemical intermediate traditionally produced via the ethylene-based Wacker oxidation process, which is both costly and environmentally harmful. Selective oxidation of bioethanol to acetaldehyde offers a greener and more sustainable alternative, yet most reported catalysts ...

Synergistic sites over the ZnxZrO catalyst for targeted cleavage of the C–H bonds of ethane in tandem with CO2 activation

23-Apr-2025 - Ethylene, as one of the most important light olefins, serves as a fundamental feedstock for producing various high-value-added chemical products. Industrial ethylene production primarily relies on steam cracking of ethane and naphtha feedstock, which suffers from several drawbacks including ...

Tandem single atom electrocatalyst realizes reduction of CO2 to ethanol

Promising strategy to mitigate carbon dioxide emission

20-Nov-2023 - The electrochemical CO2reduction reaction (CO2RR) into carbon-based fuels provides a promising strategy to mitigate CO2emission and promotes the utilization of renewable energy. The Cn(n≥2) liquid products are desirable because of their high energy densities and ease of storage. However, ...

New strategy boosting carbon dioxide reduction to carbon monoxide

27-Oct-2023 - Classical strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) describes that reducible oxide migrates to the surface metal nanoparticles (NPs) to obtain metal@oxide encapsulation structure during high-temperature H2thermal treatment, resulting in high selectivity and stability. However, the encapsulation ...

In search of “holy grails” in catalysis

Assessing the recent progress using single-atom catalysts for five “holy grail” reactions

26-Oct-2023 - In the field of catalysis, the term "holy grail" reactions refer to those reactions that hold significant scientific, economic, and environmental sustainability value for the future of humanity. These reactions harness abundant and readily available resources on Earth, such as methane (CH4), ...

Enzyme-metal-single-atom hybrid catalysts for efficient one-pot chemoenzymatic reactions

A promising strategy for effectively merging the enzymatic and single-atom catalysis

17-Jan-2023 - The merging of different types of catalysis including enzymatic, homogeneous, and heterogeneous catalysis is fundamentally important for both understanding catalysis at the atom level and the design of novel hybrid catalysts. The latter points to a direction toward the ideal catalyst that can ...

Nanocrystals Store Light Energy and Drive Chemical Reactions

Low toxicity, high efficiency: ZnSe/ZnS quantum dots as photocatalysts

15-Nov-2022 - Chemistry is increasingly making use of the trick plants can do with photosynthesis: driving chemical reactions that run poorly or do not occur spontaneously at all with light energy. This requires suitable photocatalysts that capture light energy and make it available for the reaction. In the ...

Researchers develop efficient oxygen catalysts for lithium-oxygen batteries

19-Oct-2022 - Lithium-oxygen (Li-O2) battery is one of the most promising batteries due to its high theoretical energy density. However, the poor catalytic performance ofits air-cathode impeded its commercialization. Recently,ajoint research groupled by Prof. BAO Xinhe and Prof. WU Zhongshuai from ...