Recent progress of Bi-based electrocatalysts for electrocatalytic CO2 reduction

To mitigate excessively accumulated carbon dioxide (CO₂) in the atmosphere and tackle the associated environmental concerns, green and effective approaches are necessary. The electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) using sustainable electricity under benign reaction conditions represents a viable way to produce value-added and profitable chemicals. In this minireview, recent studies regarding unary Bi electrocatalysts and binary BiSn electrocatalysts are symmetrically categorized and reviewed, as they disclose high faradaic efficiencies toward the production of formate/formic acid, which has a relatively higher value of up to 0.50 $·per kg and has been widely used in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. In particular, the preparation methodologies, electrocatalyst morphologies, catalytic performances and the corresponding mechanisms are comprehensively presented. The use of solid-state electrolytes showing high economic prospects for directly obtaining high-purity formic acid is highlighted. Finally, the remaining questions and challenges for CO₂RR exploitations using Bi-related electrocatalysts are proposed, while perspectives and the corresponding strategies aiming to enhance their entire catalytic functionalities and boost their performance are provided.

A facile and sustainable one-pot approach to the aqueous and low-temperature PET-to-UiO-66(Zr) upcycling

Accelerating waste management requires the conversion of polymer waste to value-added materials through sustainable approaches. While depolymerised PET has been used as feedstock to produce metal-organic frameworks, this is the first report of the successful one-pot hydrothermal synthesis of the desirable UiO-66 topology through the judicious choice of reactants, modulators and reaction conditions.

Peptide recognition via hierarchical imprinting

Silica particles containing immobilised peptidic templates have been used for the generation of hierarchically imprinted polymers. The pores of the silica mould were filled with a mixture of monomers/initiator and polymerised, followed by dissolution of the silica template. This method leaves behind imprinted polymers with binding sites located at the surface, which are capable of recognising larger molecules with the same immobilised epitope. All the products resulting from solid-phase synthesis of peptides were characterised by elemental analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy. The hierarchically imprinted polymers generated from these products were characterised by elemental analysis, FT-IR spectroscopy, fluorescence microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and nitrogen adsorption, providing evidence concerning the reproducibility of each step. The chromatographic properties of the materials have been investigated and the advantages of the immobilisation method have been proven. The materials exhibit selectivity for their templates and other structurally related dipeptides. Furthermore, the polymers proved to be capable of recognising larger peptides containing the immobilised sequence.