Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) exhibit excellent catalytic performance due to their unique two-dimensional (2D) layered structure, adjustable chemical composition, and tunable interlayer ion types and contents. However, when employed as a catalyst, LDH materials still suffer from several drawbacks, such as poor electrical conductivity and a tendency to agglomerate. To further improve their catalytic performance, a variety of effective modification strategies have been adopted, including electronic structure modulation, morphological control, and interface engineering.

A research team from China has developed a high-entropy single-atom material that significantly enhances electromagnetic wave absorption, offering a promising solution to mitigate growing electromagnetic pollution from modern electronics and communication technologies. The innovative material demonstrates exceptional performance, with a minimal reflection loss of -76.9 dB and a broad effective absorption bandwidth of 5.00 GHz.

Growing environmental impacts of fossil fuels drive demand for zero-emission energy technologies (e.g., PEMFCs, CO₂ electroreduction) to advance carbon neutrality—making oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) critical research focuses. Biomass-derived carbon offers cost-effectiveness and sustainability vs. precious metal catalysts, but tailoring its hierarchical structure remains challenging. A team led by Yang Haiping at HUST developed a ZIF-8-mediated assembly strategy to synthesize 3D flower-like N-doped biomass carbon, which exhibits Pt/C-comparable ORR activity and high CO₂RR performance, providing insights for customizing biomass carbon for energy applications.

Reasonable design of high-activity catalytic sites for reducing the activation energy barrier of O-H bonds is significant for efficient conversion of hydrogen energy involving water dissociation. Herein, a coupling oxygen vacancy (V_O) strategy for intensifying generation and transfer of photo-induced electron for enhancing catalytic activity of water dissociation is verified. Using ammonia borane hydrolysis as a verification, the turnover frequency of Ru-TV_O reaches up to 1614 min⁻¹ in visible light excitation condition at 298 K, exceeding the highest activity in Ru-based catalysts. Intensified generation and transfer of photo-induced electron via coupling V_O reduces the activation energy barrier of O-H bond on Ru sites, leading a boosted intrinsic activity of Ru toward water dissociation. Ru sites enriched by photo-induced electrons also exhibit unprecedented performance in phenylacetylene hydrogenation. This work provides an effective strategy for water dissociation through V_O-intensified generation and transfer of photo-induced electron in the field of energy conversion.

The electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO₃⁻RR) holds significant research value for sustainable ammonia synthesis and wastewater treatment. Despite the low cost of iron and its good ammonia synthesis performance, issues such as particle aggregation, slow kinetics, and poor stability limit the selectivity for ammonia and overall reaction efficiency, hindering large-scale application of catalysts. In this study, an amorphous/crystalline dual-phase (a-Fe/Cu) catalyst was synthesized via ultrasonic process, achieving a highly efficient electrocatalyst for ammonia synthesis. The a-Fe/Cu catalyst achieved high ammonia yield rate of 4.67 mol g^–1 h^–1 with a Faraday efficiency (FE) of up to 93.48% at -0.5V vs. RHE. In situ analyses demonstrated that the presence of amorphous Fe facilitates interfacial water activation, dissociation and dynamic equilibrium between the production of *H and its prompt consumption by nitrogen intermediates resulting in an enhanced ammonia yield with high Faradaic efficiency. The synergistic interaction between c-Cu and a-Fe optimizes the electronic structure of the catalyst, enhancing the adsorption of nitrate, reaction intermediates, and facilitates efficient electron transfer, thus improving overall electrocatalytic reaction performance. Furthermore, the integration of the catalyst into a Zn-based battery configuration demonstrates its potential applicability in the fields of energy conversion and storage technologies.