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The pressing demand for removing high-risk emerging contaminants from wastewater calls for tailored treatment strategies, for which heterogeneous electrocatalysis induced by cascade oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) holds considerable potential. This process, however, suffers from poor interfacial electron transfer and discounted performance in non-acidic conditions. Inspired by the electron respiration chain of cells, a metal-free, quinone-based catalyst (PBth-BQ) was innovatively designed and synthesized. With excellent redox reversibility over 50 cycles and no risk of metal leaching, it boosted the direct electron transfer by 110 % compared to the bare graphite substrate and facilitated cascade ORR to generate ·OH for effective contaminant abatement in the pH range of 3-13. Among them, pH 8 demonstrated the best performance, which is suitable for wastewater treatment. In particular, PBth-BQ performed well as both anodic and cathodic electrodes in azithromycin mineralization with different oxygen donors, verified by the in-situ mass spectrum. Considering the abundance of quinone-like structures in oxidized carbon materials, this biomimetic design may inspire the further exploration of cheap and efficient electrocatalysts for wastewater treatment.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2025.123747 | DOI Listing |
J Am Chem Soc
September 2025
State Key Laboratory of Supramolecular Structure and Materials, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun 130012, China.
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are distinguished by their structural diversity, tunable electronic properties, and exceptional performance in various applications. Notably, the electron-donating ability of ligands significantly enhances the ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) processes within these frameworks, thereby promoting efficient charge migration. Herein, we developed two electron-rich macrocyclic ligands derived from phenothiazine- and phenoxazine-functionalized calix[3]arenes, alongside their corresponding cobalt-coordinated MOFs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInorg Chem
September 2025
College of Chemistry and Materials Science, The key Laboratory of Functional Molecular Solids, Ministry of Education, The Key Laboratory of Electrochemical Clean Energy of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Anhui Provincial Engineering Laboratory for New-Energy Vehicle Battery Energy-Storage Materia
Conventional acid-catalyzed acetalization faces significant challenges in catalyst recovery and poses environmental concerns. Herein, we develop a CeO-supported Pd single-atom catalyst (Pd/CeO) that eliminates the reliance on liquid acids by creating a localized H-rich microenvironment through heterolytic H activation. X-ray absorption near-edge structure and extended X-ray absorption fine structure analyses confirm the atomic dispersion of Pd via Pd-O-Ce coordination, while density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal strong metal-support interactions (SMSI) that facilitate electron transfer from CeO oxygen to Pd, downshifting the Pd d-band center and optimizing H activation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAdv Biochem Eng Biotechnol
September 2025
Institute of Process Engineering in Life Sciences, Electrobiotechnology, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany.
While bioprocesses using Escherichia coli, Corynebacterium glutamicum, various species of Bacillus, lactic acid bacteria, Clostridia, the yeasts Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris, fungi such as Aspergillus niger, and Chinese hamster ovary cells are well established, the high level of microbial diversity has not yet been exploited industrially. However, the use of alternative organisms has the potential to significantly expand the process window of bioprocesses. These extensions include the use of alternative substrates (e.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Am Chem Soc
September 2025
Institute of Functional Nano & Soft Materials (FUNSOM), Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Carbon-Based Functional Materials & Devices, Soochow University, Suzhou 215123, Jiangsu P. R. China.
Advances in molecular analysis and characterization techniques should revolutionize the methods for scientific exploration across physics, chemistry, and biology, fundamentally overturning our understanding of interactions and processes that govern molecular behavior at the microscopic level. Currently, the absence of a molecular analysis method that can both quantify molecules and achieve single-molecule spatial resolution hinders our study of complex molecular systems in sorption and catalysis. Here, we propose a quantitative analysis strategy for small molecules confined in ZSM-5, a zeolite material extensively used in catalysis and gas separation, based on low-dose transmission electron microscopy.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFChaos
September 2025
Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India.
The absorption of laser energy by plasma is of paramount importance for various applications. Collisional and resonant processes are often invoked for this purpose. However, in some contexts (e.
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