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Direct formation of copper nanoparticles from atoms at graphitic step edges lowers overpotential and improves selectivity of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction (2024)
Journal Article

A key strategy for minimizing our reliance on precious metals is to increase the fraction of surface atoms and improve the metal-support interface. In this work, we employ a solvent/ligand/counterion-free method to deposit copper in the atomic form d... Read More about Direct formation of copper nanoparticles from atoms at graphitic step edges lowers overpotential and improves selectivity of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction.

From scrap metal to highly efficient electrodes: harnessing the nanotextured surface of swarf for effective utilisation of Pt and Co for hydrogen production (2024)
Journal Article

Hydrogen is considered to be the key element to achieving climate neutrality, leading to a massive demand for electrocatalysts. This work explores the transformation of metal waste into active and stable electrode materials for water splitting by mod... Read More about From scrap metal to highly efficient electrodes: harnessing the nanotextured surface of swarf for effective utilisation of Pt and Co for hydrogen production.

Synergy of nanocrystalline carbon nitride with Cu single atom catalyst leads to selective photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol (2024)
Journal Article

Carbon nitride (C3N4) possesses both a band gap in the visible range and a low-lying conduction band potential, suitable for water splitting and CO2 reduction reactions (CO2RR). Yet, bulk C3N4 (b-C3N4) suffers from structural disorder leading to slug... Read More about Synergy of nanocrystalline carbon nitride with Cu single atom catalyst leads to selective photocatalytic reduction of CO2 to methanol.

Selective Excitation of Pd-decorated Titania Enables Consecutive C−C Couplings and Hydrogenations under Ambient Conditions (2023)
Journal Article

Here, we discovered that Pd decorated TiO2 (Pd@TiO2) enables consecutive photocatalytic Sonogashira C−C coupling and hydrogenation steps by simply adjusting the excitation conditions of the reaction. We demonstrated that by-products containing iodine... Read More about Selective Excitation of Pd-decorated Titania Enables Consecutive C−C Couplings and Hydrogenations under Ambient Conditions.

Chemical Kinetics of Metal Single Atom and Nanocluster Formation on Surfaces: An Example of Pt on Hexagonal Boron Nitride (2023)
Journal Article

The production of atomically dispersed metal catalysts remains a significant challenge in the field of heterogeneous catalysis due to coexistence with continuously packed sites such as nanoclusters and nanoparticles. This work presents a comprehensiv... Read More about Chemical Kinetics of Metal Single Atom and Nanocluster Formation on Surfaces: An Example of Pt on Hexagonal Boron Nitride.

Unravelling synergistic effects in bi-metallic catalysts: deceleration of palladium–gold nanoparticle coarsening in the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde (2023)
Journal Article

In this work, we demonstrate that the synergistic effect of PdAu nanoparticles (NPs) in hydrogenation reactions is not only related to high activity but also to their stability when compared to Pd mono-metallic NPs. To demonstrate this, a series of m... Read More about Unravelling synergistic effects in bi-metallic catalysts: deceleration of palladium–gold nanoparticle coarsening in the hydrogenation of cinnamaldehyde.

Interchangeable Biomass Fuels for Paper-Based Microfluidic Fuel Cells: Finding Their Power Density Limits (2023)
Journal Article

Paper batteries are self-pumping emerging tools for powering portable analytical systems. These disposable energy converters must be low-cost and must achieve enough energy to power electronic devices. The challenge is reaching high energy while keep... Read More about Interchangeable Biomass Fuels for Paper-Based Microfluidic Fuel Cells: Finding Their Power Density Limits.

Host–Guest Chemistry in Boron Nitride Nanotubes: Interactions with Polyoxometalates and Mechanism of Encapsulation (2022)
Journal Article

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTs) are an emerging class of molecular container offering new functionalities and possibilities for studying molecules at the nanoscale. Herein, BNNTs are demonstrated as highly effective nanocontainers for polyoxometalate... Read More about Host–Guest Chemistry in Boron Nitride Nanotubes: Interactions with Polyoxometalates and Mechanism of Encapsulation.

Defect Etching in Carbon Nanotube Walls for Porous Carbon Nanoreactors: Implications for CO2 Sorption and the Hydrosilylation of Phenylacetylene (2022)
Journal Article

A method of pore fabrication in the walls of carbon nanotubes has been developed, leading to porous nanotubes that have been filled with catalysts and utilized in liquid- and gas-phase reactions. Chromium oxide nanoparticles have been utilized as hig... Read More about Defect Etching in Carbon Nanotube Walls for Porous Carbon Nanoreactors: Implications for CO2 Sorption and the Hydrosilylation of Phenylacetylene.

Selective suppression of {112} anatase facets by fluorination for enhanced TiO2 particle size and phase stability at elevated temperatures (2021)
Journal Article

Generally, anatase is the most desirable TiO2 polymorphic phase for photovoltaic and photocatalytic applications due to its higher photoconductivity and lower recombination rates compared to the rutile phase. However, in applications where temperatur... Read More about Selective suppression of {112} anatase facets by fluorination for enhanced TiO2 particle size and phase stability at elevated temperatures.

Blurring the Boundary between Homogenous and Heterogeneous Catalysis using Palladium Nanoclusters with Dynamic Surfaces (2021)
Journal Article

Using a magnetron sputtering approach that allows size-controlled formation of nanoclusters, we have created palladium nanoclusters that combine the features of both heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysts. Here we report the atomic structures and el... Read More about Blurring the Boundary between Homogenous and Heterogeneous Catalysis using Palladium Nanoclusters with Dynamic Surfaces.

Revealing the true impact of interstitial and substitutional nitrogen doping in TiO2 on photoelectrochemical applications (2021)
Journal Article

Application of photocatalysts that strongly absorb within the visible range is a common strategy to improve the efficiency of photoelectrochemical (PEC) systems; this may translate to high photocurrents, but it is not always the case. Here, we show t... Read More about Revealing the true impact of interstitial and substitutional nitrogen doping in TiO2 on photoelectrochemical applications.

Porous hollow TiO2 microparticles for photocatalysis: exploiting novel ABC triblock terpolymer templates synthesised in supercritical CO2 (2021)
Journal Article

Reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) mediated dispersion polymerisation in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) is an efficient and green method for synthesising block copolymer microparticles with internal nanostructures. Here we... Read More about Porous hollow TiO2 microparticles for photocatalysis: exploiting novel ABC triblock terpolymer templates synthesised in supercritical CO2.

A Cooperative Photoactive Class-I Hybrid Polyoxometalate With Benzothiadiazole–Imidazolium Cations (2021)
Journal Article

An organic–inorganic hybrid species based on the Wells–Dawson polyoxotungstate [P2W18O62]6− and novel fluorescent benzothiadiazole–imidazolium cations, [BTD-4,7-ImH]2+, has been synthesized. X-ray crystallographic analysis shows that the inorganic an... Read More about A Cooperative Photoactive Class-I Hybrid Polyoxometalate With Benzothiadiazole–Imidazolium Cations.