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Linear scaling relationships often hinder the optimization of heterogeneous catalysts. Now, an intermediate spillover strategy is put forward by designing bi-component catalysts, thereby decoupling elementary electron-transfer steps and circumventing linear scaling relationships.

Long-term stability is a key challenge for ruthenium-based oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts. Here, the authors present a RuO2/LiCoO2 catalyst with dynamic Li dissolution, which weakens the covalency of the Ru-O bond to prevent the lattice oxygen mechanism, thereby ensuring stable acidic OER.

The photocatalytic reforming of plastics into value-added chemicals offers a promising strategy to address environmental challenges while providing significant energy benefits. Here, the authors develop modified carbon nitride with enhanced visible light absorption, effectively anchoring under-coordinated IrN₂O₂ sites to catalyze the oxidation of persistent plastic derivatives.

Metal borides/borates are promising candidates to become high-performance alkaline oxygen evolution reaction catalysts. This study reports an in-situ phase composition modulation approach to fabricate boride/borate-based catalysts.

Copper is unique among CO₂ electrocatalysts owing to its ability to produce multicarbon products at high rates; however, achieving selectivity for specific products remains challenging. Here, Cu surfaces decorated with alkaline earth metal oxides are found to strongly favour alcohols over hydrocarbons.

Converting CO2 and H2O into value-added chemical feedstocks and fuels offers a carbon neutral approach to tackling global energy and climate concerns. Here the authors report a metal supported single-atom catalytic site enabling the electrocatalytic reduction of CO2 to methane.

Tandem electrocatalysts are developed for acidic CO₂ electroreduction. The catalyst contains planar-copper for CO₂ reduction to CO, and a dual-copper-active-site layer for CO reduction to C₂₊ products. An ethanol Faradaic efficiency of 46% and a C₂₊ Faradaic efficiency of 91% are achieved in acidic electrolyte at 150 mA cm⁻².

Manipulating the carbon-carbon coupling pathway in CO₂ electroreduction is vital yet challenging. Here, by studying two model copper-based catalysts with distinct ethylene and ethanol selectivity, authors investigate the mechanistic origins for symmetric and asymmetric carbon-carbon coupling.

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction to make fuels and feedstocks often relies on metal-based catalysts. Here the authors report membrane electrode assemblies operating with relatively high current densities for CO₂-to-CH₄ conversion using organic molecular catalysts.

Realizing an efficient turnover frequency by modifying the reaction configuration is crucial in designing single-atom catalysts. Here, authors report a “single atom–double site” concept, which involves activating inert atom redox chemistry.

Fuel cells rely on costly and scarce platinum-group metals to catalyse both anodic and cathodic reactions. Here a catalyst consisting of atomically dispersed iridium and phosphorus on carbon is presented, where adjacent iridium and phosphorus sites work as integrative catalytic pairs to synergically boost the performance for the hydrogen oxidation reaction.

Establishing optimal metal-support interactions is crucial for creating efficient catalysts for water splitting. Here, stable Ti–O–Ru interface formation and minimal work function difference between Ru nanoparticles and non-stoichiometric Ti4O7 lead to exceptional bifunctional activity of Ru/Ti4O7 for both HER and OER across pH-universal environments, maintaining stable operation for 500 h.

The seawater oxidation reaction faces challenges from competitive chloride oxidation reaction. Herein, the authors have utilized chlorine adsorption to modulate the single-atom Ir coordination state and promote seawater oxidation and catalyst stability.

Typically, Cu catalysts agglomerate under electrochemical conditions. Here, the authors report a coordination polymer catalyst with neighboring Cu sites which remain isolated and reduce CO₂ to C₂H₄ with high selectivity and stability

Conventional alkaline and neutral CO₂-to-CH₄ systems suffer carbon loss, and recovering the lost carbon requires input energy exceeding the heating value of CH₄. Here, the authors report a chelating strategy to obtain Cu-N/O single sites decorated Cu clusters, which enables energy- and carbon-efficient CH₄ electroproduction in an acidic system.

Deciphering the reaction mechanisms of CO/CO2 electroreduction to methanol remains challenging. Here the authors report the higher electron density of single-Co-atom center, along with a different adsorption configuration of *CO, is crucial for promoting the CO electroreduction to methanol.

Copper-based catalysts are promising for electroreduction of carbon monoxide to multi-carbon products, yet further improvements in selectivity, productivity and stability are still needed. Here the authors show that doping copper with silver and ruthenium boosts its performance towards synthesis of n-propanol—a useful fuel.

Electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide to methane can store intermittent renewable electricity in a staple of global energy. Here, the authors develop a moderator strategy to maintain the catalyst in a low coordination state, thereby enabling stable and selective electrochemical methanation.

Electroreduction uses renewable energy to upgrade carbon dioxide to value-added chemicals and fuels. Here, the authors design a suite of ligand-stabilized metal oxide clusters to modulate the reduction pathways on a copper catalyst, enabling record activity for CO₂-to-methane conversion.

Water electrolysis offers a promising energy conversion technology, although there is still a need to understand the catalysis on the atomic-level. Here, the authors report Ir nanoclusters coordinated with both N and S as an efficient and pH-universal electrocatalyst for overall water splitting.

Electrochemical conversion of CO₂ into liquid fuels, powered by renewable electricity, offers one means to address the need for the storage of intermittent renewable energy. Now, Sargent and co-workers present a cooperative catalyst design of molecule–metal interfaces to improve the electrosynthesis of ethanol from CO₂ by producing a reaction-intermediate-rich local environment.

Electrocatalysts with improved activity and stability for the conversion of CO₂ to CO are being sought. Using operando spectroscopies, the authors identify atomically dispersed Ni(i) as the active site in a nitrogenated-graphene-supported catalyst with high intrinsic activity and stability over 100 hours.

Anchored single-atom catalysts have recently been shown to be very active for various processes, however, a catalyst that features two adjacent copper atoms—which we call an atom-pair catalyst—is now reported. The Cu₁⁰–Cu₁^x+ pair structures work together to carry out the critical bimolecular step in CO₂ reduction.

The electroreduction of CO₂ to ethanol could enable the clean production of fuels using renewable power. This study shows how confinement effects from nitrogen-doped carbon layers on copper catalysts enable selective ethanol production from CO₂ with a Faradaic efficiency of up to 52%.

Spillover hydrogenation is facet specific and occurs on atomically dispersed Pd catalyst on Cu(100). Knowing this, cost-effective catalysts with extremely low Pd loading are fabricated that successfully catalyse the semi-hydrogenation of a broad range of alkynes with high activity and selectivity.