Current Opinion in Electrochemistry最新文献

The conversion of biomass into carbon materials has become an essential pillar of sustainability in electrochemical technologies. However, biomass-derived carbons and their electrodes are complex materials. This opinion article raises concerns about the need to correlate physicochemical properties of these carbon materials with those of the biomass precursor, the electrode composition, and the electrode/electrolyte interface to rationalize the comprehension of their electrocatalytic performance. The electrocatalytic activity of biomass-derived carbons in aqueous environments is discussed for several reactions of interest in terms of the nature and stability of electroactive sites and the ability to form radicals. All these are strongly related to the characteristics of the carbon material (composition, type of functional groups, porosity, structural order) and the manufacture of those electrodes. Concerns are also raised about the ambiguities and misconceptions associated with the lack of consensual terminology on biomass-derived carbons. Finally, recommendations are presented when reporting the electrocatalytic activity of biomass-derived carbons; emphasis should be paid to demonstrate the reproducibility of biomass-derived carbon electrodes and their stability through long-term electrocatalytic assays.

Sustainable production of solar-based chemicals via solar-powered bioelectrosynthesis is crucial for the role of third generation biorefineries in achieving a resilient future. However, the limited conversion efficiency and poor selectivity of solar-powered bioelectrosynthesis pose significant challenges to the development of solar-to-chemical conversion. The integration of inorganic, organic, or semiconducting light-harvesting materials with efficient microorganisms forms an interface, allowing the capture of solar energy for the biosynthesis of chemicals from CO₂. This concise review explores recent developments in solar-bioelectrochemical CO₂ conversion within the realm of third generation biorefineries, offering insights into the potential of these systems for sustainable and cost-effective chemical production. The review also delves into the commercial aspects of solar-bioelectrochemical processes, highlighting recent advancements in photovoltaic (PV)-assisted microbial electrosynthesis, direct photoelectrode-based electrosynthesis, and whole-cell photo biohybrid systems.

Electrochemical attenuated total reflection surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (EC-ATR-SEIRAS) is a powerful analytical tool to obtain molecular-level structural information at the electrode-electrolyte interface towards a better mechanistic understanding of electrochemical processes. In this minireview, we highlight the latest research progress of EC-ATR-SEIRAS over the past two years, in terms of technical innovations in IR elements, flow cells, detection sensitivity and time resolution as well as selected applications in studying electrocatalysis, biosensing and electroplating. Coupling EC-ATR-SEIRAS with other spectroelectrochemical methods is also discussed. And our perspectives on developing EC-ATR-SEIRAS in the near future are put forward in the end.

This brief review outlines sustainable and innovative approaches involving electrochemical processes to transform organic waste materials into valuable products. This is defined as electrochemical valorization of organic waste (EVOW). By exploring the waste management landscape, EVOW could significantly contribute to global sustainability goals. This analysis highlights some of the most recent advances in EVOW, focusing on high-volume sources like municipal solid waste, food waste, and synthetic organic waste like plastics. This perspective emphasizes the need for economically viable reactor designs, durable electrodes, and a better understanding of electrocatalytic and electrochemical separation paths. Despite progress, translating theoretical studies into industrial applications remains a challenge, requiring further exploration of economic considerations, life cycle analysis, and scalable technologies. This paper provides insights into advancements, challenges, and prospects, guiding future research for sustainable waste management practices.

Kerr-gated Raman spectroscopy is a powerful technique that can suppress the fluorescence emission signals and reveal the otherwise hidden Raman scattering information within a variety of Li-ion battery materials. Herein, recent advances in the analysis of battery materials both ex situ and operando via Kerr-gated Raman spectroscopy are described and an outlook for broader application of the technique in the study of electrochemical systems is discussed.

Electrochemical regeneration of adsorbents has immense potential for water treatment applications, presenting new solutions to tackle the escalating challenges of sustainability. Conductive adsorbents, laden with adsorbate under an applied potential, can lead to regeneration due to electro-desorption and/or electrochemical reactions. Electrochemical regeneration offers many advantages, such as ambient operation, avoidance or minimization of chemicals, contaminant remediation, rapid and in-situ regeneration. These advantages offer the potential for more sustainable, lower cost, water and wastewater treatment processes. In this review, recent work in the field is reviewed, and important research challenges related to the electrochemical processes are identified. In particular, the complex interaction of the coupled electrical, electrochemical, and mass transport processes within a porous bed of adsorbent.

The development of highly effective and economical catalysts for hydrogen production from the electrochemical water splitting is considered as a promising strategy for the hydrogen production industrialization. Among the various compounds, transition-metal-phosphide electrodes have powerful performance and efficiency, which in the recent years have shown great potential to replace noble electrodes. Among the synthesis methods of phosphide-based electrodes, the electrodeposition technique has recently attracted special attention among researchers, and remarkable progress has been made in this research field. Due to the importance of this topic and the lack of a suitable review article, here, recent developments in the field of electrodeposition of phosphide-based nanostructure for hydrogen production are summarized. In this review article, the performance of synthesized electrodes by different applied current and potential programs is discussed, and concluding remarks and future trend are presented.

Usually, nicotinamide cofactor (NAD(P)H)-dependent dehydrogenase could catalyze important redox reactions for the synthesis of fine chemicals and important pharmaceuticals, necessitating a secondary enzyme for NAD(P)H regeneration. However, it remains challenging to develop artificial NAD(P)H regeneration route to replace the enzymatic regeneration system. Electrocatalytic NAD(P)H regeneration has aroused extensive interests and could serve the purpose of sustainable biosynthesis by utilizing the green electricity to deliver the reduction equivalents. Here, starting with a conceptual discussion on natural photosynthesis and dehydrogenase catalysis, we summarize the recent progress in bioinspired electrocatalytic NAD(P)H regeneration and provide a tentative outlook for further developments.

Ultrasensitive detection is important for the individualized management of medical therapy, playing a key role for the improvement of life expectancy and quality of life. Implementing personalized medicine represents a complex challenge since it requires the development of new, simple, versatile, and sustainable technologies that offer real-time, accurate, and reliable outputs. With increasing chronic conditions and cancers, as well as excessive use and abuse of medication, there is a strong need for continuous monitoring of therapeutic drugs to prevent toxicity levels in cases of overdose or inefficiency in cases of underdose.

However, to date, only a few easy-to-use monitoring systems are available for trace analysis of therapeutic drugs to help physicians and patients with therapeutic drug monitoring. Here, we critically evaluate recent advances, highlighting the position of electrochemical (bio)sensors on the roadmap towards ultrasensitive detection for personalized therapy.

Photoelectrocatalysis (PEC) provides an effective and sustainable means for the treatment of waters contaminated by emerging pollutants. Beyond water decontamination, PECs can be harnessed for green energy generation and CO₂ reforming due to the wide variety of existing semiconductor materials. The configuration of PEC systems enables more effective separation of charge carriers generated from an ideally irradiated polarized photoanode, thereby extending the electron–hole lifetime. This short review presents trends, advancements, critiques, and future perspectives related to PEC applied in studies of sustainable water treatment.