Zixiong Wang, Xiaofei Jing, Qi Zhang, He Zhu, Shiping Zhu
{"title":"Ni<sub>3</sub>S<sub>2</sub>/NiFe-MOF heterostructure for efficient water/seawater oxidation.","authors":"Zixiong Wang, Xiaofei Jing, Qi Zhang, He Zhu, Shiping Zhu","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138601","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138601","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The development of efficient and corrosion-resistant electrocatalysts is critical for advancing seawater electrolysis as a sustainable hydrogen production strategy. Here, we report a partial sulphuration method to construct a Ni<sub>3</sub>S<sub>2</sub>/NiFe-btz heterostructure (btz: 1,4-bis(4H-1,2,4-triazol-4-yl)benzene), optimized by tuning the hydrothermal duration. This unique structure affords sufficient metal-organic framework (MOF)/sulfide interfaces, providing numerous active sites, optimized electronic configurations, and rapid charge transfer. Theoretical calculations confirm that the heterostructure lowers the energy barrier of the rate-determining step, improving oxygenated species adsorption and intrinsic activity. Moreover, water oxidation induces a protective sulfate layer, effectively mitigating chloride corrosion and ensuring long-term stability in natural seawater electrolysis. As a result, the optimized Ni<sub>3</sub>S<sub>2</sub>/NiFe-btz requires an overpotential of 359 mV to reach 500 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> in alkaline natural seawater, which is much lower than that of 447 mV for single-phase NiFe-btz. In addition, it demonstrates remarkable durability, maintaining stable operation for over 200 h at 500 mA cm<sup>-2</sup> with minimal overpotential increase. This work offers insight into designing high-performance oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalysts for industrial seawater electrolysis.</p>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"700 Pt 3","pages":"138601"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144797786","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Yan Zhuang, Shuang Meng, Yousen Wu, Jinlong Li, Xue Yang, Changxin Yuan, Tai Peng, Dongxuan Guo
{"title":"Enhanced overall water splitting performance in alkaline solutions using hollow nanocage nickel‑cobalt‑iron layered double hydroxide derived from zeolitic imidazolate framework-67: The synergy of fast etching and metallic ions.","authors":"Yan Zhuang, Shuang Meng, Yousen Wu, Jinlong Li, Xue Yang, Changxin Yuan, Tai Peng, Dongxuan Guo","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138645","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138645","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The development of highly active, cost-effective, and durable electrocatalysts is critical for efficient water splitting. Layered double hydroxides (LDHs), with their excellent conductivity, large surface area, and three-dimensional (3D) open framework facilitating mass transport and active site accessibility, are ideal candidates. In this work, a ternary nickel‑cobalt‑iron LDH (NiCoFe-LDH) is synthesized via metal ion etching, leveraging synergistic intermetallic electronic interactions to enhance electrocatalytic performance. The as-prepared NiCoFe-LDH exhibits outstanding electrocatalytic performance under alkaline conditions, achieving low overpotentials of 79.60 ± 0.50 mV for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and 373.40 ± 0.50 mV for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) at 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>, along with Tafel slopes of 149.61 ± 0.50 and 77.84 ± 0.50 mV dec<sup>-1</sup>, respectively. It also demonstrates exceptional stability, with negligible performance degradation after 72 h of rigorous testing. For overall water splitting, NiCoFe-LDH requires only 1.56 ± 0.1 V to deliver 10 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>, highlighting its potential for efficient hydrogen production. The incorporation of Fe into NiCo-LDH induces significant electronic structure modifications, including electron delocalization and an upshift in the d-band center, while simultaneously modulating the spin states of Ni/Co ions. These synergistic effects collectively enhance both electrical conductivity and intermediate adsorption capacity. This work highlights cation exchange as an effective strategy for tailoring the electronic properties of layered hydroxides, demonstrating its potential for optimizing material performance in electrocatalysis applications.</p>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"700 Pt 3","pages":"138645"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144803153","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Hierarchically aligned reduced graphene oxide/MXene foam enabling Marangoni-driven salt-resistant desalination via bidirectional ion reflux.","authors":"Haimin Yang, Wei Li, Yanni Gao, Guangtao Zhong, Hongqi Wang, Yongqin Han","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138617","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138617","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Interfacial solar desalination has emerged as a sustainable pathway for treating high-salinity brines, but the non-equilibrium phase transition at the evaporation frontier inevitably induces self-amplifying crystallization to reduce purification efficiency. Herein, a hierarchically aligned reduced graphene oxide/MXene (Mr) foam is fabricated to optimize ion transport channels while reducing optical scattering interfaces that enhance solar energy utilization. The aligned layered structure with interconnected anisotropic microchannels is built under dual temperature gradients with the ice crystal exclusion, which significantly shortens the water transport path and facilitates diffusion and reflux of salt ions. The finite element simulations validate the exceptional photon-to-thermal energy efficiency of Mr foam coupled with inherently low thermal conductivity, synergistically suppressing heat dissipation through thermal localization strategy. The steep thermal gradient originating from the liquid-vapor interface propagates through the subsurface aqueous phase, establishing a localized surface tension differential that activates spontaneous Marangoni convection currents, which drives self-sustaining hydrodynamic patterns to suppress salt accumulation. Consequently, the Mr foam achieves a water evaporation rate of 2.04 kg m<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> under 1 sun irradiation. Importantly, it maintains a stable evaporation rate of 1.76 kg m<sup>-2</sup> h<sup>-1</sup> over 100 h in 25 wt% NaCl solution, which demonstrates a great potential for efficient and long-term solar desalination.</p>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"700 Pt 3","pages":"138617"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144803156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Construction of interlayer-structured MnS@MXene cathode via a electrostatic anchoring combined with confined sulfidation strategy for high-performance zinc-ion batteries.","authors":"Jianjiang Mao, Yu Huang, Fei Cheng","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138634","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138634","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>MnS materials have gained prominence as a promising cathode material for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) due to their exceptional electrical conductivity and superior electrochemical reactivity, but their practical applications are limited by the suboptimal reaction kinetics, inadequate cycle durability, as well as the ambiguities in the fundamental charge storage mechanisms. Herein, a unique interlayer-structured MnS@MXene cathode is designed and synthesized through an electrostatic anchoring combined with confined sulfidation approach, which enables in situ growth of MnS in MXene matrices, overcoming the challenges of weak interfacial bonding and uneven particle distribution encountered in traditional composite fabrication methods. The periodic stacking of MnS nanoparticles and MXene lamellae forms a large number of heterogeneous interfaces, which construct a good conductive network while offering an increased number of active sites for electrochemical reactions. When employed as a cathode material for AZIBs, the electrochemical activity of MnS is unlocked by the initial charging process, and it exhibits considerable capacity of 325 mAh g<sup>-1</sup> at a current density of 0.2 A g<sup>-1</sup> and superior cycling performance with a specific discharge capacity of 274 mAh g<sup>-1</sup> even after 400 cycles at a current density of 0.5 A g<sup>-1</sup>. Even at a high current density of 2 A g<sup>-1</sup>, a reversible specific capacity of 105 mA g<sup>-1</sup> is still achieved after 2500 cycles. The superior performance originates from the synergistic effect between the high electrical conductivity of MXene and the nanoscale dimension of MnS, which facilitates the electrochemical activation process of MnS involving a reversible conversion between MnOOH/ZnMn<sub>2</sub>O<sub>4</sub> and Mn<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/ZnMnO<sub>3</sub> accompanied by the co-insertion/extraction of H<sup>+</sup> and Zn<sup>2+</sup>.</p>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"700 Pt 3","pages":"138634"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144797782","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Multilevel supramolecular assemblies achieving cascaded enhancement of superoxide anion radical generation for visible-light-driven thiocyanation of anilines.","authors":"Rong-Xin Zhu, Shi-Qian Jia, Ruizhi Dong, Hui Liu, Shengsheng Yu, Ling-Bao Xing","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138580","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138580","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The significant enhancement in molecular oxygen activation via multilevel supramolecular assembly provides an effective strategy for advancing the design and development of high-efficiency supramolecular photosensitizer. Here, we designed and constructed a multilevel supramolecular assembly based on anthracene derivative (PA), cucurbit[7]uril (CB[7]), poly(sodium 4-styrenesulfonate) (PSS) and commercial dyes Cyanine 5 (Cy5). Among them, PA can efficiently absorb light energy and act as an energy donor, while CB[7] and PSS serve as the primary macrocycle and secondary assembly constraint to prominently enhance the fluorescence emission performance of PA. Meanwhile, Cy5 serves as an energy acceptor and efficiently participates in the fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) process. By leveraging the synergistic effect of the cascade assembly process and FRET, the activation ability of molecular oxygen is significantly enhanced, which leads to an increased generation of superoxide anion radicals (O<sub>2</sub><sup>•-</sup>), thereby facilitating efficient thiocyanation of aniline in an aqueous environment. It is worth noting that compared with PA-CB[7]-PSS, PA-CB[7]-PSS + Cy5 exhibits a higher O<sub>2</sub><sup>•-</sup> generation and photocatalytic activity. Meanwhile, the cascade assembly PA-CB[7]-PSS also shows a similar performance improvement compared to PA-CB[7]. This indicates that the cascade assembly and FRET play a crucial role in enhancing O<sub>2</sub><sup>•-</sup> generation and photocatalytic activity. This study highlights the crucial role of multilevel supramolecular assembly in the design and development of highly efficient supramolecular photosensitizers.</p>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"700 Pt 3","pages":"138580"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144797785","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Xusheng Cheng, Tao Xuan, Haoran Hu, Jianchi Wang, Jiantao Zai, Liwei Wang
{"title":"Thermodynamic descriptor-guided ligand screening enables dendrite-free zinc deposition in alkaline flow batteries.","authors":"Xusheng Cheng, Tao Xuan, Haoran Hu, Jianchi Wang, Jiantao Zai, Liwei Wang","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138637","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138637","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Alkaline zinc-based flow batteries suffer from poor zinc reversibility due to dendrite growth and parasitic reactions, which significantly shorten their cycling lifespan. A key challenge lies in the rational design of ligands to eliminate concentration polarization caused by mismatched diffusion and interfacial reaction rates, thereby inducing and regulating uniform zinc deposition. In this study, we propose a thermodynamic descriptor-guided ligand screening strategy, using the metal-ligand stability constant (log K) as a quantitative criterion to simultaneously optimize deposition morphology and interfacial ion kinetics. Guided by this principle, nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA, log K = 11.98) is identified as a robust chelating agent under strongly alkaline conditions (pH > 14). Its moderate coordination strength enables the disruption of the native Zn<sup>2+</sup>-H<sub>2</sub>O network, effectively suppressing hydrogen evolution while maintaining near-theoretical Zn<sup>2+</sup> desolvation kinetics. In situ microscopy and electrochemical analyses reveal that NTA directs preferential Zn(002) growth, yielding dendrite-free deposition at ultrahigh current densities (80 mA cm<sup>-2</sup>) and high areal capacities (40 mAh cm<sup>-2</sup>). Furthermore, NTA facilitates efficient Zn<sup>2+</sup> diffusion (5.77 × 10<sup>-7</sup> cm<sup>2</sup>/s), outperforming strong chelators such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid. As a result, Zn//Zn symmetric cells exhibit stable cycling over 400 h, while NTA-enabled ZnFe flow batteries achieve 700 cycles with 99 % coulombic efficiency and minimal capacity decay. This work establishes log K as a practical screening descriptor for multi-objective electrolyte optimization and provides a scalable pathway for the development of high-performance alkaline zinc flow batteries.</p>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"700 Pt 3","pages":"138637"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144833659","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"N-methylpyrrolidone-based electrolyte modulated CF bond weakening and Interface optimization synergistically enhances Li/CF<sub>x</sub> batteries energy density.","authors":"Fei Zhou, Jiangmin Jiang, Gaoyu Zhou, Lingbang Qiu, Wenxuan Fu, Chencheng Xu, Yanhua Cui, Quanchao Zhuang","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138638","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.138638","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lithium/fluorinated carbon (Li/CF<sub>x</sub>) batteries have garnered substantial interest from researchers due to their superior energy density and low self-discharge characteristics. However, the strong covalent CF bond in the CF<sub>x</sub> cathode limits its discharge kinetics, affecting the actual power density and operating voltage. In this work, N-methylpyrrolidone (NMP) with high donor number has proposed as the main solvent of the electrolyte to facilitate the breaking of the CF bond through a bimolecular nucleophilic substitution (S<sub>N</sub>2) reaction. This strategy effectively reduces the energy barrier for Li<sup>+</sup> embedding and improves interfacial reaction potential. Notably, NMP forms a nitrogen-rich cathode-electrolyte interface (CEI) membrane during the discharge process, which enhances interfacial ionic conductivity and stabilizes the electrode-electrolyte interface. The optimized electrolyte system achieves a discharge plateau of 2.7 V and an energy density of 2128 Wh kg<sup>-1</sup> at 50 mA g<sup>-1</sup>, significantly surpassing that of the conventional electrolyte (COE). This study provides a low-cost electrolyte optimization strategy, offering a promising approach to maintaining the high energy density and discharge voltage of Li/CF<sub>x</sub> batteries.</p>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"700 Pt 3","pages":"138638"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-12-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144803157","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Zhuang Hu, Xu Su, Yue Lv, Han-wen Wang, Xin-yue Zhou, Yang-wen Wu, Li Zhao, Qiang Lu
{"title":"The effect of KCl on the simultaneous removal of NO and toluene on CeO2-TiO2 catalyst: insights from experimental and DFT studies","authors":"Zhuang Hu, Xu Su, Yue Lv, Han-wen Wang, Xin-yue Zhou, Yang-wen Wu, Li Zhao, Qiang Lu","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.139295","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.139295","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>KCl species released from co-firing of organic solid waste or biomass in coal-fired boilers inevitably jeopardize the removal performance and property of deNO<sub><em>x</em></sub> and toluene oxidation catalysts. Herein, the effect of KCl on the typical CeO<sub>2</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub> catalyst in the simultaneous deNO<sub><em>x</em></sub> and toluene oxidation scenario was investigated in this paper. The optimal removal efficiencies of NO<sub><em>x</em></sub> and toluene for the fresh CeO<sub>2</sub>/TiO<sub>2</sub> catalyst were 96.3 % and 96.4 % at 400 °C, whereas after KCl poisoning the removal efficiencies decreased to 57.10 % and 15.5 %, respectively. Through comprehensive characterization techniques and theoretical calculations, the KCl poisoning mechanism was further investigated. The findings revealed that physically, KCl covered the surface active sites, caused particle clustering and affected the TiO<sub>2</sub> lattice. Chemically, KCl reduced the adsorption capacity of ammonia and decreased the surface acidity. Meanwhile, the electron transfer on the catalyst was also inhibited due to KCl bonding with Ce<img>O and Ti<img>O, hindering the conversion of reactive O/Ce species and inhibiting oxygen vacancy formation. The ratio of active Ce<sup>3+</sup> was depressed, leading to difficulty in Ce<sup>3+</sup>/Ce<sup>4+</sup> valence cycling. This work solidifies guidance for the development of simultaneous deNO<sub><em>x</em></sub> and toluene oxidation in rich KCl-containing environments.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"704 ","pages":"Article 139295"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145340013","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Guge Niku , Yinpeng Chen , Meiyi He , Hao Chen , Yanan Wang , Wen Jiang Zheng
{"title":"Multibond-synergized cysteine aggregates crosslinked ionogels with mechanically adaptive properties for robust ionic skins","authors":"Guge Niku , Yinpeng Chen , Meiyi He , Hao Chen , Yanan Wang , Wen Jiang Zheng","doi":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.139306","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.jcis.2025.139306","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Conventional ionogels face irreconcilable trade-offs between mechanical robustness, toughness, and recoverability, limiting their utility in ionic skins. Inspired by collagen's hierarchical bonding, we develop L-cysteine-derived multibond-synergized cysteine aggregates (MSCA) with dual amide/disulfide linkages as dynamic crosslinkers in poly (2,2,3,3,4,4-Hexafluorobutyl acrylate-<em>co</em>-acrylamide) (P (HFBA-<em>co</em>-AAm)) ionogel. The resulting ionogels achieve breakthrough properties: 7.47 MPa tensile strength, 29.6 kJ/m<sup>2</sup> fracture energy, and 93 % cyclic recovery via thermal-activated bond reformation (80 °C/20 min). These materials concurrently demonstrate medical-grade strain sensing (<em>GF</em> = 7.82@0–5 %, <4.6 % signal drift over 1000 cycles), rapid shape-memory (35 s recovery at 80 °C), high shape fixity (95.24 %), recovery rates (95.34 %), and water resistance (1.8 % swelling after 20 h). Validated in continuous pulse monitoring and joint motion tracking, this design overcomes critical limitations in durable wearable sensing</div></div>","PeriodicalId":351,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Colloid and Interface Science","volume":"704 ","pages":"Article 139306"},"PeriodicalIF":9.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145340164","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}