Featured
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| Open AccessMetal single-site catalyst design for electrocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide at industrial-relevant currents
Direct hydrogen peroxide electrosynthesis offers a sustainable alternative to the traditional energy-intensive anthraquinone technology. Here, the authors report a scalable cobalt single-site catalyst for hydrogen peroxide synthesis at industrial-relevant currents in acidic, neutral or alkaline electrolyte.
- Peike Cao
- , Xie Quan
- & Jingguang G. Chen
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Article
| Open AccessIllustrating new understanding of adsorbed water on silica for inducing tetrahedral cobalt(II) for propane dehydrogenation
Metal sites immobilized by hydroxyl groups gain great attention, however, the role of adsorbed water derived by hydroxyl groups on the silica is generally ignored. Herein, the authors propose a new understanding of adsorbed water on the immobilization of highly dispersed tetrahedral Co(II).
- Zijun Huang
- , Dedong He
- & Yongming Luo
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| Open AccessNon-linear effects of secondary organic aerosol formation and properties in multi-precursor systems
Tiny airborne particles play a critical role in two major environmental issues: climate change and air pollution. Our study highlights the important, yet often overlooked non-linear interaction of organic compounds on the formation of such particles.
- Masayuki Takeuchi
- , Thomas Berkemeier
- & Nga Lee Ng
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| Open AccessAmpere-level current density ammonia electrochemical synthesis using CuCo nanosheets simulating nitrite reductase bifunctional nature
Electroreduction of NO3− to NH3 is drawing increasing interest. Here, the authors designed a CuCo catalyst imitating the bifunctional nature of Cu-type nitrite reductase to deliver an ampere-level current density for NH3 formation.
- Jia-Yi Fang
- , Qi-Zheng Zheng
- & Shi-Gang Sun
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Article
| Open AccessSelective and rapid extraction of trace amount of gold from complex liquids with silver(I)-organic frameworks
The development of adsorbents for extracting gold from solutions is desirable from an environmental and economical point of view. Here, the authors report two two-dimensional silver(I)‒organic frameworks that enable selective sensing and extraction of gold from aqueous solutions, including seawater and solutions of e-waste.
- Jie Luo
- , Xiao Luo
- & Dan Li
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| Open AccessSignificant contributions of combustion-related sources to ammonia emissions
By integrating nitrogen isotope systematics of ammonia emissions and transformations in the atmosphere, this study quantified the combustion-related ammonia emission and uncovered its importance for mitigating strategies of ammonia pollution.
- Zhi-Li Chen
- , Wei Song
- & Xue-Yan Liu
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Article
| Open AccessDeficiency and excess of groundwater iodine and their health associations
Both iodine deficiency and excess could cause thyroid disorders. By creating a national map of groundwater iodine throughout China, the authors reveal the spatial responses of diverse health risks to iodine in continental groundwater.
- Ruoqi Ma
- , Mingquan Yan
- & Jinren Ni
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Article
| Open AccessUnexpectedly efficient ion desorption of graphene-based materials
Desorption of ions from sorbents generally involves high acid or base concentrations and long desorption times, especially for multivalent ions. Here the authors report a rapid and efficient desorption of Co2+, Mn2+, and Sr2+ adsorbed on magnetite-graphene oxide that occurs by adding low amounts of Al3+, which is shown to interact with graphene more strongly than divalent ions.
- Xinming Xia
- , Feng Zhou
- & Haiping Fang
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Article
| Open AccessBiodegradation of highly crystallized poly(ethylene terephthalate) through cell surface codisplay of bacterial PETase and hydrophobin
High-crystallinity poly(ethylene terephthalate) is a major recycling challenge. Here, the authors show an engineered whole-cell biocatalyst showing adhesive hydrophobin and PETase on the surface of cells, for biodegradation of PET.
- Zhuozhi Chen
- , Rongdi Duan
- & Zefang Wang
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Article
| Open AccessDrivers of recent decline in dust activity over East Asia
Changes in climatic factors mainly drive the decline of East Asian dust activity in the past two decades. The weakening of surface winds plays a dominant role, and the increasing of vegetation cover and soil moisture also has key contribution
- Chenglai Wu
- , Zhaohui Lin
- & Ying Li
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Article
| Open AccessFine-tuned local coordination environment of Pt single atoms on ceria controls catalytic reactivity
CeO2-supported Pt single atoms with different coordination environments exhibit distinct behaviors in reactant adsorption/activation and product desorption, thus showing different catalytic performance for various catalytic oxidation reactions.
- Wei Tan
- , Shaohua Xie
- & Fudong Liu
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Article
| Open AccessDust emission reduction enhanced gas-to-particle conversion of ammonia in the North China Plain
Liu et al. found that the formation rate of particulate ammonium is slower in the atmosphere than that observed in the laboratory, while it is sped up due to an increase in aerosol acidity driven by an emission reduction of dust in North China Plain.
- Yongchun Liu
- , Junlei Zhan
- & Markku Kulmala
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Article
| Open AccessMolecular oxygen enhances H2O2 utilization for the photocatalytic conversion of methane to liquid-phase oxygenates
The oxidation of methane to formic acid or related oxygenates relies on efficient reaction with H2O2. Here, the authors report a TiO2-based catalyst to selectively form formic acid by using molecular O2 additives to avoid unwanted side reactions.
- Xiao Sun
- , Xuanye Chen
- & Weixin Huang
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Article
| Open AccessUnequal airborne exposure to toxic metals associated with race, ethnicity, and segregation in the USA
A new study assesses differences in exposure to particulate air pollution between racially segregated and racially integrated communities in the U.S, and finds that segregated communities are exposed to higher proportions of toxic and carcinogenic metals.
- John K. Kodros
- , Michelle L. Bell
- & John Volckens
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Article
| Open AccessThe extent to which soil hydraulics can explain ecohydrological separation
Soil physics simulations show water isotope ratios can differ among drainage, mobile and immobile storages due to transport processes alone, but effects were smaller than field data implying unrepresented processes underly ecohydrologic separation.
- Catherine E. Finkenbiner
- , Stephen P. Good
- & Salini Sasidharan
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Article
| Open AccessEthylene industrial emitters seen from space
Combining 13 years of satellite measurements led to the discovery of 300 global hotspots of atmospheric ethylene (C2H4). They are found to be linked to heavy industries and megacities, and are currently misrepresented in emission inventories.
- Bruno Franco
- , Lieven Clarisse
- & Pierre-François Coheur
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Article
| Open AccessFacet effect of hematite on the hydrolysis of phthalate esters under ambient humidity conditions
With a combined experimental and computational study, Jin et al. demonstrate that hematite nanoparticles can efficiently degrade phthalates under ambient humidity conditions, with a rate strongly dependent on the exposed facet via bidentate coordination involving neighbor Fe atoms, suggesting their possible use for indoor air purification
- Xin Jin
- , Dingding Wu
- & Cheng Gu
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| Open AccessInsights into memory effect mechanisms of layered double hydroxides with solid-state NMR spectroscopy
The “memory effect” of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) plays a critical role in their applications, yet the details of the mechanism are still under debate. Here authors reveal the nature of the “memory effect” with ex situ and in situ solid-state NMR spectroscopy.
- Li Jin
- , Xiaoyuan Zhou
- & Luming Peng
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| Open AccessTowards fully ab initio simulation of atmospheric aerosol nucleation
Atmosphere aerosol nucleation contributes to climate change, air pollution, and human health, however the mechanisms are complex and elusive. Here the authors propose a general workflow based on deep neural network-based force field, paving the way towards fully ab initio simulation of atmospheric aerosol nucleation.
- Shuai Jiang
- , Yi-Rong Liu
- & Wei Huang
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Article
| Open AccessLow 13C-13C abundances in abiotic ethane
Distinguishing biotic compounds from abiotic ones is critical to the search for life in the universe. Here, the authors demonstrate that the abiotic ethane has distinctively low 13C-13C abundances compared to biotic ethane.
- Koudai Taguchi
- , Alexis Gilbert
- & Yuichiro Ueno
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| Open AccessBiodegradation of poly(butylene succinate) in soil laboratory incubations assessed by stable carbon isotope labelling
This study applies stable carbon isotope labelling to study polymer biodegradation in soils. This labelling enables accurate and precise tracking of polymer carbon during biodegradation and, thereby, provides a holistic picture of this process.
- Taylor F. Nelson
- , Rebekka Baumgartner
- & Michael Sander
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| Open AccessPauling-type adsorption of O2 induced electrocatalytic singlet oxygen production on N–CuO for organic pollutants degradation
Side-on configuration of O2 on the catalysts conventionally leads to reduction of O2 to water. Here, the authors propose a nitrogen doping strategy with Pauling-type adsorption of O2 for selective electrocatalytic singlet oxygen production.
- Liangbo Xie
- , Pengfei Wang
- & Wenping Hu
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Article
| Open AccessDiesel soot photooxidation enhances the heterogeneous formation of H2SO4
Potential source of H2SO4 remains unclear in the atmosphere. This work first demonstrates that the formation of photoinduced •OH radical can directly promote the heterogeneous conversion of SO2 to H2SO4 on real diesel soot under light irradiation, extending the known sources of atmospheric H2SO4.
- Peng Zhang
- , Tianzeng Chen
- & Hong He
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| Open AccessGrave-to-cradle upcycling of Ni from electroplating wastewater to photothermal CO2 catalysis
The valorization of undesirable substrates offers a two-fold strategy for pollution remediation and renewable energy conversion. Here, authors demonstrate the scavenging of Ni from electroplating wastewater and subsequent utilization as materials for photothermal CO2 reduction.
- Shenghua Wang
- , Dake Zhang
- & Geoffrey A. Ozin
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Article
| Open AccessA central arctic extreme aerosol event triggered by a warm air-mass intrusion
Warm and moist air-mass intrusions into the Arctic are more frequent than the past decades. Here, the authors show that warm air mass intrusions from northern Eurasia inject record amounts of aerosols into the central Arctic Ocean strongly impacting atmospheric chemistry and cloud properties.
- Lubna Dada
- , Hélène Angot
- & Julia Schmale
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Article
| Open AccessMarine phosphate availability and the chemical origins of life on Earth
Phosphate is critical for all life on Earth but its origins have remained enigmatic. Experiments indicate that phosphate may have been abundant in ancient Fe-rich seawater, providing a crucial ingredient for the origins of life on Earth.
- Matthew P. Brady
- , Rosalie Tostevin
- & Nicholas J. Tosca
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| Open AccessLarge contribution of fossil-derived components to aqueous secondary organic aerosols in China
Isotope fingerprinting is used to track precursor sources and formation pathways of aqueous SOA, such as oxalic acid, finding that fossil fuel precursors contributions have largely been underestimated.
- Buqing Xu
- , Gan Zhang
- & Guoying Sheng
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| Open AccessSelf-cycled photo-Fenton-like system based on an artificial leaf with a solar-to-H2O2 conversion efficiency of 1.46%
Continuous generation of reactive oxygen species is desirable in the advanced oxidation process. Here, the authors report a self-cycled photoFenton-like with a scalable artificial leaf for production of H2O2 from water with solar-to-H2O2 efficiency of 1.46%.
- Chaoran Dong
- , Yilong Yang
- & Kan Zhang
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Article
| Open AccessCatalytic ozone decomposition and adsorptive VOCs removal in bimetallic metal-organic frameworks
Warm-season O3 pollution has been increasingly frequent worldwide in the past few years, exposing a threat to human health as well as the natural environment. Here, the authors showcase a stable MOF which can not only effectively capture various airborne VOCs, but decompose trace O3 in ambient air.
- Chen Dong
- , Jia-Jia Yang
- & Jian-Rong Li
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Article
| Open AccessMercury isotope evidence for Arctic summertime re-emission of mercury from the cryosphere
Arctic warming thaws permafrost, leading to enhanced soil mercury transport to the Arctic Ocean. Mercury isotope signatures in arctic rivers, ocean and atmosphere suggest that permafrost mercury is buried in marine sediment and not emitted to the global atmosphere
- Beatriz Ferreira Araujo
- , Stefan Osterwalder
- & Jeroen E. Sonke
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| Open AccessHigh activity and selectivity of single palladium atom for oxygen hydrogenation to H2O2
Nanosized Pd-based catalysts are widely used in the direct hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) synthesis from H2 and O2, while the selectivity and yield of H2O2 remain inferior. Here, a remarkable H2O2 yield of 115 mol/gPd/h and H2O2 selectivity higher than 99% are reported using a Pd single-atom catalyst for the direct synthesis of H2O2.
- Shiming Yu
- , Xing Cheng
- & Ge Chen
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Article
| Open AccessStrikingly distinctive NH3-SCR behavior over Cu-SSZ-13 in the presence of NO2
Cu-SSZ-13 zeolites are highly active for standard NH3-SCR, but their activity is unexpectedly inhibited in the presence of NO2. This work demonstrates that strong oxidation by NO2 forces Cu ions to exist mainly as CuII species with low mobility, which is responsible for this distinctive behavior.
- Yulong Shan
- , Guangzhi He
- & Hong He
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Article
| Open AccessHighly efficient and selective extraction of gold by reduced graphene oxide
High extraction capacity with precise selectivity to trace amounts of gold over a wide range of co-existing elements remains a challenge for effective e-waste recycling. Here, authors demonstrate the excellent performance of rGO for gold extraction from e-waste leachate, even at minute concentrations.
- Fei Li
- , Jiuyi Zhu
- & Hui-Ming Cheng
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Article
| Open AccessGlobal analysis and prediction of fluoride in groundwater
A global fluoride hazard prediction map was created using machine learning and over 400,000 fluoride measurements, this shows ~180 million people are potentially affected by chronic fluoride exposure worldwide, mostly in Asia and Africa.
- Joel Podgorski
- & Michael Berg
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Article
| Open AccessSustainable environmental remediation via biomimetic multifunctional lignocellulosic nano-framework
Persistent organic pollutant (POP) remediation is important for protecting the environment and human health but can be expensive. Here, the authors report on the creation of a plant-based remediation material which can absorb high levels of POPs and then provide the nutrients needed for fungal degradation and detoxification.
- Jinghao Li
- , Xiaohan Li
- & Susie Y. Dai
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Article
| Open AccessSunlight-driven nitrate loss records Antarctic surface mass balance
Snow accumulation rates in Antarctica can now be reconstructed from nitrate isotopes in snow and ice. This independent technique offers scientists a new tool for studying how Antarctic climate changed in the past and how it may change in the future.
- Pete D. Akers
- , Joël Savarino
- & Jason L. Roberts
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| Open AccessAngstrom-confined catalytic water purification within Co-TiOx laminar membrane nanochannels
Subnanometer-confined reaction is the frontier of catalytic chemistry, yet it is challenging to form the angstrom channels with distributed atomic catalytic centers within, and to match the internal mass transfer and the reactive species’ lifetimes. Here, the authors resolve these issues by applying the concept of the angstrom-confined catalytic water contaminant degradation.
- Chenchen Meng
- , Baofu Ding
- & Zhenghua Zhang
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| Open AccessUpcycling Compact Discs for Flexible and Stretchable Bioelectronic Applications
Electronic waste is a global issue brought about by the short lifespan of electronics. Here, the authors report a process to upcycle compact discs into flexible and stretchable bio-electronics.
- Matthew S. Brown
- , Louis Somma
- & Ahyeon Koh
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| Open AccessConverting waste PET plastics into automobile fuels and antifreeze components
To solve the serious problem of white plastic pollution many degradation routes are being investigated. Here the authors show a H2-free low-cost Cu/SiO2 catalyzed process to quantitatively convert polyethylene terephthalate into p-xylene and ethylene glycol in one pot with methanol as both the solvent and hydrogen source at 210 °C.
- Zhiwen Gao
- , Bing Ma
- & Chen Zhao
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| Open AccessUnexpected response of nitrogen deposition to nitrogen oxide controls and implications for land carbon sink
Recent vigorous controls in anthropogenic nitrogen oxide emissions in China cannot result in proportionate decreases in regional atmospheric nitrogen deposition. Enhanced atmospheric oxidizing capacity offsets those reductions of precursor emissions.
- Mingxu Liu
- , Fang Shang
- & Tong Zhu
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| Open AccessSimultaneous nanocatalytic surface activation of pollutants and oxidants for highly efficient water decontamination
Removal of organic micropollutants from water through advanced oxidation processes is hampered by the excessive input of energy and/or chemicals as well as the large amounts of residuals resulting from incomplete mineralization. Here the authors present a new alternative water purification technology to adsorption and advanced oxidation.
- Ying-Jie Zhang
- , Gui-Xiang Huang
- & Menachem Elimelech
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Article
| Open AccessAssessing the stability of Pd-exchanged sites in zeolites with the aid of a high throughput quantum chemistry workflow
The identification of active sites in cation exchanged-zeolites is computationally highly demanding. Here the authors employ a DFT-based computational framework to identify the energetically most favorable adsorption sites in any zeolite using a systematic high-throughput approach.
- Hassan A. Aljama
- , Martin Head-Gordon
- & Alexis T. Bell
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Article
| Open AccessEfficient and simultaneous capture of iodine and methyl iodide achieved by a covalent organic framework
Radioactive molecular iodine (I2) and methyl iodide (CH3I) coexist in the off-gas stream of nuclear power plants at low concentrations and only few adsorbents can effectively adsorb low-concentration I2 and CH3I simultaneously. Here, the authors demonstrate simultaneous capture of I2 and CH3I at low concentrations by exploiting different adsorptive sites in a covalent organic framework.
- Yaqiang Xie
- , Tingting Pan
- & Yu Han
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Article
| Open AccessNext-generation biomonitoring of the early-life chemical exposome in neonatal and infant development
Exposure to synthetic and natural toxicants is a major risk factor in the etiology of disease. Here, authors describe the development of a method to quantify >80 xenobiotics and apply it to assess early-life exposure in vulnerable infants.
- Thomas Jamnik
- , Mira Flasch
- & Benedikt Warth
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Article
| Open AccessBifunctional zeolites-silver catalyst enabled tandem oxidation of formaldehyde at low temperatures
Formaldehyde oxidation suffers from insufficient activity at low temperatures due to the lack of efficient silver catalyst. Herein, the authors design a tandem bifunctional zeolites-silver catalyst that achieves a 50 times improvement in activity (100% versus 2%) at 70 °C as compared to monofunctional supported silver catalyst.
- Na Li
- , Bin Huang
- & Zhenping Qu
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Article
| Open AccessMicroscale carbon distribution around pores and particulate organic matter varies with soil moisture regime
Carbon sequestration in soils has rarely been observed at microscopic scales. Here the authors reveal the impact of soil moisture regimes in shaping carbon stabilization and mineralization patterns tied to the pore network.
- Steffen Schlüter
- , Frederic Leuther
- & Hans-Jörg Vogel
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Article
| Open AccessUnlocking bimetallic active sites via a desalination strategy for photocatalytic reduction of atmospheric carbon dioxide
Ultrathin two-dimensional metal oxyhalides show excellent photocatalytic properties with unique electronic and interfacial structures. Here, the authors develop a top-down desalination strategy to engineer ultrathin bimetallic two-dimensional material for photocatalytic atmospheric carbon dioxide reduction.
- Xuezhen Feng
- , Renji Zheng
- & Hong Chen
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Article
| Open AccessInstallation of synergistic binding sites onto porous organic polymers for efficient removal of perfluorooctanoic acid
The performance of adsorbents for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) removal often suffers from long equilibrium times, weak binding affinities and poor stability. Here the authors report a highly efficient PFOA adsorbents by functionalizing porous organic polymers with electrostatic and hydrophobic binding sites.
- Xiongli Liu
- , Changjia Zhu
- & Shengqian Ma
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Article
| Open AccessHost-guest liquid gating mechanism with specific recognition interface behavior for universal quantitative chemical detection
In field, visual, chemical detection is of use for a wide range of possible applications. Here, the authors report on the creation of a host-guest liquid gating mechanism where detection of the target host triggers gate opening allowing for gas through the liquid gate, which can be used for visual detection.
- Huimeng Wang
- , Yi Fan
- & Xu Hou