Operando analyses have provided several breakthroughs in the construction of high‐performance materials and devices, including energy storage systems. However, despite the advances in electrode engineering, the formidable issues of lithium intercalation and deintercalation kinetics cannot be investigated via planar observations. Thus, we propose the side‐view operando observation by optical microscopy of a graphite anode based on its color changes during electrochemical lithiation. Since the graphite color varies according to the optical energy gap during lithiation and delithiation, we could study the corresponding charge/discharge kinetics; in addition, our cell configuration uses liquid electrolytes similarly to commercial cells, allowing practical applications. Furthermore, this side‐view observation has showed that microscale spatial variations in rate and composition control the insertion and desertion, revealing the kinetics through the whole electrode. The results of this study could enhance the fundamental understanding of the kinetics of battery materials.

The hydroxycinnamic acids, p ‐coumaric acid ( p CA) and ferulic acid (FA), add diversity to the portfolio of products produced by grass‐fed lignocellulosic biorefineries. The level of lignin‐bound p CA in Zea mays was modified by alteration of PMT expression. The biomass was processed in a lab‐scale alkaline‐pretreatment biorefinery process and the data was used for a baseline technoeconomic analysis to determine where to direct our future research efforts in coupling plant design to biomass utilization processes. We concluded that future plant engineering efforts should focus on strategies that ramp up predominantly one type of hydroxycinnamate ( p CA or FA) and suppress accumulation of the other. The technoeconomic analysis indicated that target extraction titers of one hydroxycinnamic acid need to be >50 g/kg biomass, at least a five‐fold higher than our observed titers for the impure p CA/FA product mixture from wild‐type maize. The technical challenge for process engineers is to develop a viable process requiring more than 80% reduction in the isolation costs.

High entropy materials, a new class of alloys that incorporate five or more principal elements into single‐phase crystal structures, have received attractive interests in materials science and engineering. Considering the tailored composition and disordered configuration, these high entropy materials may arouse functional synergism towards electrocatalysis. Here, a new strategy for preparing high‐entropy metal phosphide (HEMP) is proposed via eutectic solvent method. The as‐prepared HEMP possesses a single metal phosphide phase with up to five homogenously distributed metal components. The versatile application of high entropy materials is highlighted by integrating HEMP catalyst into a two‐electrode configuration for electrocatalytic water splitting.

Using lignin model compounds with relevant key characteristic structural features, the reaction pathways of α ‑O‑4 aryl‐ether linkages under hydrothermal conditions were elucidated. Our experimental results and computational modelling suggest that the α ‑O‑4 linkages in lignin undergo catalyzed hydrolyses and eliminations to give phenolic and alkenylbenzene derivatives as major products in subcritical water. The decreased relative permittivity of water at these high temperatures and pressures facilitates the elimination reactions. The alkyl group on the α ‐carbon and the methoxy groups on the phenyl rings both have positive effects on the rate of conversion of α ‑O‑4 linkages in native lignin.

Developing cathodes that can support high charge‐discharge rates would improve the power density of lithium ion batteries. Herein, we report the development of high power cathodes, without sacrificing energy density. N,N ’‐Diphenyl phenazine was identified as a promising charge storage center by electrochemical studies due to its reversible, fast electron transfer at high potentials. By incorporating the phenazine redox units in a cross‐linked network, a high capacity (223 mAh/g), high voltage (3.45 V vs Li/Li + ) cathode material was achieved. Optimized cross‐linked materials are able to deliver reversible capacities as high as 220 mAh g –1 at 120 C with minimal degradation over 1000 cycles. The work presented here highlights the fast ionic transport and rate capabilities of amorphous, organic materials and demonstrates their potential as high energy and power density materials for next generation electrical energy storage technologies.

In the context of CO 2 utilization, a number of CO 2 conversion methods have been identified in laboratory‐scale research; however, only a very few transformations have been successfully scaled up and implemented industrially. The main bottleneck in realizing industrial application of these CO 2 conversions is the lack of industrially viable catalytic systems and the need of practically implementable process developments. Herein, we developed a simple, highly efficient and recyclable ruthenium‐grafted bisphosphine‐based porous organic polymer (Ru@PP‐POP) catalyst for the hydrogenation of CO 2 to N,N‐dimethylformamide, and obtained best ever turnover number (TON) of 160,000 and initial turnover frequency (TOF) of 29,000 h ‐1 in a batch process. The catalyst was successfully applied in a trickle bed reactor and utilized in an industrially feasible continuous‐flow process for the first time with an excellent durability and productivity of 915 mmol h ‐1 g Ru ‐1 .

The preparation of high‐quality perovskite films with low grain boundaries and defect states is a prerequisite for achieving high‐efficiency perovskite solar cells (PSCs) with good environmental stability. In this work, an effective additive engineering for simultaneous defect passivation and crystal growth of CsPbBr3 perovskite films by introducing 1,3,5‐Triazine‐2,4,6‐triamine (melamine) into PbBr2 precursor solution is reported. Arising from the positive effect of the formed melamine‐PbBr2 film with loose large‐grained structure and decreased crystallinity on the crystallization process of perovskite, the retardation of perovskite crystallization rate caused by the interaction between melamine and lead ions and the passivation of melamine, the high‐quality CsPbBr3 perovskite film with lower grain boundaries as well as defect densities and better energy level matching is fabricated by multi‐step liquid phase spin‐coating technology, which greatly suppresses the non‐radiative recombination resulted from the defects and promotes the charge extraction at the interface. A champion power conversion efficiency as high as 9.65% with an attractive open‐circuit voltage of 1.584 V is achieved for PSCs with an architecture of FTO/c‐TiO2/m‐TiO2/melamine‐added CsPbBr3/carbon free of hole‐transporting layers. Furthermore, the encapsulated‐free melamine‐added CsPbBr3 PSC shows a superior thermal and humidity stability in ambient air with 85°C or 85% RH over 720 h.

Vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFB) suffer from capacity fades due to side reactions and crossover effects through the membrane. These processes lead to a deviation of the optimal initial average oxidation state (AOS = +3.5) of vanadium species in both half‐cell electrolytes. In order to rebalance the electrolyte solutions, it is first necessary to determine the current AOS. In this study a new method is presented that enables a precise determination of the AOS. A potential‐step analysis is performed with mixed electrolyte solutions of both half‐cells during the initial charging. The potential is recorded with a simple OCV cell and the potential‐steps are analyzed. A correlation between the duration of the potential plateaus in the OCV and the amount of vanadium ions of a certain oxidation state in the half‐cell electrolytes was found and is used to determine the AOS precisely with a maximum error of 3.6 %.

N‐type phenazine (PZ) derivatives represent an emerging class of cathode materials in lithium batteries for low‐cost and sustainable energy storage. However, the low redox potential (< 2 V) and high solubility severely plague their application to battery systems. To explore and solve such problems in lithium batteries, we here systematically investigate the redox characteristics of 13 types of n‐type PZ derivatives and their dissolution behavior in 7 organic electrolytes using density functional theory (DFT) calculations, and then summarize their rules. Two decisive factors are observed to tune the redox potentials for these molecules: one is the electron density around N active sites, the other is the chelation on lithium by both active N and substituent group. Specific approaches including reducing aromatic rings and introducing functional groups at β sites in n‐type PZ derivatives can improve the redox potential to ~3 V. In addition, we develop a new index denoted as Ediff to investigate the solubility of n‐type PZ derivatives. The most effective way to reduce the dissolution of electrodes in solvents is accordingly proposed as to improve intermolecular attraction between electrode molecules through introducing π‐π stacking and hydrogen bonds. Such an all‐around guideline should enlighten and promote the application of n‐type PZ‐based organic cathodes with high‐redox potential and low electrode solubility for lithium batteries.

Here, we report the facile synthesis of four‐length‐scaled hierarchically structured porous carbon nanocomposite via emulsion‐template strategy. Such previously unreported combination of zeolite nanocrystals embedded in the walls of microcellular carbon foam gives unique textural and structural properties ensuring excellent ability to selectively capture CO2 due to presence of ultramicropores. The zeolite–microcellular carbon foam synergism delivers adsorbent with significantly enhanced CO2 capture capacity of up to 5 mmol·g‐1, CO2/N2 selectivity of up to 80 and outstanding multi‐cycle capture performance under humid conditions (70% performance retention after 30 regeneration cycles). More impressively, electrically conductive carbon framework enables Joule heating and cooling capability, and thus fast and energy efficient regeneration, with an estimated energy consumption of only about 12 kWh.

Shifting syngas (a H 2 :CO mix) production away from fossil‐fuel dependent methods ( e.g. , steam methane reforming and coal gasification) is mandatory as syngas is of interest as both a fuel and as a value‐added chemical precursor. When using the adequate electrocatalysts, such as silver‐based or metal‐nitrogen‐carbon (M‐N‐C), the electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (CO 2 RR) allows for the production of CO alongside H 2 (from the hydrogen evolution reaction), thus leading to syngas generation. Here, we discuss the application of M‐N‐C electrocatalysts for syngas generation. The mechanisms leading to different faradaic selectivity for CO are reviewed as a function of the metallic element nature, using both computational and experimental approaches. The role played by the metal‐free moieties in the metal‐nitrogen‐carbon electrocatalysts is underlined. Since the M‐N‐C electrocatalysts only recently entered the CO 2 RR field ( vs. the Cu, Ag or Au‐based nanostructures), they have been mainly characterized in static liquid environments, where the reaction rate is significantly hampered by CO 2 ‐dissolution/diffusion limitations. Therefore, the design of CO 2 RR electrolyzers for M‐N‐C electrocatalysts is here addressed, highlighting designs such as zero‐gap electrolyzers using anionic membranes and humidified CO 2 gas feed at the cathode.

Great efforts have been made to understand and upgrade the kinetically sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, a series of V doped LaCoO 3 (V‐LCO) OER electrocatalysts with optimized d band center are successfully fabricated. When utilized as electrode for the OER, as‐formed V‐LCO‐II demands overpotential of only 306 mV to drive a geometrical catalytic current density of 10 mA cm ‐2 . Furthermore, at a given overpotential of 350 mV, the OER current density of V‐LCO‐II is about 22 times that of pure LCO nanoparticles. The V dopant tailored d‐band center facilitate the adsorption of OER intermediates, and promote the formation of amorphous active species on the surface of LCO due to the notable exchange interaction between high‐spin V 4 + and low‐spin Co 2+ . This work may create new opportunities for developing other high active OER catalysts via d band centers engineering.

Alkylation of heteroarenes using aldehydes is a direct approach to increase molecular complexity, which however often involves the usage of stochiometric oxidant, strong acid and high temperature. Herein, we report an energy‐efficient electrochemical alkylation of heteroarenes using aldehydes under mild conditions without mediators. Interestingly, the graphite anode can trigger aldehyde cationic species, which act as the effective auto‐catalysts to react with a range of heteroarene to produce the corresponding products with excellent regioselectivity and in high yields. Compared to the traditional electro‐synthesis approaches, this electro‐triggered reaction provides an electricity‐saving and eco‐friendly route to high value chemicals.

Visible‐light‐driven CO 2 reduction to valuable chemicals without sacrificial agents and co‐catalysts remains challenging, especially for metal‐free photocatalytic systems. Herein, we report a novel donor‐acceptor (D‐A) COF (CT‐COF) that was constructed by the Schiff base reaction of carbazole‐triazine based D‐A monomers and possessed a suitable energy band structure, strong visible‐light‐harvesting and rich nitrogen sites. CT‐COF used as a metal‐free photocatalyst can reduce CO 2 with gaseous H 2 O to CO as the main carbonaceous product with the approximate stoichiometric O 2 evolution under visible light irradiation and co‐catalysts free conditions. The CO evolution rate (102.7 μmol g ‐1 h ‐1 ) is 68.5 times that of g‐C 3 N 4 under the same test conditions. In situ FT‐IR analysis indicates that CT‐COF could adsorb and activate the CO 2 and H 2 O molecules and that COOH* species may be a key intermediate. DFT calculations suggest that nitrogen atoms in the triazine rings may be photocatalytic active sites.

Lignin‐based nanomaterials fabricated by solution self‐assembly in organic solvent‐water mixture is one of the most attractive biomass product. In order to accurately control the structure, size, and property of lignin‐based nanomaterials, it is important to achieve the fundamental understanding for its dissolution and aggregation mechanisms. In this work, atomic force microscope (AFM) and molecular dynamic (MD) simulation were employed to explore the dissolution and aggregation behavior of enzymatic hydrolysis lignin (EHL) in different organic solvent‐water mixtures at molecular scale. Results show that EHL was well dissolved in appropriate organic solvent‐water mixture, such as acetone‐water mixture with volume ratio of 7:3, while EHL aggregated in pure water, ethanol, acetone, tetrahydrofuran. The interactions between EHL‐coated AFM probe and substrate were 1.21 ± 0.18 and 0.75 ± 0.35 mN/m respectively in water and acetone. In comparison, such interaction decreased to 0.15 ± 0.08 mN/m in acetone‐water mixture. MD simulation further indicates that hydrophobic skeleton and hydrophilic groups of lignin could be solvated by acetone and water molecules respectively, which significantly promoted the dissolution of lignin. Conversely, only hydrophobic skeleton or hydrophilic group was solvated in organic solvent or water inducing serious aggregation of lignin.

Organic compounds as battery materials are promising because of their resource sustainability as well as the structural tunability and potentially low‐cost. But when serving as the positive electrode, the working voltage is relatively low compared with the inorganic counterpart. Here, we demonstrate a strategy by diluting the electron density of N‐based redox center in conjugated organics to promote the discharge voltage. Compared with electron‐rich heterocyclic compounds that utilize N as the redox center, the pentatomic rings like carbazole derivatives exhibit higher atomic‐dipole‐moment‐corrected Hirshfeld (ADCH) charge population over the hexatomic ones, which leads to a significant increase in the oxidation potential. As a result, an as‐designed polymeric indolocarbazole derivative shows a high discharge voltage of 3.7–4.3 V versus Li + /Li with decent cycling performance. Such a strategy may be applicable to design high‐voltage organic electrode materials with other redox centers.

The synthesis of NH‐sulfoximines from sulfides has been first developed under a mild, sustainable condition in an aqueous solution with surfactant TPGS‐750‐M as the catalyst at room temperature. In this newly developed process, a simple and convenient recyclable strategy to regenerate the indispensable hypervalent iodine(III) was utilized. The resulting 1,2,3‐trifluoro‐5‐iodobezene could be recovered almost quantitively from the mixture by liquid‐liquid extraction, and then oxidized to the corresponding iodine (III) species. This optimized protocol is compatible with a broad range of functional groups and could be easily performed on a gram scale. Thus, this novel method provides a new and green protocol for the synthesis of sulfoximines.

A whole variety of enzymes can be easily incorporated and overexpressed within Escherichia coli cells via plasmids, making it an ideal chassis for bioelectrosynthesis. We recently demonstrated microbial electrosynthesis (MES) of chiral alcohols using genetically modified E. coli with plasmid‐incorporated and overexpressed enzymes and methyl viologen as mediator for electron transfer. Here, this model system, using NADPH‐dependent alcohol dehydrogenase from Lactobacillus brevis to convert acetophenone to ( R )‐1‐phenylethanol, was assessed by a Design of Experiment (DoE) approach. Process optimization was achieved with a 2.4‐fold increased yield of 94±7%, a 3.9‐fold increased reaction rate of 324±67 μM h ‐1 , and a coulombic efficiency of up to 68±7%, while maintaining an excellent enantioselectivity of >99%. Subsequent scale‐up to 1 L using electrobioreactors under batch and fed‐batch conditions increased the titer of ( R )‐1‐phenylethanol to 12.8±2.0 mM and paves the way to further develop E. coli into a universal chassis for MES in a standard biotechnological process environment.

An exceptionally mild and efficient method is presented for the preparation of (hetero)aryl‐Au I ‐L complexes using ethanol or water as the reaction medium at room temperature and R‐B(triol)K boronates as the transmetalation partner. The reaction returns up to quantitative yields, needs no exogeneous base or other additives and a simple filtration is the only required purification method, which obviates considerable waste associated with alternative workup methods. A broad reaction scope is demonstrated with respect to both the L and (hetero)aryl ligands on product Au complexes. Despite the polar reaction medium, large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon units can be incorporated on the product Au complexes in very good to excellent yields. We demonstrate the use of our approach for the chemoselective manipulation of orthogonally protected aryl boronates to afford a novel new class of NHC‐Au‐aryl complexes. A mechanistic rationale is proposed.

Due to rapid charge transfer and high cycling stability, organic radical polymers have been viewed as a promising cathode material for next‐generation batteries. However, these organic polymer electrodes gradually dissolve in the electrolyte, resulting in capacity fade. Previous literature has reported several crosslinking methods, but they are either not compatible with carbon additives or compromise solution processability of the electrodes. Here, we present a one‐step post‐synthetic, carbon‐compatible crosslinking method that effectively crosslinks the organic polymer electrode while allowing for easy solution processing. The highest electrode capacity of 104 mAh/g (vs. theoretical capacity of 111 mAh/g) is achieved by introducing 1 mol% of the crosslinker, where as the highest capacity retention (99.6%) was obtained for 3 mol% crosslinker. In addition, we observe mass transfer in‐situ using electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM‐D). Our results may guide future electrode design toward fast‐charging, high capacity organic electrodes.

The production of amine intermediates from biomass is capturing increasing attention. Herein we report simple and efficient preparation of l furan‐derived amines (for instance 1‐(furan‐2‐yl)‐4‐methylpentan‐2‐amine) with high yield (up to 95%) from ( E )‐1‐(furan‐2‐yl)‐5‐methylhex‐1‐en‐3‐one. The catalyst used was Ru/C and it was recyclable up to 4th cycle. To further realize cost‐efficiency, one‐reactor tandem concept was attempted. To this aim direct reaction from furfural was investigated. A high yield (74%) towards 1‐(furan‐2‐yl)‐4‐methylpentan‐2‐amine could be achieved starting directly from furfural in the presence of methylisobutyl ketone, NH 3 , H 2 and Ru/C catalyst.

Direct transformation of lignin into fuels and chemicals remains huge challenge due to the stubborn and complicated structure of lignin. Here rhenium oxide modified iridium supported by SiO 2 (Ir‐ReO x /SiO 2 ) was employed for one‐pot conversion of various lignin model compounds and lignin feedstocks into naphthenes. Up to 100% yield of cyclohexane from model compounds and 44.3% yield of naphthenes from lignin feedstocks were achieved. 2D HSQC NMR analysis before and after reaction confirmed the clear activity of Ir‐ReO x /SiO 2 in cleavage of the C‐O bonds and hydrodeoxygenation of the depolymerized products. H 2 ‐temperature‐programed reduction (H 2 ‐TPR), temperature‐programmed desorption of NH 3 (NH 3 ‐TPD), IR spectroscopy of pyridine adsorption (pyridine‐IR), X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X‐ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) characterization and control experiments revealed that a synergistic effect between Ir and ReO x in Ir‐ReO x /SiO 2 play a crucial role for the high performance, of which, ReO x was mainly responsible for the cleavage of C‐O bonds whilst Ir was in charge of HDO reaction and saruration of the benzene rings. This methodology opens an energy‐efficient route for directly converting lignin into valuable naphthenes.

Enzyme catalysts always show the excellent catalytic selectivity, which is important in biochemistry, especially in catalytic synthesis and biopharming. This selectivity is achieved by combining the binding effect induced by the electrostatic effect of the enzyme to attract specific substrate and then pre‐arranging the substrates inside the enzyme’s pocket. Herein, we report a proof‐of‐concept application of an interfacial electrostatic field induced via constructing Schottky heterojunctions to mimic the electrostatic catalysis of enzyme. In combination with 3D structure, a transition metal/carbon dyad was designed via a nanoconfinement methods to successfully promote the differential binding effect and the space‐induced organization of reaction intermediate (vanillyl alcohol) and improved a novel one‐step hydrogenolysis route of vanillin for the production of 2‐methoxy‐4‐methylphenol with remarkably high selectivity (> 99%).

The development of mild and efficient process for the selective oxygenation of organic compounds by molecular oxygen (O 2 ) can be one of the key technologies for synthesizing oxygenates. This paper discloses an atom‐efficient synthesis protocol for the photo‐oxygenation of 9,10‐dihydroanthracene (DHA) by O 2 to anthraquinone (AQ), which can achieve quantitative AQ yield (100%) without any extra catalysts and additives under normal temperature and pressure. Also, 86.4% AQ yield is obtained even in air atmosphere. Furthermore, this protocol has a good compatibility for the photo‐oxidation of several other compounds with a similar structure to DHA. Based on a series of control experiments and free radical quenching and EPR spin trapping results. The photo‐oxygenation of DHA is likely initiated by its photo‐excited state DHA* and the latter can activate O 2 to a superoxide anion radical (O 2 ⚫‐ ) via a transfer of its electron. Subsequently, this photo‐oxidation is gradually dominated by the oxygenated product AQ as an active photo‐catalyst, obtained from the oxidation of DHA by O 2 ⚫‐ , and it is accelerated with the rapid accumulation of AQ. The present photo‐oxidation protocol gives a good example for the selective oxygenation based on the photo‐excited substrate self‐activated O 2 , which compliances well with ‘green’ chemistry ideals.

The activity and selectivity of simple photocatalysts for CO2 reduction were still limited by the insufficient photophysics of the catalysts, but also the low solubility and slow mass transport of gas molecules in/through aqueous solution. Herein, we present a way to overcome these limitation by constructing a triphase photocatalytic system, in which polymeric carbon nitride (CN) is immobilized onto a hydrophobic substrate, and the photocatalytic reduction reaction occurs at a gas‐liquid‐solid (CO2‐water‐catalyst) triple connection. It is found that the CN anchored onto the surface of a hydrophobic substrate exhibits an about 7.2‐fold enhancement in the total CO2 conversion, with a rate of 415.50 μmol m‐2 h‐1 under simulated solar light irradiation. This value corresponds to an overall photosynthetic efficiency for full water‐CO2 conversion of 0.33%, i.e. very close to biological systems. Meanwhile, a remarkable enhancement of direct C2 hydrocarbon production, as well as a high CO2 conversion selectivity of 97.7% was observed. Going from water oxidation to phosphate oxidation, the quantum yield can be even increased to 1.28%.

Biobased plasticizers substitutes of phthalates have been synthetized from HMF and carboxylic acids (or esters) through a chemoenzymatic cascade process that involves as first step the reduction of 5‐hydroxymethylfurfural into 2,5‐bis(hydroxymethyl)furan (BHMF) followed by the esterification of BHMF with carboxylic acids (or esters) using a supported lipase (Novozim 435). The reduction of HMF into BHMF has been performed using monodispersed metallic Co nanoparticles with a thin carbon shell (Co@C) with high activity and selectivity. After optimization of reaction conditions (temperature, hydrogen pressure and solvent) was possible to achieve 97% conversion of HMF with 99% selectivity to BHMF after 2 h reaction time. The reduction of HMF and esterification of BHMF using carboxylic acids or vinyl esters as acyl donors by lipase have been optimized separately in batch and in fixed bed continuous reactors. The coupling of two flow reactors (for reduction and subsequent esterification) working under optimized reaction conditions allowed to obtain the diesters of BHMF in ~90 yield, while no loss of activity during 60 h of operation was observed.

According to our previous research, semiconductors and metals can form an Ohmic contact with an electric field pointing to the metal, or a Schottky contact with an electric field pointing to the semiconductor. If these two types of heterojunctions were constructed on a single nanoparticle, then the two electric fields may bring a synergistic effect and increase the separation rate of the photogenerated electron‐holes. Metal Ni and Ag nanoparticles were successively loaded on the g‐C 3 N 4 surface by the precipitation method and the photoreduction method in the hope of forming hybrid heterojunctions on a single nanoparticls. TEM/HRTEM images show that Ag and Ni are loaded on different locations on C3N4, which indicates that during the photoreduction reaction, Ag + obtain electrons from C 3 N 4 in the reduction reaction, while oxidation reactions are proceeded on Ni nanoparticles. Photocatalytic hydrogen production experiments show that C 3 N 4 based hybrid heterojunctions can greatly improve the photocatalytic activity of materials. The possible reason is that two heterojunctions can form a long‐range electric field similar to the p‐i‐n structure in semiconductor. Most of the photo‐generated carriers are generated and then separated in this electric field, thereby increasing the separation rate of electrons and holes. This further improves the photocatalytic activity of C 3 N 4 .

Biodiesel production automatically yields large amounts of glycerol as by‐product, which lately has raised interest toward its valorization. In addition to its use as an energy source directly, the chemical modification of glycerol may also result in value‐added derivatives. Herein, acid phosphatases employed in the synthesis mode were evaluated for the enzymatic phosphorylation of glycerol. Non‐specific acid phosphatases could tolerate glycerol concentrations up to 80 wt% and pyrophosphate concentrations up to 20 wt%, leading to product titers up to 167 g L ‐1 in a kinetic approach. In the complementary thermodynamic approach, phytases were able to directly condense glycerol and inorganic monophosphate. This unexpected behavior enabled simple and cost‐effective production of rac‐glycerol‐1‐phosphate from crude glycerol obtained from a biodiesel plant. A preparative‐scale synthesis at 100 mL‐scale resulted in the production of 16.6 g rac‐glycerol‐1‐phosphate with reasonable purity (~75%).

Zeolitic Aluminophosphate, a three dimensional microporous material with the pore size of 0.38 nm is good candidate for molecular sieve application in CO 2 gas separation. The separation of CO 2 /CH 4 gas mixture is necessary for precombustion process which is meaningful in both environmental and energy efficient point of views. We report here an environmental friendly method to synthesize zeolitic aluminophosphate thin films on various configurations and low cost kaolin porous substrates with the high performance in separation of CO 2 /CH 4 mixture. The membranes are prepared by gelless seed growth method with using less amount of chemicals, no liquid gel and chemical waste, no by‐product and no washing water generated. The obtained membranes show very high selectivity for CO 2 with the separation factor of CO 2 to CH 4 is above 1,000 in the separation experiment of CO 2 /CH 4 gas mixture.

Two‐dimensional (2D) nanomaterials have drawn a wide range of research interests because of their unique ultrathin layered structures and attractive properties. Especially, the electrochemical properties and great variety of 2D nanomaterials make they are highly attractive candidates for electrochemical capacitors (ECs), such as supercapacitors, lithium ion capacitors and sodium ion capacitors. Herein, we provide a comprehensive review on recent progress towards the applications of 2D nanomaterials for electrochemical capacitors. Several typical types of 2D nanomaterials were first briefly introduced, followed with the detailed descriptions on their electrochemical capacitors applications. Finally, the research perspectives and the future research directions of these interesting areas are also provided.