Metal-nitrides-based electrocatalysts for efficient oxygen-evolution have been extensively studied as one of the most promising candidates to fulfil the demand for future energy-conversion and storage. Herein, a series of Ni_xCo_1−xO- and Ni_xCo_1−xN-based nanostructures on nickel foams were reported to show excellent activities for oxygen-evolution reaction. The catalysts were prepared and modulated rationally via a facile-hydrothermal method, followed by high-temperature calcination under air or nitrogen atmosphere. The optimal bimetallic-nitride catalyst Ni_0.3Co_0.7N shows a small overpotential of 268 mV at 20 mA cm⁻², and a Tafel slope of 66 mV dec⁻¹ with good stability. The enhanced OER-performance is ascribed to the synergetic effect of the unique morphology and the intrinsic catalytic property of the nanostructure after nitridation.

The selective separation of enantiomers is critical in pharmaceutical production, while conventional chiral sorbents always suffer from the trade-off between selectivity and the substrate scope. Herein, inspired by a natural unspecific peroxygenase with large protein channels, we developed a homochiral metal-organic framework (MOF) constructed from flexible phenylalanine-derived ligands and zinc ions. This MOF features a giant chiral cavity with a size of 2.2 × 3.1 nm, decorated with 42 chiral phenylalanine residues, which serves as a solid sorbent for the highly enantioselective adsorption and separation of diverse chiral compounds, including aromatic epoxides, β-nitroalcohols, mandelate derivatives, secondary alcohols, indolin-3-ones, α-methylbenzylamine, and limonene. Most importantly, benefiting from its large pores, the MOF demonstrates versatile utility in resolving the enantiomers of extraordinarily bulky substrates and structurally complex chiral pharmaceuticals, which can be further processed into a polymer matrix for membrane separation, enabling an integrated, chromatography-free route from batch-scale adsorption and separation. This material can be readily recovered and reused without an apparent loss of performance. Adsorption experiments and theoretical calculations reveal that the chiral recognition and separation originate from the distinct binding affinity of enantiomers within the MOF's chiral pore environment, presenting a scalable platform for process-intensified chiral separations.

A novel hybrid structure of bimetallic dicyanamide decorated BiVO₄ is developed via a simple method to accelerate interfacial water oxidation kinetics. Two types of bimetallic dicyanamides, CoNi(dca)₂ and CoFe(dca)₂, are coated on BiVO₄ photoanodes and are found to exhibit far more enhanced PEC performance than Co(dca)₂ or Ni(dca)₂ as cocatalysts. The successful deposition of metal dicyanamides on BiVO₄ photoanodes is confirmed by physical characterizations including X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The optimized Co_0.9Ni_0.1(dca)₂/BiVO₄ photoanode exhibits the highest photocurrent density of 2.58 mA/cm² at 1.23 V vs. RHE under 100 mW/cm² AM 1.5 G irradiation, which is 2.5 times that of bare BiVO₄. The substantial enhancement of PEC performance can be ascribed to the advantageous interfacial charge transfer and improved charge injection efficiencies. This work presents a feasible strategy using different types of bimetallic dicyanamides to design a modified BiVO₄-based photoanode system for enhanced water oxidation efficiency.