Water electrolysis remains a key component in the societal transition to green energy. Membrane electrolyzers are the state‐of‐the‐art technology for water electrolysis, relying on 80 °C operation in highly alkaline electrolytes, which is undesirable for many of the myriad end‐use cases for electrolytic water splitting. Herein, an alternative water electrolysis process, decoupled electrolysis, is described which performed in mild acidic conditions with excellent efficiencies. Decoupled electrolysis sequentially performs the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), at the same catalyst. Here, H⁺ ions generated from the OER are stored through pseudocapacitive (redox) charge storage, and released to drive the HER. Here, decoupled electrolysis is demonstrated using cheap, abundant, TiO₂ for the first time. To achieve decoupled acid electrolysis, ultra‐small anatase TiO₂ particles (4.5 nm diameter) are prepared. These ultra‐small TiO₂ particles supported on a carbon felt electrode show a highly electrochemical surface area with a capacitance of 375 F g⁻¹. When these electrodes are tested for decoupled water splitting an overall energy efficiency of 52.4% is observed, with excellent stability over 3000 cycles of testing. This technology can provide a viable alternative to membrane electrolyzers—eliminating the need for highly alkaline electrolytes and elevated temperatures.

Surface functionalization with SAMs can increase the contact-separation charge of PDMS layers by three orders of magnitude. The effect of the SAM can be matched with the roughness of PDMS to enhance the charge density.

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) coatings have a wide range of applications. Anatase exhibits hydrophilic, antimicrobial, and photocatalytic properties for the degradation of organic pollutants or water splitting. The main challenge is to obtain durable anatase nanoparticle coatings on plastic substrates by using straightforward approaches. In the present study, we revealed the preparation of a transparent TiO₂ coating on polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), widely used for organic optical fibres as well as other polymer substrates such as polypropylene (PP), polystyrene (PS), and polycarbonate (PC). The films were spin-coated at room temperature without annealing; therefore, our approach can be used for thermo-sensitive substrates. The deposition was successful due to the use of stripped ultra-small (<4 nm) TiO₂ particles. Coatings were studied for the photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants such as MB, methyl orange (MO), and rhodamine B (RB) under UV light. The TiO₂ coating on PMMA degraded over 80% of RB in 300 min under a 365 nm, 100 W mercury lamp, showing a degradation rate constant of 6 × 10⁻³ min⁻¹. The coatings were stable and showed no significant decrease in degradation activity even after five cycles.

The world is facing grand challenges in energy security, environmental pollution, and sustainable use (and re‐use) of resources. Electrochemical processes, incorporating electrosynthesis, electrochemical catalysis, and electrochemical energy storage devices, provide pathways to address these challenges via green chemistry. However, the applicability of electrochemical processes for these systems is limited by the required energy input, the “electrons” in electrochemistry. Electrocatalysis as a subset of electrochemistry is set to underpin many of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, including “Affordable and Clean Energy” through the production of future fuels and abatement of carbon emissions; “Responsible Consumption and Production” through recycling and degradation of waste; and “Climate Action” through CO₂ (and other greenhouse gas) remediation. The rise of green photovoltaic power has lowered the carbon cost of these electrons, making electrocatalysis an even more viable, green(er), chemical conversion pathway. This perspective highlights the need for comprehensive understanding of catalyst structure via in situ and operando analysis to complement device design considerations. The challenges faced by the field of electrocatalysis in data reporting, elimination of electrochemical artifacts, catalyst stability, and scaling to industrial relevance, along with opportunities, emerging tools, are discussed with a view to achieve the maximum ‘potential’ of electrocatalysis.

Copper and chitosan are used for biomedical applications due to their antimicrobial properties. In this study, a facile method for the synthesis of chitosan-copper oxide nanocomposites (nCuO-CSs) was modified, yielding stable colloidal nCuO-CSs suspensions. Using this method, nCuO-CSs with different copper-to-chitosan (50–190 kDa) weight ratios (1:0.3, 1:1, 1:3) were synthesized, their physicochemical properties characterized, and antibacterial efficacy assessed against Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus. The nCuO-CSs with a primary size of ∼10 nm and a ζ-potential of >+40 mV proved efficient antibacterials, acting at concentrations around 1 mg Cu/L. Notably, against Gram-negative bacteria, this inhibitory effect was already evident after a 1-h exposure and surpassed that of copper ions, implying to a synergistic effect of chitosan and nano-CuO. Indeed, using flow cytometry and confocal laser scanning microscopy, we showed that chitosan promoted interaction between the nCuO-CSs and bacterial cells, facilitating the shedding of copper ions in the close vicinity of the cell surface. The synergy between copper and chitosan makes these nanomaterials promising for biomedical applications (e.g., wound dressings).