As a class of nitrogenous heterocyclic compounds, poly-1,2,3-triazole-based functional materials have recently attracted growing attention across many important scientific areas such as the synthesis of drugs and functional materials. There is therefore an urgent need to perform a review study of such an important class of materials for summarizing the state-of-the-art contributions and for clarifying the direction of the most recent advances (mostly in 2016). Herein, from the perspective of raw material selection and synthetic processes, we conduct a mini review study of the most recent new findings, including technologies and strategies, on the synthesis of macromolecular 1,2,3-triazole-based functional materials, such as various state-of-the-art approaches based on click chemistry and optimization of synthetic conditions like selection of raw materials, control of their concentrations, and selective utilization of different active groups. This mini review also briefly introduces the progress of using poly-1,2,3-triazole-based materials for a broad range of applications including molecular recognition, chemical sensing, drug chemistry, bio-chemistry, and conducting materials, etc.

As an emerging semiconductor-based catalyst, g-C ₃ N ₄ has attracted significant attention for visible light-driven photocatalytic energy conversion, synthesis of chemicals, and environmental remediation.

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) are widely explored for promising green and renewable energy generation; however, their strong reliance on noble metal-based catalysts causes high fabrication costs and thus limits their widespread applications. Herein, metal-free alternatives derived from naturally abundant, renewable pomelo peels are explored. Two kinds of pomelo peel-derived novel N-doped carbocatalysts are presented, i.e., biochar microspheres (BCMs) and their activated porous counterpart (a-BCMs). In comparison with BCMs, the thermal activation processing endowed a-BCMs with significantly enhanced porosity, an elevated N doping content (2.41 vs. 0.51 at%), a 5-fold increased specific surface area (314.3 vs. 62.8 m² g⁻¹), and a much improved electrical conductivity (0.13 vs. 0.006 S cm⁻¹). This metal-free a-BCM catalyst is subsequently employed to construct an MFC cathode for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), and an impressive electrocatalytic activity is achieved in 0.1 mol L⁻¹ phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) buffer. The maximum power density reaches as high as 907.2 mW m⁻², comparable to that of the costly Pt/C counterpart (1022.9 mW m⁻²). The long-term durability of the a-BCM electrocatalyst is also demonstrated by continuous running for 90 days, even superior to that of Pt/C. The origin of this excellent electrocatalytic performance of a-BCMs is deeply analyzed and discussed. Furthermore, the 4e⁻ reduction pathway is also unraveled for the efficient and durable carbocatalysis of the ORR over a-BCMs in MFCs.