Carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions are an important environmental issue that causes greenhouse and climate change effects on the earth. Nowadays, CO₂ has various conversion methods to be a potential carbon resource, such as photocatalytic, electrocatalytic, and photo-electrocatalytic. CO₂ conversion into value-added products has many advantages, including facile control of the reaction rate by adjusting the applied voltage and minimal environmental pollution. The development of efficient electrocatalysts and improving their viability with appropriate reactor designs is essential for the commercialization of this environmentally friendly method. In addition, microbial electrosynthesis which utilizes an electroactive bio-film electrode as a catalyst can be considered as another option to reduce CO₂. This review highlights the methods which can contribute to the increase in efficiency of carbon dioxide reduction (CO₂R) processes through electrode structure with the introduction of various electrolytes such as ionic liquid, sulfate, and bicarbonate electrolytes, with the control of pH and with the control of the operating pressure and temperature of the electrolyzer. It also presents the research status, a fundamental understanding of carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) mechanisms, the development of electrochemical CO₂R technologies, and challenges and opportunities for future research.

Liquid epoxy resins have received much attention from both academia and the chemical industry as eco-friendly volatile organic compound (VOC)-free alternatives for applications in coatings and adhesives, especially in those used in households. Epoxy resins show high chemical resistance and high creep resistance. However, due to their brittleness and lack of thermal stability, additional fillers are needed for improving the mechanical and thermal properties. Halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) are naturally abundant, inexpensive, and eco-friendly clay minerals that are known to improve the mechanical and thermal properties of epoxy composites after suitable surface modification. Zirconium is well known for its high resistance to heat and wear. In this work, zirconium oxide-impregnated HNTs (Zr/HNTs) were added to epoxy resins to obtain epoxy composites with improved mechanical and thermal properties. Zr/HNTs were characterized by field-emission transmission electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Changes in the thermal properties of the epoxy composites were characterized by thermo mechanical analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Furthermore, flexural properties of the composites were analyzed using a universal testing machine.

Silica/epoxy hybrid resin has high viscosity owing to its particle size and aggregation in the epoxy matrix, which leads to poor usability and processability. To control the size of the silica nanoparticles, surface modification of the colloidal silica (12 nm) was conducted in two steps using a silane coupling agent. The silica nanoparticles were then dispersed in the epoxy resin using an amphiphilic solvent with a high boiling point instead of mechanical dispersion. A nanosilica/epoxy hybrid resin with a low viscosity was obtained. The hybrid resin containing 3 wt% silica nanoparticles obtained a viscosity value that is 1.2% that of the neat epoxy resin. The tensile and flexural strengths of the silica/epoxy nanocomposite, as well as the impact strength of the silica/epoxy nanocomposite, were improved by plastic deformation cause by the introduction of silica nanoparticles. With silica nanoparticles loading of 10 wt%, the tensile strength of the silica/epoxy nanocomposite increased by 24%, and the impact strength increased by 112%. For higher amounts of loaded silica nanoparticles, the tensile strength of the silica/epoxy nanocomposite continuously increased, while the impact strength decreased. Graphical Abstarct

The glucose oxidation reaction (GOR) is a potential alternative to water oxidation because of its relatively low thermodynamic potential and the high availability of glucose. Herein, a FeCoO/N‐doped C electrode derived from metal–organic framework (MOF) materials is applied, which is synthesized in several steps through the controlled deposition of Fe–Co oxide nanocatalysts onto Co –N‐doped C nanofibers on a Ni foam substrate and demonstrate exceptional electrocatalytic activity for both the GOR and overall water splitting. Here, a bifunctional electrocatalyst derived from MOF, FeCoO/N‐doped C is reported, for glucose oxidation reaction (GOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). The MOF‐derived FeCoO/N‐doped C (+/‐) as a bifunctional electrocatalyst exhibits a cell voltage of 1.4 V for the GOR&HER, to reach a current density of 10 mA cm⁻², which is 280 mV lower than that for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER)&HER (1.68 V). This study reveals that GOR is an energy‐efficient and affordable source of H₂ and value‐added chemicals.

As the demand for fiber-reinforced composite (FRC) has increased in various industries, composite materials have been manufactured in larger sizes and more complex shapes. Since the FRC has been manufactured in such larger and more complex shapes, wettability, one of the important factors in FRC manufacturing efficiency, has been the focus of many researchers. This paper explores various evaluation methods of the wettability between fiber and polymer matrix. Generally, work of adhesion, capillary, and permeability methods have been used to evaluate the wettability parameters between the fibers and the polymer matrix. These three parameters exhibit different scales of measurements such as surface energy, viscosity of the polymer, the fiber volume fraction, fiber orientation, and so on. Future research may include complementary studies between these evaluation methods. GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT