Electrochemical water splitting offers a most promising pathway for “green hydrogen” generation. Even so, it remains a struggle to improve the electrocatalytic performance of non‐noble metal catalysts, especially bifunctional electrocatalysts. Herein, aiming to accelerate the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions, an oxygen‐bridged cobalt–chromium (Co‐O‐Cr) dual‐sites catalyst anchored on cobalt phosphide synthesized through MOF‐mediation are proposed. By utilizing the filling characteristics of 3d orbitals and modulated local electronic structure of the catalytic active site, the well‐designed catalyst requires only an external voltage of 1.53 V to deliver the current density of 20 mA cm⁻² during the process of water splitting apart from the superb HER and OER activity with a low overpotential of 87 and 203 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻², respectively. Moreover, density functional theory (DFT) calculations are utilized to unravel mechanistic investigations, including the accelerated adsorption and dissociation process of H₂O on the Co‐O‐Cr moiety surface, the down‐shifted d‐band center, a lowered energy barrier for the OER and so on. This work offers a design direction for optimizing catalytic activity toward energy conversion.

It still remains a great challenge to develop alternative electrocatalysts with low cost, high efficiency and good stability for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this study, effectively conductive rGO (reduced graphene oxide) was used as the support both to promote charge transfer and to refine the particle size of WC, to realize efficient and stable HER performance. The facile in situ method can make highly dispersed WC nanoparticles firmly anchor onto the rGO substrate. Benefiting from its unique morphology and strong synergistic effect, the designed WC@rGO achieves a giant improvement in HER activity in both acidic and alkaline solutions compared with pristine WC. The overpotentials of WC@rGO are 2.82 and 2.30 times smaller than those of pristine WC to achieve 10 mA cm⁻² in acid and alkaline solutions. More specifically, the Pt-modified WC electrocatalyst with negligible accumulation of Pt (4 wt%) even exhibits superior electrocatalytic performance (η₁₀ and Tafel slope of 54 mV and 21 mV dec⁻¹ in acid solution and 61 mV and 28 mV dec⁻¹ in alkaline solution) to commercial 10 wt% Pt@C. The method reported in this study enables eco-friendly preparation of cheap, stable and effective HER electrodes.

Electrochemistry is versatile, less subject to external influences, and has great potential for the exploration of the unpredictable space environment. This work analyzes the available resources in space and discusses the application scenarios and challenges of electrochemical methods in four areas: metallurgical processing of mineral resources, water resources utilization, the carbon cycle in daily extraterrestrial life, and electrical energy storage. By examining these pivotal areas, this work elucidates the unique advantages and limitations of electrochemical technologies in space exploration. Furthermore, the paper explores the innovative application scenarios of electrochemistry in space, presenting fresh insights into how these technologies can be adapted and optimized for extraterrestrial environments. This comprehensive analysis not only provides a strategic direction for the breakthrough and advancement of electrochemical applications in space but also serves as an invaluable reference for the development of human extraterrestrial exploration and resource harvesting programs, guiding future research endeavors and technological innovations in this fascinating frontier.

Methane reduction has attracted substantial interest in recent years because an abundant amount of natural gas has been found and methane possesses a strong reduction ability. However, due to the complexity of the reaction, the reductive-kinetics model has not been developed very well. This work reported a new mathematical model for methane reduction. The model is in a form of explicit functions incorporating many parameters to increase its precision. Particularly, it considers the comparison of methane cracking rate and reaction rate. Both the gas diffusion in the product layer and chemical reaction controlled-kinetics formulae were deduced by considering three kinds of shapes (spherical, cylindrical and lamellar) of particles. Also, by employing two parameters (shape coefficient S_c and equivalent diameter d₀), the formulae for the same reduction mechanism could be unified to one formula, which was easier to use. The simulation of the model also considers both isothermal and non-isothermal processes of methane reduction. Furthermore, it can describe the reduction of oxides of varied-valence metals. The kinetics of reduction of metal oxides by methane agrees with the results obtained in the practical system.