Earth-abundant electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) able to work in acidic working conditions are elusive. While many first-row transition metal oxides are competitive in alkaline media, most of them just dissolve or become inactive at high proton concentrations where hydrogen evolution is preferred. Only noble-metal catalysts, such as IrO₂, are fast and stable enough in acidic media. Herein, we report the excellent activity and long-term stability of Co₃O₄-based anodes in 1 M H₂SO₄ (pH 0.1) when processed in a partially hydrophobic carbon-based protecting matrix. These Co₃O₄@C composites reliably drive O₂ evolution a 10 mA cm^–2 current density for >40 h without appearance of performance fatigue, successfully passing benchmarking protocols without incorporating noble metals. Our strategy opens an alternative venue towards fast, energy efficient acid-media water oxidation electrodes.

Different PtPd nanostructured catalysts modified with bismuth have been synthesized on a carbon support. Their activity towards the glycerol electrooxidation reaction has been compared in alkaline medium, and modification with about 10 at % bismuth led to an increase in activity compared with pure metals. Pt₉Bi₁/C is the most active catalyst for this reaction, with an oxidation onset potential as low as 0.3 V versus RHE. The hydrogen production in a direct electrolysis cell was evaluated. The Pt₉Bi₁/C anode gave a hydrogen production rate of approximately 0.11 and 0.23 Nm ³ h⁻¹ m⁻² with an electrical energy consumption of 1.3 or 1.65 kWh (Nm ³)⁻¹ at 0.55 or 0.7 V, respectively. Compared with traditional water electrolysis, this is an energy saving of between 66 and 57 %. It was also shown by using in situ FTIR spectroscopy that the modification of platinum with bismuth avoids (or at least drastically reduces) C−C bond breakage, which thus increases selectivity towards value‐added C3 compounds. At low potentials, glyceraldehyde is the main reaction product and at higher potentials, glyceraldehyde and dihydroxyacetone act as reaction intermediates to the formation of carboxylates.

TAMOF-1 is a robust, highly porous metal–organic framework built from Cu²⁺ centers linked by a L-histidine derivative. Thanks to its high porosity and homochirality, TAMOF-1 has shown interesting molecular recognition properties, being able to resolve racemic mixtures of small organic molecules in gas and liquid phases. Now, we have discovered that TAMOF-1 also offers a competitive performance as solid adsorbent for CO₂ physisorption, offering promising CO₂ adsorption capacity ( > 3.8 mmol g^–1) and CO₂/CH₄ Ideal Adsorbed Solution Theory (IAST) selectivity ( > 40) at ambient conditions. Moreover, the material exhibits favorable adsorption kinetics under dynamic conditions, demonstrating good stability in high-humidity environments and minimal degradation in strongly acidic media. We have identified the key interactions of CO₂ within the TAMOF-1 framework by a combination of structural (neutron diffraction), spectroscopic and theoretical analyses which conclude a dual-site adsorption mechanism with the majority of adsorbed CO₂ molecules occupying the empty voids in the TAMOF-1 channels without strong, directional supramolecular interactions. This very weak dominant binding opens the possibility of a low energy regeneration process for convenient CO₂ purification. These features identify TAMOF-1 as a viable solid-state adsorbent for the realization of affordable biogas upgrading.