Porous CuO hollow architectures with perfect octahedral morphology are synthesized simply by annealing Cu-based metal–organic framework (MOF) templates. When tested as anode materials for lithium-ion batteries, these hollow octahedra exhibit greatly enhanced performance of lithium storage with excellent cycling stability and good rate capability.

N,S-Doped activated carbon was directly prepared via a facile and cost-efficient hydrothermal reaction, followed by alkali activation of elm flower (EL)-derived biomass. The EL-derived activated carbon (ELAC) had N and S contents of 2.21 and 6.06 atom %, respectively, in addition to a high Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET) surface area of 2048.6 m² g^–1 and moderate pore volume of 0.88 cm³ g^–1. Owing to its high BET surface area and N/S functional groups, ELAC achieved a specific capacitance of 275 F g^–1 at a current density of 1 A g^–1 and retained a capacitance of 216 F g^–1 at 20 A g^–1. In addition, a symmetric supercapacitor based on N,S-self-doped ELAC electrode provided a capacitance of 62 F g^–1 at a current density of 10 A g^–1, with maximum energy and power densities of 16.8 Wh kg^–1 and 600 W kg^–1, respectively. The capacitance retention was also high, at 87.2%, at 4 A g^–1 after 5000 cycles.

The Oxygen Evolution Reaction (OER) plays an essential role in hydrogen production via water splitting, metal–air secondary batteries, and artificial photosynthesis. Among the various OER catalysts, layered double hydroxides (LDHs) have attracted significant attention due to their compositional and structural flexibility, as well as tenability, and have been acknowledged as one of the most promising electrocatalysts. Nonetheless, OER possesses sluggish kinetics because it involves a four-electron pathway. Numerous efforts directed to tailoring the structure and composition of electrocatalysts have resulted in accelerated intrinsic catalytic activity and more exposed active sites, and subsequently advanced electrocatalytic performance. In this review, the recent progress of LDHs for the OER and the primary mechanisms for enhancing the electrocatalytic activity are presented. Besides, other tactics for promoting the catalytic performance, such as synthesis of LDH-based derivatives and configurations of heterostructures, are summarized, followed by a hypothesis on the enhanced OER activity. Finally, the applications of the OER, as well as the challenges in using LDHs are also discussed.

Dielectric barrier discharge plasma is one of the most popular methods to generate nanthermal plasma, which is made up of a host of high-energy electrons, free radicals, chemically active ions and excited species, so it has the property of being prone to chemical reactions. Due to these unique advantages, the plasma technology has been widely used in the catalytic fields. Compared with the conventional method, the heterogeneous catalyst prepared by plasma technology has good dispersion and smaller particle size, and its catalytic activity, selectivity and stability are significantly improved. In addition, the interaction between plasma and catalyst can achieve synergistic effects, so the catalytic effect is further improved. The review mainly introduces the characteristics of dielectric barrier discharge plasma, development trend and its recent advances in catalysis; then, we sum up the advantages of using plasma technology to prepare catalysts. At the same time, the synergistic effect of plasma technology combined with catalyst on methanation, CH₄ reforming, NO_x decomposition, H₂O₂ synthesis, Fischer–Tropsch synthesis, volatile organic compounds removal, catalytic sterilization, wastewater treatment and degradation of pesticide residues are discussed. Finally, the properties of plasma in catalytic reaction are summarized, and the application prospect of plasma in the future catalytic field is prospected.