In covalent organic frameworks (COFs), the highly symmetric skeleton limits O₂ adsorption and weakens the thermodynamic driving force of the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e⁻ ORR), thus restricting photocatalytic efficiency. In this study, we modulated the local arrangement of fluorine atoms in COFs (para- and ortho-fluorinated, named Fp-COFs and Fo-COFs) to create an asymmetric electronic distribution, which supplies effective O₂-adsorption sites, strengthens the driving force for 2e⁻ ORR and ultimately elevates the photocatalytic activity. Theoretical analysis shows that asymmetric fluorination delocalizes the lone-pair electrons of F atoms to adjacent carbons, producing a discretized electron distribution that improves O₂ adsorption at imine bonds. The increased electron density on these carbons facilitates electron transfer into the π* orbital of adsorbed O₂, accelerating ·OOH* intermediate formation and lowering the Gibbs free energy barrier of the 2e⁻ pathway. Consequently, a quantum yield of 8.8% for H₂O₂ photosynthesis in pure water is achieved. This work provides a new approach for tuning local electron distribution in COFs, offering guidance for the rational design of efficient photocatalytic materials and broadening the application prospects of asymmetric electronic structures.

The photocatalytic reduction of soluble U(VI) to insoluble U(IV) stands out as a viable strategy for sustainable uranium-contaminated water treatment. However, the development of efficient, robust photocatalysts remains challenging. Here, we fabricate a layered MBene (MoB) coupled with CdS to form a robust nanocomposite that enables rapid visible‑light‑driven reduction of U(VI). The 5%MoB/CdS composite achieves 97.4% U(VI) removal within 10 min without sacrificial agents, displaying fast apparent kinetics, strong tolerance to common coexisting ions, and excellent cyclic stability. Radical‑trapping experiments and electron spin resonance (ESR) measurements indicate that photogenerated electrons and superoxide radicals (•O₂^- ) are the primary active species driving U(VI) reduction. Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) and femtosecond time-resolved transient absorption spectroscopy (fs-TAS) directly reveal enhanced interfacial charge transfer and prolonged carrier lifetime. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal favorable band alignment and the formation of a Schottky barrier at the MoB/CdS interface, which directs electron transfer from CdS to the highly conductive layered MoB and suppresses charge recombination. The outstanding performance originates from the high conductivity and abundant active sites of sheet-like MoB, which facilitate electron extraction and offer numerous reduction sites. This work introduces a strategy for constructing highly efficient MBenes-based photocatalysts for uranium remediation.

The development of high-performance glucose sensors is of great significance for blood glucose monitoring and diabetes management. In this work, we designed and synthesized a novel nanocomposite electrocatalyst featuring hierarchical yolk–shell structured CuO/Co₃O₄@Co₃O₄ hybridized with graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄). The electrocatalytic performance for glucose oxidation was significantly enhanced by optimizing the mass ratio of the CuO/Co₃O₄@Co₃O₄ yolk–shell nanocubes to g-C₃N₄. The optimized composite electrode (with a 5:1 mass ratio) demonstrated exceptional sensing with an ultra-fast response (2 s) and recovery (4 s), outstanding reproducibility and excellent anti-interference capability. When engineered into a screen-printed electrode platform, this sensor achieved a sensitivity of 0.12 μA/(μM·cm²) with a wide linear detection range from 0.001 to 2.0 mM. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that the combination of CuO and Co₃O₄ can break the charge symmetry on Co atoms, enhance the material’s activity, as well as stronger adsorption for glucose, accelerating the accumulation of target molecules on the sensor surface during detection. Furthermore, a portable sensing device was successful developed by integrating this fabricated sensor with a miniaturized potentiostat. The superior electrocatalytic activity of CuO/Co₃O₄@Co₃O₄/g-C₃N₄ nanocomposite establishes a highly promising candidate for non-enzymatic glucose sensing technologies.

Environmental pollution and energy shortage pose major challenges to sustainable development. Photocatalytic technology using solar energy for pollutant degradation and resource conversion is a promising solution. However, conventional photocatalysts and reactors have limitations such as narrow light absorption, fast charge recombination, difficulty in recovery and continuous operation. The characteristics of surface reactions in photocatalytic technology also put forward higher requirements for light field design. 3D printing (Additive manufacturing) provides an innovative strategy to solve these problems. It enables the controllable design of photocatalyst microstructures in terms of pore size, morphology and surface characteristics through high-precision and customizable manufacturing methods, thus significantly improving the specific surface area, enhancing the light capture ability and carrier separation efficiency. At the same time, 3D printing technology can also manufacture photocatalytic reactors with complex flow channel structures, multi-scale mass transfer interfaces and integrated functional units, which can effectively optimize the distribution and transmission of reactants and light, realize the collaborative enhancement of reaction-mass transfer-illumination, and support the system integration of multifunctional modules. This review systematically summarizes the technical progress, core challenges and application potential of this cross-field, and provides reference for the subsequent research on 3D printing innovation of photocatalytic materials and devices.

This study focuses on enhancing the photocatalytic performance of Ti(HPO₄)₂ for H₂O₂ synthesis. Ti(HPO₄)₂, an intercalated structure photocatalyst with suitable band gap energy, has great potential in photocatalytic applications. However, its performance in H₂O₂ photosynthesis needs improvement in oxygen reduction kinetics and electron lifetime. We employed oxygen vacancy engineering to modulate the local oxygen environment of Ti(HPO₄)₂. This process reconstructs the Ti³⁺-O_v-P structures by leveraging push-pull electronic effects to increase the electron density at Ti⁴⁺ sites, thereby enhancing O₂ adsorption and activation. Moreover, we constructed an S-scheme heterojunction using WO₃ as a complementary oxidative cocatalyst. This heterojunction effectively suppressed carrier recombination and preserved the intrinsic redox abilities of each component. The optimized WO₃/TPO_v showed remarkable performance in a pure H₂O/O₂ system without sacrificial agents. It exhibited a 15-fold activity enhancement over pristine TPO and achieved an SCC efficiency of 0.75%. Our work offers a novel strategy of defect and heterojunction engineering for optimizing carrier lifetime and surface reactivity in photocatalytic systems.

While thermal air exfoliation is widely used to prepare graphitic carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄) nanosheets, the effects of calcination conditions and atmosphere on their electronic structure and photocatalytic CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR) performance remain systematically unexplored. We prepared g-C₃N₄ nanosheets with varying thickness and defects by controlling exfoliation parameters. The obtained nanosheets calcined longest in air exhibited highest CO₂RR activity, twice that of bulk g-C₃N₄. The comprehensive analysis of structural characterizations indicates the thickness of g-C₃N₄ nanosheets became thinner, and the defects increased as the calcination time increased. The N vacancies (N_v) and O-doping caused by N₂ and O₂ from air, respectively, enable valence band elevation (N_v) and conduction band depression (O-doping) that collectively redistribute the electronic structure. Nitrogen/oxygen dual-defects generated impurity levels, reduced the work function and band gap of g-C₃N₄ nanosheets, and served as shallow traps for photogenerated e⁻. The results of in-situ spectroscopy indicate these increased effective e⁻ are enriched around of N atoms to react with the adsorbed CO₂. During the CO₂ reduction process, the N_v promoted the formation of *COOH, and this dual-defect co-promoted the *CO desorption, resulting in the improved CO₂RR activity. These results comprehensively analyze the regulatory effect of thermal air calcination on the electronic structure of g-C₃N₄, providing valuable insights for designing g-C₃N₄ nanosheets based photocatalysts for CO₂RR.

Renewed interest in polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) has garnered significant impact towards next-generation hybrid materials. Owing to the outstanding mechanical, thermal, electrical, and chemical properties of PNCs, the integration of various nanoparticles or other emerging nanofillers into polymer matrices renders their applicability. This review outlines recent progress and a comprehensive overview across multidisciplinary fields of chemistry and physics concepts including surface chemistry and polymer science, emphasizing their enhanced photophysical performance over traditional composites. To examine their promising physicochemical nature, several fabrication techniques are outlined: in situ polymerization, solution blending, melt compounding, and electrospinning. In addition, state-of-the-art characterization tools that cover in situ or operando, including X-ray diffraction, neutron scattering, and various spectroscopic methods, are summarized for nanoscale structures and dynamics interpretation. Driven by stringent requirements for improved interfacial bonding and nanofiller dispersion, recent advancements in computational techniques such as density functional theory (DFT) in combination with machine learning (ML) are introduced to achieve high accuracy in terms of polymer structure predictive design. The multitude of aspects of PNCs embarked on diverse applications spanning from energy sector (fuel cells, solar cells, batteries, and supercapacitors), petroleum engineering (enhanced oil recovery), environmental fields (wastewater treatment via photocatalysis), biomedicine (drug delivery), and in biosensors (high-precision volatile analytes). This review highlights the vast potential of PNCs in addressing technological challenges such as structural complexity and engineering trade-offs. Moreover, several profound future research directions, including scalable fabrication and multifunctional material design are discussed.

Red phosphorus (RP), as a promising non-metallic photocatalyst, has garnered considerable attention due to its unique structural characteristics and exceptional optoelectronic properties. While previous reviews have explored RP-based photocatalysis, recent advancements in fabrication strategies, characterization techniques, and theoretical modeling have significantly reshaped the design, synthesis, and optimization of these materials. This review provides a comprehensive and critical evaluation of the latest progress in RP-based photocatalysts over the past five years, with a particular focus on strategies aimed at enhancing light harvesting capabilities, improving the separation and transport of photogenerated charge carriers, and ensuring long-term stability. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of innovative in-situ characterization techniques and density functional theory (DFT) simulations in elucidating the underlying photocatalytic mechanism across diverse applications, including photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, CO₂ reduction, bacterial disinfection and organic pollutant degradation. Finally, this review highlights emerging challenges and forward-looking strategies to further boost the photocatalytic performance of RP-based systems, offering valuable insights for the rational design of next-generation non-metallic photocatalysts.

Photocatalytic water bacterial inactivation is a promising strategy for microorganism removal from water, but the fabrication of efficient visible light-driven photocatalytic disinfection materials remains a challenge. Herein, In₂O₃/red phosphorus (In₂O₃/RP) hollow fibers were created through a chemical vapor deposition strategy to enhance photocatalytic water disinfection efficiency. The optimized In₂O₃/RP heterostructure exhibited rapid and effective bacterial inactivation of Escherichia coli (7-log CFU·mL⁻¹) within 10 min under white light-emitting device (LED) illumination. The enhanced photocatalytic bacterial inactivation performance can be attributed to the synergistic improvement in light absorption by RP decoration, as well as the enhanced charge separation and migration capacity at the interface between RP and In₂O₃. This led to the more unpaired photogenerated carriers transfer to the photocatalysts surface, thus promoting the production of photoexcited holes, ·O₂⁻, and ·OH radicals essential for efficient destruction of bacterial cells.