Electrochemical water splitting represents one of the most promising technologies to produce green hydrogen, which can help to realize the goal of achieving carbon neutrality. While substantial efforts on a laboratory scale have been made for understanding fundamental catalysis and developing high-performance electrocatalysts for the two half-reactions involved in water electrocatalysis, much less attention has been paid to doing relevant research on a larger scale. For example, few such researches have been done on an industrial scale. Herein, we review the very recent endeavors to bridge the gaps between fundamental research and industrial applications for water electrolysis. We begin by introducing the fundamentals of electrochemical water splitting and then present comparisons of testing protocol, figure of merit, catalyst of interest, and manufacturing cost for laboratory and industry-based water-electrolysis research. Special attention is paid to tracking the surface reconstruction process and identifying real catalytic species under different testing conditions, which highlight the significant distinctions of corresponding electrochemical reconstruction mechanisms. Advances in catalyst designs for industry-relevant water electrolysis are also summarized, which reveal the progress of moving the practical applications forward and accelerating synergies between material science and engineering. Perspectives and challenges of electrocatalyst design strategies are proposed finally to further bridge the gaps between lab-scale research and large-scale electrocatalysis applications.

Volatile organic compounds are a kind of important indoor and outdoor air pollutants. In recent years, more and more attention has been paid to the ways of volatile organic compound elimination because of its potential long-term effects on human health. Among the various available methods for volatile organic compound elimination, the catalytic combustion is the most attractive method due to its high efficiency, low cost, simple operation, and easy scale-up. Perovskite oxides, as a large family of metal oxides with their A-site mainly of lanthanide element and/or alkaline earth metal element and B-site of transition metal element, have been extensively investigated as active and stable catalysts for volatile organic compound removal reactions due to their abundant compositional elements, high thermal/chemical stability, and compositional/structural flexibility. The catalytic performance of perovskite oxides is strongly depended on its material composition, morphology, and surface/bulk properties, while the doping, tailored synthesis route, and composite construction may have a significant effect on the bulk (oxygen vacancy concentration, lattice structure), surface (oxygen species, defect) properties, and particulate morphology, consequently the catalytic activity and stability for volatile organic compound removal. Herein, a comprehensive review about the recent advances in perovskite oxides for volatile organic compound elimination reactions based on catalytic combustion is presented from different aspects with a special emphasis on the material design strategies, such as compositional tuning, morphology control, nanostructure building, hybrid construction, and surface modification. At last, some perspectives are presented on the development and design of perovskite oxide-based catalysts for volatile organic compound removal applications by highlighgting the critical issues and challenges.

One of the critical challenges that limit broad commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is to reduce the usage of Pt while maintaining high power output and sufficient durability. Herein, a novel bi-functional layer consisting of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) and nanoparticles of Pt-Co catalysts (Pt-Co/VACNTs) is reported for high-performance PEMFCs. Readily prepared by a two-step process, the Pt-Co/VACNTs layer with a hydrophilic catalyst-loaded side and a hydrophobic gas diffusion side enables a PTFE-free electrode structure with fully exposed catalyst active sites and superior gas–water diffusion capability. When tested in a PEMFC, the bi-functional Pt-Co/VACNTs layer with ultralow Pt loading (~65 μg_cathode cm⁻²) demonstrates a power density of 19.5 kW g_{Pt cathode}⁻¹ at 0.6 V, more than seven times that of a cell with commercial Pt/C catalyst (2.7 kW g_{Pt cathode}⁻¹ at 0.6 V) at a loading of 400 μg_cathode cm⁻² tested under similar conditions. This remarkable design of VACNTs-based catalyst with dual functionalities enables much lower Pt loading, faster mass transport, and higher electrochemical performance and stability. Further, the preparation procedure can be easily scaled up for low-cost fabrication and commercialization.