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2025 Vol. 10, No. 12

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Short Communication
Integrated reaction–separation in a pilot-scale catalytic membrane reactor for efficient continuous p-nitrophenol hydrogenation
Ziming Chen, Yuyan Gao, Zhihao Guo, Yan Du, Zhengyan Qu, Jiuxuan Zhang, Zhenchen Tang, Hong Jiang, Rizhi Chen
2025, 10(12): 2321-2326. doi: 10.1016/j.gee.2025.10.001
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Hydrogenation reactions, vital in chemical engineering, are hampered by limitations including catalyst recovery, mass transfer issues, and scalability. Catalytic membrane reactors offer a promising alternative by integrating reaction and separation, boosting efficiency and simplifying catalyst handling. However, scaling these membranes to industrial levels while ensuring long-term stability and high efficiency remains a significant challenge. This study tackles this by developing and demonstrating a pilot-scale multi-channel ceramic catalytic membrane reactor system. This system, featuring three 19-channel ceramic catalytic membranes, achieved nearly 100% p-nitrophenol hydrogenation conversion consistently over 600 h of continuous liquid-phase operation. This underscores the superior catalytic efficiency, remarkable long-term stability, and strong scalability of multi-channel ceramic catalytic membrane. This work establishes a robust platform for continuous-flow hydrogenation, providing a solid foundation for practical catalytic membrane reactor technology application in the chemical industry.
Review articles
Recent progress in biochar-based photocatalysts for environmental remediation
Ke Zhu, Yuheng Yao, Xiaoying Liang, Yi Yang, Hector F. Garces, Kai Yan
2025, 10(12): 2327-2350. doi: 10.1016/j.gee.2025.07.006
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With the accelerating industrialization, environmental pollution has become increasingly severe. Photocatalysis, as a solar-driven advanced oxidation process, has emerged as a promising solution for environmental remediation. Biochar, with its unique surface properties, tunable functional groups, excellent conductivity, and chemical stability, serves as an ideal support for photocatalysts. The integration of photocatalysts with biochar forms biochar-based photocatalysts (Bio-BPs), which synergistically enhance functional groups, porosity, surface active sites, and catalytic performance. This review systematically summarizes the synthesis methods of Bio-BPs to guide optimal preparation strategies, enumerates the advanced characterization techniques, explores modification mechanisms and their effects on photocatalytic activity, examines applications in removing both aqueous pollutants and atmospheric pollutants and discusses sustainable prospects for the future development of Bio-BPs to provide guidelines for designing high-performance biochar-based materials for practical environmental applications.
Advances in cathode’s microstructure modification to boost performance of lithium–sulfur batteries
Modeste Venin Mendieev Nitou, Yu Wu, Muhammad Waqas, Ziheng Zhang, Daiqian Chen, Hesheng Yu, Mengjun Tang, Xiaodong Fang, Rui Liu, Yashuai Pang, Aadheeshwaran Samynathan, Benammar Djenet Sondra, Yinghua Niu, Weiqiang Lv, Yuanfu Chen
2025, 10(12): 2351-2391. doi: 10.1016/j.gee.2025.06.006
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Lithium-sulfur (Li–S) battery has become one of the most promising next-generation electrical storage systems because of its exceptional energy density of 2600 Wh kg−1. However, their commercialization is hindered by several key obstacles, notably the polysulfide shuttle effect, poor electrical conductance of sulfur, and considerable volumetric change during cycling. This review addresses current advancements in microstructural innovations aimed at improving Li–S battery performance, focusing on modifying cathode materials. The strategies discussed primarily revolve around enhancing the conductivity of sulfur and effectively confining polysulfides to reduce the dissolving of lithium polysulfides in organic electrolytes. Key findings highlight the effectiveness of porous carbon structures and metal compounds in stabilizing polysulfides and enhancing electrochemical performances. Additionally, the roles of advanced synthesis techniques that facilitate the creation of hybrid cathodes with superior mechanical properties and cycling stability are summarized. By addressing the inherent limitations of traditional Li–S battery designs, these innovations pave the way for more efficient and reliable energy storage systems, positioning Li–S technology as a viable alternative to conventional lithium-ion batteries in future applications.
Insights into degradation mechanisms and engineering strategies of layered manganese-based oxide cathodes for sodium-ion battery
Jun-Wei Yin, Yi-Meng Wu, Xin-Yu Liu, Jing Li, Peng-Fei Wang, Zong-Lin Liu, Lin-Lin Wang, Jie Shu, Ting-Feng Yi
2025, 10(12): 2392-2417. doi: 10.1016/j.gee.2025.07.013
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Manganese-based oxides are widely regarded as highly promising cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries due to their abundant resources, low cost and high specific capacity. Especially in the P2 and O3-type structures, excellent electrochemical performance and structural stability are expected to be achieved by modulating the ratio of Mn to other transition metals. However, these materials are susceptible to phase transitions, Jahn-Teller distortions and manganese dissolution during cycling, which limits their structural stability and electrochemical performance. To solve these critical issues, researchers have proposed various material design and modulation strategies and achieved remarkable progress. This review provides a systematic summary of the current state of research on manganese-based oxides in sodium-ion batteries and offers a detailed analysis of the root causes of performance degradation in terms of material structural features, defect types and formation mechanisms. Meanwhile, the current research progress in ion doping, high entropy strategy, surface modification, and interfacial engineering is reviewed to explore the synergistic regulation on structural stability and electrochemical behavior. The unique advantages of these materials in terms of phase stability, rate capability and cycle life are demonstrated. Finally, this paper looks forward to the future research directions and development trends for manganese-based oxides, providing a theoretical foundation and technical support for the construction of high-performance and scalable cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries.
Lignin-derived high-quality graphene quantum dots: Synthesis, mechanistic insights, and emerging applications
Zheyuan Ding, Kunye Zhang, Junzhong Xie, Cenkai Zhao, Haoyu Li, Yan Zhang, Min Wang, Mingbo Wu
2025, 10(12): 2418-2438. doi: 10.1016/j.gee.2025.09.007
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Lignin-based graphene quantum dots (L-GQDs) serve as a bridge between renewable biomass resources and functional carbon materials. This review begins with the molecular structure of lignin, exploring various synthesis methods for L-GQDs. The precise elucidation of precursor-structure–property relationships could optimize their performance through the quantitative regulation of lignin unit properties and enable controllable synthesis. We elaborate on the photoluminescence mechanisms and fluorescence modulation strategies of L-GQDs, covering aspects such as structural design, synthesis pathways, and photophysical property optimization. Additionally, the review discusses the application prospects of L-GQDs in biology, energy conversion, and optoelectronics, and highlights the importance of synergistically aligning synthesis strategies with practical on-demand applications. We also propose that research paradigm should focus on in-situ unveiling of nucleation kinetics during L-GQDs formation, photoluminescence mechanism decoding, toxicity regulation to enable green, sustainable and multidisciplinary cutting-edge applications.
Research papers
Efficient electro-catalytic desulfurization by in-situ oxidant generation
Yang Cao, Shilong Zhou, Linlin Chen, Yan Huang, Hui Liu, Yiru Zou, Peiwen Wu, Haiyan Ji, Wenshuai Zhu, Chunming Xu
2025, 10(12): 2439-2452. doi: 10.1016/j.gee.2025.07.002
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In this study, we present an extraction-coupled electro-catalytic oxidative desulfurization (EC-EODS) system that achieves efficient sulfur removal from fuel oils without external oxidants. The system utilizes an electrolyte composed of ionic liquids (ILs), NaCl, and H2SO4, integrating extraction and electrochemical oxidation to effectively remove different aromatic sulfur compounds with sulfur removals of 100%. Additionally, H2 is co-produced at the cathode, supporting refinery processes and reducing H2 storage and transportation costs, thereby improving economic viability. Detailed mechanism analysis shows that IL selectively extracts and concentrates sulfur compounds, while NaCl and H2SO4 facilitate ClO− generation, serving as the in-situ oxidant. The EC-EODS system operates without external catalysts, relying on graphite electrodes that generate superoxide radicals from ClO−. Moreover, a strategy for the separation of desulfurization products as well as the electrolyte is proposed as well. The EC-EODS system offers a sustainable, high-efficiency strategy for desulfurization, with economic benefits through sulfur oxidation and H2 co-generation.
High-performance moisture-driven power generators based on in-situ confined polymerized ionic liquid membranes
Rongrong Wang, Junfeng Lu, Wenjia Guo, Hao Dong, Nailiang Yang, Hua Li, Yanlei Wang, Jianmei Lu
2025, 10(12): 2453-2460. doi: 10.1016/j.gee.2025.05.004
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Harvesting energy from humid air to generate electricity represents a promising strategy for sustainable power generation. However, achieving high output and long-term stability in moisture-driven power generators (MPGs) remains a significant challenge. Here, we develop an efficient MPG by incorporating polymerized ionic liquid (PIL) and MXene through in-situ polymerization of cationic long chains within the MXene layers. This structural design enhances the hydrophilicity and ion dynamics, ensuring stable and sustained electrical output. A single MPG device delivers an open-circuit voltage of 0.65 V and a power density of 14.87 μW·cm−2, operating continuously for over 36 h. Surface characterization and quantum chemistry calculations elucidate that the mobile anions within the MPG move directionally under moisture gradients, while polymerized cations remain stationary, driving power generation. The MPG exhibits exceptional long-term stability, retaining about 80% of its initial voltage output after 30 days. Moreover, these MPGs demonstrate scalability for practical applications, capable of efficiently charging capacitors and powering LEDs through simple series-parallel configurations. This work offers a promising strategy to simultaneously enhance the performance and operational stability of MPGs, offering a sustainable solution for the direct conversion of low-grade thermal energy from moisture into clean electricity.
Ferrocene-functionalized ultrafiltration membrane: Integrated approach for natural organic matter separation and catalytic degradation of small-molecule dye
Shaobin Wen, Jingyu Zhang, Bin Peng, Liyuan Fan, Qiang Zhang
2025, 10(12): 2461-2474. doi: 10.1016/j.gee.2025.05.008
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Water pollution and scarcity have become major global challenges. The Fenton oxidation method has been widely applied in organic wastewater treatment due to its ability to efficiently degrade toxic organic pollutants. However, traditional homogeneous Fenton systems have several limitations, such as slow reaction rates and the generation of iron sludge. In this study, a ferrocene-based catalytic ultrafiltration membrane was developed by UV photopolymerization. This membrane integrated Fenton reaction with membrane separation technology significantly enhances pollutant removal efficiency, prevents iron sludge formation, and provides self-cleaning properties to extend the service life of the membrane. The results indicated that the ferrocene groups are uniformly distributed on the membrane surface, greatly improving their catalytic efficiency. In heterogeneous Fenton reactions, M2 exhibited excellent catalytic activity, achieving a degradation rate of > 99.9% of methyl orange (MO) within 90 s. Additionally, under the synergistic effect of membrane filtration and catalysis, M2 efficiently removed humic acid (HA) and MO and demonstrated good reusability over multiple cycles. Moreover, under Fenton reaction conditions, M2 showed superior self-cleaning performance, achieving a high FRR value of 94.1%. Overall, this catalytic membrane enhanced pollutant removal efficiency through the combined effect of membrane separation and catalysis, effectively degrading small molecule dyes in the presence of natural organic matter, offering a novel approach to addressing water pollution.
Sulfonated covalent organic framework modified separator enables long-span and high-capacity zinc-iodine batteries
Tiao Huang, Shenglin Wang, Ming Wang, Hui Hu, Jianyi Wang, Xiaofang Su, Songtao Xiao, Jingyi Wu, Yanan Gao
2025, 10(12): 2475-2486. doi: 10.1016/j.gee.2025.05.002
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Compared with the most advanced lithium-ion batteries, aqueous zinc-iodine batteries (Zn–I2 batteries) have higher theoretical capacity and energy density, thus attracting much attention in energy storage. However, due to several technical issues, the commercialization of Zn–I2 batteries is still at a bottleneck, and among them, the “shuttle effect” of polyiodide anions is considered to be a main challenge. In order to minimize the shuttle of polyiodide species within the cathode compartment, we herein synthesize a zinc-ion conductive covalent organic framework (COF), namely DMSBA-Tp-COF, that is used to assemble a composite separator together with commercial glass fiber (GF) substrate and graphene (Gr) by a simple vacuum filtration coating technology. The negatively charged –SO3− ions present in COF coatings enable homogeneous Zn2+ flux and simultaneously suppress polyiodides shuttling in the Zn–I2 batteries. As a result, the composite Gr@DMSBA-Tp-COF@GF separator endows the corresponding Zn–I2 symmetrical cell with excellent long-term cyclic stability with a lifespan over 800 h and high-specific capacity of 3.2 mAh cm−2 (at a current density of 20 mA cm−2, voltage range of 0.7–1.7 V). This study provides a prospective strategy to rationally design functional COFs separators and accelerate their applications in high energy storage systems.
Enhanced hydroxide conductivity in zwitterionic polyacrylate-based anion exchange membranes via side-chain length optimization
Lu Cai, Naibing Li, Bingbing Li, Tianchi Zhou, Zhengyuan Zhou, Yongnan Zhou, Xi Luo, Kaiying Zhao, Yuekun Lai, Jinli Qiao
2025, 10(12): 2487-2499. doi: 10.1016/j.gee.2025.06.003
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Developing advanced ion-conductive networks is crucial for anion exchange membranes (AEMs). A flexible molecular structure facilitates the formation of ion clusters, resulting in enhanced ionic conductivity. Polyacrylates, known for their outstanding flexibility and chemical stability, hold significant potential as polymer electrolyte membranes. In this work, we innovatively constructed a series of polyacrylate-based AEMs decorated with pendant zwitterions (designated as PSBPA-X, BSBPA-X, where X = 20, 30, 40). Specifically, the spacer length between the zwitterions is strategically optimized to enhance the ionic conductivity. Atomic force microscopy reveals that a longer spacer length between the zwitterions promotes the microphase separation and the formation of advanced water channels, which facilitates the OH− transport in the BSBPA-40 membrane. Moreover, the stronger electrostatic potential and lower interaction energy between the BSBPA-40 and OH− further contribute to efficient OH− hopping transmission. Consequently, the BSBPA-40 membrane demonstrates the highest OH− conductivity, achieving 102.1 mS cm−1 at 80 °C and 90% relative humidity, significantly surpassing that of the PSBPA-40 membrane (75.2 mS cm−1). Additionally, the BSBPA-40 membrane exhibits remarkable flexibility with an improved breaking elongation of 480.5% due to the ionic cross-linking between the zwitterions. Notably, the BSBPA-40 membrane-based zinc-air battery achieves an outstanding power density of 156.7 mW cm−2 at room temperature, while its water electrolysis performance reaches 2.1 A cm−2 at 2.0 V. These results indicate that the developed membranes hold great promise for applications in sustainable and clean energy technologies.
Efficient construction of SiC membranes to filtrate high-temperature dust-laden gas for environmental sustainability
Shiying Ni, Yuqi Song, Dong Zou, Zhaoxiang Zhong, Weihong Xing
2025, 10(12): 2500-2509. doi: 10.1016/j.gee.2025.08.003
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During the production processes of energy, metallurgy, chemical engineering, and other process industries, substantial high-temperature dust-laden flue gas is generated. Asymmetric silicon carbide (SiC) membranes exhibit significant potential in flue gas filtration since they enable direct filtration of high-temperature gas and facilitate thermal energy recovery. However, membrane particle penetration is a prevalent issue when constructing membrane layer directly on macroporous support, which contributes to a considerable mass transfer resistance. Herein, a novel hydrophobic modification strategy was developed to avoid the slurry penetration, thereby fabricating the asymmetric SiC membrane without the necessity of any intermediate or sacrificial layer. Firstly, the modifier concentration was adjusted to guarantee that the support was hydrophobic enough to prevent the slurry from penetrating. Subsequently, the slurry surface tension was fine-tuned by introducing ethanol to enhance the integrity of the SiC membrane. Furthermore, the effect of solid content was systematically investigated. It was demonstrated that the optimized SiC membranes obtained excellent gas permeance from 100.8 to 199.8 m3·m−2·h−1·kPa−1 with the pore size ranging from 1.93 to 3.89 μm. Also, the SiC membrane exhibited excellent stability for 24 h and achieved an excellent dust removal efficiency (99.99%) when filtering ultrafine dust particles (∼300 nm) under high temperatures. This method effectively bridges the membrane particle penetration issue caused by the particle size disparity among different layers of the asymmetric membrane, establishing an efficient strategy to fabricate high-permeance SiC membranes applied in high-temperature dust-laden gas filtration.

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