A research group led by Prof. WANG Junhu, co-worked with Prof. ZHANG Tao and Prof. QIAO Botao's group from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, discovered the Strong Metal-Support Interaction (SMSI) between platinum group metals (Pt and Pd, PGMs) and hydroxyapatite (HAP). Their findings were published in Chemical Science.
　　The SMSI can change the morphology and electronic properties of metal nanoparticles, thus after the reactivity and selectivity, which are of important effect on the catalytic performance of supported catalyst. Also, it can generally stabilize the metal particles with embedding metal particles on the carriers, therewith stable metal catalysts can be prepared easily.
　　Schematic diagram on the development of SMSI researches. (Image by TANG Hailian and QIAO Botao)
　　The SMSI has been expanding since its discovery, but mainly focused on the PGMs catalysts supported on reducible metal oxides, and its reaction conditions are also limited to high temperature or ultra-high vacuum conditions for causing carrier reduction.
　　Based on the research experience of HAP supported metal catalysts, scientists discovered the SMSI between Au and HAP under oxidative atmosphere in previous studies. They designed and developed highly active & stable Au/HAP-TiO2 catalysts with unique semi-encapsulated nanostructure through tuning the O-SMSI, and systematically investigated the classical SMSI of oxide supported gold catalysts.
　　In this study, scientists discovered the O-SMSI existence between PGMs and HAP.
　　The PGMs nanoparticles were encapsulated by HAP carrier-like thin layer, and their aggregation growth and leaching among reaction process were effectively inhibited. Therefore, the reusability and reaction stability of the HAP-supported PGMs catalysts were markedly improved.
　　This study for the first time discovery that O-SMSI can occur in the PGMs catalysts, which provides a new way for the design and development of stable PGMs catalysts under oxidative environment.
　　PGMs loaded on reducible carriers such as titanium dioxide would lose their adsorption ability to small molecules (CO, H2) after high-temperature reduction, this phenomenon was coined by Tauster et al. in 1978 and named as SMSI (now referred as classical SMSI).
　　This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology & the Chinese Academy of Sciences. (Text by TANG Hailian, QIAO Botao and Lucy)

　　A research team led by Prof. SHEN Wenjie from the State key laboratory of Catalysis of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese academy of sciences, in collaboration with Prof. LIU Jingyue from Arizona State University, identified the key role of the geometrical structure of the Au-Fe2O3 interfaces in CO oxidation. Their findings were published in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed..
　　Geometrical interfacial structure of Au-Fe2O3 catalyst. (Image by WANG Ning)
　　Gold nanoparticles (NPs), dispersed on reducible metal oxides, are frequently reported to be highly active for low-temperature oxidation of CO, showing a prominent size effect. Au NPs smaller than 3 nm are highly active while Au NPs larger than 5 nm are nearly inert. However, the chemical nature of the size-dependence remains controversial.
　　The researchers investigated the atomic arrangement of the perimeter gold atoms at the Au-Fe2O3 interfaces by tuning the size of Au NPs in the range of 2-5 nm, using aberration corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy.
　　They found that the activity for CO oxidation on Au/Fe2O3 catalysts was intimately associated with the geometrical structure of the interfacial perimeter Au atoms. For smaller gold particles, the perimeter gold atoms possessed a low-coordinated environment and thus showed a much higher intrinsic activity.
　　This result extends the fundamental understanding of the size effect in nanocatalysis and provides a promising strategy for tuning the metal-oxide interactions.
　　The research was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China. (Text by WANG Ning)

　　High-resolution real-space imaging of nanoparticle surfaces is desirable for better understanding of surface composition and morphology, molecular interactions at surface, and nanoparticle chemical functionality in its environment.
　　However, achieving molecular or sub-molecular resolution has been proven very challenging, due to highly curved nanoparticle surfaces and often insufficient knowledge of the monolayer composition.
　　A research group led by Prof. YANG Xueming and MA Zhibo from the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Reaction Dynamics of the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in cooperation with Prof. ZHENG Nanfeng from Xiamen University and Prof. Hannu Hakkinen from University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, investigated the surface structures of ligand protected metal nanoclusters with defined atomic structure by using low temperature UHV scanning tunneling microscopy as well as "Pattern recognition" algorithm.
　　Combination of high resolution STM images, DFT simulation and pattern recognition to resolve surface structure of nanocluster. (Image by ZHOU Qin)
　　The scientists demonstrated sub-molecular resolution in scanning tunneling microscopy imaging of thiol monolayer of a 5 nm nanoparticle Ag374 protected by tert-butyl benzene thiol. The experimental data was confirmed by comparisons through a pattern recognition algorithm to simulated topography images from density functional theory using the known total structure of the Ag374 nanocluster.
　　This work demonstrated a working methodology for investigations of structure and composition of organic monolayers on curved nanoparticle surfaces, which helped designing functionalities for nanoparticle-based applications.
　　The study entitled “Real-space imaging with pattern recognition of a ligand-protected Ag374 nanocluster at sub-molecular resolution” was published in Nature Communications. (Text by ZHOU Qin)

　　Prof. ZHOU Yongjin from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Prof. Jens Nielsen and Dr. Eduard Kerkhoven from Chalmers University of Technology, reviewed the barriers and opportunities in bio-based production of hydrocarbon biofuels. And the review was published in Nature Energy.
　　The transport sector accounts for the largest and fastest growing consumers of energy. Even though there are projections of a rapid increase in electric cars, high-power transport vehicles (airplanes, ships and long-haul trucks) need high energy-density fuels (including high-capacity energy storage, fast energy release and rapid charge), and current alternative energy storages (mainly batteries) cannot meet this requirement.
　　The current fossil fuels cause greenhouse gases (GHG) emission. Thus, there is an urgent need to establish alternative sustainable routes for production of liquid fuels with high energy densities. Biotransformation of biomass or other renewable resources toward biofuels is considered as a green route for production of liquid fuels, biochemical, and etc. (Figure A).
　　The review first introduced the current environmental pressure requires clean liquid fuels, and a recent report showed that camelina oil-derived biofuel blending into traditional jet fuel (50:50 by volume) reduced the particle and mass emissions by 50–70%.
　　However, plant oil production is low efficient and also easily suffer from geography and climate factors. Construction of robust microbial cell factories for biofuels production, by using biomass and natural gas as feedstocks, would be a feasible approach for future clean energy supply.
　　The study summarized the recent progress in engineering microbes for biosynthesis of different hydrocarbon molecules, including derivatives of fatty acid, isoprenoid and polyketide. Especially, bio-based production of farnesene, an ideal jet fuel and alternative which can be used for rubber manufacture, reached industrial level and a factory has been established in Brazil for industrial production.
　　It also discussed the challenge in construction of robust microbial cell factories with high efficiency and resistance again harsh industrial conditions.
　　The review emphasized that biological and chemical processes should collaborate by taking their own advantage, which would facilitate the feasible route toward sustainable production hydrocarbons and even other chemicals (Figure B).
　　In fact, the synergy between biological and chemical processes has been well used for production of alkanes and pharmaceutical artemisinin, and DICP is a great platform to provide the collaboration opportunities.
　　Engineering utilization of single-carbon feedstocks for bio-refinery would expand the current single-carbon economy and improve the sustainable production of biofuels and chemcials. (Text by ZHOU Yongjin)
　　Synergistic biological-chemical bioprocess for production of liquid fuels and chemicals. (Image by ZHOU Yongjin)

　　Shedding insights into the acid-base properties at the atomic level is crucial for heterogeneous catalysis. How to detect and identify the geometric structure, exact position and the acid-base properties of active sites remains a tremendous challenge in heterogeneous catalysis.
　　A research group led by Prof. WANG Feng from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the interfacial Lewis acid-base pair, which consisted of acidic Ce-Vo site and basic interfacial oxygen of Ru-O-Ce linkage, readily formed on the Ru-clusters/ceria.
　　Based on this discovery, the concept "Interfacial Acid-Base Pair" was mentioned for the first time (J. Am. Chem. Soc.). Recently, the scientists found that the quinazolinones could be synthesized from olefins, CO and amines over heterogeneous Ru-clusters/ceria catalyst, forming three new bonds including C-C, C-N and C=N. Their findings were selected as "hot Paper" and published in Angew. Chem. Int. Ed..
　　The synthesis of quinazolinones from olefins, CO, and amines over a heterogeneous Ru-clusters/ceria catalyst. (Image by AN Jinghua)
　　The mechanism research showed that amide species formed during the reaction was verified to be the reaction intermediate. And then the target product quinazolinone was easily obtained via the dehydration of intermediate amide, which could be catalyzed by acid sites on ceria support. The quinazolinone could be obtained in 99% isolated yield under optimized conditions.
　　The generation of intermediate amide species needs an acidic conditions. However, the amine, acts as a basic molecule, inhibits the generation of amide species. In this work, the scientists overcame this problem by forming Brosted acid in situ via the activation of amine on the interfacial acid-base pair of Ru-clusters/ceria.
　　This study provides an economical and sustainable route for the synthesis of quinazolinones, extending the application of the concept "Interfacial Acid-Base Pair".
　　This work was supported by Strategic Priority Research Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. (Text by AN Jinghua)

　　A research group led by Prof. LIU Shengzhong from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Prof. YANG Dong from Shaanxi Normal University and Prof. Shashank Priya from Virginia Tech, studied the high efficiency of planar-type perovskite solar cells with negligible hysteresis using EDTA-complexed SnO2. Their findings were published in Nature Communications.
　　a) J–V curves with the inset showing device configuration; b) Static current density and PCE measured as a function of time for the EDTA, SnO2, and E-SnO2 devices biased at 0.85 V, 0.89 V, and 0.92 V, respectively; c) E-SnO2 measured under both reverse- and forward-scan directions; d) Long-term stability measurements of devices without any encapsulation under ambient condition; e) Schematic illustration of Fermi level of EDTA, SnO2, and E-SnO2 relative to the conduction band of the perovskite layer; f) TRPL spectra of perovskite films deposited on different substrates. (Image by YANG Dong and DUAN lianjie)
　　The planar-type perovskite solar cell has recently received great attentions due to simple device structure and easy fabrication process. However, its efficiency is still lower compared to mesoporous architecture. Furthermore, the planar-type perovskite solar cells exhibit severe hysteresis.
　　In previous work, LIU’s group used ionic liquid to modify TiO2 electron transport material, and the efficiency of planar-type perovskite solar cell was up to 19.62% with reduced hysteresis, the highest efficiency at that time for planar-type perovskite solar cells.
　　Recently, they employed ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) to complex SnO2 to fabricate the E-SnO2 electron transport material with excellent photoelectric properties.
　　"We improved the efficiency of planar-type perovskite solar cells based on E-SnO2 increases to as high as 21.60% (certified efficiency at 21.52%), which is the highest efficiency for planar-type perovskite solar cells to date" said LIU.
　　The researchers revealed that the high electron mobility and suitable energy level of E-SnO2 could effective suppress the charge accumulation at electron transport layer/perovskite interface, which was caused by ion migration and unbalance transport between electrons and holes, leading to negligible hysteresis.
　　Moreover, the perovskite degradation at grain boundary was efficient suppressed owing to larger crystal grains of the perovskite absorber when deposited on E-SnO2, resulting in good long-term environmental stability of planar-type perovskite solar cells.
　　Their results will provide a promising pathway for high performance of planar-type perovskite solar cells.
　　The research was supported by the National Key Research and Development Program of China, National Natural Science Foundation of China, National University Research Fund, the 111 Project. (Text by YANG Dong and DUAN lianjie)