State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion

The methanol to hydrocarbon (MTH) process provides an efficient route for the conversion of carbon-based feedstocks into olefins, aromatics and gasoline. Still, there is room for improvements in product selectivity and catalytic stability. This task calls for a fundamental understanding of the formation, catalytic mechanism and degradation of active sites. The autocatalytic feature of the MTH process implies that hydrocarbons are active species on the one hand and deactivating species on the other hand. The steady-state performance of such species has been thoroughly studied and reviewed. However, the mechanism of formation of the initial hydrocarbon species (i.e.; the first C-C bond) and the evolution of active species into deactivating coke species have received less attention. Therefore, this review focuses on the significant progress recently achieved in these two stages by a combination of theoretical calculations, model studies, operando spectroscopy and catalytic tests.

The catalytic mechanisms and catalyst design strategies for 5-hydroxymethylfural conversion are summarized.

The local charge redistribution in BiFeO₃/BiVO₄ hybrids promotes the targeted adsorption and activation of inert gas molecules and guarantees the exothermic coupling of *NN* with generated CO <italic>via</italic> C–N coupling reactions to form *NCON* precursor.

Aluminosilicate zeolites with controllable morphology have attracted considerable attention due to their potential applications in catalysis, adsorption, and separation technologies, as well as the biomedical field. However, the rational design and preparation of zeolites with the required morphology have not been achieved because the zeolite crystallization mechanism has not been fully understood, and therefore, the nucleation and crystal growth processes cannot be oriented. This paper reviews the progresses achieved in zeolite morphology control. The chemical compositions of the synthesis gel, including template (or the structure-directing agent) and framework heteroatoms, silica and alumina sources, alkali metal cations and mineralization ions, crystallization conditions, and synthesis methods have a considerable impact on the crystal morphology. The oriented assembly of zeolite crystals into special morphologies, such as hierarchical porous structures, zeolite membranes, hollow zeolite spheres, and core@shell-structured zeolites, can be realized by using soft and/or hard template methods and adjusting the synthesis and crystallization conditions. In addition, zeolite crystallization and crystal assembly mechanisms are investigated for providing an overall insight into the regulation of zeolite crystal morphology.

Electrocatalysis has the potential to become a more sustainable approach to generate hydrogen as a clean energy source and chemical feedstock.

A hydrotalcite-derived Ni-Al₂O₃ catalyst can catalyze HMF hydrogenation to DMF, DMTHF and DHMTHF with high yields (91.5%, 97.4% and 96.2% respectively).

Hierarchical TiC hollow branched fibres are synthesized and demonstrate high-rate supercapacitor energy storage with remarkable wide-temperature specific capacitance and excellent cycling stability.

3D hierarchically porous carbon/Sn composites is synthesized by <italic>in situ</italic> NaCl template method, which can effectively avoid the direct exposure of elemental Sn to the electrolyte, efficiently alleviate the volume expansion and exhibits good potassiation/depotassiation capacity.

MOF-derived Co₉S₈nanoparticles embedded in carbon doped with N and S showed super stability and high rate performance for supercapacitors.

Ni-coated ZnO was fabricated by atomic layer deposition and exhibited remarkably improved microwave absorption properties compared to ZnO.

A series of piperidinium-functionalized anion exchange membranes have been designed and fabricated for alkaline fuel cells and water electrolysis.

A metal–organic framework (MOF) seed-mediated deposition route is developed to synthesize graphene oxide/core–shell structured MOF nano-sandwiches.

Bisimidazole-functionalized cobaltoporphyrin acted as efficient bifunctional catalysts to facilitate the synthesis of cyclic carbonates from epoxides and CO₂.

“Side-chain-type” and crosslinkable quaternized polypropylene was prepared by heterogeneous Ziegler–Natta catalyst mediated polymerization for use in highly stable anion exchange membranes.

A Cu/ZnO catalyst derived from minerals (malachite, rosasite and aurichalcite) could catalyze 5-hydroxymethylfurfural hydrogenation to 2,5-dihydroxymethylfuran and 2,5-dimethylfuran tunably.

To produce anion conductive and durable polymer electrolytes for alkaline fuel cell applications, a series of cross-linked quaternary ammonium functionalized poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide)s with mass-based ion exchange capacities (IEC) ranging from 1.80 to 2.55 mmol g⁻¹were synthesized<italic>via</italic>thiol–ene click chemistry.

The Cu/SiO₂ catalyst prepared by the ammonia evaporation hydrothermal method presented unprecedented stability (300 h) for glycerol hydrogenolysis to 1,2-propanediol.

Sulfur doped activated carbon with strong adsorption ability and excellent catalytic activity is successfully synthesized through a one-pot process.

A ZnCrOx-ZnZSM-5 composite catalyst was used for CO2 hydrogenation into hydrocarbons especially aromatics (Aro). 81.1% Aro selectivity in C5+ hydrocarbons (mainly C5-11) was obtained at 320 °C, corresponding to 19.9% CO2 conversion, 29.8% total hydrocarbons (HCt) selectivity and 69.7% C5+ selectivity in HCt. Our optimized STY of Aro is the highest ever reported.

A unique insight into the acidic nature of the tri-coordinated framework aluminum (Al_FR) in H-ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts has been provided using multi-nuclear and multi-dimensional solid-state NMR spectroscopy in conjunction with TMPO probe molecules.