Direct utilization of combustible waste as an energy resource is very attractive for improving waste-to-energy conversion efficiency. Herein, we report a high-performance solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) that can be supplied continuously with plastic waste as a fuel. Iron(III) oxide powder functioned as a pseudofuel in the ion transfer process and as a catalyst for gasification of the plastic. The resultant SOFC provided peak power densities of 0.71, 0.68, and 0.57 W cm⁻² for nylon 66, polyethylene, and polystyrene, respectively.

Nitrogen-doped carbon-supported Co/Cu bimetallic catalysts were found to catalyze olefination of aldehydes with ethyl diazoacetate. In the presence of triaryl phosphine with electron-withdrawing groups, various aromatic aldehydes could be converted into unsaturated esters in good to high yields. The system is heterogeneous, allowing for recovery and reuse of the catalyst for several runs without significant loss of activity.

Pore structure of (NH₄)₄SiW₁₂O₄₀ sponge crystal was successfully elucidated by means of Ar adsorption isotherm analysis combined with molecular probe method and molecular modeling. The pores consist of spherical voids or “cages” with diameter of ca. 12 Å and these are connected by smaller “windows”. These “cages” and “windows” are clearly resolved in the pore size distribution analysis for the first time. Molecular probe method elucidated the diameter of the “windows” is larger than 8.5 Å and smaller than 10.2 Å, being consistent with molecular modeling.

A luminescent ionic liquid containing a cationic rhenium tricarbonyl complex was synthesized. UV photoirradiation of this liquid in the presence of an organic solvent vapor caused a color change and luminescence quenching via photochemical ligand exchange, thereby enabling the photocontrol of vapochromism.

Facilely synthesized thioether amphiphiles can self-assemble into nanotubes in water. The nanotubes exhibit quick reactive oxygen species (ROS)-responsivity in H₂O₂ or against the ultraviolet-triggered ROS from the encapsulated corannulene. Oxidation of the thioether amphiphile disassembles the long nanotubes into short ones and eventually into solubilized amphiphile.

An ultra-high capacity Li[Ni_1/3Co_1/3Mn_1/3]O₂ (T-LNCM) cathode material was synthesized using a novel MnO₂ template comprising nanorods of 114 nm diameter, which increased the surface area of the material to 3.19 m² g⁻¹. Owing to its large surface area and high lithium diffusion coefficient (4.72 × 10⁻¹⁴ cm² s⁻¹), T-LNCM exhibits an ultra-high capacity of 220.2 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1 C. The capacity of T-LNCM is significantly higher than that of the conventional LNCM cathode material.

A polyamide-based nanocomposite reverse osmosis membrane was fabricated by introducing tannic acid coated carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into an oil-phase solution of trimesoyl chloride using an interfacial polymerization approach. The obtained membrane exhibits high permeate flux (67.6 L/m²h), salt rejection (99.4%), fouling resistance, antibacterial and anti-adhesion properties. After silver nanoparticles were embedded into the CNT pore channels, the permeate flux (73.1 L/m²h) and antibacterial property were further improved.

Enantioselective oxidative couplings of 4-hydroxycarbazoles using a chiral dinuclear vanadium(V) complex have been achieved for the first time. Under the mild reaction conditions, the corresponding dimeric 4-hydroxycarbazoles were obtained in up to 90% ee.

The loss on ignition (LOI) of fatty acids (FAs; including carbon numbers of C8–C24) in vegetal and animal organic reference samples at 200–500 °C was examined. The total FAs in the samples preferentially disappeared through LOI operation compared to the other compounds. The average carbon numbers in total FAs did not change substantially from their original values due to LOI, regardless of the temperature. However, the unsaturation ratios in each FA species fluctuated throughout the operation.

Unsupported Ni₂P catalyst synthesized by the hydrothermal method was studied for the direct dehydrogenative conversion of methane to hydrocarbons. The unsupported Ni₂P catalyst showed smaller crystallite size and porous surface structure due to the absence of calcination and reduction at higher temperatures and exhibited better catalytic activity at 1173 K. It has been found that the simple hydrothermal method was effective for the synthesis of active unsupported Ni₂P catalyst.

Density functional theory calculation is applied to predict the stability constants for Eu³⁺ and Am³⁺ complexes in aqueous solution for molecular modelling of novel separation agents for minor actinides over lanthanides. The logarithm of experimental stability constants correlates with calculated complex formation enthalpies with high reproducibility (R² > 0.98). Prediction of stability constants of novel chelates is demonstrated and indicates a potential availability of the derivatives of diethylenetriaminepentaacetic acid type chelate in acidic condition and enhancement of Am³⁺ selectivity over Eu³⁺.

Cage siloxanes modified with diisopropylsilanol groups were synthesized and crystallized into a layered structure containing 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene molecules in the interlayer voids, which indicates that the organic groups attached to the silanol groups have an important role in the assembling behavior of cage siloxanes.

A metal-free covalent triazine framework (CTF) was synthesized from 2,4,6-tricyano-1,3,5-triazine (TCT) through open-system and liquid-phase synthesis using trifluoromethanesulfonic acid as both a catalyst and a solvent (TCT-CTF). In conventional closed-system methods, metal ions used as catalysts remained even after purification, and large quantities could not be synthesized. The proposed method solved these problems and synthesized higher-quality TCT-CTF with a layered structure and a composition with a C/N ratio of 1, which is close to the ideal value.

siRNA was complexed with a β-1,3-glucan schizophyllan and intravenously administrated into mice. The complexed siRNA escaped renal excretion and remained in the blood. The monocytes in spleen were found to capture the complex and cause the longer residence time of the complexed siRNA, as well as increased size of the complex.

Alkaline earth metal salts of chiral bis-sulfonimide were prepared in this study. Asymmetric Diels-Alder reactions catalyzed by these metal salts were examined to evaluate the performance of bis-sulfonimide as a chiral ligand. The Diels-Alder reaction between 2-propenoyl pyrazole and cyclopentadiene catalyzed by the calcium salt afforded the cycloaddition product with moderate stereoselectivity.

A garnet-type electrolyte sheet for all-solid-state batteries was fabricated by modified cold sintering method. The pores in the electrolyte sheet were closed during the cold sintering process, and the grain-boundary resistance was reduced. The impurity phase formed after cold sintering was removed by annealing treatment at higher temperatures.

Photodimer of 9-anthracene carboxylic acid was used as crosslinker for bisepoxides and a degradable network polymer was synthesized at 100–110 °C in the presence of a base catalyst. The resulting network polymer was thermally decrosslinked at 150 °C within 30 min and completely solubilized in an organic solvent. Detailed investigation of the thermal dissociation behavior revealed that dissociation of more than 80% of 9-AC dimer unit was required for complete solubilization of the network polymer.

Novel photosensitized trifluoromethylthiazole-5-carboxylic acid dyes having different numbers of thiophene π-conjugation spacers (MCL15, MCL17, and MCL19) and a benzodithiophene spacer with long alkyl side chains (MCL40) are synthesized. The resulting extension of the π-conjugation system leads to redshift in the absorption wavelength. The long alkyl side chains of benzodithiophene cause a dispersed aggregation effect; therefore, the co-adsorbent becomes unnecessary for dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) fabrication. The DSSCs fabricated using these dyes exhibit increased conversion efficiency compared with those without a thiophene unit (MCL05).

A nanoporous gold (NPG) film was formed on a Ti sheet or sputter-deposited thin Ti film by the anodization of a thin gold film on the Ti substrates in oxalic acid. A remarkably low anodic current of the Ti sheet compared with that of the Al sheet indicates that Ti is a stable substrate for the NPG film formed by the anodization. It is also confirmed that the preanodization of the Ti sheet significantly improves the adhesion of the NPG film to Ti. By increasing the anodic potential, NPG film was formed on sputter-deposited thin Ti film with a thickness of 130 nm.

Pistachio shell derived porous carbon with a large amount of micropores is fabricated via a straightforward chemical activation and used as a selenium host material for lithium-selenium batteries. The as-obtained Se/carbon cathode displays a first discharge capacity of 713.1 mAh g⁻¹ and displays a superior reversible capacity of 422.3 mAh g⁻¹ after the 100th cycle at 0.2 C (1 C = 675 mA g⁻¹). Furthermore, at a large rate of 10 C (6.75 A g⁻¹), it still displays a reversible capacity of 221.2 mAh g⁻¹. Such unique porous carbon as a selenium host material with superior electrochemical performance suggests great potential for practical application in Li-Se batteries.

This paper proposed using the linear response function (LRF) of Kohn-Sham orbitals for checking the convergence regarding thickness in periodic slab-and-vacuum model calculations. The effectiveness was demonstrated using the alkaline earth metal oxide (001) surface. The calculated LRF decreases and converges to zero toward the opposite side of a slab. The proposed LRF scheme can be used as a guide to judge convergence of the slab thickness.

Here we demonstrate that a guanine-to-adenine substitution within guanine repeat sequences in the MSH 5′-UTR weakens G-quadruplex stability, leading to increased protein synthesis. The abnormal protein synthesis was effectively restored to the original level with a guanine-tethered oligonucleotide by the sequence-specific reintroduction of a hetero RNA–DNA G-quadruplex into the SNP site of the 5′ UTR of MSH2. Our approach would provide a new insight into gene therapies for various diseases which are caused by gene mutations in biological relevant G-quadruplexes.

A series of dipolar-type terphenyl derivatives 1–3 featuring an electron donor (p-NMe₂C₆H₄ group) and acceptor (p-NO₂C₆H₄ group) unit was synthesized and their photophysical properties were investigated. By using aromatic heterocycles (thiophene, furan, pyrrole) as the π-linkers between the donor and acceptor units, significant effects on the bathochromic shift and enhancement of the two-photon absorption wavelength and the two-photon absorption cross-sections were observed, respectively.

A Cu-mediated ortho-selective C–H cyanation of phenols with ethyl cyanoformate as the cyano source has been developed. The key to success is the introduction of 4,4′-di-tert-butyl-2,2′-bipyridine (dtbpy) bidentate auxiliary on the phenol oxygen, which is easily attachable, detachable, and recyclable. The newly developed protocol is tolerant of several carbonyl functional groups, which are incompatible with previous Lewis-acid-promoted cyanation of phenols.

A robust superhydrophobic perfluoropolysiloxane and self-doped polyaniline/epoxy resin composite coating (EPAN-RA-POS) was prepared. The structure is composed of the internal self-doped polyaniline/epoxy resin layer and the outer superhydrophobic perfluoropolysiloxane layer. The contact angle (CA) and sliding angle (SA) of EPAN-RA-POS are 165.0° ± 1.5 and 1.2° ± 0.7, respectively, the protection efficiency and immersion durability of EPAN-RA-POS reach 99.99% and 408 h, the superhydrophobicity is only lost after 330 peeling experiments.

This highlight review summarizes our recent studies of macrocyclic receptors with precise molecular recognition properties based on two concepts, assembly of metal complex units, and desymmetrization of molecular components. The metallomacrocycles realized a unique molecular binding by utilizing multipoint coordination and rigidity of the metal complex units. The desymmetrized homooligomeric macrocycles achieved a precise multipoint recognition by employing the unsymmetrically arranged interaction moieties.

The Huynh electronic parameter (HEP) is a modern alternative method to determine ligand donor strengths by ¹³C NMR spectroscopy of metal NHC complexes containing the ligand of interest. Using the HEP, the electronic properties of numerous classical Werner-type and organometallic ligands have been evaluated thus far. Moreover, it has been extended to the HEP2, which provides a means to measure bidentate chelators. This Highlight Review covers recent applications of the HEP and its variants from 2016 onwards.