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Aiming at high-efficiency biomimetic CO2 reduction, a photoelectrocatalyst with excellent CO2 catalytic activity was designed and prepared by self-assembly immobilizing CoTPP onto g-C3N4 based on π–π interaction.

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Aimed at high-efficiency biomimetic CO2 photoelectrochemical conversion, a bio-proton coupling metal-complex/semiconductor hybrid photoelectrocatalytic interface (Ru-BNAH/TiO2/Cu2O) was constructed by covalently modifying an in situ proton-transfer functionized molecular catalyst (Ru-BNAH) on the surface of a TiO2/Cu2O composite semiconductor substrate electrode.

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Electrochemical CO2 reduction (ECCO2R) requires electrons, for example, from oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, such a multiple‐electron‐involved reaction is complicated and kinetically slow, leading to high overpotential. Herein, OER is replaced with photoelectrocatalytic phenol oxidation reaction (PECPOR) that provides electrons for ECCO2R. In an integrated cell, ECCO2R is conducted on the cathode of Cu nanowires and PECPOR is performed on the anode of SnO2 and Sb coated TiO2 nanotubes. Significant improvement of ECCO2R into CO and hydrocarbons is realized when PECPOR is conducted at a high current density. The use of this integrated system results in the reduction of the specific energy consumption by a factor of 51.33%, compared with the utilization of two half‐cells for individual ECCO2R and PECPOR. This study thus proposes a novel strategy to couple ECCO2R with PECPOR and eventually to tackle the problems of environmental pollution and energy crisis.

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Pseudo-lignin is generated from lignocellulose biomass during pretreatment with dilute sulfuric acid and has a significant inhibitory effect on cellulase. However, the mechanism of pseudo-lignin generation remains unclear. The following main points have been addressed to help elucidate the pseudo-lignin generation pathway. Cellulose and xylan were pretreated with sulfuric acid at different concentrations; aliquots were periodically collected; and the changes in the byproducts of the prehydrolysate were quantified. Milled wood lignin (MWL) mixed with cellulose and xylan was pretreated to evaluate the impact of lignin on pseudo-lignin generation. Furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, and MWL were pretreated as model compounds to investigate pseudo-lignin generation. The result indicated that the increasing acid concentration significantly promoted the generation of pseudo-lignin. When the acid concentration was increased from 0 to 1.00 wt %, pseudo-lignin was increased from 1.36 to 4.05 g. In addition, lignin promoted the pseudo-lignin generation through the condensation between lignin and the generated intermediates.