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Developing photocatalysts with high efficiency and selectivity for CO 2 reduction is essential in the sight of both energy and environment. Through comprehensive density functional theory calculations, we have found that B 80 fullerene can be used as an excellent metal-free photocatalyst for reducing CO 2 to value-added chemicals in this report. Our results reveal that electron-deficient boron fullerene can effectively activate CO 2 (Lewis acid) through Lewis acid−base interactions on the three basic sites of B 80 (B 80 is an amphoteric molecule). The charge density difference analysis indicates that there are significant charge transfers between CO 2 and B 80 fullerene on the adsorption sites, which are responsible for the activations of CO 2 . On the basis of calculating the adsorption energies of the possible products (CO, HCOOH, CH 2 O, CH 3 OH, and CH 4 ) on B 80 fullerene and the possible reaction pathways producing these products, the B 80 fullerene shows high efficiency and selectivity for producing HCOOH. The minimum |U lim | (0.18 V) of the reaction pathway to produce HCOOH and weaker binding of HCOOH on B 80 fullerene (the adsorption energy is −0.51 eV) than the counterparts of CO 2 both indicate that the formation and release of HCOOH from the B 80 fullerene surface is feasible. In all, our work provides useful information for searching for an excellent metal-free photocatalyst for CO 2 reduction.

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Due to its inherently stronger hydration, Li + faces a higher dehydration energy than Na + at the entrance of the 8×(WL) 4 /POPE-CPNT. Present MD simulations show that it can enter the channel from a NaCl/LiCl solution only under an electric field stronger than 0.3 V nm −1 , while Na + is easier to move into the channel, which is well elucidated by two cations' PMF profiles. The cation-O w radial distribution functions, the electrostatic interactions with water, and the orientations of neighboring water all refer to a more compact solvation structure and stronger hydration of Li + . Regardless of whether there is an external electric field, Na + mainly appears in an α-plane zone, while Li + does so in a midplane region. The increase in the electric field strength significantly accelerates the cations' axial diffusions, shortening the residence times of two cations in the channel. Furthermore, it makes channel water tend to take positive dipole states.

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Rapid cleanup of oil spill is becoming a great challenge since crude oil is hard to clean up by conventional porous oil sorbents because of its high viscosity. Herein, novel fabrication of a hydrophobic/oleophilic and photothermal polydopamine (PDA)/FeCo 2 S 4 /polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coated polyurethane (PU) sponge using chemical polymerization and dip-coating methods is reported. The optimized composite sponge exhibits high hydrophobicity, high absorption capacity for oils and organic liquids, excellent chemical resistance, and stable recycling. Furthermore, PDA/FeCo 2 S 4 /PDMS@PU sponge shows outstanding photothermal conversion capability. Under sunlight irradiation, crude oil viscosity can be reduced by two orders of magnitude due to the rapid temperature rise in PDA/FeCo 2 S 4 /PDMS@PU sponge. In addition, a method of in situ pumping for uninterrupted recovery of oil spills from the water surface is designed. Benefiting from great mechanical performance and photothermal conversion capacity, the PDA/FeCo 2 S 4 /PDMS@PU sponge can be regarded as an ideal sorbent candidate for the collection of crude oil and treatment of largescale oil spill disasters.