The inability of commercial personal protective equipment (PPE) to inactivate microbes in the droplets/aerosols they intercept makes used PPE a potential source of cross-contamination. To make PPE spontaneously and continuously antimicrobial, we incorporate PPE with oxidase-like catalysts, which efficiently convert O2 into reactive oxygen species (ROS) without requiring any externally applied stimulus. Using a single-atom catalyst (SAC) nanoparticle containing atomically dispersed copper atoms as the reactive centers (Cu-SAC) and a silver–palladium bimetallic alloy nanoparticle (AgPd0.38) as models for oxidase-like catalysts, we show that the incorporation of oxidase-like catalysts enables PPE to inactivate bacteria in the droplets/aerosols they intercept without requiring any externally applied stimulus. Notably, this approach works both for PPE that are fibrous and woven such as a commercial KN95 facial respirator and for those made of solid plastics such as an apron. This work suggests a feasible and global approach for preventing PPE from spreading infectious diseases.

Multi-yolk–shell bismuth@porous carbon catalyst was fabricated by facile synthetic processes. The MB@PC catalyst displays deliver a NH3 yield of 28.63 μg h−1 mg−1cat., a Faraday efficiency of 10.58 % at −0.5 V versus RHE under ambient conditions.

Electroreduction of nitrate to ammonia reaction (NO3−RR) is considered as a promising carbon‐free energy technique, which can eliminate nitrate from waste‐water also produce value‐added ammonia. However, it remains a challenge for achieving satisfied ammonia selectivity and Faraday efficiency (FE) due to the complex multiple‐electron reduction process. Herein, a novel Tandem electrocatalyst that Ru dispersed on the porous graphitized C3N4 (g‐C3N4) encapsulated with self‐supported Cu nanowires (denoted as Ru@C3N4/Cu) for NO3−RR is presented. As expected, a high ammonia yield of 0.249 mmol h−1 cm−2 at −0.9 V and high FENH3 of 91.3% at −0.8 V versus RHE can be obtained, while achieving excellent nitrate conversion (96.1%) and ammonia selectivity (91.4%) in neutral solution. In addition, density functional theory (DFT) calculations further demonstrate that the superior NO3−RR performance is mainly resulted from the synergistic effect between the Ru and Cu dual‐active sites, which can significantly enhance the adsorption of NO3− and facilitate hydrogenation, as well as suppress the hydrogen evolution reaction, thus lead to highly improved NO3−RR performances. This novel design strategy would pave a feasible avenue for the development of advanced NO3−RR electrocatalysts.

Electrocatalytic reduction of nitrate (NO 3 RR) to synthesize ammonia (NH 3 ) can effectively degrade nitrate while producing a valuable product. By utilizing density functional theory calculations, we investigate the potential catalytic performance of a range of single transition-metal (TM) atoms supported on nitrogenated holey doped graphene (g-C 2 N) (TM/g-C 2 N) for the reduction of nitrates to NH 3 . Based on the screening procedure, Zr/g-C 2 N and Hf/g-C 2 N are predicted as potential electrocatalysts for the NO 3 RR with limiting potential (U L ) values of −0.28 and −0.27 V, respectively. The generation of byproducts such as dioxide (NO 2 ), nitric oxide (NO), and nitrogen (N 2 ) is hindered on Zr/g-C 2 N and Hf/g-C 2 N due to the high energy cost. The NO 3 RR activity of TM/g-C 2 N is closely related to the adsorption free energy of NO 3 − . The study not only proposes a competent electrocatalyst for enhancing NO 3 RR in ammonia synthesis but also provides a comprehensive understanding of the NO 3 RR mechanism.

Fe atom-decorated MoS2 has been discovered as a stable and noble-metal-free catalyst for nitrogen reduction reaction (NRR) at ambient conditions. In this work, the catalytic performance of Fe- and O-decorated planar and edge MoS2 for NRR is evaluated based on density functional theory calculations. Our calculations show that the synergetic effect between a single Fe atom and the directly bonded oxygen atoms in the Mo-edge of MoS2 (Fe1-1O, 2O, 3O, 4O@Mo-edge-MoS2) is actually responsible for the high-performance of the NRR, and the modest charge transfer between Fe and the support in Fe1-1O, 2O, 3O, 4O@Mo-edge-MoS2 will greatly promote the NRR activity and selectivity. Fe1-4O@Mo-edge-MoS2 presents the highest activity and selectivity among all our investigated models. Thus, modulating the oxygen coordination of single Fe atoms doped in Mo-edge-MoS2 to a modest level will greatly increase the NRR performance.

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