Photoreduction of CO 2 to C 2 + solar fuel is a promising carbon-neutral technology for renewable energy. This strategy is challenged by its low productivity due to low efficiency in multielectron utilization and slow CÀ C coupling kinetics. This work reports a dualmetal photocatalyst consisting of atomically dispersed indium and copper anchored on polymeric carbon nitride (InCu/PCN), on which the photoreduction of CO 2 delivered an excellent ethanol production rate of 28.5 μmol g À 1 h À 1 with a high selectivity of 92 %. Coupled experimental investigation and DFT calculations reveal the following mechanisms underpinning the high performance of this catalyst. Essentially, the InÀ Cu interaction enhances the charge separation by accelerating charge transfer from PCN to the metal sites. Indium also transfers electrons to neighboring copper via CuÀ NÀ In bridges, increasing the electron density of copper active sites. Furthermore, InÀ Cu dual-metal sites promote the adsorption of *CO intermediates and lower the energy barrier of CÀ C coupling.

Developing multifunctional superwettable materials is highly demanded in the oil/water separation field but remains challenging due to the critical limitations of complex fabrication strategy and high cost. Herein, based on the cost-effective kaolin nanoparticles, we present a convenient and mild strategy for fabricating a smart superwettable material with multiple excellent performances, such as pH-responsive water wettability, self-cleaning property, favorable buoyancy, and air purification performance. By virtue of the dual rough surface structure and special chemical composition, the resultant material surface exhibits a superior pH-dependent wettability, which can be reversibly switched between superamphiphobicity and superhydrophilicity–superoleophobicity for many times in accordance with the pH value of the corresponding aqueous solution. As a result, the obtained superwettable material with reversible and controllable water wettability can be applied in efficient and continuous separation of multiple types of oil/water mixtures, especially the highly emulsified oil/water emulsions, via in situ or ex situ wettability change. To our knowledge, the smart material with the wetting property of superamphiphobicity that can be used for continuous emulsified wastewater purification has been rarely discussed in the emerging research works. In addition, the as-prepared material presents universal applicability to diversiform substrates and exhibits robust durability and stability against high-concentration salt solutions and rigorous mechanical abrasion. All of these above-mentioned advantages indicate that the as-prepared superwettable material will hold great potential in various practical applications, including oily wastewater remediation, smart aquatic device fabrication, liquid droplet manipulation, guiding liquid movement, and optimizing multiple operations in industrial fields.

In view of the increasing serious water environmental and human health issues caused by oily wastewater, functional superwetting materials with controllable wettability, high durability, and scale preparation methods are highly desired for efficient oil/water separation. In this respect, a pH-responsive multifunctional fabric with switchable surface wettability, favorable mechanical durability, and self-repairing property has been developed via decorating the modified TiO2 nanoparticles of special surface compositions onto the fabric surface. By virtue of the intelligent surface wettability, the resulted superwettable fabric can be used for controllable separation of multiple oil/water mixtures, particularly the complicated oil/water/oil ternary mixtures, showing excellent separation efficiency and high filtration flux even under extreme pH conditions, which is comparable to most of the commercial and currently reported functionalized membranes. Simultaneously, the negative pressure-driven, continuous, high-speed, and highly efficient in situ purification of large volumes of oily wastewater is successfully achieved based on the resulted superwettable fabric. More importantly, with the as-prepared superwettable fabric as the filtration membrane, the continuous in situ separation of the synthetic oily product from the corresponding chemical reaction systems is well performed without interruption of the reaction, demonstrating outstanding merits of simplifying procedures, saving operation time, and increasing product yield. In addition, it is worth noting that the alkali-treated superhydrophilic fabric presents superior photocatalysis self-cleaning performance for various water-soluble organic pollutants. These unique advantages of the functionalized smart superwettable fabric ensure that it can be competent in multifarious relevant challenging settings, indicating a broad prospect for diverse practical applications, especially the oily wastewater treatment and multiple industrial operation optimizations.

Superhydrophilic/superoleophobic materials with specific wetting properties have attracted extensive attention during the recent years because of their extraordinary performance in oil/water separation. In this work, we developed a facile process to fabricate the superhydrophilic–superoleophobic material from kaolin nanoparticles. The obtained material performs universal oil repellency both in air and under water, and exhibits general applicability which can be extended to various relevant substrates, irrespective of their chemical composition. Furthermore, the as-prepared material is efficient to separate varieties of oil/water mixtures, even surfactant-stabilized oil-in-water emulsions, showing the high separation efficiency above 92%. What’s particularly attractive is that during the separation process, the water-soluble dye contaminants could be removed simultaneously, resulting in colorless and transparent filtered water. These results further confirm that the as-prepared materials could be good candidates for efficient oil/water separation and wastewater purification. Simple and scalable design of the fabrication process is also very desirable to obtain the specific wetting surfaces, making both materials and their fabrication methods attractive for scalability, which will offer variety of promising application in various fields.

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