Synthetic photoelectrochemistry (PEC) offers new prospects for the generation and handling of reactive intermediates. PEC permits selective single-electron transfer (SET) reactions in a much greener way and broadens the redox window of possible transformations. This Review discusses the combination of PEC with other reactivity paradigms, scalability up to multigram scale, novel selectivities in SET super-oxidations/reductions and the importance of precomplexation.

Diatomic catalysts have attracted much attention, especially in electrochemistry. However, there have been no comprehensive reviews on long-range interactions (LRIs) between metallic centres. This Minireview introduces the key aspects of LRIs and highlights opportunities for regulating electrocatalytic mechanisms, thus presenting guidelines for the targeted usage of LRIs.

This review brings out the key advancements made in the field of alkaline HER with metal hydroxides and their heterostructures and also provides a detailed and critical analysis of strategies and perspectives used with highlights on future prospects at the end.

Bimetallic metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been applied as sacrificial templates or precursors in the preparation of derivatives that can be used in supercapacitors. Bimetallic MOFs and their derivatives can offer the advantages of improved electrochemical activity, convenient redox reactions, and high electrical conductivity, and are excellent candidates as advanced electrode materials.

Structural evolution is crucial to the development of active sites for renewable energy-conversion technologies involving heterogeneous electrocatalysis. In this Minireview, fundamental concepts related to structural evolution are described. A critical overview of multiple triggers, reversibility and operando characterizations is presented, and the application of structural evolution in important electrocatalytic reactions is presented.

This Review describes the basic principles of water electrolysis, key aspects of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and significant criteria for the development of new catalysts. Recent advances in catalysts based on Co, Ni, and Fe oxides are described, and a brief perspective is given on green hydrogen production and the challenges of water electrolysis.

Safe, inexpensive aqueous zinc batteries are expected to play a vital role in the next-generation energy storage systems, but they currently display insufficient energy density. This Review articulates the design strategies effective in boosting the capacity, voltage, or both, highlights the challenges, and finally makes suggestions for future research directions.

Fuel cells are a powerful renewable energy technology. This review gives a comprehensive overview on oxygen reduction electrocatalysts towards practical fuel cells.

The selective electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to CO provides a promising approach to realize a sustainable, carbon-neutral economy. This Review gives a comprehensive overview focusing on catalyst and electrolyte design, and their integration with electrolyzer technology towards industrial implementation. The current challenges in the commercial use of CO₂ electrolysis to generate CO are also presented to enable future developments.

The concept of the electrocatalytic refinery (e-refinery) is an intrinsically sustainable strategy to convert renewable feedstocks and energy sources to transportable fuels and value-added chemicals. This Review describes the concept, fundamentals, and framework of e-refinery processes with some game-changing reactions and innovative catalyst design strategies.

The inherent problems of lithium–sulfur batteries may be overcome through the development of new catalytic materials designed to accelerate the redox kinetics. Recent advances in the field of catalytic materials and the mechanistic understanding of their catalytic activity are provided in this Minireview.

Vanadium-based compounds are widely implemented as cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (ZIBs) because of their low cost and high theoretical capacity. This Minireview presents a comprehensive overview of the energy storage mechanisms and structural features of various vanadium-based cathodes in ZIBs. Strategies for improving the electrochemical performance of vanadium-based cathodes are discussed.

Despite the rapid developments in the past decade, many great challenges remain for the practical use of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) based electrocatalysts. This Minireview summaries some major recent research efforts and advances on MOF-based electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. Some promising directions and strategies are also discussed.

Regulation strategies for enhancing the intrinsic electrocatalytic oxygen reduction reaction activity of M–N–C single-atom catalysts are summarized in this review. Four components are considered in the optimization of the catalyst: the center metal atoms, the coordinated atoms, the environmental atoms, and the guest groups.

Electrons and ions: Aqueous zinc-ion batteries are promising candidates for the next-generation energy storage system. This Minireview summarizes the recent developments in the modification of the host–zinc and the zinc–electrolyte interfaces. Design strategies to fabricate dendrite-free zinc anodes by optimizing the interfacial electron and ion distribution are discussed.

Cathode materials: Developing new types of cathode materials is the best way towards the next-generation of rechargeable lithium batteries. To achieve this goal, understanding the principles of the materials and recognizing the problems confronting the state-of-the-art cathode materials are essential prerequisites.

A matter of concentration: The latest ground-breaking advances and strategies of using concentrated electrolyte for aqueous batteries, are discussed. Emphasis is placed on aqueous batteries for lithium and post-lithium chemistries, with improved energy density, resulting from the unique properties of salt-concentrated electrolytes.

Beyond conventional batteries: This Review presents the development history and state of the art of DIBs and presents the reaction kinetics and corresponding critical issues including the various anionic intercalation mechanisms of cathodes, and the reactions at the anodes, including intercalation and alloying, to explore promising strategies towards low-cost DIBs with high performance.

Why graphite and Si? The practical realization of Si anodes is still a big challenge, but the co-utilization of graphite and Si could solve this. This Review provides insight into the commercialization of Si anodes, emphasizing the necessity for the co-utilization of graphite and Si and the development of graphite/Si anodes as well as giving a detailed discussion on their electrochemical behavior and critical factors.

Lean on me: The challenges, recent progress, and perspectives for lean-electrolyte Li–S batteries are discussed in terms of the two electrochemical processes for sulfur, that is, the dissolution–precipitation conversion and the solid–solid pathway.