Xuequan Chen

The ever-growing interest in MXenes has been driven by their unique electrical, thermal, mechanical, and optical properties. Due to the presence of diverse surface ligands and defect sites, MXenes exhibit desirable and highly tunable optical response in the solar spectrum. In addition, they have also been found to be effective shields for electromagnetic interference thanks to their selective electromagnetic wave absorption capability.

The dynamic changes of group IB (i.e., Au/Ag/Cu) nanoclusters1–4 (abbreviated as IB-NCs, and the related alloys included) under certain conditions are pivotal to their applications in sensing,5–7 bio-medicine,8 and catalysis,9–11 whereas the molecular-level mechanism has been highly challenging.

Biomass has attracted increasing research attention as a renewable resource to replace petroleum for the production of chemicals1 and plastics.2 As an abundant, widely available form of plant biomass, lignocellulose consists of three major components: cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin [Fig.