Toru Asahi

Porous nonprecious metal-based nanomaterials have gained considerable attention in heterogeneous catalysis owing to their low price, high specific surface area, efficient mass/electron transfer, tunable pore structure, and unique physicochemical properties. Controlling the phase and compositions of these porous nonprecious metal-based materials is critical to their applications. Porous nonprecious transition-metal borides (TMBs), typical metal–metalloid alloys, have recently received much intere

Controlling the morphology, composition, and crystalline phase of mesoporous nonnoble metal catalysts is essential for improving their performance. Herein, well-defined P- and B-codoped NiFe alloy mesoporous nanospheres (NiFeB-P MNs) with an adjustable Ni/Fe ratio and large mesopores (11 nm) are synthesized via soft-template-based chemical reduction and a subsequent phosphine-vapor-based phosphidation process. Earth-abundant NiFe-based materials are considered promising electrocatalysts for the

Amorphous bimetallic borides are an emerging class of catalytic nanomaterial that has demonstrated excellent catalytic performance due to its glass-like structure, abundant unsaturated active sites, and synergistic electronic effects. However, the creation of mesoporous Earth-abundant bimetallic metal borides with tunable metal proportion remains a challenge. Herein, we develop a sophisticated and controllable dual-reducing agent strategy to synthesize the mesoporous nickel-cobalt boron (NiCoB)

Mesoporous PtPdAu alloy films with the highest electrocatalytic activity are discovered by the active learning approach using Bayesian optimization.

2D heterostructures exhibit a considerable potential in electrolytic water splitting due to their high specific surface areas, tunable electronic properties, and diverse hybrid compositions. However, the fabrication of well-defined 2D mesoporous amorphous-crystalline heterostructures with highly active heterointerfaces remains challenging. Herein, an efficient 2D heterostructure consisting of amorphous nickel boron oxide (Ni-B_i ) and crystalline mesoporous iridium (meso-Ir) is designe

Construction of a well-defined mesoporous nanostructure is crucial for applying nonnoble metals in catalysis and biomedicine owing to their highly exposed active sites and accessible surfaces. However, it remains a great challenge to controllably synthesize superparamagnetic CoFe-based mesoporous nanospheres with tunable compositions and exposed large pores, which are sought for immobilization or adsorption of guest molecules for magnetic capture, isolation, preconcentration, and purification. H

We report on the self-disproportionation of enantiomers (SDE) of non-racemic thalidomide (<b>1</b>) and 3'-fluorothalidomide (<b>2</b>) under the conditions of gravity-driven achiral silica-gel chromatography. The presence of a fluorine atom on the chiral center dramatically alters the structure and polarity of <b>1</b> and <b>2</b>, resulting in the opposite SDE profile on silica-gel.