Electrochemical structural reconstruction: A shortcut to efficient electrooxidation

The ingenious design of catalytic materials for electrooxidation is central to attaining efficient energy conversion. Unfortunately, inefficiency and poor stability and lifetime still plague the development and application of needed clean technologies. This article previews frontier discoveries in an electrochemical structural reconstruction strategy that converts metastable materials into new supermetastable active structures with boosted catalytic performance and thus provides a shortcut to efficient urea electrooxidation and other anodic reactions in hybrid aqueous electrolysis systems.