Chen, YuhanTan, JishengChao, JingboZhang, JingqiTang, YangLiu, YanpingHu, QingCoulon, FredericYang, Xiao Jin2024-11-202024-11-202024-11-13Chen Y, Tan J, Chao J, et al., (2024) In situ nanoconfinement catalysis for highly efficient redox transformation. ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Volume 16, Issue 45, November 2024, pp. 62010–620211944-8244https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.4c12409https://dspace.lib.cranfield.ac.uk/handle/1826/23208The rapid reduction of Cr(VI) across a wide pH range, from acidic to alkaline pH conditions to stable Cr(III) species for efficient remediation of Cr(VI) pollution, has long been a challenge. Herein, we propose a new concept of <i>in situ</i> nanoconfinement catalysis (<i>i</i>NCC) for highly efficient remediation of Cr(VI) by growing nanosheets of <i>in situ</i> layered double hydroxide (<i>i</i>LDH) on the surface of Al-Mg-Fe alloy achieving chemical reduction rates of >99% in 1 min from pH 3 to 11 for 100 mg L^-1 Cr(VI) with a rate constant of 201 h^-1. In stark contrast, the reduction rate is less than 6% in 12 h with a rate constant of 0.77 h^-1 for the pristine Al-Mg-Fe alloy. The ultrafast reduction of Cr(VI) is most likely attributed to the synergistic catalysis of Al₁₂Mg₁₇ and Al₁₃Fe₄ and nanoconfinement of MgAlFe-<i>i</i>LDH and superstable mineralization of Cr(III) by MgAlCr^III- and MgFeCr^III-<i>i</i>LDHs. This study demonstrates the potential of <i>in situ</i> nanoconfinement catalysis on redox transformation for environmental remediation.62010–62021Print-ElectronicenAttribution 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/34 Chemical SciencesAl alloy intermetallicAl−Mg−Fe alloyhexavalent chromiumin situ layered double hydroxidein situ nanoconfinement catalysisintercalation reactionredox transformationNanoscience & Nanotechnology34 Chemical sciences40 Engineering51 Physical sciencesArticle1944-8252558559