1e:T42a,The conversion of CO₂ with CH₄ into liquid fuels and chemicals in a single-step catalytic process that bypasses the production of syngas remains a challenge. In this study, liquid fuels and chemicals (e.g., acetic acid, methanol, ethanol, and formaldehyde) were synthesized in a one-step process from CO₂ and CH₄ at room temperature (30 °C) and atmospheric pressure for the first time by using a novel plasma reactor with a water electrode. The total selectivity to oxygenates was approximately 50-60 %, with acetic acid being the major component at 40.2 % selectivity, the highest value reported for acetic acid thus far. Interestingly, the direct plasma synthesis of acetic acid from CH₄ and CO₂ is an ideal reaction with 100 % atom economy, but it is almost impossible by thermal catalysis owing to the significant thermodynamic barrier. The combination of plasma and catalyst in this process shows great potential for manipulating the distribution of liquid chemical products in a given process.1f:T443,Amorphous carbon supported MoS₂, which was elaborately prepared by using a facile hydrothermal method followed by annealing, is first employed as a catalyst for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we demonstrate a preparation strategy, by which MoS₂ and carbon materials could be formed in situ and simultaneously. The MoS₂ nanosheets are vertically formed on the carbon nanosphere, as illustrated in the scanning electron micrograph. The unique morphology can expose abundant edges of the MoS₂ layer as active sites for the HER, while the underlying amorphous carbon effectively improves the conductivity. By means of employing amorphous carbon as a substrate, an optimized catalyst was developed, which exhibited enhanced catalytic activity for the electrocatalytic HER with an onset potential as low as 80 mV, extremely large cathodic current density and excellent stability. Notably, a Tafel slope of 40 mV per decade was measured, which exceeds by far the activity of previous MoS₂ catalysts and suggests the Volmer-Heyrovsky-mechanism for the MoS₂-catalyzed HER.20:T452,A novel plasma reduction method has been developed to reduce supported noble-metal ions without the use of any reducing chemicals. H2PtCl6, PdCl2, AgNO3, and HAuCl4 supported on nonporous TiO2 and porous gamma-Al2O3 and HZSM-5 were reduced using an Ar glow discharge plasma. Optical absorption spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy show that the supported metal ions are completely reduced to metallic species. Transmission electron microscopy shows that the prepared metals are amorphous clusters and homogeneously distributed with nanoscale sizes. X-ray diffraction also confirms that the plasma-reduced metals exist as small crystallites or amorphous clusters. Thermal annealing of plasma-reduced samples at elevated temperature transforms the clusters into crystals with a slight increase in particle sizes, but the sizes are still smaller than those of H2-reduced metals. O2 glow discharge plasma can also reduce noble-metal ions, accompanied by production of a small amount of oxides. Plasma reduction is very promising for the preparation of metal nanoparticles and supported metal catalysts.21:T5f9,

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