Intermingled Coordination Environments Enable Defect‐Engineered Metal–Polyphenol/G‐Quadruplex Hydrogel for Enhanced N <sub>2</sub> ‐to‐NH <sub>3</sub> Photoconversion

Manipulating the coordination environment through hetero-ligand incorporation induces controlled defects at catalytically active sites, offering a powerful route to regulate electronic structure and reactivity. Here, we present a supramolecular approach to defect engineering within a soft hydrogel matrix by confining a Bi<sup>3+</sup>-caffeic acid complex within a guanosine monophosphate-based G-quadruplex hydrogel. This confinement not only breaks local coordination symmetry and generates oxygen-vacancy-rich heterojunctions but also emulates the active-site environments of enzymes. The G-quadruplex fibrillar scaffold provides ion-channel-like pathways that facilitate charge transport, enhance substrate diffusion, and promote selective adsorption, while confinement ensures the uniform dispersion of catalytic sites. Together, these synergistic effects result in an exceptional N<sub>2</sub> to NH<sub>3</sub> conversion of 905.2 µmol h<sup>-1</sup> g<sup>-1</sup> <sub>(cat)</sub> under visible light irradiation, 3.8 times higher than that of the pristine complex. This work introduces a versatile strategy that integrates defect engineering, heterojunction formation, and biomimetic confinement within a soft supramolecular assembly, establishing G-quadruplex hydrogels as a powerful platform for sustainable photocatalytic nitrogen fixation and beyond.

Authors

Institutions

Publication Details

Journal
Small
Published
2026-02-19
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.202514925
Primary Topic
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
Controls
|||
ALL TIME
JAN
FEB
MAR
APR
MAY
JUN
JUL
AUG
SEP
OCT
article

Intermingled Coordination Environments Enable Defect‐Engineered Metal–Polyphenol/G‐Quadruplex Hydrogel for Enhanced N 2 ‐to‐NH 3 Photoconversion

Tarun Kumar Sahu, Montu Gogoi, Tridib K. Sarma, Suryakamal Sarma et al.
Small
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
article

Intermingled Coordination Environments Enable Defect‐Engineered Metal–Polyphenol/G‐Quadruplex Hydrogel for Enhanced N 2 ‐to‐NH 3 Photoconversion

Tarun Kumar Sahu, Montu Gogoi, Tridib K. Sarma, Suryakamal Sarma, Aditya Prasun, Shaurya Aneja
article en

Abstract

Manipulating the coordination environment through hetero-ligand incorporation induces controlled defects at catalytically active sites, offering a powerful route to regulate electronic structure and reactivity. Here, we present a supramolecular approach to defect engineering within a soft hydrogel matrix by confining a Bi<sup>3+</sup>-caffeic acid complex within a guanosine monophosphate-based G-quadruplex hydrogel. This confinement not only breaks local coordination symmetry and generates oxygen-vacancy-rich heterojunctions but also emulates the active-site environments of enzymes. The G-quadruplex fibrillar scaffold provides ion-channel-like pathways that facilitate charge transport, enhance substrate diffusion, and promote selective adsorption, while confinement ensures the uniform dispersion of catalytic sites. Together, these synergistic effects result in an exceptional N<sub>2</sub> to NH<sub>3</sub> conversion of 905.2 µmol h<sup>-1</sup> g<sup>-1</sup> <sub>(cat)</sub> under visible light irradiation, 3.8 times higher than that of the pristine complex. This work introduces a versatile strategy that integrates defect engineering, heterojunction formation, and biomimetic confinement within a soft supramolecular assembly, establishing G-quadruplex hydrogels as a powerful platform for sustainable photocatalytic nitrogen fixation and beyond.

Small
Indian Institute of Management Indore (IN), Dibrugarh University (IN), Indian Institute of Technology Indore (IN)
Responsible consumption and production
Openalex Percentile: Top 49%
Ammonia Synthesis and Nitrogen Reduction
AI Navigator

Ask Laika to Summarize, Analyze, and Connect papers live on the map.

Summarize Papers & Methodologies

Extract key findings, datasets, and comparative methods across publications.

Benchmark Rankings & Visual Analytics

Rank top research institutions, authors, funders, topics, and journals by Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI) and paper volume with instant charts.

Connect Distant Disciplines

Bridge topological clusters on the map to find hidden collaborative intersections.

Intermingled Coordination Environments Enable Defect‐Engineered Metal–Polyphenol/G‐Quadruplex Hydrogel for Enhanced N <sub>2</sub> ‐to‐NH <sub>3</sub> Photoconversion — Tarun Kumar Sahu, Montu Gogoi, et al. · Small (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS