Md A. Wahab

Understanding the growth of mesoporous crystalline materials, such as mesoporous metals, on different substrates can provide valuable insights into the crystal growth dynamics and the redox reactions that influence their electrochemical sensing performance. Herein, it is demonstrated how the amorphous nature of the glass substrate can suppress the typical <111> oriented growth in mesoporous Au (mAu) films. The suppressed <111> growth is manifested as an accumulation of strain, leading to the generation of abundant surface defects, which are beneficial for enhancing the electrochemical activity. The fine structuring attained enables dramatically accelerated diffusion and enhances the electrochemical sensing performance for disease‐specific biomolecules. As a proof‐of‐concept, the as‐fabricated glass‐grown mAu film demonstrates high sensitivity in electrochemical detection of SARS‐CoV‐2‐specific RNA with a limit of detection (LoD) as low as 1 attomolar (aM).

Amorphous inorganic perovskites have attracted significant attention as efficient electrocatalysts due to their unique structural flexibility and good catalytic activity. In particular, the disordered structure and a surface rich in defects such as oxygen vacancies can contribute to the superior electrocatalytic activity of amorphous oxides compared to their crystalline counterpart. In this work, we report the synthesis of LaCoO 3 , followed by an amorphization process through urea reduction with tailored modifications. The as‐synthesized catalysts were thoroughly tested for their performance in oxygen evolution reaction (OER), Remarkably, the amorphous LaCoO 3 synthesized at 450 °C (referred to as LCO‐4) exhibits excellent OER catalytic activity. At an overpotential of 310 mV, it achieved a current density of 10 mA/cm −2 , exceedingly fast to 1 A/cm −2 at an overpotential of only 460 mV. Moreover, LCO‐4 exhibited several advantageous features compared to pristine LaCoO 3 and LaCoO 3 amorphized at other two temperatures (350 °C, LCO‐3, and 550 °C, LCO‐5). The amorphized LCO‐4 catalyst showed a higher electrochemically active surface area, a key factor in boosting catalytic performance. Additionally, LCO‐4 demonstrated the lowest Tafel slope of 70 mVdec −1 , further highlighting its exceptional OER activity. Furthermore, the long‐term stability of LCO‐4 is notably superior than pristine LaCoO 3 (LCO‐P) and the other amorphized samples (LCO‐3 and LCO‐5). The enhanced catalytic activity of LCO‐4 can be attributed to its unique disordered structure, small crystallite size, and higher concentration of oxygen vacancies in the final catalyst.