<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xiangyu Zheng</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Menglan Xiao</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jianming Zhu</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Xin Li</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Jundong Wang</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Zhu, Pan</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Meiping Tong</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Zishuai Zhang</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Net-negative carbon valorization in wastewater treatment via sequential thermochemical-electrochemical coupling</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Nature Communications</style></secondary-title></titles><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2026</style></year></dates><urls><web-urls><url><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-026-76941-2</style></url></web-urls></urls><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Wastewater treatment plants simultaneously emit greenhouse gases and rely on external carbon sources, presenting both a challenge and an opportunity for carbon circularity. We develop a comprehensive life-cycle assessment of 32 Waste-to-Chemical pathways that integrate thermochemical and electrochemical conversions in sequential or parallel architectures to convert CH4 and CO2 into reusable carbon sources for in-plant utilization. Sequential thermochemical-electrochemical coupling consistently delivers the strongest climate benefit, with formate identified as the optimal product, reducing emissions up to ~35% reduction relative to direct-emission baselines. We further validate this pathway experimentally using commercially available Pd/Al2O3 catalysts for CH4 thermochemical oxidation and Bi2O3 catalysts for CO2 electroreduction in a porous solid electrolyte reactor. Residual heat generated during CH4 oxidation enhances downstream CO2 electroreduction, enabling 97.2 ± 1.2% Faradaic efficiency toward separation-free formate at 150 mA cm−2 and 45 °C. These results validate that commercially relevant catalysts and thermally coupled operation can deliver experimentally validated performance aligned with system-level projections. This framework establishes a scalable strategy for embedding carbon circularity into wastewater infrastructure and transforming wastewater treatment plants into distributed platforms for low-carbon chemical production.</style></abstract></record></records></xml>