Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry A HOT Papers

Zinc–air batteries (ZABs) stand at the forefront of energy storage technologies. However, challenges like slow kinetics and low rechargeability persist. MOF–MXene hybrids enhance performance, enabling sustainable ZAB technology.

Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have emerged as a compelling alternative to lithium-ion batteries, driven by the abundance of raw materials and lower costs.

The utilization of nickel-based catalysts in hybrid CO₂ electrolysis systems enhances the efficiency of CO₂ reduction by coupling low-energy alternative oxidation reactions, thereby offering an innovative route towards a sustainable carbon economy.

This review summarizes the recent progress of atomically dispersed metal catalysts for oxygen reduction electrocatalysis, including advanced theories and descriptors, active site structure, and advanced characterization techniques.

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2DTMDCs) are promising in quantum computing, flexible electronics, spintronics, sustainable energy systems, and advanced healthcare.

The utilization of 2D CTFs in advanced electrochemical energy storage systems not only demonstrates the enhancement of the energy and power densities of these devices, but also promotes their cycling stability and rate performance.

Overview of the applications and performance improvement strategies of pyro-catalysis.

We explored the cutting-edge dual-functional CaL-ICCC process, addressing current limitations and proposing future strategies to minimize energy penalties through integrated multiscale approaches spanning materials, reactors, and systems.

We review the progress on MOF-based separators for LSBs, with a particular focus on the relationship between the MOF structures and their functional roles in polysulfide capture, catalytic conversion, and uniform Li⁺ ion flux regulation.

This review highlights that screen-printed gas sensors are cost-effective and scalable, ideal for environmental, industrial, and healthcare applications.

This review focuses on the transformative role of the carbon-based covalent bridging bonds in the field of sodium-ion batteries, providing valuable insights for advancing the next-generation high-performance sodium-ion batteries.

The construction of multilayer electrolytes can improve the electrode interface and enhance the performance of solid-state batteries.

This review focuses on pore engineering (intrinsic pore size, extrinsic porosity, and pore environment) in porous organic cages and summarizes the roles of pore engineering in various fields.

This review highlights recent advances in Ir-based electrocatalysts based on different design strategies. This review will guide future research in the development of high-performance Ir-based HOR electrocatalysts for AEMFCs.

The utilization of ferroelectrics offers an additional lever to surpass the performance limits of traditional photoelectrodes. In this review, design strategies for ferroelectric photoelectrodes from materials to PEC system design are assessed.

This review examines the integration of artificial intelligence with nanogenerators to develop self-powered, adaptive systems for applications in robotics, wearables, and environmental monitoring.

A weakly solvated electrolyte strategy for high-performance fluoride-ion batteries at room temperature.

This work systematically investigates the influence of the sp/sp² hybrid carbon ratio on the NRR catalytic performance of Ti@GY/Gr heterojunctions and explores the underlying mechanisms and relevant descriptor relationships.

Structured macro-droplets, stabilized by self-assembled and jammed hemispherical Janus particles at water–oil interfaces, enable scalable fabrication of multi-functional granular materials, e.g., magnetic/fluorescent capsules.

An encapsulated graphene oxide/silk protein aerogel fiber made by coaxial spinning is reported to exhibit ultra-high mechanical properties. The aerogel fiber showed efficient performance in thermal management applications.

DFT reveals oxygen vacancies on SnO₂ stabilize polarons, driving efficient O₂ activation and CO oxidation. These findings enable advanced SnO₂-based sensor design, leveraging defect engineering to boost catalytic and sensing performance.

Pyrophosphoric acid (PP) in isopropanol selectively dissolve the Sn component but not the Pb component at tin–lead (Sn–Pb) perovskite surface, which enables a low-defect film and a highest efficiency of 23.85% for Sn–Pb perovskite solar cells.

High-performance bamboo-based hard carbon is synthesized by controlling the in situ depolymerization and repolymerization of bamboo components.

Machine-learned interatomic potentials enable analysis of Li-ion conduction, revealing that high-entropy anion-disordered argyrodites enhance ionic conductivity through inter-cage migration.

Sustainable photoredox transformations for H₂ as fuel and benzimidazole as high-end pharmaceutics by dehydrogenation of formic acid.

An optimized Fe-doped perovskite cathode material with a nominal composition of PrNi_0.5Co_0.3Fe_0.2O_3−δ has been developed for protonic ceramic fuel cells, demonstrating good electrochemical activity and favorable operational durability.

Sb single atoms embedded in few-layered intercalated MnPS₃ flatlands demonstrate polarization induced NO₂ sensing and subsequent amine generation capability.

Balancing reduced lattice thermal conductivity (κ_lat) with improved charge carrier transport remains a key challenge in thermoelectric materials, further complicated by strong electron–phonon coupling.

The BO@CF‖Li half-cells can be stably cycled for 600 cycles with an average coulombic efficiency of 98.8%, enabling dendrite-free lithium deposition and stripping.

Encapsulating magnetic materials in a carbon network increased the interfacial area, enhancing storage performance under a magnetic field. This led to a specific capacitance of 2057.3 F g⁻¹ at 6 mT and 1.5 A g⁻¹.

Assisted by CaO powder, the regenerated cathodes are successfully achieved through the removal of CaF₂ and deliver a considerable capacity and excellent rate performance.

This paper outlines new performance figures of merit for the selection and design of pyroelectric materials for harvesting dynamic temperature fluctuations.

Rigid and flexible binders achieve long cycle stable structure and performance for sulfurized polyacrylonitrile cathodes.

Lithium-ion hybrid capacitors (LHCs) are increasingly recognized as promising energy storage devices due to their ability to achieve high energy density while delivering rapid power delivery.

MOF-derived CoSe₂/ZnSe bimetallic selenide nanoparticles confined in layered Ti₃C₂T_x MXene were employed as anodes for high-performance lithium-ion batteries, exhibiting superior rate capability and cycling stability.

The VN–V₂O₃ nanoparticles with interfacial electric feld accelerate the conversion of LiPSs.

A novel hydrophobic eutectogel synthesized via thioctic acid polymerization in a hydrophobic DES matrix, demonstrating excellent flexibility, recyclability, and sensitivity for strain sensing and energy harvesting in flexible electronics.

A LiF nanodot/carbon composite delivers capacity up to 730 mA h g⁻¹ and ultrastability, extending the cycling life of anode-free batteries.

A hybrid ternary co-intercalation vanadium oxide cathode with an expanded interlayer space has been prepared and utilized in zinc-ion batteries, demonstrating a near-theoretical capacity and high cycle stability due to its outstanding kinetics.

A dual functional BiOIO₃-VO/NH₂-MIL-125 S-scheme heterojunction engineered with oxygen vacancies, achieves exceptional piezocatalytic hydrogen evolution and simultaneous organic pollutant degradation.

An easily accessible 3D flow field enables exceptional water–gas separation and rapid water drainage, resulting in high PEMFC performance under low air stoichiometric ratios and robust humidity tolerance.

The pore geometry is successfully tuned by adopting racemic ligands to maximize pore space utilization for enhanced Xe/Kr separation.

Under-surface Li₄Mn₅O₁₂ spinel and Li₃PO₄ coated Li_1.13Ni_0.30Mn_0.57O₂ is used for a Li-ion battery cathode. Uniform reconstruction underneath and additional coating are successfully achieved via phosphoric acid treatment and thermal treatment.

A multiphysics study evaluates the mechanical–electrochemical–thermal response and fundamental mechanisms of SIBs under mechanical abuse, explores key safety parameters, and compares the safety of SIBs and LIBs under mechanical loading.

Achieving efficient reduction of NO₃⁻ to NH₃via a Cu₂O and Cu tandem system.

Hollow nanospheres composed of V₂O₅/VO₂ were constructed to promote surface photovoltages (SPV) for photo-charging in zinc ion batteries.

This work demonstrates a synergistic photothermal-dual-site strategy that simultaneously accelerates CO₂ reduction and H₂O oxidation to maximize proton–electron transfer, achieving an exceptional syngas productivity of 1.97 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹.

LSPR-interface structures in plasmonic MoO_3−x@ZnIn₂S₄ heterojunctions provide an energy-loss-free charge transport channel to enable ultrafast hot-electron transfer for boosting photocatalytic H₂ evolution integrated with benzylamine C–N coupling.

Through controlling the terminal steric hindrance groups, we can fabricate high-performance organic solar cells with reduced nonradiative energy loss.

The simultaneous chemical preintercalation of Li⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions into the interlayer region of bilayered vanadium oxide synergistically enhances its cycling performance in Li-ion cells by improving Li⁺ diffusion and increasing structural stability.

A highly concentrated electrolyte of KN(SO₂F)₂ (KFSA) and sulfolane (SL) was developed as a K-ion battery electrolyte. The equimolar mixture solution of KFSA/SL exhibited a wide potential window and improved the rate capability of K₂Mn[Fe(CN)₆].

The PCL-based electrolyte employs a semi-vehicle ion transport mechanism to achieve continuous Li⁺ migration across phase transitions, while demonstrating excellent thermal robustness to buffer temperature changes and delay thermal runaway.

A lithiophilic ZnCo₂O₄ nanowire-decorated three-dimensional conductive framework was prepared by a simple hydrothermal annealing method and employed as a multifunctional interlayer for hyperstable LMAs.

The polaron-conductive Li-NASICONs featuring three-dimensional corner-sharing frameworks are potential candidates for mixed ionic electronic conductors in electrochemical energy storage devices.

The NaClO₄ electrolyte demonstrates greater charge accumulation. The charging mechanism with sodium WiSEs changes completely over the simulation time.

We report a composite electrode of spinel oxide MnCo_1.9Cu_0.1O₄ and BaZr_0.8Y_0.2O₃ (MCCO : BZY = 9 : 1). The singles with this air electrode delivered a maximum power density of 1.81 W cm⁻² and a current density of −3.57 A cm⁻² at 1.3 V at 700 °C.

Organisms suffer negative effects from EW radiation and temperature changes, except for the center regions protected by MSP-WPPC/PEG. It benefits from multi-solid waste coupling utilization and multi-scale pore structure design.

The relationship between the pore size and the oxygen reduction reaction kinetics is investigated using platinum model electrodes. The compressive strain causes the d-band centre downshift, which results in the quasi-volcano relationship.