Themed collection Recent Review Articles

Garnet-type cubic Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (c-LLZO) is a single-ion conductor, but the electrochemically generated charged vacancies make it a binary ionic electrolyte, which explains the current- and thickness-dependent lithium dendrite initiation dynamics.

This article highlights recent advances in the rational design of uniform afterglow SiO₂ microparticles, facilitated by pseudomorphic transformation-assisted doping, identifies key challenges, and explores opportunities in this field.

This mini review summarizes the recent progress of Zn–V static battery and Zn–V redox flow battery. Mechanisms, classification and structures, problems and modification strategies are discussed for future developments of these batteries.

An overview of MeSNs for photo-enhanced chemodynamic theranostics of tumors is provided in this review, offering insights into their potential for next-generation cancer treatments.

This review outlines key machine learning algorithms for biosignal analysis and offers guidance on model selection. Applications in neural, cardiovascular, and biochemical signal monitoring for health tracking and disease prediction are discussed.

This review classifies light-responsive carbon dots into photoluminescent and photochromic categories, examines their synthesis strategies and optical mechanisms, and discusses the applications of these materials in various fields.

This TOC signifies the mp-g-CN photocatalyst enriched with a finely tuned functional porous surface and enhanced optoelectronic features, which suitably enables solar fuel production by using renewable stuffs to maintain the circular energy cycle.

This review presents a comprehensive overview of bioinspired rational design of nanozymes, guided by the catalytic mechanisms and structural characteristics of natural enzymes, and enhanced by emerging trend of machine learning assisted strategies.

This review explores the latest progress of various polymorphic phases of 2D In₂Se₃, emphasizing their unique properties, characterization methods, phase modulation strategies, and practical applications.

Gas sensors are essential tools for safeguarding public health and safety because they allow the detection of hazardous gases.

This review discusses the challenges associated with the emerging all-organic perovskite materials while outlining opportunities for their further development and applications in the future.

In this review, we systematically analyze the interfacial challenges between garnet-type electrolytes/composite electrolytes and electrodes, mainly focusing on the interfacial failure mechanism of garnet-type based SSLMBs.

Working principles, representative deformation modes, manufacturing methodologies, diverse applications, as well as challenges and opportunities of shape-morphing bioelectronic devices.

This review evaluates molecular aggregation structures across scales, elucidates mechanisms for enhancing tensile properties and summarizes methods to regulate structures, which provides critical insights for designing efficient and flexible OPVs.

An innovative biosensing smart mask for the future of respiratory monitoring.

Significant advancements have been made in biochemical sensing, particularly in the design, development, and utilization of metallic nanoclusters and metal–organic frameworks as separate functional materials.

This paper reviews droplet manipulation on bioinspired slippery surfaces. It also classifies methods into active and passive based on external stimuli like heat and light and emphasizes their significance for applications in multiple fields.

This review provides insight into the development of advanced metal single-atom catalysts for ammonia electrosynthesis.

Solid polymer electrolytes have been considered one of the most promising candidates for solid-state batteries, while the Li coordination structure, interfaces and interphases and related cycling performance still remain challenge.

Photocatalysis has emerged as a crucial technology for utilizing solar energy to combat global warming and energy shortages.

This review explores the potential of self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) as a solution to mitigate the voltage deficits in tin perovskite solar cells (TPSCs).

The latest developments in thiolate-protected metal nanoclusters in important electrocatalytic applications, such as hydrogen evolution, oxygen reduction and CO₂ reduction reactions, are briefly reviewed in this work.

Adsorption is widely recognized as an effective and practical approach for mitigating the environmental hazards associated with pharmaceutical waste, owing to its operational simplicity, economic feasibility, and consistent performance.

This review provides a comprehensive overview of the latest key advancements in materials engineering strategies for carbon-based electrocatalysts for H₂O₂ production.

With the advances and ongoing research efforts discussed in this review, a continuous breakthrough in high-performance thermogalvanic hydrogels for efficient low-grade heat harvesting and wearable electronics for health monitoring is foreseeable.

ALD of superconducting films for various high performance applications.

Research on circularly polarized luminescent (CPL) materials has evolved into a hot research topic because of their potential application prospects in the optoelectronics and chiroptical fields.

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a burgeoning imaging modality that has a broad range of applications in the early diagnosis of cancer, detection of various diseases, and relevant scientific research.

Various aptasensors offer rapid, accurate and reliable detection tools for diagnosis of infectious disease pathogens.

This review summarizes recent progress in two-dimensional material-based RF switches, focusing on performance optimization, fabrication methods, and challenges, and potential applications in future high-frequency communication systems.

Photo- and electro-active poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT)-based materials serve as efficient and highly biocompatible phototransducers for cutting-edge bioelectronic applications.

This review emphasizes memory-based intelligence, enabling artificial muscles to execute a range of pre-programmed movements and refresh stored actuation states in response to changing conditions, as well as sensory-based intelligence.

This review highlights the potential of solar-driven interfacial evaporation (SIE) technology to simultaneously produce clean water and extract valuable ions from water, addressing both water scarcity and resource recovery challenges.

This review summarized lignin/lignocellulose materials for various 3D printing techniques and their related applications, where lignin is used in an isolated state, as part of lignocellulose biomass or chemically modified to better bind with a matrix.

The applications and performance enhancement strategies of Ni_xP_y with different crystal phases in the field of electrocatalysis are discussed.

This review provides a systematic review and perspective of the challenges and opportunities in scaling memristive hardware for spiking neural networks (SNNs), focusing on device innovations, system integration, and algorithm-hardware co-design.

This review presents the latest advancements in the mechanisms and fabrication techniques of Ti₃C₂T_x-based MSCs, emphasizes their applications across various components of MSCs, and provides a summary of integrated examples of MSC-powered systems.

This research proposes performance-boosting strategies for silicon anodes in solid-state batteries by leveraging nanostructuring, doping and compositing. Moreover, it surveys the field's perspective and charts future research directions.

Mechanistic design of COF membranes enables high-selectivity ion transport for lithium extraction via diffusion and electrodialysis.

This review summarizes recent advances in the modification strategies of 2D materials for photocatalytic H₂O₂ production and its in situ applications. Additionally, the existing challenges in this field and potential solutions are discussed.

Hydrazine-assisted water electrolysis exhibits various advantages compared with conventional water electrolysis and other hybrid water electrolysis systems in terms of reaction, electrocatalyst design and application expansion.

The performance of n-type thermoelectrics has increased significantly over the years, with side chain engineering playing a pivotal role in advancing this field.

Bound states in the continuum (BICs) are localized waves within radiating backgrounds, offering ultra-high quality factors. BICs have been applied in developing ultra-sensitive sensors. This review summarizes recent advances in this emerging field.

Porous materials are a class of materials with abundant micro-nano pore structures, low density, light weight, and large specific surface area, and they have been widely used in various fields.

The electrochemical performance of LDH-based hybrid supercapacitors (SCs) with improved energy density (ED), enhanced stability, high porosity, and a large accessible surface area has attracted attention as a promising energy storage device.

Polarization-sensitive photodetectors based on two-dimensional (2D) materials have garnered significant research attention owing to their distinctive architectures and exceptional photophysical properties.

Polyelectrolyte complex (PEC) based materials could provide a sustainable alternative to conventional materials, especially for separation applications.

State-of-the-art review of magnetic hybrid organic–inorganic transition metal halide perovskites, focusing on chemical design, the origin and tunability of magnetism, and potential applications in magneto-optics, sensors, and spin filters.

This review focuses on the synthesis of quantum dots, film deposition techniques, and their application across various functional layers in perovskite solar cells, elucidating the mechanisms by which quantum dots enhance photovoltaic performance.

A review on the modification methods, types of modifiers, and performance improvement of wood–inorganic composites.

This review systematically examines the structural features, fabrication techniques, and applications of porous polymers, as well as their interrelationships, to serve as a guide for researchers.

TCPP MOFs, characterized by diverse nanostructured morphologies, can be integrated into various membranes, performing advanced separation applications.

Overview of photo-crosslinkable organic components—insulators, semiconductors, and conductors—and their integration into flexible and stretchable electronics such as physical sensors, OFETs, and OSCs via photo-crosslinking method.

This review presents conductive composites, fabrication processes, integration strategies, and therapeutic applications in the nervous system of fiber-based neural interfaces.

This review focuses on Kagome magnets, highlighting their lattice, rich electronic states and emergent quantum effects. It explores the synergy of topology, magnetism and correlations, and outlines future research directions in solid-state chemistry.

Cooperation of OSDAs could lead to a certain topology, reduce the synthesis cost, fasten the synthesis, or alter the Al distribution/siting, while the competition of OSDAs may cause phase selectivity issues or intergrowth of different structures.

An overview of the application of machine learning in single nanomaterials and nanocomposites is provided. We highlight a closed-loop relationship between the synthesis and properties by machine learning models with optimization and prediction tasks.

This paper illustrates future research directions for neuromorphic e-skin devices and their applications.

Epitaxially combining oxide layers can create new functionalities surpassing those of separate parent materials. This review highlights the unique structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of γ-Al₂O₃/SrTiO₃, revealing the underlying mechanisms.

This review highlights the functions of layered double hydroxide-modified bismuth vanadate photoanodes in solar water splitting. Future outlook on the photoanode is also summarized.

Organ-on-a-chip (OoC) is a breakthrough technology in biomedicine.