Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry A HOT Papers

Pourbaix diagram is a critical tool in electrocatalytic research, driving innovation and improving the reliability of catalyst development.

This perspective summarizes recent advances in electrochemical humidity sensors and mainly focuses on three aspects: working principles; humidity sensing and power generation performances; self-powered humidity detection system.

Green hydrogen, produced by water splitting with renewables, faces water scarcity issues. Atmospheric moisture, a stable source, offers an alternative. This article reviews technologies and challenges of using atmospheric water for H₂ production.

This review provides a comprehensive analysis of recent advances in green ammonia synthesis and its energy applications, with emphasis on innovations in production technology, storage and transport solutions, and their environmental impacts.

This review provides an in-depth analysis of the key aspects related to in situ grown TMS electrodes, including the selection of TMS active materials, various substrates, and materials engineering.

This review provides a comprehensive analysis of recent advancements in MXene-based AIBs, with a particular emphasis on zinc-ion batteries.

This manuscript comprehensively reviews the recent advancements in Cu-based atomic site catalysts in the NO₃RR, following a sequential order with six sections: Introduction, Mechanism, Cu-based SACs, Cu-based SAAs, Cu-based DACs, and Perspectives.

The present review gives an overview of the different state-of-the-art X-ray techniques employed for the characterisation of photoelectrocatalytic systems, focusing on the possibilities of the studied techniques, cell designs and relevant results.

This review provides a summary of recent advancements in 1D/2D carbon materials (carbon nanotubes, graphene, MXenes, and carbon fibers) for FZIBs. It mainly introduces the functions of 1D/2D carbon materials in enhancing the performance of FZIBs.

This review summarizes the progressive understanding of the mechanism of the Pd-catalyzed CO₂ reduction reaction, together with recent advances in the rational design of Pd-based electrocatalysts.

A critical review of the regulatory mechanisms, structural design, cooling performance, and applications of hybrid cooling to advance its commercial use in passive cooling.

This review summarizes the recent progress in the regulation of local reaction intermediates and protons near active sites and discusses how their microenvironment affects the C–C coupling efficiency in the electrocatalytic CO₂RR.

This review analyzes advancements in CO₂-resistant perovskite cathodes for solid oxide fuel cells, detailing CO₂-poisoning mechanisms, evaluation methods, enhancement strategies, and characterization techniques for future cathode development.

State-of-the-art HEAs with outstanding water splitting performance is rationally designed, which provides a blueprint for the design of a next-generation platform for hydrogen regeneration.

In this review, we summarized the application methods of SECM in electrochemical reactions and also discussed the challenges and prospects of SECM in characterizing the activity of electrocatalysts.

Carbon-support-free platinum and non-platinum catalysts are reviewed to clarify the source of recent controversial results and to propose experimental conditions for their use in future fuel cell vehicles.

We summarize the influence of polymer coatings on cathode particles for electrochemical energy storage applications. We report on the effect of different polymer types, their properties, and their influence on thermo-electro-chemical behavior.

Dual-metal site catalysts embedded in a carbon matrix (referred to as DMSCs) are gaining significant interest in sustainable energy research.

The current review discusses on vanadium- and manganese-based metal–organic frameworks and their derivatives for energy storage and conversion applications along with the potential future advancements in these fields.

A comprehensive review of direct captured CO₂ electro-conversion technology, a promising Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technology that can achieve both techno-economic and environmental viability.

Nano-sized high entropy alloy (HEA) catalysts have attracted much attention as extraordinary electrocatalysts in water-splitting applications, i.e., the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER).

This review addresses four key factors and underlying mechanisms of doping engineering from crystal-field, molecular orbital, and ligand-field theory.

Metal/covalent organic frameworks (MOFs/COFs), with orderly aligned pores and adjustable pore characteristics, offer advantages over traditional fillers in constructing thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes for task-specific separations.

The review illustrates that the magnetic field effect can promote the generation of different nanostructures in material synthesis, achieve the transition from 1D to 2D and 3D structures in material assembly and improve the energy density of supercapacitor by the direct and indirect roles.

The efficient removal of trace impurities is significant for the production of high-purity olefins. This review summarizes the latest advancements in the deep purification of ethylene and propylene using MOF materials.

MOF-derived Co-doped Cu₃P/NC octahedra are coupled with MXene to form a 3D@2D structure, which is conducive to promoting electron transport and proton transfer, thereby improving HER and IRR performance.

A novel in situ hydro-charging strategy to fabricate PVDF electret nanofibers with cascade co-polarized structures is reported for long-term air filtration.

Asymmetric sulfur vacancies were incorporated into defective SnS₂ through a Cu dopant, aimed at preserving the energy of photoexcited electrons and strengthening the metal–sulfur covalency.

The Mg@DL-Ti₂CCl_x composite, synthesized using MXene with partially removed terminal groups, shows enhanced hydrogen storage properties by forming a direct Ti–Mg interface which promotes charge transfer and weakens the Mg–H bond.

The unique piezoelectric effect of Exp-MoS₂ significantly promotes NH₄⁺ transfer and leads to a faster diffusion rate, making Exp-MoS₂/CC act as an outstanding anode of an integrated ammonium-ion asymmetric supercapacitor.

The d-band center of Pt nanoparticles has been demonstrated as an effective parameter for modulating their catalytic activity for toluene hydrogenation, thereby promoting the H₂ strong in liquid organic molecules.

We first investigate the electrochemical dealloying effect and mechanism of a high-chromium alloy in alkaline NaNO₃ solution at oxygen evolution potential.

We report a strategy of catalyst design to modulate oxygen vacancies through the control of Au/ceria interface structures, promoting Au activity for carbon monoxide production in carbon dioxide electroreduction.

Prelithiation of LiMn₂O₄ balances the low first cycle efficiency of silicon anodes for improvements in energy density and prospective cell chemistry enabled by naturally abundant elements.

Tailoring the bismuth defects in ultrathin Bi₂WO₆ nanosheets can efficiently activate the C–H bond in toluene to produce benzaldehyde under light irradiation.

A novel heat storage ionomer binder with highly efficient heat-storage ability is proposed to function as an internal temperature conditioner, which allows the battery to function steadily over a wider temperature range.

An efficient adsorptive molecular sieving strategy to separate aromatic and cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons via an intrinsic/extrinsic approach.

Three-dimensional porous NiCoP foam supported on Ni foam is a superb bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall seawater splitting, attaining a large current density of 1000 mA cm⁻² at a low cell voltage of 1.97 V with robust stability over 300 hours.

Green hydrothermal synthesis achieves gram-scale production of a cationic COF sorbent with high stability for the rapid and selective removal of ⁹⁹TcO₄⁻ contaminants.

Schematic diagram of the improvement mechanism of the electrostatic shielding effect and ion dipole effect on the SEI and CEI layer in the 1 M-BG2-LB electrolyte.

Revealing the synergistic effect to guide CF_x implementation, fluorination mechanism to influence the fluorine pattern, and structure–performance relationship for CF_x design.

An organic–inorganic composite membrane, in which the inorganic LiNbO₃ imparts a high dielectric constant and superior Li⁺ conductivity, while the organic PVDF lowers the overall dielectric loss, is synthesized and ensures a homogeneous Li⁺ deposition.

An ultrathin Al₂O₃-doped ZnO (AZO) layer on LRM regulates oxygen redox by suppressing anion migration and inhibiting surface oxygen oxidation, enhancing cycling performance.

As the first attempt to reveal the intrinsic relationship between electron spins and catalytic selectivity, this work offers new insights into the rational design of efficient transition metal atom-dispersed catalysts through spin regulation.

NO₃⁻ and H₂O molecules adsorbed on the surface of Co–N–C-500 are activated and dissociated. The generated active hydrogen species (*H) can promote the hydrogenation of the intermediates and thus increase the NH₃ yield.

The key roles of perovskite films in the photovoltaic performance of carbon-based PSCs employing various absorbers were comprehensively studied and elucidated.

Biobased polythiourethane/MXene nanocomposites with intrinsic flame-retardancy and remote ultrafast infrared “welding” performance.

A black phosphorene-hosted NiO nanosheet heterostructure achieves enhanced surface Lewis basicity, delivering sensitive and selective sensor properties to trace H₂S gas.

The structural mechanism underlying the high piezoelectric activity of BF-BT was elucidated from the aspects of phase structure, domain dynamics, and octahedral torsion under an electric field.

An advanced sulfur-doped g-C₃N₄/V₂C MXene (SCN/V₂C) Schottky junction HER photocatalyst was prepared via vacuum ball milling and subsequent annealing.

A PFC system with collaborative dynamics between the photoanode and biocathode is constructed for using solar energy to efficiently convert refractory organic pollutants into green fuel and generate electricity.

A multi-step constant-current charging/discharging (MCCCD) protocol was proposed to reduce the damage to the lithium metal anode and further improve the cycle performance of the all-solid-state battery.

A heterostructure of non-layered CoSe₂ and layered VSe₂ was designed to enhance K storage. The lattice mismatch created significant distortion at phase boundaries, facilitating K diffusion and improving electrochemical performance in PIBs.

Electrochemical cycling of the VOPO₄ cathode in aqueous Zn-ion batteries proceeds via proton insertion, which is accompanied by the conformal coating of an amorphous ZnO layer on the electrode particles.

A novel 3D crosslinked single-ion conductor gel polymer electrolyte to construct an anionic polymer-induced SEI can achieve low interfacial impedance, a stable electrolyte/electrode interface, and effective suppression of lithium dendrite growth.

We have successfully achieved the nonpolar-polar transition to a polar junction in apatite materials by using size-differentiated atomic substitution to induce spontaneous polarization, and prepared a material with excellent pyroelectric properties.

This research successfully achieved deep CO₂ electroreduction on non-Cu metals (Pd, Ag, Zn and Ga) through a general strategy of modulating the local environment.

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].

Interpenetration-regulated pore size engineering is leveraged to fine-tune pore size in interpenetrated Zn-SDBA-dpe/bpy MOFs that creates a discrepancy in geometric symmetry, thus inducing noticeable differences in C₂H₂/C₂H₄ separation performances.

The environment on which people depend for their survival is becoming increasingly complex and deteriorating due to increasing electromagnetic pollution and extreme hot weather.

A skin-effect-inspired solar evaporator (SEISE) with non-uniform porosity was designed to match thermal localization and water transport localization, thus simultaneously achieving excellent evaporation performance and ultra-high salt resistance.