Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry A HOT Papers

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Enhancing electrochemical CO₂ reduction of Cu₂SnS₃ via surface polarization manipulation proves effective for designing efficient CO₂-to-formate electrocatalysts.

V can exist as three vanadium-based species, i.e., doped V^III in LDHs laminates, intercalated VO₃⁻ between LDHs interlayers, and free VO₃⁻ as an additive in KOH electrolyte. The study shows their role in altering the OER performance of NiFe-LDHs.

Solid state NMR and SCXRD analysis characterises the low-dimensional structures of hybrid metal halide perovskites (MHPs) templated by xylylenediammonium isomer cations, providing insight into the structure and dynamics of archetype 3D MHPs.

A molten salt-assisted synthesis and Li-refeeding strategy is applied to prepare single-crystalline slightly Li-rich Li_1.06Ni_0.90Mn_0.04O₂ with low magnetic moment and mitigated Li⁺/Ni²⁺ cation mixing, which enhances cycling performance.

Carbon nanosheet-supported CrN nanoparticles render excellent ORR activity in acidic media and long-term stability in natural seawater Zn–air batteries.

Simultaneous physisorption in micropores and hydrate-enclathration in meso- and macropores within an activated carbon host can enhance H₂ storage capacity under milder conditions.

Plastic wastes produced graphitic carbon shell encapsulation on cobalt nanoparticles and the derived composite materials showed ferromagnetism and superior Li⁺ ion storage of 377 mA h g^–1 (Co-GNP-ZipC) and 509 mA h g^–1 (Co-GNP-FmC) at the 250^th cycle.

A heterointerface engineering strategy of immobilizing core–shell CdSe/CdS quantum dots onto SiO₂ spheres was realized to efficiently integrate CO₂ photoreduction with the oxidation of furfuryl alcohol in one system.

A self-powered VO₂ phase transition modulate technology based on the raindrop TENG can successfully achieve metal–insulator transition and has potential applications in smart homes and intelligent vehicles.

The present work presents a multi-functional 0.2 M NaI electrolyte additive to suppress Zn dendrites and water-induced parasitic reactions in aqueous Zn metal batteries, featuring an astonishing Zn deposition/stripping cyclability of 8632 h.

A 2D MOF nanosheet was obtained via in situ exfoliation to boost the synergistic photoactivation of C(sp³)–H bonds and oxygen under mild conditions.

Novel SH-COF and exchangeable bonds enabled recyclable IPN membrane for effective molecular sieving and water remediation via pore size reduction and surface charge enhancement.

The development of elastomer-containing photoactive block copolymers with regulated rigid-block lengths results in organic solar cells with high power conversion efficiency (17.3%) and mechanical robustness (toughness = 1.8 MJ m⁻³).

The increased conformational barrier endows P(VDC-VC) with superior dielectric energy storage performance.

The CoMoN materials using the conventional hydrothermal method and nitridation treatment. N promotes the formation of α-Co(OH)₂ and the HER activity of CoMoN increases initially and then basically remains unchanged with increasing N content.

A deep learning-based framework (DeepDonor) has been developed to find high-performance donor materials. The experimental PCEs of devices based on two discovered candidates were 16.27% and 15.07%.

Macroscale and durable near-zero wear performance of ternary deep eutectic solvent-based lubricants was elaborated by systematic experimental analysis and molecular dynamics simulation.

AgBiS₂ alloying combining with Ge doping facilitates the band convergence and suppresses the phonon transport, leading to a competitive zT of 1.6 in SnTe.

For photodetectors based on chalcogenide semiconductor materials, a novel device structure has been proposed that utilizes a Se/Sb bilayer to replace conventional organic transport layers and noble metal electrodes.

Surface structures of Au nanocubes were tuned from concave to flat to convex using trace amounts of copper ions, and their corresponding catalytic performances were investigated.

We report conjugated microporous polytriphenylamine as a high-performance anion-capture electrode for capacitive deionization (CDI), thus opening a new pathway for the rational design of advanced polymer-based anodes in CDI and beyond.

Substrate modification achieves spatial decoupling of the hydrogen evolution reaction process, thereby greatly improving the efficiency and stability of the catalyst.

The problem of stability degradation is solved by adjusting the lattice distortion, resulting in ceramics with the highest ceiling temperature and excellent thermal stability.

Synergy between Ti⁴⁺ and F⁻ dual-doping significantly improves the cycling stability of P2-Na_0.67Ni_0.33Mn_0.67O₂ at high voltage and enhances its rate performance by suppressing the P2–O2 transition.

An yttrium-stabilized zirconia-based electrochemical sensor with LaCrO₃ as the electrode material was used to selectively detect NO.

This study shows that entropy engineering can enhance the energy-storage performance of lead-free BNT-based dielectrics, achieving a recoverable energy density of 11.24 J cm⁻³ and 88.3% efficiency, with excellent stability and rapid discharge.

The hierarchical and interconnected architecture of NiO/N-HPC promotes efficient electrolyte penetration, shortens ion transport path, and accelerates reaction kinetics, leading to a high-performance aqueous potassium-ion hybrid capacitor.

Ag doping achieves high-quality wide-bandgap CIGS films by controlling the (In,Ga)₂Se₃ film growth preference and Ag–Cu ion exchange process.

The flexible photo-rechargeable device with an OEE of 12.88% displays good low-temperature suitability and safety without overcharge-induced thermal runaway.