Themed collection 2023 Journal of Materials Chemistry A Lunar New Year collection

The rapid development of wearable devices has put forward high requirements for stable, solid-state, flexible and even stretchable energy storage systems.

The currently strategies for activating the TMDC basal planes toward hydrogen evolution reaction were summarized, which are divided into internal and external regulation, depending on whether the pristine structure is altered or not.

The review overviews the mechanism of C–H activation through electron–hole mediated pathways in photo and electrocatalysis, and introduces various strategies to increase the conversion of CH₄ as well as the selectivity to desired products.

This review summarizes the adhesion mechanism and design strategies of underwater adhesion hydrogels, and generalizes their underwater application fields (adhesives, motion monitoring, marine environmental exploration and coatings).

A comprehensive overview of the recent progress toward polybenzimidazole hollow fiber membranes, including material chemistry, molecular structure modification, spinning chemistry and process protocols, is presented with challenges and perspectives.

This review presents the recent progress in organic solar cells based on non-fullerene acceptors, with a wide coverage from material synthesis and processing to interface engineering, device structure, large-area fabrication, and device stability.

We summarize a variety of examples of regioregularity-controlled conjugated polymers and describe their impacts on the polymer properties and performances in polymer solar cells.

Solid oxides have been extensively investigated as possible high-temperature CO₂ sorbents by a number of research groups. We summarised the different strategies to develop synthetic solid oxide sorbents.

Synthesis, properties and electrochemical energy storage applications of MXenes.

MOF/COF-based hybrids show the properties of precisely tunable compositions and structures, and provide a broad range of potential applications in gas sorption and separation, catalysis, energy transfer, biomedicine, etc.

The first working lithium-ion battery containing polymer electrolytes derived from waste poly(ethylene terephthalate) beverage bottles is demonstrated.

Plastic wastes are converted into two-dimensional carbon nanosheets with a graphitic-like structure and interlayer channels for improved solar evaporation performance.

Amorphous VSe_2−x nanosheets with abundant Se-vacancies (V_Se) showed dramatically enhanced NRR activity and selectivity, attributed to the amorphization-triggered Se-vacancies that promote the NRR and impeding the H₂ evolution.

Doping the Co element into the traditional La_0.5Sr_0.5MnO_3−δ cathode material triggers the activity of the cathode/electrolyte interface in the composite cathode, leading to impressively high cell performance for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cells.

Local structural distortion caused by Ti-doping has the effect of expanding the diffusion path of Li ion.

Developing high-performance and low-cost donor/acceptor materials is crucial for the industrialization of organic solar cells (OSCs).

A simple and efficient way was developed to enhance the visible-light-driven water-splitting performance by varying the number of β-ketoenamine linkages in covalent organic frameworks.

In this study, we successfully demonstrate the synthesis of a novel necklace-like Co, Fe, and N co-doped one-dimensional (1D)-assembly of hollow carbon nanoboxes (1D-HCNB-x) and its potential for supercapacitor application.

A Mn²⁺ defect-mediated oxidative mechanism was found responsible for the coupled morphology/phase transformation of 2D manganese oxides via Fe galvanic exchange reaction.

The material design principles in this study provide fundamental guidelines for the development of superionic sodium halide solid electrolytes for high-voltage sodium all-solid-state batteries.

An intramolecular charge transfer system was constructed to extract π-electrons from photosensitive D–A COF semiconductors to CDs through hydrogen bonding for more ROS evolution, which demonstrated high-efficiency bactericidal mechanism.

Densified composite cathodes through dry-film process comprising different content of LiNi_0.8Co_0.15Al_0.05O₂ and Li₆PS₅Cl particles and their charge transport kinetics in solid-state batteries are studied by AC impedance and DC polarization analyses.

Factors that determine the Li deposition behavior in Li-free ASSBs with a porous interlayer are systemically identified and Li deposition behavior is interpreted based on both thermodynamics and the kinetics.

A strategy for marine waste upcycling and CO₂ utilization by the recovery of high-value monomer from fishing net waste using seashell waste-derived catalysts in the presence of CO₂.

A crucial ingredient in lithium (Li) and sodium (Na)-ion batteries (LIBs and NIBs) is the electrolyte.

Electronic waste (e-waste) recycling is one of the central frameworks of the circular economy.

Supramolecular interactions have been found to be essential for exceptional electrochemical performance of a close-packed metal–organic-based cathode, considered one of the best ever reported.

The Seebeck coefficient of Fe^2+/3+ thermogalvanic cells is inversely proportional to the donor number of organic solvent additives, which cause rearrangement of the Fe^2+/3+ solvent shell.

Compared to polycrystalline Ni-rich cathode materials, single crystal Ni-rich LiNi_0.8Co_0.1Mn_0.1O₂ materials have less irreversible structural and phase changes under varied temperature conditions, improving their cycling stability.

The PMMA-based gel-polymer electrolyte (GPE) featuring the ester group (R–COO–R′) demonstrates high ionic conductivity and strong polysulfide retention for designing safe lithium–sulfur cells with high energy density.

PCEs of 15.81% and 15.29% are achieved in LbL and BHJ all-PSCs with polymer donor PM6, polymer acceptor PY-IT and CN as an additive. Over 15% PCE improvement can be obtained in LbL and BHJ all-PSCs with CN in LbL and BHJ active layers.

We propose the controllable synthesis of N/Co-doped carbon from metal–organic frameworks, which shows high performance in the integrated solar vapor generation and photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants.

The higher the polarity or the hydrogen bond donor ability of the solvent, the more easily COFs crystallize, and the higher the COF crystallization, the higher the photocatalytic H₂ evolution.

3D printing and nickel coating greatly enhance the membrane permeability and selectivity for oil/water separation.

This figure shows a self-powered ammonia sensor powered by a gelatin-polyimide based triboelectric nanogenerator (GP-TENG).

Heterogeneous catalysts based on defective metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have attracted wide attention due to their facile formation of defects during synthesis.

A solvent–precursor interaction-guided synthetic strategy is proposed to design heteroatomic carbon cathodes with customized microstructures towards efficient Zn-ion energy storage.

An efficient strategy focusing on the key protonation process was confirmed to screen multifunctional electrocatalysts for the NORR, NO₂RR and NO₃RR.

A high-performance lead-free relaxor ferroelectric ceramic capacitor designed by a multiscale optimization strategy for energy storage applications.

An efficient and sustainable gas diffusible OER anode toward industrial alkaline water-splitting is fabricated by simply immersing Ni foam in ethanolic FeCl₃ etchant, which produces a microporous Ni backbone decorated with nanocatalysts.

Nano-hybridization of a core–shell structure integrating a transition metal selenide with oxides results high-capacity electrode materials for energy storage devices thanks to the ample electroactive sites and relatively high electronic conductivity.

Due to the high conductivity of the anisotropic structure, the aerogel achieves excellent shielding properties. Meanwhile, the aerogel has high compressibility and excellent thermal stability, which greatly enriches the application scenarios of this shielding device.

Carbon-based transition metal (TM) single-atom catalysts (SACs) have shown great potential toward electrochemical water splitting and H₂ production.

A self-powered dual hydrogen production system constructed by combining a Zn–H₂ battery and an overall hydrazine splitting unit with Rh single atoms supported on oxygen-functionalized Ti₃C₂O_x bifunctional catalyst achieves a promising H₂ generation rate of 45.77 mmol h⁻¹.

Sulfur-doped oxide (oxysulfide)/oxygen-doped sulfide (sulfo-oxide) with a Z-scheme heterogeneous interface improves the efficiency of photocatalytic hydrogen production.

A multi-stage machine learning and molecular dynamics simulation-assisted pipeline is introduced for the time- and cost-efficient design and screening of small molecule acceptors for organic solar cells.

Electrochemical water-splitting is emerging as a promising pathway to produce pure and green hydrogen. Herein, we prepared a tungsten incorporated CoSe/Co₃O₄ heterostructure and employed it as an efficient electrocatalyst for overall water splitting.

The time-dependent evolution of a P3HT:nonfullerene blend was revealed during annealing. The optimal blend gives 10.7%, which breaks the 10% benchmark for P3HT-solar cells.

Highly active and durable hierarchical structure of ZnCo₂S₄ grown on reduced graphene oxide nanosheet electrocatalysts for the green production of hydrogen gas via water electrolysis.

In situ constructing hetero-interface, and revealing its interfacial polarization is challenging. Here, the Mo defect-induced interfacial polarization on MoC(−)/NC(+) interface was clarified, and for the first time, directly observed by hologram.