Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry A Recent Review Articles

We highlight how DTEM reveals catalytic dynamics and outline key advances, challenges, and future opportunities.

This perspective discusses how advances in quantum science and technology can be utilized to improve, design, and better understand heterogeneous catalysis.

Research on high-energy-density materials (HEDMs) has largely centered around molecules derived from the classical CHNO framework.

This perspective defines quantitative ‘target design windows’ for contact resistivity and shear strength, mapping four dominant strategies to guide the transition from empirical metallization to engineered reliability.

The sustainable production and efficient utilization of hydrogen are central to achieving global carbon neutrality.

Artificial intelligence promises to revolutionise materials discovery through accelerated prediction and optimisation, yet this transformation brings critical data integrity challenges that threaten the scientific record.

Two‑dimensional (2D) hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) exhibit pressure‑tunable structures and properties that enable optimized performance in energy and optoelectronic devices.

Aqueous aluminum metal batteries (AAMBs) have recently emerged as promising candidates for next-generation energy storage systems.

Recent advances in nickel-based catalysts for plastic pyrolysis, emphasizing reaction mechanisms, catalyst design, and emerging innovations that enhance product selectivity, yield efficiency, and sustainable polymer recycling.

The need for efficient, sustainable energy storage has increased research into novel two-dimensional materials obtained from MAB phases, where high metal-to-boron ratios make them strong candidates for energy applications.

An overarching review of the current state of research and technology related to sustainable production, use, and post-treatment of polyvinyl alcohol, evaluating key advancements and identifying areas and opportunities for further development.

Seawater electrolysis offers an alternative to freshwater-based electrolysis owing to its abundant resources and sustainability, making it a key driver in addressing global water scarcity while advancing the hydrogen economy.

The synthetic methods and physicochemical properties of geminal dinitro and trinitromethyl substituted aliphatic compounds, monocyclic azoles, bisazoles, fused heterocycles, and cage adamantanes are reviewed.

This review summarizes the progress and challenges in CO catalytic oxidation, outlines the properties and design strategies of metal-based catalysts, and discusses the causes of catalyst poisoning and solution strategies.

Supercapacitor (SC) technology is one of the pioneering energy storage technologies of the current century.

This review summarizes recent advances in noble-metal catalysts for MSR, covering mechanisms, synthesis, and performance. It highlights key challenges and future directions to spur research, applications, and the hydrogen economy.

This review highlights recent advances in polymer-based DAC systems for CO₂ capture, with a focus on synthesis strategies and structure–performance relationships in functional polymers, polymer composites, MOFs, and COFs.

The roles of oxygen-containing species in graphene CVD growth on copper substrate are reviewed to detail their catalysing and templating impact on morphology, layer number, domain configuration, stacking mode, and defect engineering of graphene.

The growing global demand for sustainable energy and environmental remediation has accelerated interest in efficient cellulose-supported photocatalysts.

This review summarizes recent advances in solid additives (SAs) for high-efficiency organic solar cells (OSCs), focusing on their categories, working mechanisms, and future research directions for SA engineering to accelerate OSCs' commercialization.

Thermal expansion mismatch critically impacts SOFC durability. This review examines the fundamental mechanisms of thermal expansion in SOFC materials and discusses strategies for tailoring thermal expansion to enhance mechanical compatibility.

This review outlines how decoupling reversible oxygen redox from O₂ release stabilizes Li- and Mn-rich layered cathodes, mitigating transition-metal migration, structural reconstruction, and voltage fade.

This review summarizes recent advances in surface engineering for OER catalysts in direct seawater electrolysis, focusing on how surface-modulation enhances catalytic activity, corrosion resistance, and selectivity in harsh marine environments.

This review emphasizes the latest advancements in asymmetric microsupercapacitors, concentrating on microfabrication techniques, electrode materials, and their incorporation into self-powered microelectronics for future flexible and wearable devices.

Anion Exchange Membrane degradation can occur through thermal, chemical and mechanical pathways, but there are several strategies that can help mitigate these phenomena and increase AEM durability.

This review examines the methods for recovering acids from industrial wastewater, covering sample characterization and recovery techniques such as ion-exchange membranes, pyrohydrolysis, and solvent extraction.

Escalating plastic pollution and the growing demand for sustainable energy storage call for innovative, integrated solutions.

Upcycling facilitates a paradigm shift in the regeneration of spent LiFePO₄ from mere performance recovery to upgrading through strategies like elemental doping or coating, offering a new perspective for the development of regeneration technologies.

This review summarizes the catalytic mechanisms, confined synthesis strategies, and structure–activity relationships of HDSACs in key electrochemical energy conversion reactions, aiming to guide the rational design of high-performance HDSACs.

Solvation-centered molecular design tailors salt dissociation, ion transport, and interfaces in solid polymer electrolytes – a roadmap to safe, high-energy sodium metal batteries.

Review of Se/Te chalcogen cathodes for aqueous Zn-ion batteries, highlighting design strategies, redox mechanisms, and prospects for high-performance, safe, durable energy storage.

This review emphasizes the controlled design, interfacial interactions, and co-assembly fabrication of macroscopic graphyne-based membranes and thin films. It also discusses their applications and outlines future challenges in this field.

Smart self-healing polymers offer sustainable solutions for energy storage and sensing by autonomously repairing damage while enhancing durability and reliability, and enabling next-generation power devices and flexible electronic skin sensors.

This review highlights how infiltration, exsolution, and atomic layer deposition modify SOFC anodes to improve direct methane/ammonia conversion, enhance electrochemical performance, and combat degradation via coking and nitridation.

Schematic representation of a sodium-ion battery, illustrating Na⁺ transport between the cathode and anode during charge and discharge, along with representative crystal structures of typical electrode materials.

This review summarizes recent advances in amorphous–crystalline heterostructure photocatalysts, and their advantages, synthetic strategies and applications are detailed and discussed to outline critical directions for future development.

This paper critically reviews strategies for molecularly engineering crystalline MOFs to enhance their distribution within polymers and to improve CO₂/gas separation properties in the resulting thin-film and nanofilm nanocomposite membranes.

This timely review discusses the advantages and limitations of various 3D printing approaches for thermoelectric materials, highlighting their impact on the properties of the materials and device integration.

This review summarizes the research progress of MSes-based HER electrocatalysts, covering advantages, synthesis, enhancement strategies, mechanisms and current challenges, which is of great significance for designing efficient MSes-based catalysts.

ICOFMs, with high ion selectivity, continuous mass transport/conduction channels and strong electrostatic interactions, show great application potential in conduction, membrane separation, biomedicine, sensing and energy conversion.

The review article summarizes the recent advances of nanocarbon-based thermoelectric materials.

This review summarizes the application of Fe, Co, Ni, and Cu SACs in the electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ to CO, covering synthesis strategies, reaction mechanisms, performance optimization, and future challenges.

This review highlights the progress in phase diagram engineering and microstructural design in Te based multiphase alloys.

This review highlights the application of perovskite oxides as electrocatalysts for small-molecule oxidation, focusing on their structure–performance relationships, defect engineering, and reaction mechanisms to guide efficient energy conversion.

Hole transport layers (HTLs) are crucial for QD-based photovoltaics. This study compares p-type QDs, organic HTLs, and hybrids, showing that alternative ligands beyond EDT offer promise for scalable, stable, and efficient QD devices.

This review summarizes recent progress in developing high-mass-loading cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries and highlights key design principles and emerging strategies toward practical, high-energy-density systems.

Metal–guest and metal–linker coordination bonds in MOFs form reversible dissociation–association equilibria. These dynamics are tunable by temperature, light, guests, and confinedness, enabling mild activation, cooperative gas uptake, and catalysis.

Water electrolysis represents a pivotal pathway for green hydrogen production, offering exceptional product purity, operational simplicity, and zero pollutant emissions.

This review explores the applications of nanotechnology to address the challenges of radioactive wastes by transforming it into sustainable nuclear batteries, thereby enhancing the viability of nuclear energy as a clean alternative to fossil fuels.

Graphyne-based materials (GBMs), composed of mixed sp- and sp²-hybridized carbon networks, exhibit tunable pore architectures and unique electronic properties, enabling promising applications in energy, catalysis, and separation technologies.

Ultrafast Joule heating (UJH) has emerged as a cutting-edge technology for synthesizing advanced functional materials (AFMs), representing a burgeoning field of research with significant scientific and industrial implications.

Abstract nonwoven fabrics have rapidly evolved from low-value commodities into next-generation materials platforms underpinning healthcare, environmental remediation, and clean-energy technologies.

Liquid crystal elastomers provide a multifunctional platform for solar, mechanical, thermal, and electrochemical energy applications.

We present the fundamental molecular structure, characteristics, optimization strategy for physicochemical properties, synthesis methods and applications of acrylamide-based hydrogels in zinc-based batteries.

Carbon-encapsulated electrocatalysts for oxygen electrocatalysis were reviewed, pointing out both the advancement and challenges. Further investigations should emphasize the fundamental theories, synthetic methods, and in situ characterizations.

Guided by eCO₂RR mechanisms, bimetallic and multi-metallic catalysts engineered with diverse strategies exploit synergy to achieve high activity and selectivity for varied products, advancing the development of the eCO₂RR.