Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators

Journal of Materials Chemistry A profiles contributors to the Emerging Investigators issue.

Direct Ink Writing (DIW) potential in developing multi-material structures.

An overview of a variety of advanced alloy materials for catalytic use is provided.

Various types of molecular stacking can form in NFAs, which influence light absorption and efficiency of organic solar cells.

This Review summarized the latest progress in structural engineering, material fabrication and enhancement of the electrochemical performances of micro/nanostructured TiNb₂O₇ and its analogues for high-performance energy storage systems.

The advances in aberration correction have enabled atomic-resolution imaging and spectroscopy in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) under low primary voltages and pushed their detection limit down to the single-atom level.

Intermediate temperature electrosynthesis may allow for large-scale renewable ammonia production.

Methane, the main component in natural gas, is widely utilized for energy consumption and production of important chemicals.

The progress and challenges of the electrodes and electrolytes in organic potassium-ion batteries are summarized.

This review provides timely access to state-of-the-art advances of organic electrode materials in aqueous rechargeable batteries.

This review summarizes the typical progress in nanostructured semiconductor supported iron catalysts and their applications in heterogeneous photo-Fenton oxidation.

Recent progress in the mechanism, catalysts, electrolytes and electrolyzers of CO₂ electroreduction to CO has been reviewed.

A comprehensive review on the interfacial engineering of noble-metal-based MOR and EOR electrocatalysts is presented.

This review highlights recent progress in Ti-MOFs based on discrete Ti-oxo clusters and infinite Ti-oxo chains and sheets.

This paper highlights current research progress and future prospects of high-voltage spinel LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ cathode for next-generation high-enegy-density lithium-ion batteries.

This review provides a comprehensive summary of the intercalation and exfoliation processes in TMDs, as well as their properties and applications.

Atomically dispersed materials with maximized atom utilization, abundant active centers, and ultrahigh chemical reaction activity can accelerate the reaction kinetics in energy storage devices and have excellent electrochemical performance.

With its high theoretical capacity (1165 mA h g⁻¹), low reduction potential (−2.71) and abundant resources in the earth's crust, Na anode exhibits great potential in grid-scale energy storage systems and extensive application of electric vehicles.

For practical applications, the deactivation processes of electrocatalysts in electrochemical CO₂ reduction reactions have to be addressed by studying recent advances such as exclusion of metal impurity effect, periodic electrochemical activation and active nanocatalyst design.

Up-to-date studies of water-responsive materials for energy-related applications are reviewed. Future research endeavours could advance scientific and technical challenges.

This review presents and discusses the remarkable progress of GO membranes, especially the strategies and mechanisms for controlling their transport pathways in liquid separation.

A comprehensive survey on preparation methods of powdered or thin-film Bi-based photocatalysts is provided, comparing he diverse approaches and their advantages and limitations in the context of photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical applications.

This review gives a systematic discussion on the synthetic methodologies of 2D MOF-based materials for electrocatalysis applications.

We synthesized monodisperse PdSn/SnO_x core/shell nanoparticles with excellent ethanol oxidation reaction activity and durability.

Immobilization of electroactive molecules without synthetic modification that are stable at neutral pH!

Time-resolved photoluminescence measurements provide an accurate estimate of the three-dimensional exciton diffusion length in three ITICs based non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs).

A space-confined Co/CNT catalyst was utilized for CO₂ electroreduction with excellent efficiency and stability.

Wide-bandgap, low-toxicity CsBi₃I₁₀ is synthesized and deposited as thin films by solvent-free approaches. Its implementation in photovoltaic devices is demonstrated albeit with limited performances. Suggestions to further improve these are given.

Ultrathin and defect-rich Pd₂Sn intermetallic nanosheets with unique Pd–Sn ordering are developed and display much enhanced activity and stability towards oxygen reduction in an alkaline medium.

Solar energy conversion using molecular photoswitches holds great potential to store energy from sunlight in the form of chemical energy in a process that can be easily implemented in a direct solar energy storage device.

Ionic liquids (ILs) derive their useful properties from molecularly tunable compositions, but methods to diversify anion identities and probe ion speciation remain limited.

A wide inter-layer spacing is the key to realizing high energy density and power density in pseudocapacitors.

Anion exchange is a promising strategy to achieve synergistic catalysis via secondary coordination sphere interactions between the catalyst and the support.

A boron-rich hybrid tungsten oxide material with enhanced cycling stability, up to 4000 cycles compared to that of pristine tungsten oxide.

A membrane-type surface stress sensor (MSS) featuring metal–organic framework nanoparticles shows rapid, discriminative and ppm-level responses to volatile organic compounds.

A straightforward method to modify cellulose nanocrystal surfaces enables attachment of a wide range of nucleophiles.

Based on the understandings of alloying effects in bimetallic (100) surfaces, we explored their four-fold active sites for electrocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction.

The development of highly active and stable catalysts based on low-cost materials for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is crucial to catalytic water splitting.

Solid-state ²⁷Al MAS NMR spectroscopy and DFT calculations reveal that intercalated AlCl₄⁻ anions exhibit a wide range of molecular geometries and environments, establishing that the intercalated graphite electrodes exhibit high extents of disorder.

Here we demonstrate that atomic-layer-deposited SnO₂ on Pt/C enhances the catalytic stability and changes product selectivity for the electrocatalytic glycerol oxidation reaction.

A metal carbon composite Fe,Ni–N–C/N-CNT with both Fe–N_x and in situ generated NiFe₂O₄ nanoparticles has both good ORR and OER activities.

Assisted by NIR light, the obtained Co-Pi/PANI/BiVO₄ photoanode achieves a remarkable water oxidation photocurrent of 4.05 mA cm⁻² at 1.23 V_RHE.

Dissociation of ion charge pairs in block copolymer electrolytes and its relation to activity coefficients and normalized ionic conductivity.

A self-driven filtration process based on dynamic core–shell hydrogel absorbers of both high water absorbency and selectivity.

Accurate composition–oxygen evolution reaction performance atlases have been established for a ternary Co–Fe–V oxide system using Prussian blue analogues as precursors, affording Co : Fe : V = 3 : 4 : 3 as the optimal metal ratio.

Acceptor Y22 with an asymmetric hexacyclic A–DA′D–A structure achieved a high PCE of 15.4% and a high J_sc of 24.37 mA cm⁻², which are among the best values reported for asymmetric acceptor based binary organic solar cells.

We report a novel architecture of ultrathin RuRh@(RuRh)O₂ core/shell nanosheets with a core of ultrathin metallic RuRh nanosheets and a shell of (RuRh)O₂ oxides as a superb electrocatalyst toward the oxgen evolution reaction (OER), better than most of the state-of-the-art Ru-based or Ir-based electrocatalysts. Moreover, the RuRh@(RuRh)O₂ core/shell nanosheets exhibit good durability because the (RuRh)O₂ oxide shell protects the normally labile RuRh NS core against dissolution during the OER process.

In this report, we demonstrate how a uniform angstrom-level oxide overcoat (0.7–1.5 Å) by atomic layer deposition is highly effective not only in enhancing the thermal stability of underlying infiltrated ceria nanoparticles but also in facilitating electrode kinetics.

Polymer NHC ligands enhance the catalytic activity of metal nanoparticles despite the increase of surface crowdedness.

In situ pair distribution function analysis reveals that electromagnetic radiation exposure during SnO₂ nanoparticle growth alters local atomic structure and the synthetic pathway compared to conventional hydrothermal synthesis routes.

Enhanced carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO₂RR) with suppressed HER was achieved on polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) coated Cu nanoneedles (CuNNs).

A feasible molecular optimization process conducted on polymer donors facilitates better phase separation, enabling improved efficiency for polymer solar cells.

A facile and efficient strategy to produce nitrogen-doped (N-doped) phosphorene nanosheets that can be used as an efficient metal-free catalyst for electrochemical ammonia synthesis under ambient conditions is presented.

Surface modifying is a promising way to manipulate metal catalyst properties in electrochemical CO₂ reduction.

Composition spread Cu₂ZnSnS₄ thin films unveil the complicated interplay between process conditions and material properties, pointing to new approaches towards defect engineering.

N-doped carbon nanofibers embedded with Fe/Fe₃C nanodomains demonstrate superior electrocatalytic nitrate reduction ability and nitrogen selectivity.

Interfacial coordination of tannic acid with metal ions enables conformal coating on nickel hydroxide nanowalls for enhancing the water-splitting performance.

A new class of layered iron sulfide materials offers tunable composition and properties for electrochemical energy storage.

Dual-shell structured sodium titanate cubes with oxygen vacancies are rationally designed and synthesized. Various state-of-the-art approaches offer understandings of its enhanced ion kinetics as an anode for sodium-ion battery..

An effective strategy was demonstrated to develop a highly durable catalyst prototype that combines superfine Pt-based intermetallic nanoparticles with mesoporous carbon.

A non-aqueous redox flow battery based on all-PEGylated, metal-free compounds is presented. The PEGylation enhances the stability of the redox-active materials, alleviating crossover by increasing the anolyte and catholyte species’ molecular sizes.

We studied the influence of oxygen vacancies on small Au clusters supported on CeO₂ using dispersion-corrected density functional theory (DFT-D3).

A unique MoO₃/MoO₂ heterostructure with an active interface is an ideal host for Li₂S₈, exhibiting superior rate and long-term cycling performance.

Dual-metal-site catalysts could exhibit superior activity for CO₂ electroreduction to CO due to the breaking of scaling relationship.

The critical current density in symmetrical Li metal cells using Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ single crystals is determined. The upper limit at room temperature without applying any external forces is below 300 μA cm⁻².

Hydrogen evolution reaction of metals is shown to be tunable with high concentration of Li ions in the electrolyte, irrespective of the pH of the electrolyte.

Understanding interfacial reaction mechanisms of redoxmers at redox flow battery model carbon electrodes using insightful electrochemical scanning probe techniques enables new strategies for high-performance energy storage.

A correlative electron microscopy method is introduced to statistically composition distributions among particles in nanoalloy materials, a parameter that is largely overlooked before.

The synergistic effect of ternary chromium-titanium nitride significantly promotes photocatalytic hydrogen production of cadmium sulfide.

Photocatalytic H₂ generation by B,P-codoped Si quantum dots (QDs) with diameters in the quantum confinement regime is investigated. The H₂ generation rate is enhanced by the increase of reduction ability of Si QDs owing to the quantum size effect.