Themed collection 2023 Journal of Materials Chemistry Lectureship shortlisted candidates

Here we document the reduction in porosity observed in MOFs upon their glass formation, propose routes to improve this porosity, and speculate on prospective future adsorptive applications.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), sometimes also known as coordination polymers, are a very versatile group of materials consisting of metal nodes and organic linkers forming a tunable porous structure that can exist in different structural phases.

Fibrotic diseases affect all human organs (left), yet the selective visualization of tissue microstructure remains challenging in clinical and industrial settings. Colorimetric metasurfaces (right) address this challenge with an on-chip platform.

The review discusses triggering strategies for transient electronics. Connected biomedical applications with diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities of transient electronics have been summarized.

This review focuses on the advancements in stability of perovskite solar cells under stress from ambient moisture, high temperatures, and UV light exposure.

We summarize the recent utilizing bulk perovskites for photon upconversion in the solid-state, including areas of optimization and future promise.

Polymer nanocomposites are an important class of materials whose properties are generally tuned as a function of their composition. New opportunities for controlling these properties lie in manipulating the 3D organization of their nanofillers.

Conjugated oligomers polymerize in vivo on the root system of intact plants forming an extended network of tissue integrated conductors while the plants continue to grow and develop. The conducting roots are used to store energy in the plant.

Laser-induced graphene based gas sensor conformable to skin with low detection limit at low temperature.

Phase-pure thin films of BiSBr are shown to have an optical efficiency limit of 43.6% under indoor lighting, with improved environmental and photo-stability over lead-halide perovskites, and have band positions well suited to a range of charge transport layer materials.

Machine-learning molecular dynamics simulations pave the way to completely treat the anharmonicity of phonons. Low-energy anharmonic modes in transition-metal dichalcogenides drive the thermal and transport properties.

A novel wide-bandgap InOCl passivator incorporated between In₂S₃ buffer layer and Sb₂(S,Se)₃ absorber enables high performance fully environment-friendly solar cells.

Lifetime of the ²E state of Mn⁴⁺ can be used as an efficient manometric parameter.

For oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), the active sites of a defective N-doped graphene are predicted by a quantum mechanics/machine learning approach; the synthesized catalyst shows exemplary ORR activity that was further confirmed by a DFT study.

We report a facile approach to fabricating stretchable superhydrophobic surfaces with different microstructures (arc-shaped or V-shaped air pockets) for multi-stage liquid droplet micro-reactors.

The properties of chiral donor–acceptor systems displaying CPL sign inversion are investigated in solvents of different polarity. The solvent enables control of their deexcitation pathways favoring either locally excited or charge-transfer states.

A novel and efficient strategy was developed to enhance the stability, control the catalytic activity, and improve the selectivity of Cu(I) cyclic trinuclear unit (Cu-CTU)-based metal–organic frameworks by steric modification of copper nodes.

Our combined computations and experiments suggest the Mg-Ti-O chemical spaces for novel ternary oxide compounds that can offer high conductivity and corrosion stability to be used in fuel cell applications.

Cyclometallated N-heterocyclic carbenes with an appended carbazole and chelating diphosphines brought together to achieve the first simple solution-processed green-emitting iTMC-LECs based on mononuclear Pt(II) complexes.

In this study, the relationship between structure, cation disorder and Na-ion conduction properties is elucidated in a series of Na_3−xY_1−xZr_xCl₆ solid electrolytes.

We report semitransparent NIR perovskite photodetectors based on tin–lead hybrid perovskites, by using very thin film perovskite layers and transparent indium tin oxide electrodes.

Bacillus subtilis are probiotic microbes that are difficult to formulate when they are not in their spore form. Using self-assembling coatings, these cells were successfully protected during the freeze-drying process.

Solar redox flow batteries are an emerging technology that provides a smart alternative for the capture and storage of discontinuous solar energy through photo-generation of the discharged redox species employed in traditional redox flow batteries.

We propose an objective Mn-based competitive capacity evolution protocol and a recusing strategy for dead Mn-based Zn-ion batteries. The findings would provide new insights to understand the electrochemical behaviors more comprehensively.

Strongly anharmonic low-energy phonons enable the fast diffusion of Na ions in the solid-state electrolyte compound Na₃PS₄.

The impact of Co–S coordination environment in pH 7 ORR catalysis is evaluated using dilute Co atoms adsorbed on WS₂ nanosheets. Optimal reactivity is achieved when Co is coordinated to both sulfur atoms on WS₂ and labile solvent ligands.

The melting and glass-forming behaviour of a range of organic cages was investigated, with quenching of melted liquid states providing molecular glasses, one of which exhibited improved gas uptake compared to the starting amorphous cage.

Silk photo-lyogels fabricated by di-tyrosine photo-crosslinking and ice-templating silk fibroin on 3D printed templates toward in situ tissue engineering applications.

The bias of Ni–Zn batteries between practical applications with gravimetrical limits and scientific research with volumetrical shortages has been corrected.

pH-responsive nanofibres containing iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) and a model drug demonstrate on-demand dissolution, triggering release of both drug and NPs and allowing magnetic resonance imaging-guided therapeutic delivery.

The conjugated oligomer ETE-S is enzymatically polymerized in vitro, in the presence of peroxidase and H₂O₂. This polymerization route occurs also in the plant cell wall where ETE-S polymerizes and forms conductors along the plant structure.

Changes in perovskite structural dimensionality brought by mixing A-site cations play an important role in determining the measured charge carrier mobility, and in the solar cell performance.