Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry A Emerging Investigators 2024

As an emerging crystalline porous material constructed from organic building blocks linked by covalent bonds, covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have garnered significant interest due to their well-defined pore structures.

Dual-atom catalysts (DACs) have emerged as highly promising and efficient catalysts for water electrolysis, primarily due to their distinct dual-atom site effects.

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.

This review comprehensively summarizes the development history of CPDT-based organic photovoltaic materials, which contributes to a deeper understanding of the revival of CPDT driven by low-cost acceptors.

In this review, we discuss the promising applications and practical considerations of thermoelectrics to harvest the unutilized thermal gradient between the plasma-facing surfaces and the molten salt coolant loop in tokamak fusion reactors.

This review summarizes the developments of Pd membrane reactors to drive electrochemical hydrogenation of unsaturated compounds including gaseous reagents. It highlights the design of Pd-based catalysts and their utilization to drive hydrogenation.

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.

Light-driven three-phase interface catalysts for the production of green ammonia as one of the key future energy carriers for the net-zero carbon landscape.

In this review, recent progress in the synthesis and electrocatalytic applications of hybrid nanomaterials containing low-dimensional metals was outlined and some promising future directions were proposed.

Single-molecule fluorescence imaging offers high spatiotemporal resolution and enables quantitative, operando studies of photocatalytic nanomaterials at the single- or sub-particle level.

This review summarizes the latest advances in material development and process design for electrochemically upgrading CO₂ to value-added C₃₊ chemicals.

We review polythiophene and its derivative (PT)-based polymer donors for all-PSCs, focusing on material design, morphology optimization strategies, and the selection and design of polymer acceptors that complement their properties.

This review provides valuable insights and suggestions for future research on designing low-strain cathode materials for long-life and high-energy-density all-solid-state batteries under low external pressure conditions.

To enhance the economy and society's sustainability, prioritizing innovative, green energy conversion methods is essential.

This review summarizes the latest research progress in polyanionic cathodes for aqueous Zn-ion batteries from the perspectives of crystal structure, reaction mechanism, and design strategy, finally highlights potential challenges and future outlook.

Increasing the oxidation potential improved electrochemical performance by inducing LiCoO₂ delithiation and restructuring into β-CoOOH. Raman spectroscopy revealed heterogeneity and dynamic phase evolution within and between particles.

Non-sticking water droplets covered with a particulate gel, namely particulate gel liquid marbles (PGLMs), exhibited high mechanical stability due to the viscous dissipation of the PG.

Through the electrochemical ion-exchange method, P2-K_0.56Na_0.11Li_0.12Ni_0.22Mn_0.66O₂ was successfully synthesized as a high-performance cathode with a single-phase reaction and K⁺/vacancy disordering for potassium-ion batteries.

Entrainment, where a solid object in a liquid bath moves towards the air phase, is common in industry and daily-life.

Histidine/tryptophan and their enantiomers were stepwise recognized by a dual-optical-response system, responding to fluorescence intensity variation and chiroptical activity regulation.

External electric fields could affect the charge mobility properties of organic semiconductors at a great level. Such influence is realized by changing the geometry and packing structure.

Through a partial conversion route using NiFe-MOF nanosheets as precursors, a transition-metal chalcogenide@metal–organic framework (TMC@MOF) composite was fabricated as an efficient 2e-ORR electrocatalyst.

An innovative strategy for the direct construction of continuous thermally conductive networks composed of ultra-long Si₃N₄NWs is proposed.

Atomically dispersed Ru doped on IrO_x sub-nanocluster is fabricated for acidic oxygen evolution reaction, showing a low overpotential of 237 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² and high durability by sustaining a current of 100 mA cm⁻² for 150 hours.

GR and Ni₂P dual cocatalysts modified ZnIn₂S₄ nanoflower has been prepared and they can simultaneously utilize photogenerated electrons and holes to actuate the oxidation of benzyl alcohol (BA) to benzaldehyde (BAD) integrated with H₂ evolution.

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 design of Pt(II)–TADF emitters based on metal-perturbed intraligand charge-transfer excited states towards high-performance red organic light-emitting diodes is presented.

Schematic diagrams of the preparation process of corrosion electrodes and the formation mechanism.

Metal–defect cooperative catalysis in Ru-doped defective MOF-808 is directly visualised via combined XAS, XPDF, XRD, and IR analysis.

Computational exploration and discovery of fluoride-based weberites and perovskites as positive electrodes for calcium batteries, an important next-generation energy storage technology.

A scandium acetate electrolyte additive enables the improved stability of Zn metal anodes in an aqueous ZnSO₄ electrolyte with suppressed side reactions and Zn dendrite formation due to the buffered pH value and homogenized Zn²⁺ distribution.

The oxygen vacancy-tuned rate-relevant step for toluene oxidation is revealed by a combined kinetics and mechanistic investigation over Cu catalysts.

Inverse-opal structured Pt/TiO₂–MnO_y shows enhanced toluene degradation activity due to its porous microstructure and the presence of Pt, which allows for more efficient generation of active species for toluene activation and catalyst re-oxidation.

A novel multifunctionalized NU-1000 MOF-Cu material is designed for CO₂ adsorption and catalytic conversion. This Cu-based catalyst is active in electrocatalysis and has excellent selectivity to methanol formation in thermocatalytic hydrogenation.

The cathode kinetics promotion effectiveness of electrocatalysts is evaluated in lean-electrolyte lithium–sulfur batteries. The improvement of polysulfide conversion kinetics and battery performance is more significant at higher sulfur concentration.

This work provides new insights for predicting the efficiency limit of LSCs. The use of tandem LSCs based on luminophores of singlet-fission and CuInSe₂/ZnS is considered a promising method to achieve optimal efficiency.

3D-printed FeCo/TiO₂ nanotube catalysts are used for the first time in Fischer–Tropsch synthesis and demonstrate considerable catalytic activity.

We show that fine-tuning of coordination structure of Ru sites can significantly enhance performances for CO₂ hydrogenation to methane under mild conditions in a photo-thermal synergistic catalytic process.

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.

Carbon–carbon (C–C) composites are highly sought-after in aviation, automotive, and defense sectors due to their outstanding thermal & thermo-mechanical properties even surpassing those of alloys and other composites for exterme operations.

A well-defined 2 nm Pt/SiO₂ catalyst that can be dynamically modified without irreversibly changing the underlying structure in reductive and oxidative environments, but that rapidly sinters under reaction conditions.

The HER, OER, and water electrolysis properties in an alkaline medium and the corresponding mechanism of nanoclimbing-wall-like NiO/NiCoP are revealed by the electrochemical tests, in situ Raman spectroscopy, and DFT calculation.

This work reports the thermal properties of garnet electrolyte LLZTO. The aged LLZTO exhibits an enhanced thermal conductivity, attributed to the formation of Li₂CO₃.

The recrystallization process of naphthalene molecules enhances intermolecular π–π interactions, leading to the formation of a uniform morphology and increasing electrical conductivity, which allows fast charge transfer kinetics in SIBs.

Fine-tuning the local coordination and electronic structures of Ni-based pre-catalysts via ligand regulation promotes self-reconstruction and improves OER activity.

Atomically ordered Ir₃Ti intermetallics on carbon nanotubes exhibit remarkable performance for pH-universal overall water splitting.

This work benchmarks ionomers for CO₂ electroreduction to multicarbon products. Ionomers with stronger hydrophobicity or having bulkier and less hydrated ionised side chains were found to favour *CO adsorption and multicarbon product formation.

We demonstrate the post-synthetic conversion of polyethylene into functional polymer electrolytes for lithium-ion batteries. To avoid end-of-life polymer electrolytes contributing to polymer waste, we further upcycle them into useful organic acids.

An ultralow-concentration (0.05 M) KFSI-based electrolyte can serve as the electrolyte for K-ion batteries, offering low cost, low viscosity, reduced corrosion risk, and impressive electrochemical performances over a wide range of temperatures.

In this work, CoFe nanoalloy clusters embedded into N-doped carbon nanofibers with hollow porous structures demonstrate superior electrochemical performance in sodium-ion capacitors, realizing excellent energy density and power density.

A tough and recyclable polyurethane elastomer was successfully synthesized from liquified banana stems.

A sodium salt monomer-based single-ion polymer electrolyte was designed, and as proof of concept, a quasi-solid-state sodium–metal cell, using Prussian White cathode, was manufactured, which delivers a capacity of 147 mA h g⁻¹.

Silica nanoparticles were adopted as a template to synthesize mesoporous aromatic frameworks (meso-PAFs). They provide large channels for the transportation of uranyl ions, which give an adsorption capacity of 12.4 mg g⁻¹ in 20 days from seawater.

The amorphous MOF/COF exposed Lewis basic sites and open metal sites in MMMs, improving the CO₂/CH₄ separation performance.

Chiromagnetic Co(OH)₂ nanoparticles with tunable asymmetry g-factors achieve AA chiral recognition and nM-level concentration detection.

A multi-functional electrolyte additive, namely ethoxy(pentafluoro)cyclotriphosphazene, is explored to realize extreme fast charging of lithium-ion batteries with enhanced safety.

Flexible thermocell devices are designed with device-level degradability for low-grade heat harvesting and precise thermal sensing.

This work presents a fantastic ternary heterojunction that combines plasmonic Cu–Ni bimetal nanoparticles with ultrathin CdS nanosheets for synergistically and remarkably improved photocatalytic H₂ generation under visible-light irradiation.

C-shell-augmented porous Cu/CNFs can enhance CO₂ availability for efficient C₂H₄ production via promoted CO₂ mass transport and CO₂ adsorption.

A novel Mn-based Sp-DRX electrode engineered to initiate favorable early phase transitions, effectively delaying detrimental transitions to extend battery life.