Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry A HOT Papers

Pourbaix diagram is a critical tool in electrocatalytic research, driving innovation and improving the reliability of catalyst development.

This perspective summarizes recent advances in electrochemical humidity sensors and mainly focuses on three aspects: working principles; humidity sensing and power generation performances; self-powered humidity detection system.

Green hydrogen, produced by water splitting with renewables, faces water scarcity issues. Atmospheric moisture, a stable source, offers an alternative. This article reviews technologies and challenges of using atmospheric water for H₂ production.

This manuscript comprehensively reviews the recent advancements in Cu-based atomic site catalysts in the NO₃RR, following a sequential order with six sections: Introduction, Mechanism, Cu-based SACs, Cu-based SAAs, Cu-based DACs, and Perspectives.

This review provides an in-depth analysis of the key aspects related to in situ grown TMS electrodes, including the selection of TMS active materials, various substrates, and materials engineering.

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 provides a summary of recent advancements in 1D/2D carbon materials (carbon nanotubes, graphene, MXenes, and carbon fibers) for FZIBs. It mainly introduces the functions of 1D/2D carbon materials in enhancing the performance of FZIBs.

This review summarizes the progressive understanding of the mechanism of the Pd-catalyzed CO₂ reduction reaction, together with recent advances in the rational design of Pd-based electrocatalysts.

A critical review of the regulatory mechanisms, structural design, cooling performance, and applications of hybrid cooling to advance its commercial use in passive cooling.

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.

This review analyzes advancements in CO₂-resistant perovskite cathodes for solid oxide fuel cells, detailing CO₂-poisoning mechanisms, evaluation methods, enhancement strategies, and characterization techniques for future cathode development.

State-of-the-art HEAs with outstanding water splitting performance is rationally designed, which provides a blueprint for the design of a next-generation platform for hydrogen regeneration.

In this review, we summarized the application methods of SECM in electrochemical reactions and also discussed the challenges and prospects of SECM in characterizing the activity of electrocatalysts.

Carbon-support-free platinum and non-platinum catalysts are reviewed to clarify the source of recent controversial results and to propose experimental conditions for their use in future fuel cell vehicles.

We summarize the influence of polymer coatings on cathode particles for electrochemical energy storage applications. We report on the effect of different polymer types, their properties, and their influence on thermo-electro-chemical behavior.

Dual-metal site catalysts embedded in a carbon matrix (referred to as DMSCs) are gaining significant interest in sustainable energy research.

The current review discusses on vanadium- and manganese-based metal–organic frameworks and their derivatives for energy storage and conversion applications along with the potential future advancements in these fields.

A comprehensive review of direct captured CO₂ electro-conversion technology, a promising Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technology that can achieve both techno-economic and environmental viability.

Nano-sized high entropy alloy (HEA) catalysts have attracted much attention as extraordinary electrocatalysts in water-splitting applications, i.e., the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER).

This review addresses four key factors and underlying mechanisms of doping engineering from crystal-field, molecular orbital, and ligand-field theory.

Metal/covalent organic frameworks (MOFs/COFs), with orderly aligned pores and adjustable pore characteristics, offer advantages over traditional fillers in constructing thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes for task-specific separations.

The review illustrates that the magnetic field effect can promote the generation of different nanostructures in material synthesis, achieve the transition from 1D to 2D and 3D structures in material assembly and improve the energy density of supercapacitor by the direct and indirect roles.

The efficient removal of trace impurities is significant for the production of high-purity olefins. This review summarizes the latest advancements in the deep purification of ethylene and propylene using MOF materials.

Asymmetric sulfur vacancies were incorporated into defective SnS₂ through a Cu dopant, aimed at preserving the energy of photoexcited electrons and strengthening the metal–sulfur covalency.

The unique piezoelectric effect of Exp-MoS₂ significantly promotes NH₄⁺ transfer and leads to a faster diffusion rate, making Exp-MoS₂/CC act as an outstanding anode of an integrated ammonium-ion asymmetric supercapacitor.

The d-band center of Pt nanoparticles has been demonstrated as an effective parameter for modulating their catalytic activity for toluene hydrogenation, thereby promoting the H₂ strong in liquid organic molecules.

The Mg@DL-Ti₂CCl_x composite, synthesized using MXene with partially removed terminal groups, shows enhanced hydrogen storage properties by forming a direct Ti–Mg interface which promotes charge transfer and weakens the Mg–H bond.

We first investigate the electrochemical dealloying effect and mechanism of a high-chromium alloy in alkaline NaNO₃ solution at oxygen evolution potential.

We report a strategy of catalyst design to modulate oxygen vacancies through the control of Au/ceria interface structures, promoting Au activity for carbon monoxide production in carbon dioxide electroreduction.

Prelithiation of LiMn₂O₄ balances the low first cycle efficiency of silicon anodes for improvements in energy density and prospective cell chemistry enabled by naturally abundant elements.

Tailoring the bismuth defects in ultrathin Bi₂WO₆ nanosheets can efficiently activate the C–H bond in toluene to produce benzaldehyde under light irradiation.

A novel heat storage ionomer binder with highly efficient heat-storage ability is proposed to function as an internal temperature conditioner, which allows the battery to function steadily over a wider temperature range.

An efficient adsorptive molecular sieving strategy to separate aromatic and cyclic aliphatic hydrocarbons via an intrinsic/extrinsic approach.

Three-dimensional porous NiCoP foam supported on Ni foam is a superb bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall seawater splitting, attaining a large current density of 1000 mA cm⁻² at a low cell voltage of 1.97 V with robust stability over 300 hours.

Gelatin–CNF–CNT aerogels with durable mechanical properties used for efficient interfacial solar evaporation.

A KSeCN electrolyte additive for aqueous zinc ion batteries enhances the electrochemical polarization of the zinc anode while mitigating concentration polarization, leading to more uniform Zn plating.

The implementation of a rotating cylindrical cathode for manganese deposition offers a novel perspective in comprehending the conjugated hydrogen evolution reaction within complex solution systems.

Uniform bromine and sulfur ion distribution across sublattices in Li_7−xPS_6−xBr_x argyrodites is key to high Li-ion conductivity. It enhances Li-ion transport by balancing high- and low-energy jump environments, enabling lower energy percolation.

A rigid MOF with a (4,6)-connected she-net was prepared, which could further incorporate bpy(Cu) active centers through linker installation. Structure and size-selective catalytic activity for aerobic alcohol oxidation reactions can be regulated.

A facile approach is proposed by utilizing a series of small molecules with different spatial hindrance to suppress low-n phases and explore the underlying regulatory kinetics mechanisms.

Conduction of protons in chemisorbed and physisorbed water layers on the surface of AZrO₃ (A = Ca, Sr, Ba) perovskite oxides, depending on compositions (A-site cations and deficiency) and microstructures (controlled by sintering conditions).

Comparison of adsorptive separation on CAU-10(Al) according to functional groups, and the GCMC simulation image of CAU-10(Al)–CH₃.

Solid-state lithium metal batteries are favored for their superior energy density and safety compared to liquid batteries.

A unique kind of organic small molecules with two zincophilic sites is demonstrated as the bifunctional interface stabilizer (BIS) for promoting uniform Zn deposition and suppressing dendrite formation.

We constructed a core–shell heterostructure FeMoS@CoFe LDH bifunctional electrode to promote large current density water splitting, achieving multifunctional green applications.

A wave-driven closed polytetrafluoroethylene tube TENG (PT-TENG) with enhanced output is proposed, utilizing interface charge transfer principles, which can generate stable high output current and be used to design a new cathodic protection system.

Carbon nanosheet-supported CrN nanoparticles render excellent ORR activity in acidic media and long-term stability in natural seawater Zn–air batteries.

A novel approach in optimizing frustrated Lewis pair chemistry on two-dimensional CeO₂ via precise tuning of surface oxygen vacancies for advanced alkaline hydrogen evolution.

The Schottky barrier between CoP and g-C₃N₄ is tuned via nanometallic Mo with a low work function.

Improving the structural stability and electrochemical properties of manganese-based sodium cathode materials through bond structure engineering.

Electrolytes play a vital role in determining the performance of the H2–H3 phase transition in high-nickel layered oxide cathodes.

The mutual restriction between hydroxide ions' conductivity and alkaline stability is the main obstacle for the practical application of anion-exchange membranes (AEMs) in anion-exchange membrane fuel cells.

The nickel atoms were introduced into the porous h-BN matrix through Ni–B bonds; this Ni/Ni_xB@MgH₂ exhibits an capacity of about 7.0 wt% at 200 °C, releasing H₂ of approximately 4.5 wt% H₂ within 10 min, with stable reversible cycling.

A new synthesis strategy of continuous structure transformation has been studied to construct ordered vacancies for enlarging the pores and enhancing the stability of MOFs. The structure transformation was confirmed by single crystal diffraction.

An enhanced catalytic performance for selective methanol electrooxidation to formate was achieved derived from the “shuttle-like” role of Se and the bimetallic synergism in NCS/CF.

A g-C₃N₄ isotype heterojunction photo-electrode is reported for high-performance photo-accelerated zinc-ion capacitors.

The proposed film has a good light modulation capability within the solar spectrum (ΔT_lum = 75.13 and ΔT_sol = 66.41), and the maximum cooling power during the day and night reaches 97.63 W m⁻² K⁻¹ and 136.24 W m⁻² K⁻¹, respectively.

Conjugated porous polymers (CPPs) incorporating donor–acceptor (D–A) structures are gaining significant interest for their potential in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER).

Glucose biofuel cells (GBFCs) are special energy conversion devices using naturally abundant glucose as fuel.

A novel electron-rich alkynyl-functionalized HOF material was designed and synthesized for efficient C₂H₆/C₂H₄ separation. The alkynyl groups serve as functional binding sites to result in high C₂H₆ adsorption capacity and selectivity.

The ORR catalytic performance of penta-coordinated FePc/N-CNTs was significantly influenced by the local surface structure surrounding the axial ligand on the functionalized CNTs.

Extended π-conjugated COFs containing imine linked active sites have been synthesised and found to accelerate the ORR. The mechanism of the ORR reaction has been explored via in situ FTIR and push–pull interaction in alkaline media.

Here we report the demonstration of protonic ceramic electrochemical cells for hydrogen production through seawater vapor electrolysis. The single cells achieve excellent electrochemical performance and maintain good stability during testing.