Themed collection 10th Anniversary: Dedicated Authors

This review summarizes the advances and challenges in materials and process technologies in flexible rechargeable lithium ion batteries research.

This article highlights the background and recent progresses on the “on–off” approaches for the realization of on-demand liquid-phase H₂ evolution with a particular emphasis on their mechanisms and applications.

Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) have recently sparked an enormous surge of research attention, due to their environmental benignity, natural abundance, negligible safety issue, and exceptional electrochemical performance.

This review summarizes recent advances in and future prospects of iron-based phosphides as electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction, providing an in-depth understanding of two important aspects to boost catalytic performances.

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

We review progress in the study of electroactive MOFs with redox activity for energy conversion and storage. Recent advances in mixed-valence MOFs are highlighted, which have led to record conductivities towards metallic porous materials.

Electrochemical conversion of CO₂ has attracted attention worldwide since this process can convert carbon dioxide to a wide range of value-added chemicals. This reaction required the development of efficient electrocatalysts and fundamental understanding of the reaction kinetics and thermodynamics to overcome the current challenges.

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) hold tremendous promise for various academic and industrial applications because of their structural merits (e.g., high surface areas, enormous porosity, and regular order).

Aligned with an ever growing interest to reduce the operating temperature of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), the A-site ordered LnBaCo₂O_5+δ layered perovskite family has been actively investigated as cathodes during the last decade. This review aims to provide the recent progress in the LnBaCo₂O_5+δ family with regard to crystal structure, chemical composition, properties, performances, and chemical stability.

Black titania nanotube arrays are prepared for the first time, which exhibit an excellent photoelectrochemical water-splitting performance.

An approach to eliminate the use of external power to drive NH₃ synthesis is presented. A trifunctional Co₂B catalyst enables high power density ZABs (500 mW cm⁻²) to drive NH₃ synthesis with a production rate of 1.048 mg h⁻¹ mg_cat.⁻¹ after 2 h.

The combination of experimental and computational methods provides insight into the mechanism of the growth of Li dendrites on ZnO-coated 3D nickel foam.

A novel multifunctional polymer ionic liquid poly(oxyethylene)-imide-2,2,6,6-tetramethyl-1-piperidinyloxy (POEI-TEMPO) was successfully prepared and used as an additive in iodide electrolyte in quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (QSS-DSSCs).

Fe-doped carbon aerogel-based composite phase change materials exhibit the ability to respond to light, electricity, and magnetism as well as temperature for multi-responsive thermal energy capture and storage.

Among the candidate cathode materials for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), Na_xMnO₂ (NMO) layered oxides are especially attractive in terms of working potential (ca. 3.0 V vs. Na⁺/Na) and high initial specific charge.

A hierarchical urchin-like structure of CoSe₂/CoSeO₃ (denoted as CoSe₂/CoSeO₃-UL) is synthesized by a one-step hydrothermal method and investigated as the electro-catalyst for the counter electrode (CE) of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).

Next-generation fused ring energetic materials for different applications were designed by regulating mechanical sensitivity.

Herein, we report the facile synthesis of carbon hollow spheres and reduced graphene oxide from separators and graphite recovered from a spent lithium-ion battery, respectively, towards a “Waste-to-Wealth” approach.

Self-deconstruction/reconstruction strategy for fabricating 2-D mesoporous mixed oxide nanosheets is described.

Oxyhalides Bi₄MO₈X are revealed to function as stable O₂-evolving photocatalysts under visible light without suffering from self-oxidative deactivation due to the unique valence band structure.

Super-robust superhydrophobic concrete for anti-icing, anti-freeze–thaw, and anti-corrosion.

A systematic comparison of plasmonic properties and catalytic performances has been performed with Pd deposited bimetallic nanostructures of plasmonic Ag and Au.

Isomeric random and regular alternating π-conjugated terpolymers are synthesized to study the effect of the sequential distribution of monomeric units on the semiconducting properties.

The ternary roles of polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a reducing agent, a surface modifier and a polymer host have been presented to fabricate reduced graphene oxide (RGO) based composite films with improved gas barrier property.