Themed collection Journal of Materials Chemistry A HOT Papers

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.

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.

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.

A 2D MOF nanosheet was obtained via in situ exfoliation to boost the synergistic photoactivation of C(sp³)–H bonds and oxygen under mild conditions.

In this paper we present the in situ analysis of gas dependent alloying in bimetallic Au-Pd nanoparticles through a combination of CO-DRIFTS and in situ TEM providing direct insight in the surface- and nanoparticle bulk redistribution kinetics.

Novel SH-COF and exchangeable bonds enabled recyclable IPN membrane for effective molecular sieving and water remediation via pore size reduction and surface charge enhancement.

Solid-state electrolytes, such as Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂, are able to enable safer, more energy dense, and longer lasting batteries. Understanding the role of doping in terms of the optimum properties of a solid-state electrolyte is a crucial stepping stone to realisation of this technology.

An S-scheme heterojunction of 2D/2D ZnIn₂S₄ nanosheets@amorphous polymeric carbon nitride is developed for photocatalytic reduction of CO₂.

An additive based on hydrogen bonds concurrently stabilizes Li-metal anodes, NCM811 cathodes, and electrolytes, shedding light on advanced electrolyte design.

The PINAs with a novel nanofiber–lamella crosslinking architecture exhibited excellent thermal insulation, flexibility and elasticity over a wide temperature range (−196 to 300 °C).

A strategy of using an ion-conductive biphasic electrolyte was adopted to suppress the shuttle effects of polybromides in Zn–Br₂ batteries.

The dual-site doping of Li, relies on transition metal site substitution to reduce the Mn³⁺ content, suppresses the potential J–T effect and synergises with the “pillar” structure formed by alkali metal site substitution.

Electron-rich Rh sites of CuRh NSs enable the selective adsorption of *NH₂OH, thus achieving high FE and yield rate of ammonia.

An yttrium-stabilized zirconia-based electrochemical sensor with LaCrO₃ as the electrode material was used to selectively detect NO.

A self-powered VO₂ phase transition modulate technology based on the raindrop TENG can successfully achieve metal–insulator transition and has potential applications in smart homes and intelligent vehicles.

Adding N dopants (melamine or urea) to biomass during activation modulates the porosity of activated carbons to enhance CO₂ storage (up to 4.7 mmol g⁻¹ at 1 bar and 25 °C) and methane uptake (0.42 g g⁻¹ and 266 cm³ (STP) cm⁻³ at 25 °C and 100 bar).

The development of elastomer-containing photoactive block copolymers with regulated rigid-block lengths results in organic solar cells with high power conversion efficiency (17.3%) and mechanical robustness (toughness = 1.8 MJ m⁻³).

This study shows that entropy engineering can enhance the energy-storage performance of lead-free BNT-based dielectrics, achieving a recoverable energy density of 11.24 J cm⁻³ and 88.3% efficiency, with excellent stability and rapid discharge.

Advantages and disadvantages of amino- and carboxyl-modified nanodiamond (ND) for photocatalytic CO₂ reduction.

An in situ switchable photoselective polymer film, assembled from asymmetric optical nanofibers, achieves high-threshold power regulation through elimination and restoration of scattering interfaces, facilitating a wide range of temperature control.

The flexible photo-rechargeable device with an OEE of 12.88% displays good low-temperature suitability and safety without overcharge-induced thermal runaway.

The phase of the precursor of ELM-11 affects the steepness of its gate-opening behavior, and this phase can be controlled by solvent-mediated phase transformation.

Ultra-small CoO_x clusters efficiently capture holes and prolong the lifetime of trapped holes, as well as boost surface water oxidation, thus remarkably improving the photocatalytic pure water splitting performance of ZnIn₂S₄.

An efficient and recyclable iron single-atom catalyst with FeN₄ sites has been fabricated, which can facilitate the formation of an Fe(IV)O intermediate and achieve scaled-up pentazolate synthesis via a three-step, one-pot process.

A novel high-entropy Sr₂Fe_0.4V_0.4Mo_0.4Ni_0.4Ti_0.6O_6−δ (SFVMNT) perovskite, coated with in situ exsolved NiFe alloy nanoparticles, is proposed as a promising cathode material for solid electrolysis cells for CO₂ electrolysis.

The Zn-doped BCF36 cathode boosts proton conductivity, lowers hydration energy and achieves a peak power density of 998.6 mW cm⁻² at 600 °C with a polarization resistance of 0.151 Ω cm² for a single cell with the BCFZ10 cathode.

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.

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

We report the synthesis of two novel Hofmann-type metal–organic frameworks, [Co(H₂mdp)(Ni(CN)₄)] and [Fe(H₂mdp)(Ni(CN)₄)], using a pyrazole based organic linker. Both materials show good selectivity for C₂H₂ and C₃H₆ for several gas separations.

Redox-electrodes are designed to selectively bind platinum group metals by auto-oxidation, and release them electrochemically. The platform can efficiently recover PGMs from catalytic converter leachates, and contribute to energy-efficient technologies for materials recycling.

Synergetic steric and electron-withdrawing effects enable the fabrication of healable and degradable green electrical packaging with robust thermal, mechanical and insulating performance.

Screening transition metal combinations in dual metal site catalysts (DMSCs) for Li–air battery applications using supervised machine learning.

We have successfully demonstrated ultrathin flexible organic solar cells (with a total thickness of less than 1.5 μm) based on a MoO₃/PEDOT:PSS bilayer HTL, achieving a PCE of 17.0% and a power-per-weight ratio of 39.3 W g⁻¹.

Stepwise temperature modulation was realized by the photothermal conversion process, which enabled the growth of complex architectures of CaCO₃ that are composed of multiple polymorphic phases.

ZrO₂ stabilized Cu⁺ can optimize *CO adsorption and promote the following C–C coupling to achieve 70+% FE_C2+ in a wide potential range.

Based on the in situ compression tests at elevated temperatures, very different mechanical behaviours are observed in HKUST-1 crystals at different temperatures.

The thermal vibration of molecules is markedly enhanced upon illumination (photoexcitation), leading to an increase in the (vibrational) free volume of photoactive layer and thereby markedly decreasing shunt resistance of device.

Nitrogen-doped carbon grid-confined CoTe₂ was synthesized through precise structural design. Benefiting from the effects of nitrogen anchoring and triple-carbon confinement, the CoTe₂@T-NC electrode exhibits excellent electrochemical performance.

Highly stable and hydrophobic two-dimensional Mn(II)-based MOFs effectively detect and remove trace O₃ with discernible color change as the response.

Te substitution of sulfur (S) in PzDPP-based donor–acceptor copolymers enhances n-type power factor, while Se boosts both n-type and p-type power factors. Heavy chalcogen doping strategy shows promise for improving thermoelectric properties.