This review presents a systematic and comprehensive understanding on the solvation structure of Li polysulfides (LiPSs) in Li–S battery system, and summarizes some feasible designing strategies that can simultaneously suppress the shuttle effect of soluble LiPSs and the growth of Li dendrites, including designing host materials, modifying separators, and tailoring electrolytes, aiming to provide some inspirations to build better Li–S batteries for promoting the practical applications.

The state-of-the-art developments in rational design of solid-state electrolyte and their progression toward practical applications are reviewed. The origin of interface instability and the sluggish charge carrier transportation in solid–solid interface are presented. Then, various strategies toward stabilizing interfacial stability are summarized from the physical and chemical perspective. Finally, the remaining challenges and future development trends of solid-state electrolyte are prospected.

In this review, we systematically describe the recent advancements of asymmetrically coordinated single-atom structure as battery reactions catalysts in lithium–sulfur batteries, including the asymmetrically nitrogen-coordinated SACs, heteroatom coordinated SACs, support effective asymmetrically coordinated SACs, and bimetallic coordinated SACs. Particularly noteworthy are the discussions of the catalytic conversion mechanism of LiPSs spanning asymmetrically coordinated SACs.

A 3D foam-like MXene scaffold is constructed to exposes the surface-active sites and facilitates fast K⁺ transfer, while KFSI-based electrolyte is selected to boost the Coulombic efficiency. The 3D MXene foam with KFSI-based electrolyte exhibits excellent potassium storage performance in terms of capacity, rate capability, and cycling stability.

Inhomogeneous lithium-ion (Li⁺) deposition is one of the most crucial problems for Li-metal anode in solid-state lithium metal batteries (LMBs). In this work, we found that the covalent organic framework (COF-1) with periodically arranged boron-oxygen dipole lithiophilic sites could directionally guide Li⁺ even deposition in asymmetric solid polymer electrolytes. Besides, This in situ prepared 3D cross-linked network Poly(ACMO-MBA) hybrid electrolyte simultaneously delivers outstanding ionic conductivity (1.02 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ at 30 °C) and excellent mechanical property (3.5 MPa). The defined nanosized channel in COF-1 selectively conduct Li⁺ improving Li⁺ transference number to 0.67. The COF-1 layer and Poly(ACMO-MBA) also participate in forming a boron-rich and nitrogen-rich stable solid electrolyte interface to further improve the interfacial stability. This work thereby further broadens and complements the application of COF materials in polymer electrolyte for dendrite-free and high-energy-density solid-state LMBs.

A new concept electrode is reported with quadruple-conduction (H₃O⁺/H⁺/O²⁻/e⁻) for PCFC, which composed of a β-NaFeO₂ phase and a Na_ySr_zTi_uFe_1−uO_3−δ (NSTF) perovskite phase formed through self-assembling.

The influence of stacking pressure was investigated on the performance of solid electrolytes and all-solid lithium metal batteries using a controlled pressure test mold.

The multiple phase transitions originating from the increased interlayer O−O repulsion commonly occurred in Na_xTMO₂, which can cause large lattice strains and result in cycled structure collapse and degraded electrochemical properties such as capacity loss and voltage decay. To retard the phase transitions and lower the lattice strains, we for the first time highlight the positive role of anionic redox charge compensation in stabilizing the Na-storage lattice structure of layered oxides. Through pushing the charge transfer on anions during the Na extraction process, we not only increase the materials’ redox activity but also reduce the interlayer O−O repulsion, retarding the multiple phase transitions and lowering the lattice strains.

Porous C/SiO_x anode materials with high specific surface area using natural lignite were synthesized for the first time, and employed as anodes of potassium ion battery. The electrochemical mechanism of these C/SiO_x was revealed by ex-situ XRD, TEM, and SAED characterizations. Furthermore, the reversible potassium storage capacity of K₄SiO₄ was confirmed by DFT (density functional theory) calculations. Reversibly formed KSi and K₄SiO₄ render excellent potassium storage capacity in C/SiO_x anodes for potassium ion storage. The S-T600 anode can maintain a reversible capacity at 370 mAh g⁻¹ under 0.1 A g⁻¹ after 100 cycles.

Deep lithiation of a pyrolyzed polyacrylonitrile/selenium disulfide (pPAN/Se₂S₃) composite cathode (DL-pPAN/Se₂S₃) has been performed to obtain a Li-rich organosulfur cathode. It accelerates the Li⁺ diffusivity, improves the electronic conductivity and more importantly provides (electro)chemically stable Li resources to offset Li loss over charge–discharge cycles. As-fabricated anode-free Li-S cell shows a high-energy density and excellent cycling stability.

A thermal shock-resistant thin-film cathode has been realized by using acrylic acid derivative terpolymer (LA136D) as a low-volatile binder for thermal batteries. It is shown that the LA136D-based thin-film cathodes exhibited a remarkable 440% reduction in polarization and 300% enhancement in the utilization efficiency of cathode materials, with just a slight increase of 0.05 MPa in gas pressure in thermal battery stacks compared with traditional “pressed-pellet” cathode.

The strong affinity of Mo to Sn greatly inhibits the Sn coarsening during cycling, thus enhancing the reversibility and cycleability of SnO₂/MoS₂ heterostruture.

N-doped carbon tube and Fe₃O₄/Fe/FeS tri-heterojunction in FHNCS organize a 3D conductive network, shorten the Na⁺ diffusion path, and exhibit excellent mechanical stability, wherein the d-band center of Fe in Fe₃O₄ is adjusted to enhance the adsorption with Na₂S. Therefore, the FHNCS demonstrates excellent rate capability and cycling stability.

A stoichiometric Ti₃C₂T_x coating on Cu current collectors is employed for anode-free lithium metal batteries (AFLMBs). The surface terminations (–O, –OH, and –F) of Ti₃C₂T_x promote uniform Li nucleation and contribute to inducing a LiF-rich solid electrolyte interphase, leading to enhanced cycling stability in AFLMBs.

The few-layered S/MoS₂/C nanosheet hybrid cathode is designed for ASSLSBs with low carbon content, high active material ratio, and high areal capacity. Such a design owns multi-merits: highly exposed surfaces allow intimate area-to-area contacts between active materials and sulfide SSE; in-suit forming Li_xMoS₂ for mixed ion/electron network to improve the S/Li₂S conversion; contributing to extra capacity for the part of active materials.

Two remaining issues on GBs: 1) The unclear role in charge carrier dynamics due to their component complexity/defect tolerance nature and the insufficiency in testing accuracy and 2) the ignored distinctions between GB and surface additives for the fact that GBs are homogeneous junctions with narrow/slender space, while surface is heterogeneous junction with stratified structure, are discussed in this review.

Corresponding energy diagram and devices performance.

Semitransparent organic solar cells are fabricated with a comb-shaped active layer deposited by reversed LBL spin-coating. The efficiency, AVT, and stability of LBL-processed ST-OSCs are explored and discussed for the first time. Optimal PCE (12.29–13.78%) and corresponding AVT (25.80–14.58%) are accomplished. Promising thermal and light stability are demonstrated, with PCE retention of 90% and 72–85% achieved under thermal and light stress for 400 h, respectively.

By using machine learning to predict the best combination of nanopatterning depth of mp-TiO₂ and wt% of PCBM, along with the photovoltaic parameters, the combination that exhibited the highest performance was selected as a reference to fabricate the PSCs. The results were consistent with the predictions and the performance of the PSC enhanced from 13.085% to 17.338% (32.5% enhancement).

This work presents a route to achieve maximal solar-to-hydrogen conversion efficiency in tandem photoelectrochemical devices for solar-assisted water splitting, by combining absorbing materials with complementary absorption profiles and optimal bandgap energies. The introduction of a multilayer structure optimized by an inverse design approach to balance light absorption plays a key role to reach such efficiency limit.

The monolayer graphene could be a good interlayer between the perovskite and electron transport layer. The results show that the smooth, clean, and stable graphene layer not only tunes the growth of perovskite but also enhances carrier transportation. As a result, the perovskite solar cells with graphene show a champion PCE of up to 10.64%.

The lack of device engineering limits the performance of many promising polymer acceptors. We employ a combined effort of the sequential processing technique and the incorporation of solid additive to significantly promote the all-polymer solar cell device (18%) with the polymerized small molecule acceptor (PJ1r). The device is made from toluene instead of the commonly used chloroform. An enhanced photostability is observed in the 18% device.

The vertically aligned MXene hydrogel composite with high ionic-electronic transport pathways for electrons and ions, which ensure efficient charge delivery to and from the electrodes for thickness independent energy storage. The resulting electrode show excellent performance in both aqueous and organic electrolytes with respect to high capacitance, stability, and high-rate capability for thick electrodes.

An all-printing strategy is developed for the fabrication of in-plane flexible and substrate-free micro-supercapacitors with hierarchical encapsulation. This hierarchical structure provides better protection and flexibility for the printed devices. Furthermore, the all-printed micro-supercapacitors can achieve expected high performances by the rational structure design of the current collector.

The robust interaction between intrinsic defect-rich carbons and 4-hydroxy-2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinyloxyl (a common redox mediator for supercapacitors) has been exploited to enhance both the voltage window and stored charges in supercapacitors. This simultaneous improvement results in a significantly enhanced energy density.

A facile and cost-effective strategy was developed to in situ grow a highly conductive layer of Ni(OH)₂/Ti₃C₂T_x composite on the nickel foam (NF) collector, which undergoes changes in crystallinity, morphology, and electronic structure via the electrochemical activation, resulting in a significant increase in the electrochemical performance.

The graphene and graphene nanoribbons electrodes with porous layer structure are designed and 3D printed. The electrodes possess both improved ionic and electronic properties thanks to the assistance of 2D graphene nanoribbons and self-sacrificial templates of ethyl cellulose. The microsupercapacitors based on the newly designed electrodes deliver high energy density of 9.83 μWh cm⁻².

A template-assisted method to induce graphitic nanodomains with different arrangements and micro-mesopores into nitrogen-doped carbons was demonstrated. Pseudo-graphitic nanodomains could provide more active sites for Na⁺ storage.

Self-powered supercapacitor power cells assembled with ZnO@Mo-Fe-MnO₂ nanoarrays demonstrate high self-charging voltage and excellent energy conversion efficiency under external forces, as well as residual stresses.

This article provides a comprehensive review on recent advances in liquid crystal epoxy (LCE), emphasizes the relationship between LCE's microscopic arrangement, organized mesoscopic domain, thermal conductivity, and relevant physical properties, and reveals the underlying heat conduction mechanism and potential applications in thermal management.

A novel approach for realizing high thermoelectric performance in Se-free Bi₂Te₃-based n-type materials is proposed. FeTe₂ nanoinclusions are spontaneously generated in Bi₂Te₃ alloys by controlling the cooling rate, which enhances electrical transport and phonon scattering effectively. Furthermore, additional Cu doping results in a high zT value of 1.08, which is an increase of over 60% compared with pure Bi₂Te₃.

The atomic resolution interfacial structure in Gd/Bi_0.5Sb_1.5Te₃ thermo-electro-magnetic composites as prepared at different temperatures is characterized. The formation of GdTe interfacial phase and ${\mathrm{Bi}}_{\mathrm{Te}}^{\text{'}}$ antisite defects result in increased hole concentration and enhanced phonon scattering. The optimized composite exhibits a maximum dimensionless figure of merit 1.27 at 300 K and preserves the excellent room-temperature magnetocaloric performance of Gd.

Recent advances in a variety of 2D metallophthalocyanine materials based on composites and conjugated frameworks for energy conversion were reviewed with a particular focus on how the nanostructure and composition regulate physicochemical properties and thus improve the electrocatalytic performance, which will guide the rational design of catalysts based on metallophthalocyanines.

The flexible MXene/PMMA-based TENG possesses improved performance due to the charge-trapping capacity of tile nanostructure. Moreover, the MP-TENG-based wireless transmission system for motion sensing and energy harvesting application is demonstrated.

Wearable triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) based on a bar-printed polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film incorporated with cobalt-based metal–organic framework (Co-MOF) is developed. The enhanced output performance was attributed to the phase transition of PVDF, as facilitated by the incorporation of the MOF. The feasibility of self-powered mobile electronics was demonstrated by integrating the wearable TENG to power a global positioning system.

Modulation of Si–O bonds in silica to achieve plastic deformation using supercritical CO₂ under mild temperature is reported. Experimental and theoretical investigations suggest that CO₂ molecules not only can promote the condensation of –Si–OH but also can intercalate into the microchannels of silica and induce the local strain of siloxane rings and facilitate the Si–O bond cleavage.

Mesoporous indium nanocrystals are anchored on multi-walled carbon nanotubes (mp-In@MWCNTs) via a solution method, achieving outstanding performance conversion CO₂ to formate and excellent durability, due to the unique integration of porous structure and conductive networks.

Hydrophile/hydrophobe amphipathic Janus nanofibers aerogel is designed and used as a host material for preparing solar steam generators. The microscopic combination of hydrophilic and hydrophobic materials brings many advantages such as fast water evaporation, high-energy efficiency, excellent stability, and self-floating, salt-resisting, self-cleaning, thermal-resisting properties. The water evaporation rate can reach up to 2.944 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ under 1 sun irradiation.

Triphenylphosphine is proposed as an effective reduction promotor for active metal exsolution from Ruddlesden–Popper perovskite oxides. Further modification by iridium oxide clusters endows the perovskite with highly catalytic activity toward alkaline oxygen evolution reaction.

3C-SiC shows great potential in fabrication of reliable and long-life devices thanks to its superior mobility, thermal conduction, and low interfacial defects. The difficulties in the growth of 3C-SiC single crystals, however, hampers the device development. By adjustment of the melt surface tension, 3C-SiC are made thermodynamically favored from nucleation to growth on a 4H-SiC hetero-substrate by TSSG, leading to the successful growth of high-quality and wafer-scale 3C-SiC single crystals. The diameter and the thickness are 2–4 inches and 4.0–10.0 mm, respectively.