Nickel–iron batteries: Overcoming traditional barriers and ushering in a new era of energy storage
June 2026
Amidst the global shift toward clean energy systems, nickel–iron (Ni–Fe) batteries have re-emerged as compelling candidates for long-duration and grid-scale energy storage, owing to their superb cycling...
Challenges of two-terminal perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells operating under globally varying spectral conditions
June 2026
Two-terminal (2 T) perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells demonstrate significantly higher power conversion efficiencies compared to single-junction perovskite or silicon solar cells. However, their...
Aqueous organic redox flow battery: From molecular engineering to process intensification
June 2026
Aqueous flow batteries feature intrinsic safety and flexibility, and thus have attracted increasing attention as promising long-duration energy storage technologies. Aqueous organic redox flow batteries...
Trilogy design of cross-linked polyether electrolytes for high-voltage and wide-temperature lithium metal batteries
March 2026
In situ fabricated polyether electrolytes have been considered to be particularly promising for (quasi) solid-state Li-metal batteries (LMBs) owing to their excellent interfacial contact and fully compatible...
Solar-driven interfacial evaporation technologies: Materials, optimization strategies, applications, and research progress
March 2026
The rapid intensification of human activities in recent years has led to a substantial increase in global water consumption, exacerbating the pressure on limited freshwater resources. In response, the...
From molecular interactions to interphase stability: Solvation structure–property relationships in sodium metal battery electrolytes
June 2026
Sodium metal batteries (SMBs) have attracted considerable attention owing to the abundance and low cost of sodium resources, together with the high theoretical specific capacity and low electrochemical...
High-performance MnO2-based cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries: Challenges, strategies, and perspectives
December 2025
Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) have been identified as ideal candidates for large-scale energy storage due to their high safety, low cost, and environmental friendliness. Due to its high theoretical...
Transformative discovery of rare-earth functional materials for energy and electronics via machine learning
June 2026
Rare-earth elements, with their unique 4 f electronic configurations, impart exceptional optical, magnetic, catalytic, and hydrogen storage properties to functional materials, making them indispensable...
Polymer electrodes in solid-state metal-ion batteries: An in-depth review on recent advances, challenges, and future prospects
March 2026
The pursuit of next-generation rechargeable batteries that are lightweight, intrinsically safe, sustainable, and mechanically flexible has accelerated interest in all organic solid-state battery concepts...
Engineering robust MOFs: Fundamental design paradigms, advanced synthetic strategies, and emerging technological frontiers
December 2025
As an emerging category of porous materials, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) demonstrate significant potential for applications such as chemical detection, gas adsorption, molecular separation, and...
NMR for liquid battery electrolytes: Structure, motion, and heterogeneity
June 2026
Liquid electrolytes play a central role in batteries because they set the local states from which interfacial chemistry begins. They are often described through formulation labels such as solvent class,...
Correlating volume expansion and cycle life in anode-free lithium-metal pouch cells
Available online 24 May 2026
Persistent swelling and rapid capacity decay remain coupled challenges in anode-free lithium-metal batteries (AF-LMBs). Here, we use operando swelling monitoring to examine the relation between mechanical...
Challenges and strategies for integrated system design towards practical H2O2 electrosynthesis
June 2026
Electrochemical synthesis of H2O2 via the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (2e− ORR) presents a transformative opportunity for decentralized, on-demand production of this essential chemical, providing...
Layered Fe–N–C catalysts with axially coordinated single-atom sites induced by molten salts for oxygen reduction reaction
June 2026
Iron and nitrogen co-doped carbon (Fe–N–C) catalysts with atomically dispersed Fe-Nx sites have shown great potential to replace Pt-based catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction. In this work, a...
Self-constructed functional anode for sulfide all-solid-state lithium batteries with ultrahigh critical current density
June 2026
This work develops a self-constructed functional alloy anode for high-performance all-solid-state lithium batteries (ASSLBs). We designed a (200)-oriented single-phase Li/Na alloy using a controlled...
Low-cost electrocatalysts for acidic oxygen evolution reaction: Advances, strategies, and challenges
March 2026
Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) has emerged as a promising technology for converting renewable energy into hydrogen. However, current anode catalysts in PEMWE predominantly rely...
Advances in rare earth nanomaterials for hydrogen production via small molecule oxidation
March 2026
Rare earth elements exhibit exceptional electrocatalytic properties due to their unique 4 f electronic structure, rich energy levels, and tunable coordination environments, making them highly attractive...
Suppression–promotion crystallization of wide-bandgap perovskite for efficient and stable perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells
March 2026
The development of high-quality wide-bandgap perovskites is essential for efficient perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells, yet rapid crystallization induced by bromine incorporation often leads to defective...
Three-phase interface engineering for enhanced acidic CO2 electroreduction
June 2026
The electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction reaction (CO2RR) provides a promising and feasible approach for utilizing CO2 as a resource and transforming the energy structure of the chemical industry....
Bioinspired hierarchical dual-gate ion regulation across electrolyte transport regimes for lithium–sulfur batteries
June 2026
Lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries promise high theoretical energy density but are still hindered by slow polysulfide conversion, shuttle effects, and unstable solid electrolyte interphases (SEIs), issues...
Hierarchical regulation of reversible deposition in bicontinuous structure zinc anode for aqueous zinc batteries
June 2026
The practical application of aqueous Zn-ion batteries in grid-scale energy storage is constrained by dendrite formation and side reactions at Zn anodes. Herein, we report an in situ constructed three-dimensional...
Hydrogen bond-anchored interfacial engineering for stable and high-performance aqueous zinc-ion batteries
March 2026
Rechargeable aqueous Zn-ion batteries (AZIBs) are regarded as a sustainable energy storage for stationary energy storage applications, but they suffer from serious side reactions and uncontrolled Zn...
Toward sustainable lithium batteries: From high-fluorine to fluorine-free electrolyte design
March 2026
Lithium-based batteries, including lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and lithium metal batteries (LMBs), underpin modern energy-storage technologies for electric vehicles and portable electronics. Fluorinated...
Regulating interfacial chemistry of hard carbon anodes by in situ coupling strategy for high-rate sodium-ion batteries
December 2025
Hard carbon (HC) has garnered attention as a promising anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), however, it suffers from low specific capacity and rate capability. Herein, an in situ interfacial...
From challenge to utilization: Exploiting the Jahn–Teller effect in manganese-based layer-structured oxides for sodium batteries
March 2026
The rapid development of sodium ion batteries (SIBs) drives the in-depth research on the design, synthesis and mechanism of high-energy, long-life cathode materials. Layer-structured oxides, as cathode...