A long-standing challenge in developing solid-state sodium batteries (NaSSBs) lies in reconciling three critical yet often conflicting electrolyte properties: high ionic conductivity, mechanical robustness, and a stable Na metal interface. Here, we propose a surface-bulk decoupling strategy via establishing an ion-concentrated surface layer within a polyvinylidene fluoride-based polymer electrolyte. Differential electrochemical mass spectrometry confirms that the layer effectively suppresses parasitic reactions while ensuring bulk advantages. The electrolyte exhibits a high room-temperature ionic conductivity of 4.52 × 10-4 S cm-1 and yields a dense and robust solid electrolyte interphase, enabling smooth Na deposition as characterized by operando 23Na NMR spectroscopy.. Consequently, Na||Na symmetric cells achieve stable cycling for over 360 h at 1 mA cm-2 (1 mAh cm-2). When paired with a Na4Fe3(PO4)2P2O7 cathode, the electrolyte enables a remarkable capacity retention of 90.9% after 5000 cycles at 1 C (2.1 mg cm-2) with an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.98% and maintains stable operation for over 500 cycles at 0.5 C under a high cathode loading of 11.0 mg cm-2. These results demonstrate a practical and effective approach to achieve a stable, kinetically favorable interface for advanced solid-state sodium batteries.

Development of an attractive inorganic filler plays a vital role in effectively enhancing the comprehensive performance of a polymer electrolyte. Herein, a fluorine-functionalized metal organic framework (fluorinated MIL-101, F-MIL-101) is intentionally designed as filler for fabricating a novel composite polymer electrolyte (FM10). Spectroscopic analysis and density functional theory calculations reveal that F-MIL-101 exhibits high effective dissociation and transportation of Li+ for LiTFSI salt. Notably, the F functional group hinders anion transport, thereby giving the FM-10 GPEs a high transfer number of 0.81 for a uniform deposition of Li+ on the Li anode surface. Furthermore, the F group of F-MIL-101 is greatly favorable for the formation of a stable LiF-rich solid electrolyte interface (SEI) on the Li anode surface during cycling to hinder the uninterrupted reaction. Consequently, the FM-10 GPEs demonstrates an excellent stable Li anode with a long cycle-life of 600 h in Li||Li cell at 2 mA cm- 2. More importantly, the FM-10 GPEs assembled LiFePO4 (LFP) || Li cell exhibited an initial discharge capacity of 120.5 mAh g- 1 at a high 6C-rate and a retention of 98.68% after 300 cycles, implying that the F-MIL-101 filler shows great potential as a strategy for fast charging, long cycle life, and high safety SSLMBs.

Aqueous zinc-bromine batteries hold significant promise for large-scale energy storage owing to their intrinsic safety, high operating voltage and low cost. Their deployment, however, is limited by sluggish Zn2 + desolvation at the anode/electrolyte interface and sluggish redox kinetics of bromine species at the cathode. In this work, we developed a dual-site catalytic interface that selectively accelerates interfacial kinetics without altering the bulk electrolyte. On the anode-facing side, the indium acetylacetonate molecules provide soft Lewis acid In3 + sites that weakly coordinate with water and interact with solvated Zn2 +, effectively lowering Zn2 + desolvation energy and enabling uniform, dendrite-free zinc deposition. On the cathode-facing side, the copper acetylacetonate molecules offer redox-active Cu2 +/Cu+ sites that catalyze the Br0/Br- conversion, accelerating reaction kinetics and improving reversibility. As a result, the desolvation energy barrier decreases by approximately 21% (from 39.69 to 31.25 kJ·mol-1). The zinc-bromine battery with dual-site interface delivers a high specific capacity exceeding 293.8 mAh·g-1 at 0.2 A·g-1, which reaches approximately 87.5% of the theoretical capacity of pure bromine (335.5 mAh·g-1). Our findings reveal that targeted interfacial catalysis can overcome kinetic bottlenecks in zinc batteries while preserving the intrinsic properties of the electrolyte, offering a general strategy for high-performance energy storage systems.

This study systematically investigates the dominant mechanism of matrix dielectric constant on ion transport behavior in vinylidene fluoride-based solid composite electrolytes. By systematically comparing three matrices with different dielectric constant (PVDF, PVDF-HFP, and P(VDF-TrFE)), the intrinsic relationship among “dielectric constant, microstructure/solvation structure, and ion transport performance” is revealed. Scanning electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis demonstrate that a high dielectric constant promotes the transformation of the electrolyte from a porous heterogeneous morphology to a dense homogeneous structure, while moderately increasing the residual solvent DMF content. Alternating current impedance spectroscopy and variable-temperature solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance analysis further confirm that a high dielectric constant simultaneously reduces the ion transport activation energy for both the LiTFSI and LLZTO phases. Raman spectroscopy and solid-state NMR results corroborate at the molecular scale that a high dielectric constant significantly facilitates lithium salt dissociation, increases free Li⁺ concentration, and enriches Li⁺ accumulation in amorphous regions with enhanced chain segment mobility. Collectively, these multi-scale findings elucidate that dielectric constant effectively optimizes ion transport pathways through the synergistic regulation of microstructure, solvation structure, and ion distribution. This work provides a theoretical basis for designing high‑performance solid electrolytes through dielectric constant regulation.

Photocatalytic nitrogen reduction reaction (PNRR) is an important tool for advancing carbon neutrality. However, effective N2 adsorption and activation, and the subsequent dissociation of water, remain major challenges in the PNRR. In this work, FeVO4-based catalysts co-modified with Pt nanoclusters (NCs) and single atoms (SAs) (Pt/FeVO4) are synthesized and applied in the PNRR. The synthesized Pt/FeVO4 catalyst achieves a NH3 production rate of 35.14 mu mol center dot g- 1 center dot h- 1, 3.2 times higher than that of the original FeVO4, and the photocatalytic nitrogen fixation performance remains at a high level of 80% after four cycles. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations and various characterization experiments results show that the Pt NCs in the Pt/FeVO4 catalysts can effectively promote the adsorption and dissociation of water, and the active hydrogen (*H) generated from the dissociation of water can migrate to the neighboring Pt SAs through the spillover effect. The local electron concentration around Fe is altered by the Pt SAs, which enables the activation and hydrogenation of N2, and thus enhances the efficiency of PNRR. This research emphasizes the essential effects of the dual active sites of NCs and SAs with hydrogen spillover in PNRR, which provides novel concepts for the design of highly efficient catalysts.

Constructing heterostructures with optimized electronic regulation and ion transport pathways is an effective strategy to enhance the Li-storage performance of metal oxide anodes. Here, a novel Fe2O3/SnO2 heterostructure uniformly anchored on sulfonated polymer nanotubes (Fe2O3/SnO2@SPNTs/C) was synthesized via a in situ codeposition and thermal conversion route. The -SO3H groups on SPNTs significantly improved precursor adsorption and dispersion, enabling homogeneous oxide growth. Structural characterizations confirmed the formation of intimate Fe2O3/SnO2 heterointerfaces. XPS and DFT analyses revealed that the heterojunction generates a built-in electric field driven by the Fermi-level difference, inducing electron transfer from SnO2 to Fe2O3. This interfacial coupling enhances charge separation, strengthens Li+ affinity (-2.453 eV), and reduces the Li+ migration barrier (0.141 eV). Benefiting from these features, Fe2O3/SnO2@SPNTs/C delivers outstanding electrochemical performance, including high reversible capacity (1105.1 mAh g- 1 after 100 cycles), excellent rate capability (659.7 mAh g- 1 at 5.0 A g- 1), and ultralong cycling stability (606.6 mAh g- 1 after 2000 cycles). Moreover, CV analysis shows a pseudocapacitive contribution of up to 75.1% at 1.5 mV s- 1, highlighting fast reaction kinetics. This work provides insight into interfacial charge regulation and structural design toward highpower lithium-ion battery anodes.

Improving the reactivity of Fe(III) is the bottleneck in the catalytic activity of persulfate-based Fenton-like chemistry. In this study, the Fe(III)-PA catalyst was prepared for the activation of persulfate (PMS) by co-precipitation of phytate with iron ions. In particular, the Fe(III)-PA/PMS system achieved efficient degradation of the target pollutant TCH under a wide range of pH conditions from 3.0 to 9.0. In the Fe(III) PA/PMS/TCH system, the oxidative degradation of TCH was mainly via the direct electron transfer pathway. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations revealed the mechanism of PMS activation potentiation, that is, phytate reduced the adsorption energy of the catalyst for PMS from-0.43 eV to-2.72 eV by coordination with the ferrihydrite. Moreover, Fe(III)-PA functions as an electron shuttle and accelerates the electron transfer process between TCH and PMS. The removal of TCH under the electron transfer process (ETP) mediated by Fe(III)-PA was selective, thereby demonstrating less sensitivity to the presence of coexisting ions and natural organic matter (NOMs). This work provides a viable case for ligand-enhanced Fe(III) activation of PMS and reveals the critical role of direct electron transfer in pollutant elimination. (c) 2026 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Graphite felt, as one of the key materials for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs), suffers from poor wettability and insufficient active sites due to its high degree of graphitization, which severely limits the performance of VRFBs at high current densities. In this study, a bimetallic oxide-modified graphite felt electrode (MnMo/GF) was prepared. Among them, the Mn1Mo2/GF composite electrode with the optimal ratio exhibited a faster redox reaction rate and better reversibility. This was attributed to the synergistic effect of Mn and Mo, abundant active sites, and enhanced hydrophilicity. Meanwhile, the battery assembled with Mn1Mo2/GF maintained an energy efficiency of 73.6% and a voltage efficiency of 76.5% at a current density of 350 mA·cm−2, which was 7.8% and 8.3% higher than that of the blank battery, respectively. Additionally, the battery operated stably at an average energy efficiency of 81.96% for 500 cycles at a current density of 200 mA·cm−2. The one-pot method for preparing bimetallic oxides proposed in this paper is an efficient and practical approach that can significantly improve the electrochemical performance of VRFB electrodes. This study provides new insights into the design of high-performance VRFB electrodes based on bimetallic synergism and oxygen vacancy regulation.

ABSTRACT Aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (AZIBs) hold great promise for large‐scale energy storage but suffer from uncontrollable dendrite growth, hydrogen evolution, and severe interfacial corrosion. Here, we report a scalable doctor‐blading strategy to construct an in situ formed multifunctional gel protective layer using natural sodium alginate (SA) and sodium lignosulfonate (SLS). SA provides ordered “egg‐box” coordination sites for Zn 2+ while SLS modulates the Zn 2+ solvation structure through strong sulfonate‐Zn 2+ interactions. The SA‐SLS coated Zn (Zn‐SS) effectively homogenizes the interfacial electric field, accelerates Zn 2+ transport, suppresses parasitic reactions, and guides uniform Zn deposition. Benefiting from this coordinated interfacial regulation, the Zn‐SS symmetric cell delivers an ultralong cyclic life exceeding 2200 h at 0.5 mA cm −2 , while the Zn‐SS||Cu half cell exhibits highly reversible plating and stripping with an average Coulombic efficiency of 99.5% over 500 cycles. When paired with a V 2 O 5 cathode, the full cell maintains a high capacity of 265 mAh g −1 after 600 cycles at 3 A g −1 . This work offers a green, cost‐effective and highly effective interfacial protection strategy, providing new insights toward practical, safe and durable AZIBs.

Owing to their exceptional performance and well-defined structure-activity relationships, single-atom photocatalysts have garnered increasing research interest, particularly in the context of photocatalytic hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) production. However, the reaction mechanisms of the enhanced performance, such as the hemilabile mechanism in heterogeneous catalysis, remain only partially understood. In this work, we successfully loaded Bi single atoms onto S-doped graphene nitride carbon(Bi@g-C3N4-xSx). Synchrotron radiation analysis demonstrated that the reversible breaking and formation of BiS bonds during the reaction promote reactant adsorption and product desorption, respectively, thereby boosting the H2O2 production rate to 450.6 μmol·g-1·h-1. Notably, both high-throughput computational analysis and the Sabatier principle indicate that oxygen (O2) adsorption and H2O2 desorption compete with each other in specific coordination environments. By introducing the hemilabile mechanism, significant dynamic reorganization of the electronic structure at the active site was achieved, enabling the catalyst to circumvent the limitations predicted by conventional volcano plots, which critically depends on the complexity of the coordination environment. The experimental confirmation of the hemilabile mechanism in heterogeneous catalysis offers a new perspective for the rational design of advanced catalysts and lays the groundwork for future innovations in sustainable chemistry and industrial applications.

Copper ion (Cu(II)) contamination poses a serious threat to water quality and public health due to its high toxicity and nonbiodegradability. Herein, we develop for the first time high-density salicylaldehyde-hydrazone covalent organic frameworks (COFs) for ultrafast and highly efficient Cu(II) removal. The resulting DhaTGCl-COF exhibits excellent adsorption performance, achieving a record-high adsorption kinetics (k2 = 160.58 mg·g-1·min-1) and one of the highest capacities of 569 mg·g-1 among all adsorbents reported to date. Notably, the material also demonstrates the lowest residual Cu(II) concentration (0.01 ppm) within 30 min. The outstanding performance is attributed to the uniform distribution of high-density, strong-affinity tridentate N,N,O-chelating moieties derived from salicylaldehyde-hydrazone within the well-aligned two-dimensional pore channels, which facilitate rapid diffusion and coordination of Cu(II) to the binding sites and ensure exceptional adsorption efficiency even for trace-level Cu(II). This work not only sets a new benchmark for Cu(II) adsorbents but also opens a promising avenue for the design of high-performance COFs for heavy metal ion removal.

Hydrogen energy and metal-air batteries, particularly zinc-air batteries (ZABs), have garnered significant interest as clean energy vectors and energy storage devices, respectively. However, their efficiency is constrained by the high overpotential and sluggish kinetics associated with the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). In this study, we propose a green and efficient bioelectrocatalytic cascade system designed to overcome the energy efficiency limitations of conventional OER. The system employs nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (N-CNTs) as both supporting material and electrocatalyst for immobilizing glucose oxidase (GOx) and for the in situ catalytic decomposition of H2O2 produced during the GOx-catalyzed oxidation of glucose. This approach not only significantly reduces the overpotentials required for water splitting and ZAB charging but also facilitates the co-production of high-value gluconic acid. Electrochemical evaluations demonstrate that the bioelectrocatalytic hydrogen evolution system achieves a current density of 10 mA cm-2 at just 1.60 V. Furthermore, ZABs incorporating this system exhibit high power density and exceptional cycling stability. These findings underscore the potential of designing efficient and stable bifunctional bioelectrochemical catalysts as an energy-saving and high-efficiency strategy for hydrogen production and biomass valorization.

An oxygen vacancy-rich RuO2/TiO2 heterostructure electrocatalyst shows a 7-fold higher mass activity than benchmark RuO2 in acidic OER catalysis at 1.7 V vs. RHE due to a better deportation capability.

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) have promising applications in food additives and pharmaceutical dressings, raising concerns about their oral safety. The current studies mainly focus on healthy groups, and the effect of TiO2 NPs on the patient population is rarely known. Here, a comprehensive toxicity study of TiO2 NPs (75 ± 15 nm, anatase) in gastric ulcer rats (male 8-week old Sprague-Dawley rats) is reported following oral exposure at dose of 0, 10, 50, 200 mg/kg body weight per day for 30 days. The gastric ulcer rats were produced by submucosal injection of acetic acid solution into the rat stomach. The healthy rats were used as the normal control. We evaluated nanoparticle biodistribution, systemic toxicity, and gastrointestinal function indices in the rats. Our findings indicate that oral administration of TiO2 NPs resulted in minimal intestinal absorption and transport with limited systemic organ toxicity. The internalization of TiO2 NPs and activation of mast cells in the stomach tissues, along with the low serum levels of histamine and IgE, suggest a localized allergic reaction rather than a systemic one. Furthermore, the notably reduced plasma levels of D-lactate and the activity of diamine oxidase (DAO) indicated the upregulation of intestinal barrier function. These statistically significant results indicated that gastrointestinal dysfunction was the main performance of the oral toxicity of TiO2 NPs on gastric ulcer rats, emphasizing the importance of controlling the intake of TiO2 NPs in patients with gastric ulcers.

To economically realize the wide-spread applications of proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE), the intrinsic catalytic activity and structural stability of anodic electrocatalyst under oxygen evolution reaction (OER) condition should be substantially considered. In this work, we have invited cerium dopants to ruthenium oxides (Ce-RuO2) to modulate the electronic spin state of Ru. The OER mass activity is boosted by 2-fold with relative to commercial RuO2 due to the Ce dopants changing the Ru atom from low spin state to mediate spin state, reducing the energy barrier for the formation of various oxygen intermediates with different magnetism. The energy for the potential limiting step, the formation of OOH, is reduced by 0.17 eV with Ce dopants. Moreover, the band gap (Delta epsilon d-p) is narrowed by 0.09 eV after Ce incorporation by comparison with pure RuO2, favorable for the electron transfer suppressing the overoxidation of Ru resulting in a robust structural stability, evidenced by the operando electrochemical impedance spectroscopy.

The commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane water splitting technology significantly depends on the oxygen/hydrogen evolution reaction (OER/HER) electrocatalysts; customarily catalyzed by platinum (Pt) and ruthenium/iridium oxides (RuO2 /IrO2 ). In this work, we have devised a novel strategy to improve the catalytic activities towards OER and HER catalysis via the decoration of RuO2 with Pt. Pt dopants in ruthenium oxides (Pt-RuO2 ) create more oxygen vacancies inducing a weaker interaction between active site and oxygen reaction intermediates, evidenced by downshifted d band center and increment in eg orbital filling of Ru atom; thereby, the acidic OER performance of Pt-RuO2 is enhanced by 3.5-fold than commercial RuO2 by mean of turnover frequency at 1.6 V vs. RHE. Moreover, Pt-RuO2 exhibits a similar HER performance to commercial Pt/C. The potential for overall water splitting is decreased by 0.18 V at 100 mA/cm2 ; besides, an excellent stability is also recorded after the incorporation of Pt dopants. The Osd-p value of Pt-RuO2 was 1.76 eV, which is lower than the counterpart of RuO2 , suggesting easy electron transition between d and p orbitals, suppressing the over-oxidation of RuO2 ; thereby, a higher stability is achieved for Pt-RuO2 . The invitation of Pt dopants to boost catalytic activity and stability has also been extended to IrO2 . (c) 2025 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

FeSe2 is an attractive anode candidate for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to its high theoretical capacity based on a unique conversion mechanism and low cost. However, the practical application of FeSe2 is hindered by the fast capacity attenuation and the poor ion/electron transfer kinetics. Herein, a yolk-shell N-doped graphene-embedded hollow FeSe2 nanocube/carbon composite (NG/FeSe2/C) is designed to address these issues, which exhibits high specific capacity and outstanding rate performance in half cells. The interaction mechanism between FeSe2 and NG is systematically investigated by combining spectral characterizations, electrochemical measurements, and density functional theory calculations, revealing that NG enhances the electrical conductivity, elongates the Fe-Se bond, and decreases the valence of Fe species in FeSe2 by delocalizing the charge distribution of Se, which are essential to high initial Coulombic efficiency and fast reaction kinetics. Moreover, the practicality of NG/FeSe2/C in a full cell is demonstrated by pairing it with a commercial LiNi0.5Mn0.3Co0.2O2 cathode, showing high capacity and acceptable electrochemical performance. This work could offer guidance for the design of high-performance conversion-type anode materials for LIBs.

The bifunctionality of oxygen electrocatalyst for rechargeable zinc air battery (ZAB) strongly determines the performance and stability. In this study, we devise the formation of nickel-iron layered double hydroxide (NiFe-LDH) decorated nitrogen doped carbon nanotubes confined iron nanoparticles (NiFe-LDH@Fe/NCNT) as superior electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER). The overpotential at 10 mA cm(-2) is 264 mV for NiFe-LDH@Fe/NCNT, 49 mV lower than commercial IrO2, corresponding to a 14.3-fold higher specific activity. A fast surface reconstruction to active site is found for NiFe-LDH@Fe/NCNT from operando electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Besides, the kinetic current density is 4.39 mA cm(-2) for NiFeLDH@Fe/NCNT at 0.85 V vs. RHE, depicting a 1.3-time high than commercial Pt/C in ORR catalysis. The exceptional bifunctionality of NiFe-LDH@Fe/NCNT is reflected by the Delta E (E-eta 10-E-1/2) of 0.61 V, relatively narrower than Pt/C-IrO2. Moreover, the ZAB performance reaches 223.3 mW cm(-2) for NiFe-LDH@Fe/NCNT, which is enhanced by a factor of 1.7 compared to Pt/C-IrO2; additionally, stable voltage gap is recorded for NiFeLDH@Fe/NCNT within 510 h. The all-solid-state ZAB offers a maximum power density of 104.5 mW cm(-2). The enhanced catalytic activity is originated from the electronic interaction between NiFe-LDH and Fe/NCNT contributing to an upshifted d band center, enhancing the binding strength between active site and oxygen reaction intermediates.

A Co-CoSe core-shell heterostructure encapsulated into nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes enables superior zinc air battery performance (172 mW cm(-2)) and stability (970 h). The enhanced bifunctionality and stability originates from the modulated d band center and confinement effect, respectively.

Urea oxidation reaction(UOR) has been selected as substitution for oxygen evolution reaction ascribing to its low thermodynamic voltage as well as utilization of nickel as electrocatalyst.Herein,we report the formation of nickel single atoms(Ni-SAs) as exceptional bifunctional electrocatalyst toward UOR and hydrogen evolution reaction(HER) in urea-assisted water splitting.In UOR catalysis,Ni-SAs perform a superior catalytic performance than Ni-NP/NC and Pt/C ascribing to the formation of HOO-Ni-N 4 structure evidenced by in-situ Raman spectroscopy,corresponding to a boosted mass activity by 175-fold at 1.4 V vs.RHE than Ni-NP/NC.Furthermore,Ni-SAs requires only 450 mV overpotential to obtain HER current density of 500 mA cm -2 .136 mA cm -2 is achieved in urea-assisted water splitting at1.7 V for Ni-SAs,boosted by 5.7 times than Pt/C-IrO 2 driven water splitting.