Balancing the adsorption/desorption of OH* species is essential for hydrogen spillover during alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, we designed a PtRuFe@NC catalyst with a unique multi-site architecture, where Ru atoms are substitutional incorporated into Pt3Fe nanoclusters coupled with atomic Ru-N moieties anchored on N-doped carbon. This multi-site structure dynamically balances OH* adsorption and desorption, and accelerates hydrogen spillover via a synergistically catalytic relay between PtRuFe cluster and atomic Ru, as verified by in-situ Raman and theoretical calculations. Particularly, PtRuFe@NC exhibits exceptional HER activity with a low overpotential of 20 mV at 10 mA cm−2 and outstanding durability under 1000 mA cm−2. When applied in anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer, the catalyst delivers 1.465 A cm−2 at 2.0 V and maintains stable for over 300 h at 500 mA cm−2. This work provides a multi-site engineering strategy for designing high-performance HER catalysts by regulating intermediate behavior to optimize hydrogen spillover.

This study presents a systematic evaluation of three dithio-based surface chemistries for use in a porous silicon (pSi) Fabry-Pérot photonic crystal platform, enabling label-free optical detection and differentiation of biologically relevant thiols. The sensor was functionalized with one of three dithio mediator compounds 2,2'-dithiobis(benzothiazole) (DTBT), 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB), or 2,2'-dithiobis(5-nitropyridine) (DTNP), each of which undergoes displacement upon exposure to biothiols such as glutathione (GSH), homocysteine (Hcy), and cysteine (Cys). A distinct optical response was observed: while all three dithio compounds exhibited a negative shift in effective optical thickness (EOT) upon exposure to Hcy and Cys, a positive EOT shift occurred in response to GSH, enabling its selective discrimination from the other biothiols. The limits of detection (LoD) varied with compound and analyte, with DTBT achieving LoDs of 3.95 μM (Hcy), 1.65 μM (Cys), and 10.47 μM (GSH); DTNB yielding 1.76 μM (Hcy), 9.20 μM (Cys), and 4.42 μM (GSH); and DTNP offering 2.38 μM (Hcy), 1.43 μM (Cys), and 5.64 μM (GSH). Among these, DTBT demonstrated the highest selectivity for GSH over competing thiols. The sensor exhibited minimal EOT changes in response to nonthiolated amino acids and maintained performance in complex matrices such as human serum. The sensors maintain stable performance with no appreciable loss in detection capability following a four-week storage period at room temperature. Finally, the dithio-functionalized pSi platform was successfully employed to distinguish between healthy and oxidatively stressed cells in a label-free manner, underscoring its potential for real-time redox state monitoring in biological systems.

Research on high-entropy oxides generally is limited to elemental and structural interpretations applied to the performance of cathodes. However, there are only limited data on the principles of increasing disorder in terms of structural, electronic, and atomic mechanisms as materials convert from ordered to disordered. Zn-air battery cathodes are limited by slow kinetics, imbalanced oxygen evolution reaction charging, imbalanced oxygen reduction reaction discharging, and scalability (through the necessity of benchmark noble metals). The present work pioneers the engineering of multilevel disorder in high-entropy oxides, thereby transforming an intrinsically inactive matrix into a highly active cathode. Systematic modification of the disorder through increasing number of cations leads to the abrupt development of structural (2D defects), electronic (semimetallic conductivity), and atomic (low-coordination Ce) disorder. This multilevel disorder engineering of high-entropy oxides results in MnNiCoFe-CeO2 catalysts with stable active sites, rapid and balanced bifunctional (oxygen evolution/reduction reaction) performance, thereby promising Zn-air battery efficiencies and electrochemical durabilities greater than those of the benchmark materials).

The integration of civil infrastructure and energy technologies has accelerated the development of cement-based energy materials, endowing traditional infrastructure with energy harvesting, storage, and thermal regulation capabilities. As cities face increasing energy demands and pressures to enhance climate resilience, cement-based energy materials offer a scalable and decentralized pathway for embedding energy functions directly into concrete-dominated infrastructure. This review provides a critical overview of recent advances across six emerging categories of cement-based energy materials, including thermoelectric cementitious materials (TECs), piezoelectric cementitious materials (PECs), cement-based triboelectric nanogenerators (CBTENGs), cement-based batteries (CBBs), cement-based supercapacitors (CBSs), and thermal storage concrete (TSC) incorporating phase change materials (PCMs). Each category is examined in terms of fundamental mechanisms, material formulations, manufacturing processes, performance, and representative applications. Key challenges including mechanical-functional trade-offs, environmental durability, performance standardization, and scalability are evaluated, and potential integration strategies are proposed. Future research directions are outlined, emphasizing multifunctional integration, long-term durability, scalable fabrication, and the development of standardized testing protocols to accelerate real-world deployment. By synthesising insights from construction materials, structural engineering, and energy harvesting and storage systems, this review underscores the transformative potential of cement-based energy materials in advancing smart, self-powering, and sustainable infrastructure aligned with global net-zero targets.

ABSTRACT Metal nanowires (MNWs), especially Ag and Cu nanowires, are promising building blocks for transparent and stretchable electrodes as well as active sensing platforms in wearable electronics. In this review, we comprehensively discuss the advancements of MNWs covering various aspects from materials design to device integration. First, we systematically clarify the structure‐property relationships of MNWs, including optical‐electrical trade‐offs, junction resistance, mechanical durability, nanowire aspect‐ratio, and surface‐chemistry. Afterward, we discuss advanced NMW synthesis approaches, such as polyol process, soft‐template growth, Cu(I)‐mediated method, microwave, and flow syntheses, as well as stability improvement strategies, including core‐shell passivation, encapsulation, and alloying. In addition, MNW processing and integration methods are thoroughly introduced, including solution coating, inkjet printing, NMW alignment, junction welding, and polymer embedding. For applications, we evaluate NMW strain/pressure sensors with novel designs, such as hydrogel and textile hybrids, microstructure integration, and anisotropic architectures, by comparing their gauge factor, working range, linearity, response speed, and cycling stability. Finally, conclusions and outlooks are given with future research directions. Overall, this review provides insights and design rules, paving the way for next‐generation MNW‐based flexible sensors.

Advanced vision systems for autonomous robotics require high efficiency, ultralow power consumption, and real-time decision-making. However, conventional vision sensors that rely on single-mode optical excitation fundamentally constrain their versatility. Here, we report a fully light-tunable optoelectronic synaptic device based on perovskite PEA2SnI4/C60 heterostructures that uniquely supports dual-mode bidirectional synaptic behaviour with potentiation under visible light and depression under near-infrared illumination, enabled by a synergistic mechanism of sub-bandgap absorption and interfacial carrier trapping-detrapping for wavelength-selective control. The heterostructure device features long-lasting synaptic plasticity, with excitatory and inhibitory retention times of 350 s and over 8000 s, respectively, and an ultralow energy consumption of ∼1 fJ per event. These exceptional characteristics enable unprecedented performance in neuromorphic vision tasks, including attention-enhanced traffic sign recognition, physical reservoir computing, and dynamic target detection using a 7 × 7 array device, which establishes a powerful and energy-efficient platform for next-generation robotic eyes and advances all-optical neuromorphic perceptions toward intelligent autonomy.

Harvesting renewable energy from ambient moisture into sustainable electricity represents a promising route to address global energy and climate challenges. However, the moisture energy utilization is low in existing moisture-electric generators (MEGs) technologies. Here, we report a carrier-type-engineered graphene oxide (GO)-based MEG that not only generates electricity from moisture but also drives clean hydrogen production via electrochemical water splitting. The optimized device delivers a steady voltage output of 0.90 V and an ultra-high current density of 0.25 mA∙cm-2 at 80% relative humidity, maintaining excellent stability for two weeks. Importantly, we first reveal that the proton-electron recombination during MEG discharge produces abundant neutral hydrogen atoms absorbed on the carbon nanotube substrate, which subsequently act as highly active species for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), achieving a remarkably low overpotential of ∼20 mV. The present work marks the first demonstration of hydrogen generation directly coupled with MEG discharge via cascade utilization of intermediate neutral hydrogen molecules. Furthermore, the device can be rejuvenated through a recycling treatment, enabling cyclic operation. This study not only advances the fundamental understanding of charge transfer and proton dynamics in MEGs but also introduces a new paradigm for coupling ambient-energy harvesting with sustainable hydrogen production.

The effective separation of photogenerated charges by constructing Mott-Schottky junction is of great significance for improving the efficiency of photoelectrocatalytic water splitting. In this work, we construct a novel integrated photoanode comprised of Bi2MoO6/Mo2C Mott-Schottky junction material deposited on C/C composites for photoelectrocatalytic water splitting. The formation of Mott-Schottky junction facilitates the directional transport of electrons from Bi2MoO6 to Mo2C and thus promotes the efficient separation of photogenerated carriers, which contributes to improving the photoelectric conversion efficiency of the material. Results show that the photocurrent density of the obtained Bi2MoO6/Mo2C-C/C photoanode is 5.08 mA cm-2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE, which is about 1.9 and 2.7 times higher than that of Mo2C-C/C and Bi2MoO6-C/C, respectively. Meanwhile, the charge injection efficiency of the Bi2MoO6-C/C photoanode is 28.8 %, while the charge injection efficiency of the Bi2MoO6/Mo2C-C/C photoanode reaches 78.9 %, confirming this obvious improvement in photoelectrocatalytic performance. This research provides a brand-new idea for the design of high-efficiency photoelectrocatalytic photoanodes by constructing Mott-Schottky junction for the maximized separation of photogenerated charges.

Supercapacitors have attracted widespread attention for their high-power density and long cycle life. Meanwhile, low-carbon structural materials with energy storage capability are emerging as promising candidates for sustainable civil infrastructure. Geopolymers exhibit a lower carbon footprint than conventional cementitious materials and show strong potential for structural energy storage owing to their relatively high ionic conductivity. In this study, we develop a geopolymer-based supercapacitor (GBSC) system that, unlike conventional structural supercapacitors relying on separate functional components, uses a fly ash-kaolin geopolymer as both electrolyte and electrode, enabling a simplified and multifunctional device. GBSCs are fabricated using fly ash-kaolin composites activated with alkaline activators containing different concentrations of sodium and potassium ions. A potassium-rich geopolymer enhances precursor dissolution and gel-network reconstruction, resulting in an ionic conductivity of 21.8 mS cm- 1 after 28 days of curing, despite a moderate reduction in compressive strength. When used as the electrolyte, the optimized geopolymer achieved a specific capacitance of 1.2 mF cm-2 at 0.05 mA cm- 2, with 82.7% retention after 2000 cycles. When configured as electrode, it delivers a significantly higher capacitance of 6.0 mF cm- 2, along with an energy density of 94.6 mu Wh cm-2 and a power density of 1486.8 mu W cm- 2, while retaining 78.8% capacitance after 2000 cycles. These findings demonstrate that geopolymer composites can function as both electrodes and electrolytes, allowing simplified and scalable GBSCs for structure-integrated energy-storage applications. They also highlight the previously underexplored electrochemical functionality of geopolymers and establish a new design strategy for simplified, scalable, and structure-integrated energy-storage systems.

Single-pixel imaging (SPI) is a powerful computational imaging technology that reconstructs spatial information from sequentially encoded optoelectrical signals without pixelated detector arrays. Solution-processible metal halide perovskites are promising photoactive candidates for SPI, but the toxicity of lead-based compositions remains a critical barrier to practical development. Here, we demonstrate one-step fabrication of low-dimensional, lead-free K_2CuBr_3 thin film as near-UV photoactive channels for single-pixel imaging. By systematic antisolvent engineering, compact and uniform K2CuBr3 films are obtained and integrated into planar photoconductors devices. The resulting photodetectors exhibit stale photoswitching under 405 nm illumination, low dark current on the order of 10^-10 A, with fast response and recovery time 38.82 and 61.94 μs, respectively. Integrated into an SPI configuration, the K2CuBr3 photoconductor successfully reconstructs near-UV images, with the signal-to-noise ratio improving from 16.4 to 31.7 dB as the illumination irradiance increases. This work highlights solution-processed lead-free copper halides as promising photoactive materials for compact, non-toxic and cost-effective UV computational imaging systems.

Carbon nanofiller-reinforced cementitious composites (CNRCCs) have been widely investigated due to their potential to enhance mechanical properties, crack resistance, and durability, offering a promising pathway toward resilient and durable infrastructure. However, CNRCCs are predominantly driven by empirical trial-anderror experimentation. This approach is inherently costly and time-consuming, limiting the ability to fully elucidate complex physicochemical mechanisms and achieve optimal design. Multiscale simulation offers a principled pathway to overcome this bottleneck by resolving interactions across length scales, thereby enabling inverse design strategies that enhance performance and reduce costs. In the context of computational modelling efforts using molecular dynamics, micromechanics, and finite element methods (FEM), a critical review that holistically integrates mechanical properties and durability aspects is lacking. This review provides a systematic and critical synthesis on the computational modelling of CNRCCs, covering molecular dynamics (MD), micromechanical modelling, FEM, and emerging data-driven approaches. By linking atomistic interfacial chemistry to structural-scale response, the review shows that surface functionalization markedly improves nanofiller-matrix interactions. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) can increase interfacial bonding energy by up to 109% and surface fracture energy by 135% compared with pristine CNTs. At the structural scale, FEM studies indicate that a 2 vol% CNT addition can increase critical load capacity by up to 80%, while interfacial shear-strength optimization may increase toughness by over 1900%. Furthermore, this study elucidates the governing mechanisms of durability, including the regulation of ionic transport, carbonation, and nanoconfined water phase transitions. This review provides a rational foundation for the predictive, multiscale-informed design of durable, resilient, and sustainable CNRCCs.

Soft ionic conductive elastomers offer unique advantages for super-capacitive pressure sensors, where the electrical double layer (EDL) effect enables high sensitivity and rapid response. However, the roles of microstructure and viscoelasticity on EDL-driven sensing remain poorly understood. This study establishes detailed correlations between elastomer microstructure, intrinsic viscoelastic properties, and sensor performance by integrating mechanical and electrical analyses. Validation of the EDL mechanism reveals how microstructural optimization and viscoelastic tuning enhance sensitivity, linear range, and stability. Height-graded architectures yield a sensor with a sensitivity of 2.70 nF/kPa, a broad linear range of 0-2000 kPa, and robust durability over 10 000 cycles. These devices demonstrate multifunctionality in robotic electronic skin, pressure mapping, and real-time physiological monitoring such as wrist pulse detection. The findings establish key structure-property-performance relationships, providing design guidelines for next-generation, high-performance super-capacitive sensors.

Recently, nanogenerators have ignited significant interest within the scientific realm owing to their considerable potential for extracting energy from the surroundings. One promising method involves utilizing moisture from the environment as a source of energy for compact devices, which only require minimal electricity consumption. In this work, we demonstrated a chitosan/glycerol (CS/G) hydrogel‐based electric nanogenerator (HENG) with promising electric and mechanical performance. Specifically, a sole generator unit could produce an open‐circuit voltage of 1.1 V and a current density of 1 mA cm−2, with a maximum power density reaching 0.26 mW cm−2. The outstanding performance was attributed to the enhanced water absorption of the optimized hydrogel layer and the redox reaction at the top electrode. Additionally, a facile printing technique was introduced to make mass fabrication possible. Large‐scale integrated HENG arrays with high current (~100 mA) and voltage output (~100 V) were successfully demonstrated through serial and parallel connections, capable of directly powering wireless LED and motor propellers. A battery‐free wearable multisensing wristband was designed to demonstrate the real‐world application of HENG. This work presents a novel pathway for advancing the creation of self‐sustainable, flexible applications, demonstrating significant potential for the forthcoming age of wearable technology and the Internet‐of‐Things.

Electrocatalytic carbon dioxide reduction (ECR) offers a sustainable solution for converting carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals and fuels, which is of great significance for achieving carbon neutrality goals. Copper-based catalysts demonstrate excellent performance in the ECR process, owing to their unique ability to promote C-C coupling reactions and generate multi-carbon products. However, catalytic performance, particularly product selectivity, is highly sensitive to the structural characteristics of copper active sites at various scales. This review systematically examines recent advances in the design of Cu-based catalysts for ECR, spanning three representative classes, i.e., single/dual-atom catalysts, nanoclusters, and nanoparticles. For each class, we summarize design strategies, such as coordination environment modulation, heteroatom doping, ligand engineering, and morphology control, and analyze their impact on product selectivity toward C1 and C2+ products. Particular emphasis is placed on the underlying structure-performance relationships and the mechanistic origins of C-C coupling. We also discuss the role of electrolyzer configurations in translating catalyst performance toward practical application. Finally, we outline major challenges and future directions for the rational design of efficient, stable, and scalable Cu-based ECR systems. This review offers strategic design principles for achieving highly selective and efficient ECR to value-added products.

Hydrogen production via electrolyzed water is a clean and efficient method, but its practical application is limited by the high overpotential of the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). In this study, a novel VN/WP heterostructured electrocatalyst embedded within nitrogen-doped carbon (NC) backbones was prepared by one-step solid-phase sintering. VN and WP were homogeneously distributed in the carbon matrix, forming abundant heterointerfaces. The carbon layer exhibited enhanced graphitization and more defects, both of which facilitate charge transfer and the exposure of active sites. The overpotential of VN/WP@NC in 1.0 M KOH solution was only 99 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2, and the current density could be kept stable for 120 h. The strong electronic interactions of heterostructures and the abundant active sites of VN/WP@NC enhance the HER performance, which provides an idea for designing high-efficiency electrocatalysts that can be industrially applied. This work offers a valuable strategy for designing efficient electrocatalysts for industrial hydrogen production.

Bi2SiO5 is a promising N-type semiconductor material for photoelectrocatalytic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), but its wide band gap and slow charge dynamics hinder the practical application. Herein, we design a novel Brfunctionated Bi2SiO5/Mo2C Schottky junction photoelectrocatalyst supported on C/C composites (Br-Bi2SiO5/ Mo2C/C/C) via an electrochemical stepwise deposition. The Br-decoration narrows the band gap of Bi2SiO5, facilitating electron excitation and transfer. Mo2C serves as an efficient electron pumping layer to promote electron transport quickly and consequently suppressing charge recombination. DFT calculations reveal the synergy of Br-decoration and Schottky junction upgrades water adsorption capacity and lowers the energy barrier of the *O to *OOH step, thus expediting OER kinetics. The resulting Br-Bi2SiO5/Mo2C/C/C exhibits a high photocurrent density of 6.5 mA cm- 2, maintains excellent stability for 25 h, and achieves remarkable watersplitting performance with H2 and O2 evolution rates of 155.92 and 85.68 mu mol cm- 2 h- 1, respectively. Moreover, in integrated photoelectrochemical water-splitting devices, it delivers a current density of 3.4 mA cm- 2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE and retains robust stability for over 18 h. This work presents an innovative strategic design for efficient photoelectrocatalysts to advance the photoelectric energy conversion and storage.

Catalytic nanomedicine represents an attractive therapeutic approach for cancer therapy while heavily relying on the catalytic activity and tumor selectivity of the catalyst. Here, a novel catalytic biohybrid ("bacterobot") of gold nanoparticle-coated electroactive bacterium is developed for enhanced catalytic cancer therapy. The electroactive G. sulfurreducens, for the first time used in cancer therapy, turbocharges the multienzyme-like catalytic activities of biosynthetic gold nanoparticles via cascade catalytic reactions to produce abundant reactive oxygen species to induce apoptosis and pyroptosis of tumor cells. Distinctive tumor accumulation and a tumor inhibition rate of 68% were achieved with single-dose intravenous injection of biohybrids in 4T1 tumor-bearing mice. Overall, the bacterobot biohybrid therapy demonstrates a high degree of therapeutic selectivity to tumor tissues and consequent excellent therapeutic efficacy and systemic biosafety, signifying the potential to create a paradigm shift in the way cancers are treated.

Electrolyte-gated transistors (EGTs) are promising candidates for flexible neuromorphic electronics featuring low-voltage operation via ion-electron coupling. However, precise threshold control remains a key challenge due to the dynamic nature of the electric double layer (EDL). This study introduces a facile doping strategy, in which Na+ cations, analogous to biological neurotransmission ions, are incorporated into chitosan-based EGTs to modulate the EDL. This approach enables continuous threshold voltage tuning by controlling NaCl doping concentrations. At 0.5 wt %, a clear transition from depletion to enhancement mode is achieved with a Quasi-neutral turn-off condition, where the drain current without gate bias decreases from ∼10-4 A (0 wt %) to below 10-7 A (0.5 wt %) under 0.2 V drain voltage, and the energy consumption for synaptic functions is reduced by ∼200 times. The resulting devices exhibit high on/off ratios of >103, operational stability exceeding 100 days, and excellent mechanical durability over 1000 bending cycles, making them suitable for flexible green bioelectronics. Furthermore, the devices can emulate key synaptic behaviors, including excitatory postsynaptic currents, paired-pulse facilitation, and spike-dependent plasticity, enabling neuromorphic computing with >95% accuracy in image recognition. This work establishes a scalable, biocompatible, and energy-efficient platform for threshold-controllable green EGTs in next-generation flexible neuromorphic devices.

In room-temperature sodium-sulfur (RT Na-S) batteries, the conversion of solid-solid polysulfides can deliver a specific capacity of 837.5 mAh/g, accounting for 50 % of the theoretical specific capacity of sulfur. However, the reaction between solid polysulfides requires overcoming a high-energy barrier. To date, the full and rapid conversion of solid-solid polysulfides has not yet been achieved. Against this backdrop, this work enhances catalytic activity and increases the number of reactive active sites by regulating the oxygen vacancy concentration of W18O49. W18O49 with more oxygen vacancies generates a greater number of coordinatively unsaturated W sites, which serve as active centers for catalytic reactions. These sites can simultaneously catalyze the conversion of multiple solid-solid polysulfides, thereby improving reaction efficiency. Meanwhile, the coordinatively unsaturated W atoms can undergo multi-electron transfer by increasing their valence state to W6+, endowing them with higher catalytic activity. Equipped with high catalytic activity and more active sites, W18O49 can rapidly and fully catalyze the conversion of Na2S2 to Na2S, thus enhancing the specific capacity of RT Na-S batteries. Under the aforementioned mechanism, the Na-S battery exhibits a high specific capacity of 649 mAh/g at a large current density of 5 A/g (after 3000 cycles). It further exhibits high specific capacity at 0°C and 50°C. This work provides new insights into the electronic structure design of catalysts for Na-S batteries and offers a reference for the structural design of subsequent catalysts.

The global energy shortage continues to raise energy prices and cause an imbalance between supply and demand of oil, gas and electricity. This ongoing worldwide energy crisis highlights the urgent need for exploiting more renewable and clean energy from natural resources while simultaneously minimizing the carbon footprint. Moisture-electric nanogenerators (MEGs) have emerged as a novel method for energy harvesting, utilizing the ubiquity, sustainability, and portability of atmospheric moisture, and overcoming regional restrictions for thermal, solar, or mechanical energy inputs. By exchanging intermolecular bonding energy when ionizing moisture into electrical output through deliberately fabricated hygroscopic materials, MEGs can have diverse applications, including self-powered sensors and low-power sources used for humidity sensing, respiration monitoring, etc. This review covers the construction, materials, and mechanisms of the MEGs, the recent progress in cutting-edge innovations in moisture-responsive materials for boosting electrical outputs, followed by discussions of practical MEG applications. The outlook for further development of MEGs is also provided, along with the predicted increase in use cases of this promising clean energy-harvesting approach.