Abstract Water exhibits rich phase behavior due to the exceptional ordering of water molecules in nanoscale confinement compared with bulk water. However, despite extensive reporting of various two-dimensional ice confined in and adsorbed on the solid surface, the role of water layer thickness in governing the formation of ordered structure under compressional confinement is still unclear. In this letter, we show the initial thickness of water layers determines the ordering behavior water confined between two graphene sheets under a compression process by using molecular-dynamics simulations. A stratification of water repeatedly occurs in the thin water layer due to the hydrogen bond network reconstruction. As a contrast, a gradually ordering occurs in the thick water layer due to a continuous hydrogen bond network optimization. A threshold thickness around 80 Å is identified, above which the confined water exhibits no ordering, resembling a bulk water. The evolution of water density distribution, configuration entropy, tetrahedral order parameter, and hydrogen bond number are calculated to quantitatively define the ordering process of the confined water. Our results offer a fundamental insight into the structural ordering of water, from a highly ordered symmetry at the molecular level to the bulk-like limit, in the nanoconfined environment.

In the context of the global big data deluge, concerted efforts are being made to address the challenges faced by large scientific facilities. These efforts are focused on providing users with the full potential offered by real-time, remote and self-driving experiments, where AI-driven analysis can guide experimental decisions in real time, while ensuring that the data pipelines adhere to the findability, accessibility, interoperability and reuse principles throughout their entire facility lifecycle. Besides all the efforts being made, a user-centric and user-friendly centralization of the overall scientific computing framework at the large scientific facilities remains a work in progress. To address this challenge the Big Data Science Center at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility has developed and deployed a centralized, cohesive and user-friendly platform on top of its already existing superfacility framework, which is designed to manage the complete data lifecycle at large scientific facilities. This user-centric platform has transformed the user experience, shifting focus from complex data operations to scientific interpretation. Consequently, the accessibility of the facility to users has been considerably enhanced, thereby expediting the pace at which their discoveries are made.

Acidic batteries permit a reliable energy supply at low temperatures with low cost and intrinsic safety, yet the development of stable acid-resistant electrodes with high capacity and a reliable lifespan is still challenging. Herein, nonstoichiometric copper telluride (Cu2-xTe) nanosheets are first explored as high-performance electrodes for acidic batteries to provide a stable capacity release of 409 mAh g-1 with a record-breaking lifespan of 40 000 cycles and excellent kinetics, enabling operation at a high current density of 20 A g-1. In contrast to the inherent perception of corrosive destruction of electrode materials by strongly acidic environments, the electrolyte environment enriched with copper ions and hydrogen ions synergistically stabilizes the Cu2-xTe electrode and drives reversible multielectron transfer asymmetric deep conversion, which is confirmed by in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction, X-ray absorption spectroscopy, first-principal calculations, and composite electrochemical characterization. Therefore, Cu2-xTe provides an impressive accumulation capacity of over 4764 Ah g-1, exceeding that of most acidic batteries, and works well at -20 °C. High-performance Cu2-xTe electrodes also promote the establishment of Cu2-xTe//Mn2O3 and Cu2-xTe//Fe acidic full cells enabling stable operation at room temperature and low temperature, offering promising opportunities for electrode progress in advanced acidic batteries.

Intercalation-type cathodes continue to dominate aqueous multivalent ion storage, despite higher theoretical capacities being available from conversion reactions involving multiple electron transfer. Pushing intercalation-type cathodes into conversion is certainly desirable, conventionally with great sacrificing cycling-stability, kinetics, and discharge potential. To date, limited progress has been achieved in overcoming this longstanding and formidable performance trade-off. Herein, it is demonstrated that by loosening cation coordination in dilute aqueous systems, typical intercalation-type electrodes (Bi2Se3) can be unexpectedly extended into the conversion regime, yielding a twofold capacity increase of 417.6 mAh g-1 with an excellent combination of reversible lifespan (20 000 cycles with a decay rate of 0.013‰), rate capability (314.6 mAh g-1 at 30 A g-1), and enhanced operating potential. Composited operando synchrotron X-ray diffraction technology, first-principal calculations, and ex situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy with electron microscopy analyses indicated that hydrophobic perchlorate optimizes the solvation coordination and charge transfer of cations, which overall decreases the interfacial reaction barrier and enhances the reaction potential, hence initiating unique reversible and depth intercalation‒conversion mechanisms. Well-characterized loosening cation coordination further ensures high ion mobility, extraordinary low-temperature performance, and robust operation in quasi-solid-state pouch cells, offering key insights for improving the energy density of aqueous batteries.

Thermal and electrical conductivities are two fundamental features associated with the stochastic transport process of phonons and electrons in a lattice system. Twisted bilayer graphene has attracted enormous attention in recent years as a material of correlated quantum phases; however, its thermal and electrical transport behavior in response to a strong external impact is still unclear. In this paper, we show that, under strong external out-of-plane thermal excitation, the spreading of thermal and electrical potential energy in a twisted bilayer graphene is insensitive to its twist angle at a considerable wide range until an excitation strength threshold, using a large-scale ab initio nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulation involving thousands of atoms. To understand the microscopic mechanism, the portion of energy between the flexural and planar modes is calculated. It is found that before the excitation strength threshold, a large portion of energy is distributed to the flexural mode whose transport is insensitive to interlayer interactions. By crossing the excitation strength threshold at a twisted angle that is near the AB-stacked configuration, more energy is distributed to the planar mode, which breaks the carbon covalent bonds and facilitates the formation of a 5-7-7-5 ring defective structure. It also results in a higher spreading speed of thermal and electrical responses, particularly the electrical response, in the bilayer graphene at the twisted angle near the AB-stacked configuration compared to the AA-stacked configuration. The higher electrical conductivity of the defective structure is further evidenced by comparing its density of states with that of the pristine structure. Our findings provide an insight into the complex transport behavior of thermal and electrical potential energy in twisted bilayer graphene and offer a promising method for designing adjustable thermal and thermoelectric devices.

In this letter, we study the transport behavior and anomalous diffusion of ions (Li+, Na+ and K+) inside narrow charged carbon nanotubes under an external electric field by using molecular dynamics simulations. Mean square displacement (MSD) with a power-law fitting parameter alpha, directional motion speed vu and ionic current I of ions are calculated. It is found that Na+ and K+ show a superdiffusion behavior with alpha > 1 and a sub diffusion behavior with alpha < 1 at different surface charge Q, while only the superdiffusion behavior is observed for Li+ in spite of the values of Q. It is found that the ions exhibit directional motion subject to the external electric field, where the direction is identical to the external electric field direction for surface charge Q > 0, and is opposite to the electric field direction when Q < 0. By analyzing the speed difference Delta|v(u)| and ionic current difference Delta|I|, the asymmetric profiles are observed for the positive and negative surface charges with the same magnitude |Q|. Meanwhile, by calculating the average number of hydrogen bonds of water molecules (N-h), it is found that the ions could enhance the interaction between water molecules and lead to an increase of hydrogen bonds. Furthermore, compared with Li+ and Na+, K+ exhibits an asymmetric radial distribution that implies its advantageous small solvated radius in the design of potassium-ion batteries. Our results provide a general picture for the mediation role of surface charge to the transport behaviors of ions in charged nanochannels. Copyright (c) 2025 EPLA All rights, including for text and data mining, AI training, and similar technologies, are reserved.

Parity represents the spatial inversion symmetry of a physical phenomenon under mirror reflection. Commonly, the parity of interatomic interaction is broken in crystalline solids due to asymmetric repulsion between atoms. Symmetry breaking often involves a phase transition; however, it is still unclear if there are any comparable behaviors in crystalline solids as the result of asymmetric interatomic interaction. In this paper, we show that a crossover behavior of thermal conduction occurs in a Fermi-Pasta-Ulam-Tsingou α-β superlattice, consisting of periodic cells of arithmetically increased cubic nonlinearity, due to strengthened interaction asymmetry. Before a critical point of interaction asymmetry, thermal conductance is a cell-length-independent constant, and it becomes cell length dependent after crossing the critical point. The reflection symmetry and configuration entropy of the atomic displacement are calculated as functions of interaction asymmetry, where a discontinuity appears at the critical point in their second derivatives and thus this crossover behavior is third-order-like. We also find that the sound speed and scaling exponents of energy carriers exhibit a similar crossover owing to the strengthened interaction asymmetry. Our numerical result reveals a peculiar microscopic mechanism for adjusting thermal conduction behavior in phononic superlattice systems.

To date, computed tomography experiments, carried-out at synchrotron radiation facilities worldwide, pose a tremendous challenge in terms of the breadth and complexity of the experimental datasets produced. Furthermore, near real-time three-dimensional reconstruction capabilities are becoming a crucial requirement in order to perform high-quality and result-informed synchrotron imaging experiments, where a large amount of data is collected and processed within a short time window. To address these challenges, we have developed and deployed a synchrotron computed tomography framework designed to automatically process online the experimental data from the synchrotron imaging beamlines, while leveraging the high-performance computing cluster capabilities to accelerate the real-time feedback to the users on their experimental results. We have, further, integrated it within a modern unified national authentication and data management framework, which we have developed and deployed, spanning the entire data lifecycle of a large-scale scientific facility. In this study, the overall architecture, functional modules and workflow design of our synchrotron computed tomography framework are presented in detail. Moreover, the successful integration of the imaging beamlines at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility into our scientific computing framework is also detailed, which, ultimately, resulted in accelerating and fully automating their entire data processing pipelines. In fact, when compared with the original three-dimensional tomography reconstruction approaches, the implementation of our synchrotron computed tomography framework led to an acceleration in the experimental data processing capabilities, while maintaining a high level of integration with all the beamline processing software and systems.

Aqueous potassium-ion batteries with inherent safety, high abundance, and competitive hydrated ion-radius point to future availability in energy storage. However, the extensively studied electrodes (metal-oxides, Prussian-blue-analogues, etc.) typically suffer from undesirable capacities and sluggish kinetics owing to overwhelming ion diffusion barriers. Herein, for the first time, the metal chalcogenide bismuth selenide reinforced by iodine-doping (I-Bi2Se3) is implemented for high-performance aqueous potassium-ion storage. The co-intercalation mechanism of potassium-ion with proton in I-Bi2Se3 is entirely revealed by operando synchrotron X-ray diffraction and substantial ex-situ analysis, and the excellent interlayer diffusion kinetics in the high-conductive host are further enhanced by iodine-doping, as proposed by theoretic calculations. Therefore, the resulting high diffusion coefficient and low interfacial transfer resistance endow I-Bi2Se3 with superior rate performance (109.2 mAh g-1 at 10 A g-1) and cycling stability (91% capacity retention after 1200 cycles). Employing in hybrid-ion batteries matching zinc metal, the highest reversible aqueous potassium-ion storage to date of 316.8 mAh g-1 is demonstrated, permitting the establishment of reliable performance pouch cells. The promising aqueous potassium intercalation chemistry built in the improved metal chalcogenide is proven to be extendable to other hybrid-ion devices, offering novel mechanistic insights and material practices for aqueous energy storage. The high-conductivity iodine-doped bismuth selenide cathode demonstrates the mechanism of proton and potassium-ion co-intercalation for aqueous potassium-ion energy storage devices. The construction of hybrid-ion batteries matching zinc anodes present a high reversible aqueous potassium-ion storage capacity of 316.8 mAh g-1 and a superior energy density of 203 Wh kg-1 at 67 W kg-1. image

Optimizing the antibacterial effectiveness of copper ions while reducing environmental and cellular toxicity is essential for public health. A copper chelate, named PAI-Cu, is skillfully created using a specially designed carboxyl copolymer (a combination of acrylic and itaconic acids) with copper ions. PAI-Cu demonstrates a broad-spectrum antibacterial capability both in vitro and in vivo, without causing obvious cytotoxic effects. When compared to free copper ions, PAI-Cu displays markedly enhanced antibacterial potency, being about 35 times more effective against Escherichia coli and 16 times more effective against Staphylococcus aureus. Moreover, Gaussian and ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) analyses reveal that Cu+ ions can remain stable in the carboxyl compound's aqueous environment. Thus, the superior antibacterial performance of PAI-Cu largely stems from its modulation of copper ions between mono- and divalent states within the Cu-carboxyl chelates, especially via the carboxyl ligand. This modulation leads to the generation of reactive oxygen species ((OH)-O-center dot), which is pivotal in bacterial eradication. This research offers a cost-effective strategy for amplifying the antibacterial properties of Cu ions, paving new paths for utilizing copper ions in advanced antibacterial applications. Enhancing the antibacterial properties by regulating valence configurations of copper: a focus on Cu-carboxyl chelates.

Water exhibits rich ice phases depending upon its respective formation conditions, and in particular, the two-dimensional ice with nonhexagonal symmetry adsorbed on solids relates to the exceptional arrangement of water molecules. Despite extensive reporting of two-dimensional ice on various solid surfaces, the geometry and thermodynamics of ice formation from an aqueous salt solution are still unknown. In this Letter, we show the formation of single- and two-phase mixed two-dimensional rhombic ice from aqueous salt solutions with different concentrations under strong compressed confinement of graphene at ambient temperature by using classical molecular dynamics simulations and first-principles calculations. The two rhombic ice phases exhibit identical geometry and thermodynamic properties, but different projections of the oxygen atoms against solid surface symmetry, where they relate to the stable and metastable arrangements of water molecules confined between two graphene layers. A single-phase rhombic ice would grow from the confined saturated aqueous solutions since the previously stable rhombic molecular arrangement becomes an unstable high-energy state by introducing salt ions nearby. Our result reveals different rhombic ice phases growing from pure water and aqueous solutions, highlighting the deciding role of salt ions in the ice formation process due to their common presence in liquids.

Self-organization is usually observed in two- or three-dimensional nonequilibrium processes, where an ordered pattern spontaneously emerges in an initial disordered system. Since spontaneous ordering is not prohibited in one dimension, it is interesting to investigate the ordering behavior in the quasi-one-dimensional nanofluids such as a single-file chain of water molecules. In this paper, we show that spatiotemporal ordering of the single-file water, in the form of collective oscillating unidirectional flows, spontaneously emerges inside a narrow nanotube between two independently heated water reservoirs by molecular dynamics simulations. The spatiotemporal ordering of the single-file water induces a low-frequency coupling and a unidirectional duration time up to nanoseconds and also low-configuration entropy in the flow pattern that separates itself from the chaotic motion of water molecules. Mass density fluctuation plays a critical role in the ordered flow pattern formation, and its crossover from an exponential to a power-law decay decides the disappearance of the ordered flow pattern. We further find that spatiotemporal ordering induces high heat-transfer enhancement that is comparable to thermal conductivity of gaseous water. Our result reveals a peculiar self-organization phenomenon and entirely different dynamics in the single-file water that departs from macroscopic flows in the continuum limit.

Thermal conduction between solid and fluid is crucial in cooling technology based on micro and nanoflu-idics, while the impact mechanism of flow on interfacial thermal transport is yet to be studied due to the absence of simulation models. In this work, we propose a model to investigate the effect of fluid flow on the thermal boundary conductance between solid and fluid using molecular dynamics simulations. The present results indicate that the best way to eliminate viscous temperature rise is to control tempera -ture by excluding velocity components along the flow direction rather than removing average velocity. The thermal conduction is insensitive to the fluid flow in atomic-smooth channel, but highly depends on the flow velocity in rough channel, where the thermal boundary conductance decreases by 11.7% when flow velocity reaches 18 m/s. The results are attributed to the variations of flow field, where the rough morphologies will disturb the parallel flow of fluid and restrain the thermal vibration of interfacial fluid. This work reveals the influence of fluid flow on interfacial thermal exchange, and the proposed model and results are helpful to improve the cooling systems based on microfluidics.& COPY; 2023 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Titanium selenide (TiSe2 ), a model transition metal chalcogenide material, typically relies on topotactic ion intercalation/deintercalation to achieve stable ion storage with minimal disruption of the transport pathways but has restricted capacity (<130 mAh g-1 ). Developing novel energy storage mechanisms beyond conventional intercalation to break capacity limits in TiSe2 cathodes is essential yet challenging. Herein, the ion storage properties of TiSe2 are revisited and an unusual thermodynamically stable twin topotactic/nontopotactic Cu2+ accommodation mechanism for aqueous batteries is unraveled. In situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction and ex situ microscopy jointly demonstrated that topotactic intercalation sustained the ion transport framework, nontopotactic conversion involved localized multielectron reactions, and these two parallel reactions are miraculously intertwined in nanoscale space. Comprehensive experimental and theoretical results suggested that the twin-reaction mechanism significantly improved the electron transfer ability, and the reserved intercalated TiSe2 structure anchored the reduced titanium monomers with high affinity and promoted efficient charge transfer to synergistically enhance the capacity and reversibility. Consequently, TiSe2 nanoflake cathodes delivered a never-before-achieved capacity of 275.9 mAh g-1 at 0.1 A g-1 , 93.5% capacity retention over 1000 cycles, and endow hybrid batteries (TiSe2 -Cu||Zn) with a stable energy supply of 181.34 Wh kg-1 at 2339.81 W kg-1 , offering a promising model for aqueous ion storage.

The structure and thermodynamic properties of water in nanoscale confinement environment are greatly involved in the research field of material science and nanotechnology. However, a complete picture of the ordered structure formation and thermodynamics behavior of the confined water inside two parallel nanosheets with different surface atomic arrangement is still lacking. In this paper, by using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, we study the structural variation and thermodynamics behavior for water molecules confined between two parallel CrOCl with a square surface atomic arrangement and two parallel graphene nanosheets with a hexagonal surface atomic arrangement. Square ice, with a lattice constant 2.1 and 2.0 Å, is observed inside the two parallel CrOCl and graphene nanosheets, respectively. By calculating the configuration entropy of the molecular dipoles S t , it is found that, in the CrOCl confinement, S t reaches a peak value and then is greatly reduced due to the square ice formation. On the other hand, in the graphene confinement, S t continues to grow after the square ice formation and is then reduced after reaching its peak value. Interestingly, it is found that the square ice could be stable at a higher entropy state under the external pressure than the bulk water at ambient condition. By calculating the orientational order parameters M , it shows that the conventional tetrahedral geometry of hydrogen bonding between water molecules breaks due to the square ice formation. By analyzing the average number of hydrogen bonds of water molecules N h , it is found that the hydrogen bond interaction of the square ice relies on the confinement environment, where N h is reduced in the CrOCl confinement and increased in the graphene confinement. Probability distribution functions of the dipole orientation angles between the x- or z- axis and the projection of the oxygen atoms of the water molecules are also calculated. It is observed that the square ice structure is paralleled with the x -axis (unit cell axis) in the CrOCl confinement and tilted with the x -axis (the zigzag direction of graphene) at an angle 30° in the graphene confinement. Furthermore, the square ice formation is found to be insensitive to temperature. Our result reveals the peculiar ordered structure and thermodynamics behavior of water in different nanoscale confinement environments.

Thermal and electrical conductivity are the two most critical material properties in the design of miniaturized modern devices and the cooling of integrated circuits. In principle, thermal and electrical energy transport are two independent physical processes because they are associated with different energy carriers, i.e., phonons that carry heat and electric charges that carry current. However, it is still unknown how the two kinds of energy would spread in a material, such as graphene, with both high thermal conductivity and high electric conductivity at the same time in response to an external excitation. In this paper, we show that the thermal energy and electric potential energy of a graphene nanosheet exhibit quite different decoupled transport behaviors subject to an external flexural or planar excitation by using large-scale ab initio nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations up to thousands of atoms. It is found that the thermal energy has a higher transport velocity than the electric potential energy in response to a flexural excitation, while the electric potential energy has a higher transport velocity in response to a planar excitation. The dependence of transport behavior on the excitation strength is investigated. We find that, induced by the different responses to the excitation strength, the thermal energy and electric potential energy possess similar variations subject to the flexural excitations and opposite variations subject to the planar excitations. Anomalous diffusion of the thermal and electric potential energy in this nonequilibrium excitation process is also studied to understand the decoupled carrier mobilities. Furthermore, the cross-correlation function between the thermal energy and the electric potential energy is calculated to numerically demonstrate the decoupled variation. After an initial sharp drop, the cross-correlation function exhibits an exponential decay subject to both flexural and planar excitations. Our findings provide insight into the complex transport behavior of thermal and electric potential energy in crystalline solids and a promising method for designing adjustable thermal and thermoelectric devices.

Pursuing conversion‐type cathodes with high volumetric capacity that can be used in aqueous environments remains rewarding and challenging. Tellurium (Te) is a promising alternative electrode due to its intrinsic attractive electronic conductivity and high theoretical volumetric capacity yet still to be explored. Herein, the kinetically/thermodynamically co‐dominat copper–tellurium (Cu–Te) alloying phase‐conversion process and corresponding oxidation failure mechanism of tellurium are investigated using in situ synchrotron X‐ray diffraction and comprehensive ex situ characterization techniques. By virtue of the fundamental insights into the tellurium electrode, facile and precise electrolyte engineering (solvated structure modulation or reductive antioxidant addition) is implemented to essentially tackle the dramatic capacity loss in tellurium, affording reversible aqueous Cu–Te conversion reaction with an unprecedented ultrahigh volumetric capacity of up to 3927 mAh cm −3 , a flat long discharge plateau (capacity proportion of ≈81%), and an extraordinary level of capacity retention of 80.4% over 2000 cycles at 20 A g −1 of which lifespan thousand‐fold longer than Cu–Te conversion using CuSO 4 –H 2 O electrolyte. This work paves a significant avenue for expanding high‐performance conversion‐type cathodes toward energetic aqueous multivalent‐ion batteries.

The further application of promising transition‐metal chalcogenides (TMCs) cathodes in dilute neutral aqueous Zn batteries (AZBs) is mainly plagued by unsatisfactory working voltages (usually <1 V vs Zn 2+ /Zn) and their conventional cationic redox centers reaching theoretical capacity limit. Hence, to break the confinement, a novel Zn‐Cu 2‐x Se battery is developed in dilute neutral‐aqueous electrolyte by introducing a tailored charge‐carrier, which not only alters the intercalation potential of ions embedded into Cu 2‐x Se (vs Zn 2+ /Zn, working voltage from ≈0.4 to ≈1.2 V) but also activates the anionic redox centers of Cu 2‐x Se (capacity release from 143.4 to 323.2 mAh g −1 at 0.4 A g −1 ). In situ synchrotron X‐ray diffraction (SXRD) and substantial ex situ characterizations reveal the multi‐step phase conversion undergone by cathode and triggered additional Se‐based anionic (Se n 2− /Se 2− ) reversible redox reaction. A multi‐electron synergistic transfer process established on the cationic‐anionic redox centers circumvents the slow relaxation of single‐ion charge compensation achieving high‐capacity and enhanced ion diffusion kinetics. As a result, an extraordinary energy density of up to 406.2 Wh kg −1 at 240 W kg −1 is implemented (calculated based on the mass of Cu 2‐x Se cathode), which is ≈8.4 times higher than that of conventional Zn‐Cu 2‐x Se batteries, representing an advanced development toward energetic AZBs.

Synchrotron radiation sources are widely used in interdisciplinary research, generating an enormous amount of data while posing serious challenges to the storage, processing, and analysis capabilities of the large-scale scientific facilities worldwide. A flexible and scalable computing architecture, suitable for complex application scenarios, combined with efficient and intelligent scheduling strategies, plays a key role in addressing these issues. In this work, we present a novel cloud–edge hybrid intelligent system (CEHIS), which was architected, developed, and deployed by the Big Data Science Center (BDSC) at the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF) and meets the computational needs of the large-scale scientific facilities. Our methodical simulations demonstrate that the CEHIS is more efficient and performs better than the cloud-based model. Here, we have applied a deep reinforcement learning approach to the task scheduling system, finding that it effectively reduces the total time required for the task completion. Our findings prove that the cloud–edge hybrid intelligent architectures are a viable solution to address the requirements and conditions of the modern synchrotron radiation facilities, further enhancing their data processing and analysis capabilities.

Solid–liquid–gas reactions are ubiquitous and are encountered in both nature and industrial processes1–4. A comprehensive description of gas transport in liquid and following reactions at the solid–liquid–gas interface, which is substantial in regard to achieving enhanced triple-phase reactions, remains unavailable. Here, we report a real-time observation of the accelerated etching of gold nanorods with oxygen nanobubbles in aqueous hydrobromic acid using liquid-cell transmission electron microscopy. Our observations reveal that when an oxygen nanobubble is close to a nanorod below the critical distance (~1 nm), the local etching rate is significantly enhanced by over one order of magnitude. Molecular dynamics simulation results show that the strong attractive van der Waals interaction between the gold nanorod and oxygen molecules facilitates the transport of oxygen through the thin liquid layer to the gold surface and thus plays a crucial role in increasing the etching rate. This result sheds light on the rational design of solid–liquid–gas reactions for enhanced activities. Real-time imaging of accelerated solid–liquid–gas reactions with nanobubbles uncovers the mechanisms of enhanced triple-phase reactions by identifying the critical distance between solid and gas at the nanoscale.