Morphology engineering stands as a cornerstone strategy to boost the light harvesting and charge transport properties of wide-bandgap oxide photocatalysts. Herein, a Zn$_2$GeO$_4$ photocatalyst with a highly symmetric conical bundle architecture is successfully fabricated via modulating the dosage of ethylenediamine (EDA). The introduction of a moderate EDA dosage effectively triggers the anisotropic growth of Zn$_2$GeO$_4$, thus constructing a compact and highly ordered conical bundle microstructure (denoted as 4-ZGO). This unique hierarchical morphology not only remarkably shortens the migration pathway of photogenerated charge carriers toward the catalyst surface, but also substantially s... More >

Pristine two-dimensional (2D) GaN is non-magnetic, which limits its direct use in semiconductor spintronics. Here, first-principles calculations were used to screen 3d transition-metal substitution (TM = Sc-Zn) at 6.25 at.% and 9.375 at.% and to evaluate biaxial strain from \(-3%\) to \(3%\). Co substitution produced the most favorable magnetic semiconductor response among the screened dopants. The two concentrations yielded magnetic moments of \(8.00\) and \(12.00\) \(\mu_B\) per supercell and band gaps of \(0.80\) and \(0.55\) eV, respectively. Biaxial strain preserved the magnetic order while tuning the band gaps. In the \(6.25\) at.% Co-doped system, the gap reached \(0.89\) eV at \(2%\)... More >

Titanium-based high-entropy alloys (HEAs) have emerged as promising solid-state hydrogen storage materials owing to their structural stability, tunable thermodynamics, and rapid kinetics. This review systematically examines the hydrogen storage behaviour of Ti-based HEAs across three structural categories: body-centered cubic (BCC) single-phase alloys, C14 Laves phase alloys, and multiphase systems containing CsCl-type structures. The high-entropy effect, severe lattice distortion, sluggish diffusion, and cocktail effect collectively enable these alloys to overcome key limitations of conventional materials, including difficult activation, poor reversibility, and insufficient cycling stabilit... More >

Aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are promising for large-scale energy storage due to their high safety, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, their practical application is hindered by severe parasitic side reactions and uncontrollable dendrite growth on zinc anodes, leading to rapid performance degradation. Constructing an artificial interphase layer (AIL) on the zinc surface has emerged as an effective strategy to isolate the electrolyte and regulate interfacial electrochemistry. Among various candidates, layered materials (LMs) with two-dimensional structures offer intrinsic advantages-including tunable interlayer channels, mechanical flexibility, and high surface areas—t... More >

Polymer-derived carbons have emerged as efficient and economical electrocatalysts for energy-related reactions such as oxygen reduction and hydrogen evolution. However, their performance often faces an inherent trade-off between porosity and electronic conductivity, necessitating precise regulation of composition and structure at the molecular level. To enhance the formation of accessible active sites, we construct a series of core@polyaniline precursors with systematically varied organic cores (a nitrogen-rich polymer (NPS), polysaccharide (GluS), and polyaniline (PANI) itself). Metals ions are introduced during the shell polymerization. The resultant core-shell precursors were then subject... More >