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The relationship between interacting sites and catalytic mechanisms in single-atom catalysts remains unclear. Here a support engineering strategy is used to tune the binding strength between single-metal atoms and the support, optimizing active Cu sites and enhancing CH₄ formation.

In contrast to the classical streaming potential relying on downstream ionic diffusion, an upstream proton diffusion within two-dimensional nanochannels is found to continuously generate electricity, advancing hydrovoltaic technology.

Lithium sulfur batteries are a promising next generation storage technology. Their performance, however, is subject to the parasitic shuttle effect. Here the authors report a cathode material comprising porous vanadium nitride nanoribbon and graphene to provide anchoring for polysulfides.

To emulate nature biological processing, highly-integrated ultra-sensitive artificial neuromorphic system is highly desirable. Here, the authors report flexible sensor array of 1024 pixels using combination of carbon nanotubes and perovskite QDs as active matetials, achieving highly responsive device for reinforcement learning.

Calcium-ion batteries are potentially attractive alternatives to lithium-ion batteries, but remain largely unexplored because of low performance. A reversible calcium alloying/de-alloying reaction with the tin anode has now been coupled with the intercalation/de-intercalation of hexafluorophosphate in the graphite cathode to enable a calcium-ion battery that operates stably at room temperature.

Chemical vapour deposition is used to grow stable, ultrathin crystals of α-Mo₂C and other transition metal carbides with lateral size up to 100 μm. α-Mo₂C shows a superconducting behaviour with 2D character, strongly dependent on the crystal thickness.

Boron nitride nanosheets possess high in-plane thermal conductivity and high thermal contact resistance. Here the authors discover obliquely aligned nanosheets at the interface can act as a phonon bridge to lower the contact resistance.

The integration of ultraflexible energy harvesters and energy storage devices to form flexible power systems remains a significant challenge. Here, the authors report a system consisting of organic solar cells and zinc-ion batteries, exhibiting high power output for wearable sensors and gadgets.

The authors report a stretchable and integrated energy harvest-storage-application skin-adherent microsystem, by utilizing an all-in-one MXene film simultaneously as micro-supercapacitors, wireless receiver coils and strain sensors.

This protocol presents a general strategy for the direct regeneration of spent lithium-ion battery cathode materials to restore their original performance or upcycle them into next-generation cathodes with enhanced capabilities.

Growth of high-quality semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes is crucial for high-performance devices. Here, the authors report a partially carbon-coated cobalt nanoparticle catalyst which catalyzes growth of predominantly semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes with a narrow band-gap distribution.

Here, the authors develop a plasmon-free SERS platform based on two-dimensional MnPS₃ with sub-attomolar detection limit. Their strategy is based on a mechanochemical approach that combines wrinkling and chemical functionalization to boost SERS performance, making it relevant for biosensing.

Aqueous zinc-bromine flow batteries show promise for grid storage but suffer from zinc dendrite growth and hydrogen evolution reaction. Here, authors develop a reversible carbon felt electrode with Pb nanoparticles to suppress these issues, improving battery performance and cycle stability.

Direct recycling can facilitate the sustainable management of end-of-life spent cathodes, but is hindered by the harsh operation conditions required. An spontaneous lithiation strategy enables direct recycling of spent cathode material at ambient conditions, with clear economic and environmental benefits.

The CD47/SIRPα axis is well known to mediate immune escape by promoting cancer resistance to phagocytosis. Here the authors show that low CD47-expressing prostate cancer cells still allow phagocytosis but the process is incomplete leading to the formation of macrophage:tumor hybrid cells with immune evasive and pro-metastatic properties.

Extensive first principles calculations carried out show that the relative stability of facets of anatase can be switched by terminating the surfaces with fluorine. It is then demonstrated that uniform anatase single crystals with a high percentage of {001} facets can be generated using hydrofluoric acid as a structure directing agent. Subsequently, surfaces can be freed of fluorine using a simple heat treatment.

Direct recycling of critical battery materials bring promise but a challenge for the mixed cathode chemistries. Here, the authors report a sustainable upcycling approach, transforming degraded LiFePO₄ and Mn-rich cathodes into a high-voltage polyanionic material with an increased energy density and economic value.

The water electrolytic oxidation of graphite is a low-cost sustainable synthesis method for the large-scale production of graphene oxide (GO), but it is usually limited by non-uniform oxidation. Here, the authors report a liquid membrane electrolysis method enabling the high-yield synthesis of uniform monolayer GO at industrial scales.

Strong bulk van der Waals materials are fabricated by the compressive moulding of two-dimensional nanosheets near room temperature through water-mediated densification, providing an energy-efficient way for synthesizing various van der Waals materials and a potential for tailoring compositions.

Improving catalyst efficiency is vital for Li-CO₂ batteries, but understanding catalyst structures during battery operation is hard. Here, the authors uncover catalyst reconstruction and its link to activity, highlighting a self-constructed oxysulfide structure with high activity and stability in Li-CO₂ batteries.

Direct recycling or upcycling is promising for sustainable battery resource management. Here, the authors report a subtractive transformation strategy for upcycling spent cathode materials to high-performance 5 V-class cathodes, reducing reliance on rare elements for the sustainable Li-ion battery industry.

The suboptimal optical transmittance of back electrodes and complex fabrication process hindered development of bifacial perovskite solar cells. Here, authors apply single-walled carbon nanotubes as front and back electrodes, achieving power generation density of 36% and bifaciality factor of 98%.

2D semiconductors with high thermal conductivity are essential for next-generation electronics. Here, the authors report a high thermal conductivity of ~173 W·m^–1 ·K^–1 for monolayer MoSi₂N₄, surpassing the known 2D semiconductors and silicon.

Hydrogen production coupled with biomass upgrading is vital for sustainable energy developments. Here, the authors report an acidic hydrogen production system that combines enol electrooxidation to achieve industrial current densities with an operating bias of less than 1.23 V.

Aerogels have many potential applications but usually suffer from poor elasticity. The synergistic assembly of carbon nanotubes and graphene has now allowed multifunctional, ultra-lightweight and super-elastic aerogels to be made.

Mixed-cation perovskite quantum dot solar cells possess decent phase stability but considerably low efficiency. Here Hao et al. show that ligands are key to the formation of quantum dots with lower defect density and demonstrate devices that are more stable and efficient than their bulk counterparts.

Fast and scalable synthesis of a variety of transition metal telluride nanosheets by solid lithiation and hydrolysis is demonstrated and several interesting quantum phenomena were observed, such as quantum oscillations and giant magnetoresistance.

Recycling forms an essential dimension of batteries’ sustainability. Here the authors show a straightforward process that directly upgrades spent LiCoO₂ to a Mg and Al co-substituted LiCoO₂ cathode with a high voltage of 4.6 V and excellent cycling stability.

Advancing high-performance rechargeable batteries requires a deep understanding of the complex relationships among material composition, structure and property. This Perspective highlights the emerging role of ionic potential, defined as the charge-to-radius ratio of an ion, in guiding the design and optimization of battery materials.

A mixed-dimensional hot-emitter transistor based on mixed-dimensional graphene/germanium Schottky junctions uses stimulated emission of heated carriers, achieving an ultralow subthreshold swing and a high negative differential resistance.

Here, the authors exploit a photo-induced barrier-lowering mechanism in MoS₂/ α-MoO_3-x heterojunctions to realize two-dimensional phototransistors with enhanced performance and fast response at low bias voltage.

Chemical vapour deposition is one of the most promising strategies to grow high-quality graphene sheets on a large scale. It is now shown that this deposition technique can be extended to grow three-dimensional graphene networks with high conductivity and flexibility—both promising features for flexible electronics.

Direct seawater electrolysis is promising for sustainable hydrogen production but suffers severe side reactions and corrosion. Here, the authors report a corrosion-resistant electrocatalyst with in situ-formed chloride-ion-repelling cation layer for efficient and long-lasting seawater oxidation.

A core/shell structured hybrid film comprised of N-doped carbon covering on single-wall carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) were synthesized by a rapid electropolymerization method, which not only contains abundant exposed pyridinic N that leads to excellent catalytic activity for both ORR and OER, but also perfectly inherits the high conductivity, excellent flexibility, and porous structure of original SWCNT film, making it a desirable integrated oxygen electrode for Zn-air batteries.

Sustainable recycle of spent Li ion batteries is an effective strategy to alleviate environmental concerns and support resource conservation. Here, authors report the direct regeneration of LiFePO₄ cathode using multifunctional organic lithium salts, leading to high environmental and economic benefits.

Understanding the effect of grain boundaries on the electrical and thermal transport properties of graphene is of both fundamental and technological importance. Here, the authors fabricate graphene films with controlled grain size, and determine the scaling laws of thermal and electrical conductivities.

Grain boundaries in graphene degrade its properties, and large single-crystal graphene is desirable for electronic applications of graphene. Gaoet al. develop a method to produce millimetre-sized hexagonal single-crystal graphene grains, and films composed of the grains, on platinum by chemical vapour deposition.

Doping of low-dimensional graphitic materials with heteroatoms can enhance their catalytic, electrochemical and magnetic properties. Here, the authors report a tunable method to ‘superdope’ these materials with high levels of nitrogen, sulfur, or boron, via a simple fluorination and annealing procedure.

The practical applications of photoelectrochemical water splitting pivot on significant advances that enable scalable production of robust photoactive films. Here, the authors propose a proof-of-concept for fabricating bioinspired robust photoactive films by a particle implanting technique, which embeds semiconductor photoabsorbers in the liquid metal.

High extraction capacity with precise selectivity to trace amounts of gold over a wide range of co-existing elements remains a challenge for effective e-waste recycling. Here, authors demonstrate the excellent performance of rGO for gold extraction from e-waste leachate, even at minute concentrations.

A 2D material based liquid-crystal shows an extremely large optical anisotropy factor in the deep ultraviolet region, showing magnetically tunable birefringence.

Ambient-stable solution-processed conductive materials with a low work function are essential to facilitate electron injection. Here, the authors design and synthesise polymer electrolyte with work function down to 2.2 eV for applications in high-performance light-emitting diodes and solar cells.

Manipulation of vacancy and strain enables fabrication of large area, phase-controllable 2D ferroelectric materials and their hetero-phase junction.

Solving the interlayer charge transfer issue of Bi₃TiNbO₉ is crucial for overcoming its limitation in photocatalytic overall water splitting. Here, the authors introduced gradient doping to promote the separation and transfer of photogenerated charges and enhance the photocatalytic activity.

Twisted phosphorene offers another attractive system to explore moiré physics. Here, the authors report emerging anisotropic moiré optical resonances in twisted monolayer/bilayer phosphorene, exhibiting strong twist dependence for angles as large as 19°.

2D materials are promising substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS)-based molecular sensing, but their performance is usually inferior to their plasmonic counterparts. Here, the authors report the synthesis of 1D/2D WO_3-x/WSe₂ heterostructures, showing high molecular sensitivity associated to ultrafast charge transfer timescales of ~1 ps.

The large-scale production of graphene aimed at industrial applications has grown significantly in the past few years, especially since many companies in China have entered the market.

Aligning 2D nanosheets to form a compact layered structure can maximize the in-plane properties. Here the authors report an efficient and scalable continuous centrifugal casting method to produce highly compact and well-aligned films of GO nanosheets that show record performances in some applications.

Ultraclean and damage-free transfer of graphene over large areas is crucial for the future development of flexible electronics and optoelectronics. Using a rosin-assisted method, the authors transfer graphene with an ultraclean surface and uniform small sheet resistance—a 4-inch monolithic organic light-emitting diode is demonstrated.