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Nickel-rich layered oxide cathodes suffer from chemomechanical degradation, and current mitigation methods require complex syntheses. Here the researchers show that simple control of LiOH melting produces uniform microstructures that stabilize the cathodes without doping or coatings.

Electrocatalysts facilitate the multi-step proton–electron transfer reactions at the heart of renewable energy chemistry, but their mechanisms can be difficult to understand and control. Now, new research shows how hydrogen isotope-exchange experiments clarify the rate-limiting step and how structural disorder can alter it.

Mapping the operational chemical, physical and electronic structure of an oxygen evolution electrocatalyst at the nanoscale links the properties of the material with the observed oxygen evolution activity.

Lithium-ion battery cathode lifetime is limited by large expansion and contraction during cycling. This study uses electrochemical activation to suppress collapse in LiNi_0.9Mn_0.1O₂ cathodes, achieving improved capacity and cycle life.

Short-circuiting during fast charging through lithium dendrite intrusion into electrolytes is a major challenge in solid-state batteries. Here, using thermally annealed 3-nm-thick Ag coatings, lithium penetration into brittle electrolyte Li_6.6La₃Zr_1.6Ta_0.4O₁₂ is inhibited at local current densities of 250 mA cm⁻² due to an increase in surface fracture toughness.

Electrochemical incorporation reactions are ubiquitous in energy storage and conversion devices. Here, the authors perform in operando X-ray spectroscopy to probe the incorporation of oxygen into ceria and demonstrate that the ion-incorporation step is fast compared with the electron-transfer step.

A closed-loop machine learning methodology of optimizing fast-charging protocols for lithium-ion batteries can identify high-lifetime charging protocols accurately and efficiently, considerably reducing the experimental time compared to simpler approaches.

An Fe^III/V redox mechanism in Li₄FeSbO₆ on delithiation without Fe^IV or oxygen formation with resistance to aging, high operating potential and low voltage hysteresis is demonstrated, with implications for Fe-based high-voltage applications.

The surface oxygen storage capacity is an important metric of catalytic activity, but its dependence on strain is not well characterized. Here, the authors show the surface oxygen nonstoichiometry in coherently strained CeO2-δ films increases non-monotonically with biaxial strain.

Experts from across the nuclear fuel cycle gathered in Arlington, USA, to strategize ways to overcome supply chain challenges and meet growing nuclear energy demand.

A key step in fuel-cell energy-conversion processes is electro-oxidation of the fuel at the anode, but ways to improve electrocatalytic activity remain unclear. Using ceria–metal structures, H₂-oxidation reactions are shown to be dominated by electrocatalysis at the oxide/gas interface with minimal contributions from the oxide/metal/gas triple-phase boundaries.

Lithium-ion batteries degrade in complex ways. This study shows that cycling under realistic electric vehicle driving profiles enhances battery lifetime by up to 38% compared with constant current cycling, underscoring the need for realistic loads to capture ageing mechanisms.

Oxygen release in Li-rich layered oxides is of both fundamental and practical interest in batteries, but a varied mechanistic understanding exists. Here the authors evaluate the extent of oxygen release over extended cycles and present a comprehensive picture of the phenomenon that unifies the current explanations.

Li-rich oxides were found to slowly release considerable quantities of oxygen at varying states of charge. These observations point to the intrinsic instability of oxygen in partially charged oxides and highlight the need for degradation studies.

Phase transformations driven by compositional change require mass flux across a phase boundary. Lithium migration in Li_XFePO₄ along the solid/liquid interface now suggests that surface diffusion contributes to tuning phase transformation in anisotropic solids.

Analysis of a large dataset of scanning transmission X-ray microscopy images of carbon-coated lithium iron phosphate nanoparticles shows that the heterogeneous reaction kinetics of battery materials can be learned from such videos pixel by pixel.

Reversible high-voltage redox is a key component for electrochemical technologies from electrocatalysts to lithium-ion batteries. A point defect explanation for why anion redox occurs with local structural disordering and voltage hysteresis is proposed.

Lithium ion battery electrodes employing anion redox exhibit high energy densities but suffer from poor cyclability. Here the authors reveal that the voltage of anion redox is strongly affected by structural changes that occur during battery cycling, explaining its unique electrochemical properties.

Efficient and durable electrocatalysts are essential for boosting oxygen evolution reaction toward hydrogen production. Here, the authors report a combined theoretical and experimental study on high-entropy spinel oxide with element mixing and strains providing superior activity and stability.

Surface redox centres in metal oxides play a key role in catalytic performance, and the conventional view is that the transition-metal cations dominate this behaviour. Here, the authors perform an in operandospectroscopic study, and find that oxygen anions are a significant redox partner to molecular oxygen.

Sodium-ion batteries are a cost-effective alternative to lithium-ion for large-scale energy storage. Here Bao et al. develop a cathode based on biomass-derived ionic crystals that enables a four-sodium ion storage mechanism leading to exceptionally high specific capacity and energy density.

Although layered oxides electrodes in lithium-ion batteries are designed under conditions avoiding phase transitions, phase separation during delithiation has been observed. This apparent phase separation is shown to be a dynamical artefact occurring in a many-particle system driven by autocatalytic electrochemical reactions.

Constitutive laws underlie most physical processes, but understanding chemo-mechanical expansion in heterogeneous solids is challenging. A physically constrained image-learning approach is now proposed to obtain fundamental insight into dislocations inside battery electrodes.

Structure–activity relationships built on descriptors of surfaces can help to design electrocatalysts, but their identification for electrochemically driven surface transformations is challenging. The composition of LaNiO₃ thin film surfaces can now dictate surface transformation and activity of the oxygen evolution reaction.

Accurately predicting battery lifetime is difficult, and a prediction often cannot be made unless a battery has already degraded significantly. Here the authors report a machine-learning method to predict battery life before the onset of capacity degradation with high accuracy.

Identifying rate-determining steps (RDSs) is one of the most challenging aspects of catalysis. This work presents a general framework to identify the RDS of mixed ion and electron transfer reactions, and applies it to the four-electron/two-ion O₂ reduction in solid-oxide fuel cell cathodes, converging on four RDS out of more than 100 possible candidates.

The root cause of lithium dendrites during battery cycling is of fundamental interest. By performing operando microprobe experiments and statistical analyses, the authors report that lithium dendrites are initiated via nanoscale mechanical defects and can be manipulated via globally applied stresses.

Investigation of the individual state-of-charge of particles in the phase-separating battery electrode lithium iron phosphate reveals that the fraction of active particles is highly dependent on cycle rate and direction. The findings could lead to enhanced current uniformity and cycle life in other electrode systems.

CO₂ electrolysers store electricity as CO or other chemical fuels, but can suffer from carbon deposition at the electrodes. Skafte et al. identify a mechanistic route to inhibiting carbon build-up in ceria-based electrolysers and build a cell that operates beyond the thermodynamic carbon deposition threshold.

Phase transitions are detrimental to the cyclability of layered oxide cathodes for next-generation sodium-ion batteries. Now, two complementary studies suggest principles on how to navigate through the vast compositional space for better electrochemical performance.

Three-dimensional optical imaging during battery operation reveals lithium heterogeneity at multiple length scales, challenging the look-at-one-particle approach.

Sodium-ion batteries are considered a promising substitute for Li-ion, but the timeline and conditions for achieving cost-competitiveness remain uncertain. This study evaluates their techno-economic potential, showing that while challenging, they could compete with low-cost Li-ion batteries by the 2030s under specific conditions.

The development of high-energy Li-ion batteries is being geared towards cobalt-free cathodes because of economic and social–environmental concerns. Here the authors analyse the chemistry, thermodynamics and resource potential of these strategic transition metals, and propose that the use of cobalt will likely continue.

Electrochemical ion insertion is rapidly emerging as a powerful materials design strategy. This Review discusses how ion insertion enables reversible transformation and switching of physico-chemical properties, the role of defects and interfacial reactions, and opportunities for ultrafast ionic control.

PdCoO₂ belongs to a class of materials where both weakly and strongly correlated electrons co-exist side-by-side in different layers of the crystal structure. Here, the authors investigate PdCoO₂ using standing wave photoemission spectroscopy and many-body calculations reporting layer-specific details about the electronic structure.