Advanced Energy Materials

ABSTRACT Aluminum‐ion batteries (AIBs) hold great promise for large‐scale energy storage owing to their cost‐effectiveness. However, Al‐metal anodes face challenges such as passivation, dendrites, and structural degradation, thus limiting long‐term cycling stability. Inspired by the highly sensitive diffuse nerve net of sea anemone tentacles, a bioinspired Al@CNT anode is rationally designed by i…

ABSTRACT Fast‐charging operation in lithium‐ion batteries is influenced by internal mechanical heterogeneity, while its spatiotemporal evolution under high‐rate conditions remains poorly resolved. Existing diagnostic approaches provide only surface‐level information, leaving internal mechanical heterogeneity during fast charging inaccessible. Here, we employ operando distributed optical fiber sen…

ABSTRACT While electrochemical direct ocean capture (e‐DOC) offers a plausible pathway for gigaton‐scale decarbonization, its practical deployment remains bottlenecked by complex reactor architectures, constrained fluid‐electrode interfacial areas, massive Ohmic penalties, and severe mineral fouling. Herein, a compact, membrane‐integrated hollow fiber electrode assembly architecture that systemat…

ABSTRACT Gel polymer electrolytes are essential for high‐energy‐density lithium metal batteries (LMBs), but their practical applications are limited by poor low‐temperature kinetics and insufficient high‐temperature stability. Notably, the wide‐temperature design of solvation structures is critical for the stable operation of wide‐temperature gel polymer electrolytes (WTGPEs). Herein, we contrive…

ABSTRACT Photothermal catalytic CO 2 methanation provides a promising route toward realizing carbon recycling. However, conventional supported Ni‐based photothermal catalysts are limited by inadequate CO 2 activation capability and severe sintering of Ni nanoparticles at high temperatures. Here, a bead‐like CeO 2 ‐bridged Ni nanoparticle catalyst (Ni‐CeO 2 ‐Ni) is constructed via a laser‐driven p…

ABSTRACT Lithium‐organochalcogenide batteries have the merits of high energy density, eco‐friendliness, and low costs, but facing issues like rapid capacity fading and poor rate capability. Herein, we propose the design and synthesis of an organoselenide‐sulfide hybrid compound by reacting tetramethyl thiuram disulfide with molten selenium disulfide (SeS 2 ). The organoselenide‐sulfide hybrid com…

ABSTRACT The development of aqueous zinc–iodine (Zn–I 2 ) batteries is constrained by severe polyiodide shuttling, dendrite growth, and the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Herein, a TiO 2 ‐coated TiN nanowire array electrode is designed through the synergistic integration of facet engineering and heterointerface construction, enabling the simultaneous suppression of these issues. Facet enginee…

ABSTRACT A formidable challenge in developing high‐energy‐density lithium‐ion batteries for electric vehicles and aviation lies in enabling ultra‐fast charging and wide‐temperature operation, originating from trade‐offs in electrolyte design. The electrolyte must reconcile high ionic conductivity, minimal desolvation penalties, and low melting points, while deriving a robust, anion‐rich inorganic…

ABSTRACT Solid electrolytes are central to enabling safe, high‐energy solid‐state sodium batteries. While oxyhalide‐type conductors have rapidly advanced lithium‐based systems, their sodium analogues remain less understood and underdeveloped. This gap arises from their intrinsically amorphous nature, which obscures structure–transport relationships and limits rational design. Here, we elucidate t…

ABSTRACT As a potent interfacial platform at the crossroads of molecular engineering and device physics, self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs) have been demonstrated to enable molecular‐level control over buried interfaces in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), whilst overcoming the intrinsic limitations of conventional charge transport layers (CTLs). Over the past two years, SAM‐enabled interface engineer…

ABSTRACT LiNi x Mn y Co z O 2 (NMC) and LiNi x Co y Al z O 2 (NCA) positive electrode materials for lithium‐ion batteries have existed in the literature for a quarter century, yet myths surrounding many aspects of them abound. In this perspective, four myths are tackled, including the energy density correlation with nickel amount, the (lack of) phase transitions in most high‐nickel materials, the…

ABSTRACT Sustainable hydrogen generation through water splitting is key to realizing a future hydrogen economy. In this study, we achieved molecular‐level control over self‐assembled supramolecular complexes of cyanuric acid and 3‐amino 1,2,4 triazole (AT) monomers. This was coupled with molten‐salt‐assisted thermal polymerization in a eutectic mixture of lithium chloride and potassium chloride t…

ABSTRACT Electric double‐layer capacitors (EDLCs), which store energy via reversible ion adsorption and desorption at the electrode‐electrolyte interface, hold considerable promise for energy storage under extreme temperature conditions. However, their practical application faces significant limitations associated with temperature‐dependent limitations: at high‐temperature, electrolyte decomposit…

ABSTRACT Hybrid tin‐lead (Sn–Pb) perovskites, with bandgaps tunable down to 1.25 eV, hold great promise for high‐efficiency photovoltaics. However, their performance is often hampered by the buried interface defects and instability induced by the commonly used hole‐transport layer (HTL), Poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), which suffers from intrinsic hygroscopic…

ABSTRACT Polarization relaxation has been regarded as an effective approach to convert electromagnetic energy into thermal energy by enhancing the dielectric loss of electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers. However, it is still challengeable to effectively construct multiple polarization centers to achieve broadband absorption. Herein, we design a novel self‐stacked structure that is constructed via…

ABSTRACT Solid‐solid phase change materials (SSPCMs) hold great promise for thermal management, yet their development has long been hindered by the “impossible triangle”: simultaneously achieving high energy density, robust mechanical properties, and full recyclability. This study presents a strategy to address this trilemma by constructing a reversible physically crosslinked network based on ste…

ABSTRACT Integrating solar‐driven photovoltaics (PVs) with photo‐electrocatalytic (PEC) antibacterial systems presents a sustainable and efficient technology that operates entirely on renewable energy. Herein, we report a high‐performance, self‐powered PV‐PEC system enabled by wide‐bandgap (WBG) perovskite solar cells/modules (PSCs/PSMs). Specifically, 3‐Fluoro‐L‐Phenylalanine (3‐FLPA) is introdu…

ABSTRACT Seawater batteries (SWBs) that rely on the dissolved oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on the cathode are a crucial choice for the long‐term power supply of underwater equipment. However, chloride ions (Cl − ) poisoning and the lean‐oxygen condition in seawater severely suppress the ORR kinetics, leading to rapid activity decay and poor durability of catalysts. Herein, we present a Cl − ‐r…

ABSTRACT Passively converting ubiquitous atmospheric moisture into liquid water has emerged as an attractive solution to issues of water scarcity. However, the water transport kinetics and scalability of this technology limit the productive efficiency and productivity of water. Here, we describe a large‐scale and rapid mode of water harvesting, from which the core absorbent is produced by industr…

ABSTRACT Achieving selective and energy‐efficient urea oxidation is a key challenge in urea‐assisted water electrolysis due to sluggish activation of nickel sites and their limited active potential range. Here, we construct Ni 2 P/MoP embedded in conductive carbon nanofibers (Ni 2 P/MoP/CNFs) that couple precise interfacial charge redistribution with synergistic electronic modulation to accelerat…