Water-in-salt electrolytes have attracted significant interest as high-performance electrolytes for electrochemical energy storage owing to their expanded electrochemical stability windows and enhanced safety. However, the mechanisms of ion transport and charging dynamics of water-in-salt electrolytes under nanoconfinement remain poorly understood. Here, we employed constant-potential-based molecular dynamics simulations to investigate ion transport and charging dynamics of water-in-salt electrolytes within subnanopore. In contrast to dilute solutions, an anomalous solvation-enhancement phenomenon was observed for highly concentrated electrolytes in subnanopore. Further analysis reveals that, contrary to bulk behavior, ion transport with enhanced solvation is strongly suppressed, ascribable to a transition in the transport mechanism from free diffusion to oscillatory interlayer migration. Additionally, in highly concentrated electrolytes within subnanopore, the distinctive layered structure restricts ion adsorption and desorption to the pore entrance during charging, ultimately yielding pronounced ion blockage. As a result, the charging rate of high-concentration electrolytes is reduced by nearly an order of magnitude relative to dilute solutions. These findings provide valuable insight into ion transport in water-in-salt electrolytes under nanoconfinement and offer theoretical guidance for the design of next-generation electrochemical energy storage systems.

Aqueous Zn-ion batteries (AZIBs) have emerged as promising energy storage systems due to their high safety, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, the practical application of zinc metal anodes is hindered by challenges such as Zn dendrite growth and side reactions, which degrade the cycle performance and energy efficiency of AZIBs. To address these issues, a facile and functional coating composed of zinc alginate gel (Alg-Zn) and 2H-molybdenum disulfide (2H-MoS₂) was used to modify the Zn anode (MAZ@Zn). Combined experimental and theoretical investigations reveal that, in addition to the Zn²⁺ guiding effect of ion conductive Alg-Zn, the 2H-MoS₂ functions as an ion sieve. This facilitates the fast Zn²⁺ migration and even distribution because of the lower ion migration energy along the MoS₂ surface, ensuring fast Zn²⁺ diffusion in the MAZ@Zn coating and uniform Zn deposition. Moreover, the barrier effect of MoS₂ against H₂O helps suppress side reactions such as hydrogen evolution, thereby further enhancing the interfacial stability of the Zn anode. As a result, the MAZ@Zn symmetric cells exhibit excellent cyclic stability, achieving a lifespan of 880 h at 1 mA cm^-2 and 1 mAh cm^-2, with low voltage polarization and low charge transfer energy. In contrast, the bare Zn anode only sustains 150 h of cycling under identical conditions. In Zn//sodium vanadate full batteries, the MAZ@Zn anode demonstrates outstanding performance, retaining 88.4% of its capacity after 1,000 cycles at 4 A g^-1. This work offers a simple and effective strategy for developing high-performance Zn anodes for long-life AZIBs.

To address global energy and environmental challenges, photocatalytic hydrogen production has emerged as a clean and promising technology that utilizes solar energy to generate green hydrogen, producing only water as a byproduct. This review highlights recent advances in strategies for significantly enhancing photocatalytic hydrogen evolution to promote its industrialization. Key approaches include morphology optimization for improved light absorption and charge transport, metal hybridization or incorporation to enhance catalytic activity and selectivity, and interface engineering to facilitate charge separation and reaction kinetics. Additionally, the emerging photocatalysts, such as two-dimensional transition metal carbides, metal-organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks, and high-entropy materials provide superior alternatives. Furthermore, this review discusses multifunctional enhancements for practical applications and showcases cutting-edge large-scale demonstrations, including 100 m² panel arrays and compound parabolic concentrator reactors, which achieve a solar-to-hydrogen efficiency of 9% and 300 h stability in seawater splitting. These advances underscore the techno-economic potential of photocatalytic hydrogen production and bridge fundamental research with industrial implementation. Finally, the current challenges and future research trends are pointed out for designing high-performance photocatalysts and offering insight into the feasible strategies to develop the industrial application of photocatalytic hydrogen production.

This study presents a novel slit evaporation self-assembly method for fabricating freestanding sulfuric acid-treated reduced graphene oxide/commercial graphene films (S-ATrGO/CG). The unique capillary slit-induced self-assembly process facilitates the alignment and stacking of graphene flakes, resulting in a well-ordered, laminated film. The treatment of graphene oxide (GO) with sulfuric acid facilitates the ring-opening of inert functional groups, converting them into active functional groups. Sulfuric acid-treated graphene oxide (ATGO) can serve as an effective binder for adhering commercial graphene flakes. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to quantitatively analyze the oxygen-containing functional groups in GO, ATGO, and S-ATrGO/CG. A series of electrochemical tests were conducted to investigate the behavior of the S-ATrGO/CG films, which exhibited well-defined redox peaks, indicating the contribution of unreduced oxygen-containing groups to redox reactions and pseudocapacitance. The S-ATrGO/CG films exhibit superior electrochemical performance, with an ultra-high area-specific capacitance of 1,589.78 mF cm^-2 at a scan of 5 mV s^-1 and an impressive initial capacitance retention of 99.80% after 20,000 cycles at a current density of 50 mA cm^-2. This study highlights the potential of S-ATrGO/CG films as high-performance electrodes for supercapacitors, contributing to the advancement of sustainable energy storage systems.

This study reports the synthesis and characterization of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) tailored for application in alkaline water electrolysis for green hydrogen production. Novel membranes were developed by crosslinking polybenzimidazole (PBI) and poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) (PVBC) in a 1:2 ratio, followed by quaternization with either 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) or 1-methylpyrrolidine (MPY). Their performance was benchmarked against commercial membranes, including Fumasep® FAA-3-50 and Dapozol M-40. The membranes were thoroughly characterized by scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, infrared and Raman spectroscopies, ionic conductivity, ion exchange capacity, water uptake and swelling measurements. Additionally, molecular dynamics simulations were performed to determine the diffusion coefficients of OH^- and H₂, providing further insight into ion transport and gas permeability at the molecular level. Electrochemical performance was evaluated in a flow-cell configuration under different pretreatment protocols. A key result of this work is the superior gas-barrier performance of the synthesized membranes. In stability electrolysis tests, both DABCO- and MPY-based membranes showed significantly reduced hydrogen crossover, 36% lower than FAA-3-50, decreasing from approximately 2.7% to just 1.7% H₂ detected at the anode. This reduction in crossover is critical for enhancing efficiency and safety in hydrogen production. While FAA-3-50 delivered the best overall performance in short test activation conditions, the synthesized membranes demonstrated highly competitive performance and notable improvements in selectivity and stability. Dapozol M-40 was excluded from further analysis due to its poor electrochemical performance. These findings confirm the potential of tailored PBI/PVBC-based membranes for advanced alkaline electrolysis applications.

Spring-assisted triboelectric nanogenerators (S-TENGs) have emerged as effective energy harvesters of low-frequency, low-amplitude vibrations via resonance tuning, amplified relative motion, and enhanced contact force between triboelectric layers. Unlike conventional triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), S-TENGs uniquely harness elastic resonance through integrated spring structures to efficiently harvest low-frequency and subtle mechanical vibrations that are otherwise difficult to convert into electricity, thereby enhancing overall energy conversion efficiency. Recent innovations in triboelectric materials, electrode designs, and structures have enabled the development of high-performance TENGs for sustainable green energy. This review highlights the pivotal role of spring elements in improving S-TENG performance and provides design insights for constructing robust, self-powered, and maintenance-free sensing platforms. Diverse architectures include linear and multi-degree-of-freedom systems, as well as cantilever, tower, helical, magnetic, and composite designs. Each is engineered to optimize vibration response and maximize output performance, enabling it to be used as an independent power source. Hybrid triboelectric-electromagnetic integration, negative-stiffness mechanisms, and mechanical frequency regulation further extend the adaptability of S-TENGs to real-world conditions. Industrial equipment monitoring, wireless carbon dioxide sensing, omnidirectional vibration harvesting, and motor fault detection in unmanned aerial vehicles demonstrate the versatility and practical impact of S-TENGs.

Electrospinning enables the fabrication of nanofiber films with large active surface area, high porosity, and controllable filler orientation, offering distinct advantages for fabricating high-performance triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs). Here, we develop MoS₂-doped electrospun polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) films for TENG fabrication and reveal the underlying mechanisms of their enhanced triboelectric performance. Compared with spin-coated films, electrospun films intrinsically deliver higher output due to their fibrous morphology, while incorporation of MoS₂ nanosheets further improves the performance. TENGs with the optimized 2 wt.% MoS₂-PVA electrospun film reached 994.0 V, 111.0 mA·m^-2, and 136.3 μC·m^-2, corresponding to 3.8, 3.8, and 3.0 fold enhancements over the spin-coated pristine PVA TENG. Mechanistic studies by experiments and theoretical analysis showed that this remarkable enhancement arises from the combined effects of morphology-driven enlargement of effective contact area, MoS₂-induced surface charge modulation, and nanosheet alignment-induced piezoelectric polarization. Detailed material characterizations, COMSOL simulations, and molecular dynamic calculations provide quantitative and atomistic insights into these contributions. These results establish a coherent structure-property-performance relationship and provide design rules for durable, biocompatible, and high-output TENGs, highlighting their promise for wearable energy harvesting and self-powered sensing applications.

Metallic zinc anodes are promising candidates for aqueous batteries due to their high abundance, low cost, and environmental friendliness. However, challenges such as dendrite formation, hydrogen evolution side reactions, and irreversible corrosion hinder their practical application. In this study, we propose a pyrrolic nitrogen-enriched solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) layer to overcome these limitations and achieve a stable, dendrite-free zinc anode. By leveraging molecular functionalization, pyrrolic nitrogen facilitates uniform zinc deposition, suppresses unfavorable side reactions, and enhances the overall anode stability. Systematic experimental validation reveals that the engineered SEI achieves remarkable electrochemical performance, maintaining over 95% Coulombic efficiency and delivering long-term cycling stability beyond 500 cycles in an aqueous environment. Further computational simulations elucidate the synergistic interactions between pyrrolic nitrogen and zinc ions, offering deep insights into the underlying mechanisms of interphase stabilization. This work not only addresses the primary bottlenecks of zinc anodes but also establishes a scalable design framework for next-generation aqueous zinc batteries, enabling both improved durability and higher efficiency for real-world applications.

Proton ceramic fuel cells (PCFCs) are considered highly efficient energy conversion devices, yet their performance is strongly governed by the catalytic activity and stability of anode materials. Although PrBaMn₂O_5+δ (R-PBM) has demonstrated intrinsic tolerance to hydrocarbon fuels, its electrochemical activity at intermediate and low temperatures remains insufficient for practical reversible PCFCs (r-PCFCs) applications. Therefore, a Ni-doped R-PBM anode material, PrBaMn_1.95Ni_0.05O_5+δ (R-PBMN), was studied in this work. The in situ exsolution of Ni nanoparticles after partial Ni substitution for Mn sites significantly improved the anode activity. The exsolved Ni nanoparticles effectively lower the activation energy for C-H bond cleavage, thereby enhancing methane activation and decomposition. Meanwhile, the R-PBMN lattice provides intrinsic hydrophilicity and high proton mobility, which enable cooperative CH₄/H₂O activation and facilitate the formation of CH_xOH* intermediates that suppress carbon deposition. As a result, R-PBMN exhibits substantially enhanced electrochemical performance. At 650 °C, R-PBMN demonstrated substantially lower polarization resistance than R-PBM: 0.56 Ω cm² in H₂ and 3.38 Ω cm² in CH₄, representing a 90% and 55% reduction, respectively, while retaining a high impedance stability for 120 h in methane-steam atmosphere. At 700 °C, the peak power density of R-PBMN in H₂ and CH₄ reached 0.82 and 0.64 W cm^-2, respectively, a 15.5% and 18.5% increase compared to R-PBM. Furthermore, the R-PBMN anode retained the intrinsic coking resistance of the Pr_0.5Ba_0.5MnO_3-δ (PBM) framework, ensuring stable operation for 100 h in a 50% H₂O/CH₄ atmosphere. This work highlights a cooperative design strategy that transforms PBM from a hydrocarbon-tolerant but low-activity oxide into a high-performance PCFC anode with balanced activity and durability.