Sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) have gained attention for their low cost and abundant sodium resources. However, at low temperature (LT), their electrolytes suffer from reduced conductivity, higher viscosity, poor interfacial stability, and sluggish ion transport, leading to capacity loss and shortened cycle life. These problems significantly restrict the practical application of SIBs in harsh or LT environments, where performance degradation, capacity fading, or even complete failure can occur. Therefore, enhancing the LT performance of SIB electrolytes has become a key research focus. Improvements in electrolyte formulation-including solvent selection, sodium salt optimization, and functional additive engineering-play a vital role in addressing issues such as ion transport limitations and unstable electrode-electrolyte interfaces at LT. This review provides a comprehensive summary of the strategies developed to optimize various types of SIB electrolytes under LT conditions, including organic solvent systems, ionic liquids, solid-state electrolytes, and co-solvents. In addition, it discusses the latest research progress, highlights representative studies, and outlines potential directions for future development, with the aim of guiding the design of high-performance SIBs for LT.

Sb₂S₃ has emerged as a highly promising material for thin-film solar cells due to its low toxicity, excellent stability, and strong light absorption in the visible region. However, challenges such as the formation of the Sb₂O₃ secondary phase and S re-evaporation still exist during the high-temperature annealing of Sb₂S₃. To address these issues, this study introduces a strategy involving the pre-deposition of an ultrathin ZnO protective layer onto the Sb₂S₃ surface. The ZnO layer facilitates controlled oxygen passivation through a lattice-vacancy-mediated mass transfer mechanism, effectively suppressing the formation of Sb₂O₃ and minimizing Sb₂S₃ volatilization, while simultaneously forming a Zn-doping layer. The results show that Zn doping significantly enhances the energy level alignment at the back interface: the conduction band minimum (CBM) and valence band maximum (VBM) of the Sb₂O₃/Sb₂S₃ mixed layer are upshifted, and the Fermi level is downshifted, thereby promoting hole transport. Additionally, the carrier concentration increases, reducing the contact barrier with the carbon electrode. This modification enables the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of all-inorganic Sb₂S₃ solar cells with fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO)/CdS/Sb₂S₃/PbS/Carbon/Ag structures to reach an impressive 7.00%, representing the most advanced performance level currently available and providing new guidance for the development of high-performance and low-cost all-inorganic Sb₂S₃ solar cells.

In order to make garnet-based all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) attractive for industrial applications, their rate capability has to be significantly improved. Recently, cubic Li_6.4Ga_0.2La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO:Ga) was found to have the highest total ionic conductivity of any oxide solid-state electrolyte by far, reaching up to 2 × 10^-3 S/cm at room temperature. Since the rate performance of composite cathodes is directly linked to their ionic conductivity, LLZO:Ga is an ideal solid-state electrolyte for high-performance ASSBs. However, careful material selection is required for the fabrication of such ceramic composite cathodes at elevated temperatures in order to avoid incompatibility issues that could lead to low electrochemical performance. We therefore systematically studied the co-sintering behavior of cubic LLZO:Ga in combination with common cathode active materials, including LiCoO₂ (LCO), LiNi_1/3Mn_1/3Co_1/3O₂ (NCM111), and LiNi_0.8Mn_0.1Co_0.1O₂ (NCM811). The analyses were performed using X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The experimental conditions were chosen to enable a direct comparison with our previous study on Li_6.45La₃Zr_1.6Ta_0.4Al_0.05O₁₂ (LLZO:Ta). For the first time, we were thus able to elucidate the impact of different LLZO compositions on material compatibility. While most of the observed secondary phases were similar to those found for LLZO:Ta-based composites, a more severe degradation of the cubic LLZO:Ga structure itself was observed, reducing its conductivity and thus limiting the performance of the final cell. Consequently, the processing window for producing LLZO:Ga-based composite cathodes is even narrower than for LLZO with other dopants, thus requiring careful tailoring and tight control over the processing conditions when manufacturing garnet-based ASSBs.

Antimony selenide (Sb₂Se₃) has attracted growing interest as a promising thin-film photovoltaic absorber owing to its favorable optoelectronic properties and intrinsic chemical stability. However, device efficiency remains limited by several intrinsic challenges, including quasi-one-dimensional (Q1D) structural constraints that cause ineffective lattice doping, suboptimal crystallinity, high defect density, and unfavorable band alignment at the cadmium sulfide (CdS)/Sb₂Se₃ heterojunction. Here, we propose a lanthanide doping strategy based on ionic antisite diffusion- using neodymium (Nd³⁺) to simultaneously engineer bulk crystal growth and interface energetics. By introducing neodymium chloride (NdCl₃) onto the CdS surface and exploiting reverse gradient diffusion, Nd³⁺ ions are effectively incorporated into Sb₂Se₃ without inducing significant lattice distortion. Meanwhile, the CdS surface is passivated and its roughness reduced, facilitating the deposition of high-quality films. This strategy promotes preferential [hk1] orientation, enhances crystallinity, enlarges grain size, and suppresses deep-level defects. Density functional theory calculations further corroborate the role of Nd in lowering defect formation energies and modulating the electronic structure. Moreover, Nd incorporation optimizes conduction band alignment, suppresses Shockley-Read-Hall recombination, and improves carrier extraction. As a result, the champion device achieves a power conversion efficiency of 9.17%, with a fill factor (FF) of 64.58%, an open-circuit voltage (V_OC) of 0.46 V, and a short-circuit current density (J_SC) of 30.54 mA/cm². This work provides fundamental insights into doping in Q1D semiconductors and offers a practical route toward high-efficiency Sb₂Se₃ photovoltaics.

p-Type Mg₃Sb₂ possesses strong thermoelectric potential, yet effective strategies to further enhance its performance remain underexplored. In this study, we investigated the p-type Zintl-phase compound Mg₃Sb₂ and proposed a Zn/Cu co-doping strategy to synergistically optimize carrier transport and lattice thermal conductivity. Mg_3.1-xZn_xSb₂ (x = 0, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8) and Mg_2.3-yZn_0.8Cu_ySb₂ (y = 0, 0.075, 0.100, and 0.125) series samples were prepared via high-energy ball milling followed by hot pressing. First-principles calculations reveal that substituting Mg sites with Zn and Cu induces pronounced band-structure modulation, shifting the Fermi level into the valence band and narrowing the bandgap. These effects collectively increase hole concentration and enhance electrical conductivity. Meanwhile, the mass fluctuation and local lattice distortion introduced by co-doping intensify phonon scattering, resulting in a substantial reduction in lattice thermal conductivity. Experimentally, Zn/Cu co-doping delivers a well-balanced optimization of thermoelectric transport properties. The Mg_2.2Zn_0.8Cu_0.1Sb₂ sample achieves a power factor of 351.99 μW cm^-1 K^-2 and a peak figure of merit (ZT) of 0.42 at 735 K, corresponding to a 147% improvement compared with the undoped sample. This work elucidates the synergistic effects of Zn/Cu co-doping in electronic band engineering and phonon modulation, offering a promising strategy for the rational design of high-performance p-type Mg₃Sb₂ and other Zintl-phase thermoelectric materials.

Hydrogen energy technologies offer a transformative shift toward reducing reliance on fossil fuels and creating a sustainable, low-carbon future. In this shift, topological materials, known for their strong electron interactions and unique physical properties, present promising opportunities in electrocatalysis. In this study, we performed a systematic density functional theory analysis of over 100 topological materials and examined more than 1,000 adsorption sites. Our findings reveal that topological materials possess abundant and diverse active sites, resulting in a wide range of hydrogen adsorption energies ranging from -1.5 eV to 0 eV. To identify the most promising catalysts for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic media, we focused on the topological materials with hydrogen adsorption energies within -0.27 ± 0.1 eV. The Gibbs free energy of hydrogen adsorption (ΔG_H*) was evaluated for the HER. All selected materials showed ΔG_H* values between -0.31 and -0.16 eV. Based on these results, 11 promising candidates were identified with high potential for efficient HER activity. Our study establishes fundamental structure-property-activity relationships that can serve as a reliable dataset for further machine-learning studies, while also providing valuable insights and design guidelines for the continued exploration of topological materials as high-performance HER catalysts.

Alkaline water electrolysis offers a promising route for large-scale hydrogen production, but its efficiency is limited by the sluggish kinetics of both the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, we designed a hierarchical composite electrocatalyst comprising iridium-doped nickel-cobalt phosphide nanoparticles (Ir-NiCoP/Ni₅P₄) encapsulated within nickel-iron layered double hydroxide nanosheets (NiFe-LDH). Oxygen vacancies (O_V) were engineered on the surface via sodium borohydride reduction, yielding an optimized catalyst denoted as Ir-NiCoP/Ni₅P₄@NiFe-LDH-1-O_V. The optimized catalyst delivers low overpotentials of 52.7 mV for HER and 197.3 mV for OER at 10 mA cm^-2 and maintains remarkable stability over 100 h for overall water splitting. Moreover, the Ir-NiCoP/Ni₅P₄@NiFe-LDH catalyst exhibits overpotentials of 76.7 and 101.3 mV for HER and the ammonia oxidation reaction A in 1 M KOH + NH₃·H₂O, respectively.

Lithium-ion batteries are widely applied in the field of energy storage due to their high energy density and long cycle life. However, traditional liquid electrolytes have safety hazards such as leakage and thermal runaway. The quasi-solid-state battery (QSSB) and all-solid-state battery (ASSB) have emerged as promising alternatives with higher safety and stability. In addition, Si-based electrodes are attractive due to their high theoretical capacity. Currently, researchers apply Si-based electrodes in QSSB and ASSB, but the failure mechanisms within them are not fully summarized and organized. Herein, this work systematically studies the failure mechanisms of QSSB and ASSB with Si-based electrodes, including particle fracture, solid electrolyte interphase breakdown, pore evolution, and electrical contact loss. The influence of rigid solid electrolytes on ASSB is discussed, as well as the limitations of quasi-solid electrolytes, such as low ionic conductivity and side reactions. The strategies for alleviating these problems are also reviewed, including the structural design of Si electrodes, electrolyte optimization, and interface engineering. This article aims to summarize the key failure mechanisms and provide guidance and technological development directions for the subsequent development of high-energy density and long-life batteries.

Development of multifunctional triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) capable of efficiently harvesting diverse low-frequency mechanical energies for self-powered systems remains a significant challenge. To address this issue, we designed and fabricated a zigzag-origami-structured TENG based on composite films by integrating a zinc coordination polymer (Zn-CP) with ethylcellulose (EC), aiming to convert human-motion and water-wave energies into electricity to drive a self-powered photo-induced oxidation system. A series of flexible Zn-CP@EC composite films with varying Zn-CP contents were prepared, among which the 10% Zn-CP@EC composite film exhibited the best triboelectric performance. By scaling the film dimensions and integrating multiple origami-structured 10% Zn-CP@EC-TENGs (Z-TENGs), the output performance was further enhanced, with the six-unit device (Z-6) showing the best performance under palm pressure. The Z-6 device, encapsulated in a plastic enclosure, was deployed in an oscillating water tank to harvest wave energy, which successfully powered LEDs as light sources for the photo-induced oxidation of aldehydes to carboxylic acids with high selectivity and efficiency. This work demonstrates that CP-based composite films can serve as effective triboelectric materials for scalable TENGs, enabling the realization of self-powered photochemical systems driven by diverse environmental mechanical energies.

Understanding solar photovoltaic plant losses, including optical and electrical losses, is vital to developing mitigating strategies and ensuring the economic viability of solar projects. The most significant optical loss is spectral mismatch. Spectral mismatch losses include thermalization and transmission. Spectral mismatch accounts for approximately 60% to 65% of total energy losses in conventional solar panels, with thermalization constituting around 2/3 and transmission representing the remaining. This paper shares the essential fundamentals underlying spectral mismatch, quantitatively reports spectral mismatch losses for various conditions, and discusses the mitigating strategies and their potential effectiveness. An intercomparison of the reviewed mitigation technologies is provided for PV stakeholders and researchers, comparing commercial readiness, cost, manufacturability, and efficiency improvement potential. Mitigation technologies include cell modification and spectral conversion, both of which are discussed in detail, including multijunction structures, co-sensitization, hot carrier and hybrid thermoelectric solar cells, quantum dot and quantum well solar cells, upconversion, downconversion, and downshifting.