Achieving Rich and Active Alkaline Hydrogen Evolution Heterostructures via Interface Engineering on 2D 1T‐MoS2 Quantum Sheets

Large‐scale production of hydrogen from water‐alkali electrolyzers is impeded by the sluggish kinetics of hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts. The hybridization of an acid‐active HER catalyst with a cocatalyst at the nanoscale helps boost HER kinetics in alkaline media. Here, it is demonstrated that 1T–MoS₂ nanosheet edges (instead of basal planes) decorated by metal hydroxides form highly active ${\text{edge}}_{{\text{1T‐MoS}}_{\text{2}}}$/ ${\text{edge}}_{\text{Ni}{(\text{OH})}_{\text{2}}}$ heterostructures, which significantly enhance HER performance in alkaline media. Featured with rich ${\text{edge}}_{{\text{1T‐MoS}}_{\text{2}}}$/ ${\text{edge}}_{\text{Ni}{(\text{OH})}_{\text{2}}}$ sites, the fabricated 1T–MoS₂ QS/Ni(OH)₂ hybrid (quantum sized 1T–MoS₂ sheets decorated with Ni(OH)₂ via interface engineering) only requires overpotentials of 57 and 112 mV to drive HER current densities of 10 and 100 mA cm^?2, respectively, and has a low Tafel slope of 30 mV dec^?1 in 1 m KOH. So far, this is the best performance for MoS₂‐based electrocatalysts and the 1T–MoS₂ QS/Ni(OH)₂ hybrid is among the best‐performing non‐Pt alkaline HER electrocatalysts known. The HER process is durable for 100 h at current densities up to 500 mA cm^?2. This work not only provides an active, cost‐effective, and robust alkaline HER electrocatalyst, but also demonstrates a design strategy for preparing high‐performance catalysts based on edge‐rich 2D quantum sheets for other catalytic reactions.     

Multipoint Defect Synergy Realizing the Excellent Thermoelectric Performance of n‐Type Polycrystalline SnSe via Re Doping

SnSe has attracted much attention due to the excellent thermoelectric (TE) properties of both p‐ and n‐type single crystals. However, the TE performance of polycrystalline SnSe is still low, especially in n‐type materials, because SnSe is an intrinsic p‐type semiconductor. In this work, a three‐step doping process is employed on polycrystalline SnSe to make it n‐type and enhance its TE properties. It is found that the Sn_0.97Re_0.03Se_0.93Cl_0.02 sample achieves a peak ZT value of ≈1.5 at 798 K, which is the highest ZT reported, to date, in n‐type polycrystalline SnSe. This is attributed to the synergistic effects of a series of point defects: $V_{\mathrm{Se}}^{\mathrm{..}},{\mathrm{Cl}}_{\mathrm{Se}}^{.},V_{\mathrm{Sn}}^{,,},{\mathrm{Re}}_{\mathrm{Sn}}^{\times },{\mathrm{Re}}_{}^0$. In those defects, the $V_{\mathrm{Se}}^{\mathrm{..}}$ compensates for the intrinsic Sn vacancies in SnSe, the ${\mathrm{Cl}}_{\mathrm{Se}}^{.}$ acts as a donor, the $V_{\mathrm{Sn}}^{,,}$acts as an acceptor, all of which contribute to optimizing the carrier concentration. Rhenium (Re) doping surprisingly plays dual‐roles, in that it both significantly enhances the electrical transport properties and largely reduces the thermal conductivity by introducing the point defects, ${\mathrm{Re}}_{\mathrm{Sn}}^{\times },{\mathrm{Re}}_{}^0$. The method paves the way for obtaining high‐performance TE properties in SnSe crystals using multipoint‐defect synergy via a step‐by‐step multielement doping methodology.     

Enhanced Stability and Narrowed D-Band Gap of Ce-Doped Co3O4 for Rechargeable Aqueous Zn-Air Battery

It remains challenging to achieve further breakthroughs in the development of durable bifunctional air cathode electrocatalysts for increasing the cycling life of rechargeable Zn-air battery (RZAB). Herein, d-band gap narrowing strategy is proposed to significantly boost the electrocatalytic activity and stability of spinel Co₃O₄ for both oxygen reduction and evolution reactions. In situ Raman spectroscopy finds that the Ce atom substitution can significantly improve the durability and corrosion resistance of electrocatalysts in harsh alkaline electrolytes. Synchrotron X-ray absorption fine structure reveals that the Co³⁺/Co²⁺ ratio of Co₃O₄ can be tuned with Ce introduction, which is beneficial to optimize the adsorption/desorption of the intermediates over Co_oh³⁺ active sites. Density functional theory calculations further confirm the reduced gap between Co d-band and O p-band centers, increased electrical conductivity, together with the deepened valence band maximum of Co sites in Ce-doped Co₃O₄. Thereby, the optimized RZAB with Ce-Co₃O₄ delivers excellent long-term durability (290 h) and large specific capacity (876.3 $Whk{g}_{Zn}^{-1}$), which possesses great prospects in all-solid-state flexible RZAB devices.     

Anisotropic Phonon Response of Few‐Layer PdSe2 under Uniaxial Strain

PdSe₂, an emerging 2D material with a novel anisotropic puckered pentagonal structure, has attracted growing interest due to its layer‐dependent electronic bandgap, high carrier mobility, and good air stability. Herein, a detailed Raman spectroscopic study of few‐layer PdSe₂ (two to five layers) under the in‐plane uniaxial tensile strain up to 3.33% is performed. Two of the prominent PdSe₂ Raman peaks are influenced differently depending on the direction of strain application. The $A_g^1$ mode redshifts more than the $A_g^3$ mode when the strain is applied along the a‐axis of the crystal, while the $A_g^3$ mode redshifts more than the $A_g^1$ mode when the strain is applied along the b‐axis. Such an anisotropic phonon response to strain indicates directionally dependent mechanical and thermal properties of PdSe₂ and also allows the identification of the crystal axes. The results are further supported using first‐principles density‐functional theory. Interestingly, the near‐zero Poisson’s ratios for few‐layer PdSe₂ are found, suggesting that the uniaxial tensile strain can easily be applied to few‐layer PdSe₂ without significantly altering their dimensions at the perpendicular directions, which is a major contributing factor to the observed distinct phonon behavior. The findings pave the way for further development of 2D PdSe₂‐based flexible electronics.     

Giant Piezoelectricity of Ternary Perovskite Ceramics at High Temperatures

Here, novel ferroelectric ceramics of (0.95 ? x)BiScO₃‐xPbTiO₃‐0.05Pb(Sn_1/3Nb_2/3)O₃ (BS‐xPT‐PSN) of complex perovskite structure are reported with compositions near the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB), and which exhibit a piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃ = 555 pC N^?1, a large‐signal coefficient $d_{33}^{?}$ ≈ 1200 pm V^?1 at room temperature, and a high Curie temperature T_C of 408 °C. More interestingly, this ternary system exhibits a giant and stable piezoelectric response at 200 °C with a large‐signal $d_{33}^{?}$ ≈ 2500 pm V^?1, matching that of the costly relaxor‐based piezoelectric single crystals at room temperature. The mechanisms of such giant piezoelectricity and its characteristic temperature dependence are attributed to the spontaneous polarization rotation and extension under an electric field and the MPB‐related phase transition. The findings reveal that the BS‐xPT‐PSN ceramics constitute a new family of high‐performance piezoelectric materials suitable for electromechanical transducers that can be operated at high temperatures (at 200 °C, or higher).     

Monolayer Oxidized-MXene Piezo-Resonators with Single Resonant Peak by Interior Schottky Effect

Nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) of 2D nanomaterials are potent exploration devices for high-sensitive mechanical coupling, mass testing, and biosensing. Nevertheless, the internal interference from the multiple resonant states easily causes the deviation and overlap of the target signal. Here, an oxidized-MXene resonant system performs the unique response peak at the fundamental frequency f_0,1 of 3.37 ± 0.04 MHz within the ultrawide frequency up to 400 MHz, due to the ferroelectric-conductive structure. This unique resonant peak can effectively avoid the dispute of indistinguishable vibratal states. The resonator exhibits advanced performances with a large dynamic range of 70.41 ± 0.15 dB and low thermomechanical motion spectral density of $669\frac{\text{fm}}{\sqrt{\text{Hz}}}$. The molecular sensing mechanisms of the oxidized-MXene system are systematically studied to achieve repeatable detection with high mass resolution (low to 8.00 ± 0.01 × 10^-19 g). These consequences can afford potential guidelines for the NEMS devices in terms of the credible and legible sensors for ultra-accurate and interference-free measurements.     

Macroscopic and Microscopic Structures of Cesium Lead Iodide Perovskite from Atomistic Simulations

A first‐principles‐based effective Hamiltonian is developed and employed to investigate finite‐temperature structural properties of a prototype of perovskite halides, that is CsPbI₃. Such simulations, when using first‐principles‐extracted coefficients, successfully reproduce the existence of an orthorhombic Pnma state and its iodine octahedral tilting angles around room temperature. However, they also yield a direct transformation from Pnma to cubic $Pm\overline{3}m$ upon heating, unlike measurements that reported the occurrence of an intermediate long‐range‐tilted tetragonal P4/mbm phase in‐between the orthorhombic and cubic phases. Such disagreement, which may cast some doubts about the extent to which first‐principle methods can be trusted to mimic hybrid perovskites, can be resolved by “only” changing one short‐range tilting parameter in the whole set of effective Hamiltonian coefficients. In such a case, some reasonable values of this specific parameter result in the predictions that i) the intermediate P4/mbm state originates from fluctuations over many different tilted states; and ii) the cubic $Pm\overline{3}m$ phase is highly locally distorted and develops strong transverse antiphase correlation between first‐nearest neighbor iodine octahedral tiltings, before undergoing a phase transition to P4/mbm under cooling.     

3D Reconstruction of Sawtooth 180° Tail-to-Tail Domain Walls in Single Crystal BiFeO3

Previous studies of single crystal BiFeO₃ have found a dense domain structure with alternating sawtooth and flat domain walls (DWs). The nature of these domains and their 3D structure has remained elusive to date. Herein, several sections taken at different orientations are used to examine the structure in detail, concentrating here on the sawtooth DWs using diffraction contrast transmission electron microscopy, electron diffraction, and aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM). All DWs are found to be 180° type; the flat walls have head-to-head polarity while the sawtooth DWs are tail-to-tail with peaks elongated along the polar [111] axis, formed by neutral ($11\overline{2}$) DW facets and slightly charged facets with orientations close to ($3\overline{2}1$) and ($\overline{2}31$). The neutral DW facets are Ising type and very abrupt, while the charged DW facets have mixed Néel/Bloch/Ising character with a chiral nature and a width of about 2 nm.     

Giant Electric Field-Induced Strain with High Temperature-Stability in Textured KNN-Based Piezoceramics for Actuator Applications

Large-strain (K,Na)NbO₃ (KNN) based piezoceramics are attractive for next-generation actuators because of growing environmental concerns. However, inferior performance with poor temperature stability greatly hinders their industrialized procedure. Herein, a feasible strategy is proposed by introducing ${\mathrm{V}}_{\text{K/Na}}^{{}^{\prime }}$-${\mathrm{V}}_{\stackrel{\mathrm{..}}{\mathrm{O}}}$ defect dipoles and constructing grain orientation to enhance the strain performance and temperature stability of KNN-based piezoceramics. This textured ceramics with 90.3% texture degree exhibit a giant strain (1.35%) and a large converse piezoelectric coefficient d₃₃^* (2700 pm V⁻¹), outperforming most lead-free piezoceramics and even some single crystals. Meanwhile, the strain deviation at high temperature of 100 °C–200 °C is obviously alleviated from 61% to 35% through texture engineering. From the perspective of practical applications, piezo-actuators are commonly utilized in the form of multilayer. In order to illustrate the applicability on multilayer actuators, a stack-type actuator consisted of 5 layers of 0.4 mm thick ceramics is fabricated. It can generate large field-induced displacement (11.6 µm), and the promising potential in precise positioning and optical modulation are further demonstrated. This work provides a textured KNN-based piezoceramic with temperature-stable giant strain properties, and facilitates the lead-free piezoceramic materials in actuator applications.     

Promoting “Strong Adsorption” and “Fast Conversion” of Polysulfides in Li-S batteries Based on Conductive Sulfides Host with Hollow Prism Structure and Surface Defects

The chemical binding between metal compounds and polysulfides provides a good solution to inhibit shuttle effect in Li-S batteries. However, the Sabatier principle predicts that overly strong adsorption will commonly hinder the conversion of polysulfides, so building the synergetic effect mechanism between “strong adsorption” and “fast conversion” for polysulfides is a significant strategy. To realize this goal, in this study, the defect-enriched Co₉S₈ hollow prisms (DHCPs) as both S host and catalyst material for Li-S batteries are designed. Based on in situ UV–vis spectroscopy results, it is found that DHCPs can profitably promote the generation of ${\mathrm{S}}_3^{·-}$ radicals during the discharge process. In the case of the relatively high conversion barrier of “liquid–liquid” reaction, the generated ${\mathrm{S}}_3^{·-}$ radicals are responsible for the fast conversion reaction via a unique reaction pathway. When the sulfur loading is 4.63 mg cm⁻², the cell with DHCP/S cathode delivers a high areal capacity of 4.75 mAh cm⁻² at 0.1 C and keeps a high capacity of 2.99 mAh cm⁻² after 100 cycles at 0.5 C. This study provides a positive attempt to achieve “strong adsorption” and “fast conversion” of polysulfides simultaneously, which will convincingly boost the development and practical process of Li-S batteries.     

Incommensurate Magnetic Order in Hole-Doped Infinite-Layer Nickelate Superconductors due to Competing Magnetic Interactions

The discovery of superconductivity in hole-doped infinite-layer nickelates has fueled intense research to identify the critical factor responsible for high-T_c superconductivity. Magnetism and superconductivity are closely entangled, and elucidating the magnetic interactions in hole-doped nickelates is critical for understanding the pairing mechanism. Here, these calculations based on the generalized Bloch theorem (GBT) and magnetic force theorem (MFT) consistently reveal that hole doping stabilizes an incommensurate (IC) spin state and increases the IC wave vector continuously, in a way strikingly similar to hole-doped cuprates. Going further, a nonlinear Heisenberg model including first-neighbor and third-neighbor in-plane magnetic interactions is developed. The analytical solutions successfully reproduce GBT and MFT results and reveal that the competition between the two magnetic interactions is the decisive factor for the IC magnetic transition. Eventually, by analyzing the doping-controlled spin splitting of $d_{x^2-y^2}$ band and orbital-contributed exchange interactions, direct links between hole doping, magnetization, exchange constants, and magnetic order are established. This discovery of the IC spin state, new understanding of its electronic origin, and establishment of direct connection with the paring $d_{x^2-y^2}$ electrons radically change the current understanding of the magnetic properties in hole-doped NdNiO₂ and open new perspectives for the superconducting mechanism in nickelates superconductors.     

Radial X‐Ray Diffraction Study of Superhard Early Transition Metal Dodecaborides under High Pressure

The deformation behavior of the three metal dodecaborides (YB₁₂, ZrB₁₂, and Zr_0.5Y_0.5B₁₂) is investigated using radial X‐ray diffraction under nonhydrostatic compression up to ≈60 GPa with a goal of understanding how bonding and metal composition control hardness. Zr_0.5Y_0.5B₁₂, which has the highest Vickers hardness (Hv = 45.8 ± 1.3 GPa at 0.49 N load), also shows the highest bulk modulus (K₀ = 320 ± 5 GPa). The 0.49 N hardness for ZrB₁₂ and YB₁₂ are both lower and very similar, and both show lower bulk moduli (K₀ = 276 ± 7 GPa, and K₀ = 238 ± 6 GPa, respectively). Differential stress is then measured to study the strength and strength anisotropy. Zr_0.5Y_0.5B₁₂ supports the highest differential stress, in agreement with its high hardness, a fact that likely arises from atomic size mismatch between Zr and Y combined with the rigid network of boron cages. The (200) plane for all samples supports the largest differential strain, while the (111) plane supports the smallest, consistent with the theoretically predicted slip system of {111} [ $\overline{1}\overline{1}2$ ]. Strain softening is also observed for ZrB₁₂. Finally, the full elastic stiffness tensors for ZrB₁₂ and YB₁₂ are solved. ZrB₁₂ is the most isotropic, but the extent of elastic anisotropy for all dodecaborides studied is relatively low due to the highly symmetric boron cage network.     

Ferroelectric Control of Polarity of the Spin-polarized Current in Van Der Waals Multiferroic Heterostructures

Ferroelectric (FE) control of magnetism at nanoscale, for instance, FE control of the polarity of spin-polarized current is crucial for technological advances in magnetoelectric and spintronic applications. However, this fascinating functionality has not been reported in nanoscale systems yet. Herein, a new class of FE/A-type antiferromagnetic heterobilayer/FE van der Waals (vdW) multiferroic structures is found, in which the FE control of polarity of spin-polarized current is found possible. Take Sc₂CO₂/CrSiTe₃/CrGeTe₃/Sc₂CO₂ heterostructure as a successful example. First-principles calculations reveal that its polarity of half-metallicity can be switched by flipping the FE polarization orientation. Meanwhile, device transport simulation shows that its up/down spin current transmission ratio is as large as 0.1 × 10³ at $\overrightarrow{\mathrm{P}}\uparrow \uparrow$ Sc₂CO₂ configuration and is only 2.6 × 10⁻³ at $\overrightarrow{\mathrm{P}}\downarrow \downarrow$ Sc₂CO₂ configuration in the vdW multiferroic heterostructures. Essentially, it stems from the reversible FE switch of the internal electric field across the CrSiTe₃/CrGeTe₃ heterobilayer and the FE control of the interfacial effect between Sc₂CO₂ and Cr(Si/Ge)Te₃ layers. This work opens a direction for constructing low-energy-dissipation, non-volatile, and high-sensitive spintronic devices such as spin field-effect transistors.     

Limitations of the Tauc Plot Method

The Tauc plot is a method originally developed to derive the optical gap of amorphous semiconductors such as amorphous germanium or silicon. By measuring the absorption coefficient α(hν) and plotting ${(\alpha hv)}^{\frac{1}{2}}$ versus photon energy hν, a value for the optical gap (Tauc gap) is determined. In this way non-direct optical transitions between approximately parabolic bands can be examined. In the last decades, a modification of this method for (poly-) crystalline semiconductors has become popular to study direct and indirect interband transitions. For this purpose, (ahν)ⁿ (n = $\frac{1}{2}$, 2) is plotted against hν to determine a value of the electronic bandgap. Due to the ease of performing UV–vis measurements, this method has nowadays become a standard to analyze various (poly-) crystalline solids, regardless of their different electronic structure. Although this leads partially to widely varying values of the respective bandgap of nominally identical materials, there is still no study that critically questions which peculiarities in the electronic structure prevent a use of the Tauc plot for (poly-) crystalline solids and to which material classes this applies. This study aims to close this gap by discussing the Tauc plot and its limiting factors for exemplary (poly-) crystalline solids with different electronic structures.     

Does Salt Concentration Matter? New Insights on the Intercalation Behavior of PF6−${\rm{PF}}_6^ - $ into Graphite Cathode for the Dual-Ion Battery

A high-concentration electrolyte is favored in dual-ion batteries (DIBs) due to the lower onset potential for anion intercalation, higher specific discharge capacity, and better oxidation stability. Inspired by the correlation between the high-concentration electrolytes and localized high-concentration electrolytes, it is suspected that it is not the salt concentration but the solution structure of the electrolyte that determines the intercalation behavior of anion into graphite cathode. To prove the viewpoint, a series of electrolytes are prepared by controlling the salt concentration or solution structure and the intercalation behavior of $P{F}_6^{-}$ within the graphite cathode is investigated in Li||graphite and graphite||graphite cells. It is found that $P{F}_6^{-}$ anions exhibit similar onset potentials and specific discharge capacities in the electrolytes with different salt concentrations but similar solution structures. This study provides a new perspective on designing promising electrolytes for DIBs, which can accelerate the further exploitation of high-performance DIBs.     

Out‐of‐Plane Polarization in Bent Graphene‐Like Zinc Oxide and Nanogenerator Applications

Highly efficient piezoelectric nanogenerator operation is demonstrated based on dynamic bending of graphene‐like ZnO nanosheets. Energy is harvested by an external resistor by virtue of a strong time‐varying piezoelectric polarization component perpendicular to the graphene‐like ZnO plane. It is shown analytically and verified numerically using molecular dynamics simulations that the $\overline{6}$m2 point group of flat graphene‐like ZnO is reduced to monoclinic m symmetry for bent graphene‐like ZnO. The latter symmetry allows for a nonzero and large piezoelectric polarization component perpendicular to the plane of the 2D structure. The numerical results confirm that flexoelectric effects are negligible subject to graphene‐like ZnO bending operation.     

2D Porous Polymers with sp2‐Carbon Connections and Sole sp2‐Carbon Skeletons

2D porous polymers with a planar architecture and high specific surface area have significant applications potential, such as for photocatalysis, electrochemical catalysis, gas storage and separation, and sensing. Such 2D porous polymers have generally been classified as 2D metal–organic frameworks, 2D covalent organic frameworks, graphitic carbon nitride, graphdiyne, and sandwich‐like porous polymer nanosheets. Among these, 2D porous polymers with sp²‐hybridized carbon ( $C_{s{p}^2}$) bonding are an emerging field of interest. Compared with 2D porous polymers linked by B? O, C?N, or C?C bonds, $C_{s{p}^2}$‐linked 2D porous polymers exhibit extended electron delocalization resulting in unique optical/electrical properties, as well as high chemical/photostability and tunable electrochemical performance. Furthermore, such 2D porous polymers are one of the best precursors for the fabrication of 2D porous carbon materials and carbon skeletons with atomically dispersed transition‐metal active sites. Herein, rational synthetic approaches for 2D porous polymers with $C_{s{p}^2}$ bonding are summarized. Their current practical photoelectric applications, including for gas separation, luminescent sensing and imaging, electrodes for batteries and supercapacitors, and photocatalysis are also discussed.     

Robust Surface Reconstruction Induced by Subsurface Ni/Li Antisites in Ni-Rich Cathodes

Loss of active materials is a critical problem of layered oxide cathodes for lithium-ion batteries and undermines their long-term electrochemical performance. However, the atomic-scale outward migration mechanism of transition metals and oxygen remains elusive due to a highly localized environment at surface. Here, the robust surface reconstruction of LiNi_0.8Mn_0.1Co_0.1O₂ (NMC811) induced by artificially introduced Ni/Li antisites is reported. Using scanning transmission electron microscopy, the outward co-migration process of nickel and oxygen ions is directly revealed at the atomic scale, finally resulting in a stable surface structure. The robust nature of this surface structure originates from the strong linear superexchange interaction between subsurface Ni_Li and surface Ni as supported by first-principles calculations. An idealized subsurface structure with $\frac{1}{3}$ Ni_Li is designed to suppress the outward migration of transition metal and oxygen ions and provide a universal lattice-coherent surface protection strategy for layered lithium transition metal oxide cathodes.