Journal of Advanced Ceramics•2026•DOI: 10.26599/JAC.2026.9221346
Achieving intrinsic surface compressive stress in monolithic oxide ceramics without heterogeneous interfaces remains a persistent challenge. This study introduces oxygen-vacancy compensation prestressing (OVCP), a defect-engineering strategy that generates in situ surface prestressing in zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA). Oxygen vacancy-rich ZTA was first produced by vacuum hot pressing, followed by air annealing to induce surface reoxygenation and form an oxygen-charged layer (OCL). The optimized treatment increased flexural strength to (1679±78) MPa, a 31% improvement over the unannealed state. Mechanistically, oxygen-vacancy compensation during annealing induces lattice expansion in the near-surface region. Constrained by the less-oxidized interior, this expansion converts into a residual compressive stress field that suppresses bending-induced failure. A simplified bilayer model quantitatively supports the experimentally observed strengthening behavior. These findings establish oxygen vacancy-regulated lattice expansion as an effective mechanism for intrinsic surface prestressing, providing a simple, interface-free route for strengthening oxide ceramics. The approach circumvents delamination and interfacial debonding inherent to conventional coating or laminated architectures, offering a scalable pathway for high-performance structural oxide ceramics.
Nano Research•2026•DOI: 10.26599/NR.2026.94908854
Constructing photocatalysts decorated with atomically dispersed metal species (ADMs) represents a pivotal strategy to maximize atom utilization and tailor active sites for efficient carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction. However, conventional synthesis strategies, typically relying on tedious wet-chemistry or prolonged thermal calcination, often suffer from slow kinetics that inevitably drive the thermodynamic aggregation of metastable single atoms or nanoclusters into less active nanoparticles. Herein, we bypassed these limitations by developing a facile flash Joule heating (FJH) strategy to engineer stable Cu ADMs on TiO2 via an ultrafast and millisecond-scale heating-quenching process. This non-equilibrium thermal shock effectively stabilizes the metal species before thermal diffusion can occur, ensuring a robust metal–support interaction, as unambiguously confirmed by aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analyses. Consequently, the optimized Cu1.0/TiO2 delivers an approximately 10-fold enhancement in CO evolution compared to pristine TiO2 under simulated solar irradiation. Comprehensive in-situ diffuse reflectance Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and photoelectrochemical measurements reveal that these isolated Cu sites function as superior electron-trapping centers, which significantly accelerate interfacial charge transfer kinetics and promote the activation of critical reaction intermediates. This work establishes FJH as a versatile and scalable platform for overcoming the stability-dispersion trade-off in the rational design of high-performance photocatalysts.
Nano-Micro Letters•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40820-025-01838-6
Scalable fabrication of efficient wide-bandgap (WBG) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is crucial to realize the full commercial potential of tandem solar cells. However, there are challenges in fabricating efficient methylammonium-free (MA-free) WBG PSCs by blade coating, especially its phase separation and films stability. In this work, an MA-free WBG perovskite ink is developed for preparing FA0.8Cs0.2Pb(I0.75Br0.25)3 films by blade coating in ambient air. Among various A-site iodides, RbI is found to be the most effective in suppressing the precipitation of PbI2 induced by Pb(SCN)2 while keeping the enlarged grains. The distribution of Rb suggested that the Rb ions are kept isolated with the perovskite grains during the crystallization and Ostwald ripening processes, which contributes to the formation of the large-grain WBG perovskite film with minimum non-radiative recombination. As a result, a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 23.0% was achieved on small-area WBG PSCs, while mini-modules with an aperture area of 10.5 cm2 exhibited a PCE of 20.2%, among the highest reported for solar cells prepared with WBG perovskites via blade coating. This work presents a scalable and reproducible fabrication strategy for stable MA-free WBG PSCs under ambient conditions, advancing their path toward commercialization.
Nano-Micro Letters•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40820-025-01719-y
Urgent requirements of the renewable energy boost the development of stable and clean hydrogen, which could effectively displace fossil fuels in mitigating climate changes. The efficient interconversion of hydrogen and electronic is highly based on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and water electrolysis (PEMWEs). However, the high cost continues to impede large-scale commercialization of both PEMFC and PEMWE technologies, with the expense primarily attributed to noble catalysts serving as a major bottleneck. The reduction of Pt loading in PEMFCs is essential but limited by the oxygen transport resistance in the cathode catalyst layers (CCLs), while the oxygen transport in anode catalyst layers (ACLs) in PEMWEs also being focused as the Ir/IrOx catalyst reduced. The pore structure and the catalyst–ionomer agglomerates play important roles in the oxygen transport process of both PEMFCs and PEMWEs due to the similarity of membrane electrode assembly (MEA). Herein, the oxygen transport mechanism of PEMFCs in pore structure and ionomer thin films in CCLs is systematically reviewed, while state-of-the-art strategies are presented for enhancing oxygen transport and performance through materials and structural design. The deeply research opens avenues for exploring similar key scientific problems in oxygen transport process of PEMWEs and their further development.
New Carbon Materials (新型炭材料)•2025•DOI: 10.1016/S1872-5805(NCM2026-41-03-02)
Mesocarbon microbeads (MCMBs) are a high-performance carbon material that has been widely used in energy storage and as high-temperature structural materials due to their highly controllable microstructure and excellent electrical conductivity. However, with different energy storage mechanisms such as lithium-ion batteries, sodium-ion batteries, potassium-ion batteries, and supercapacitors, MCMBs with a single structure cannot fully meet the different material performance requirements. We review the basic characteristics, preparation methods, formation mechanism and modification strategies of MCMBs, focusing on the relationship between its microstructure and electrochemical performance in various energy storage systems, and its application in other fields. The opportunities and challenges of using MCMBs in different energy storage applications are considered.
Int. Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials (矿物冶金与材料学报)•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s12613-024-2935-3
This work reveals the significant effects of cobalt (Co) on the microstructure and impact toughness of as-quenched high-strength steels by experimental characterizations and thermo-kinetic analyses. The results show that the Co-bearing steel exhibits finer blocks and a lower ductile–brittle transition temperature than the steel without Co. Moreover, the Co-bearing steel reveals higher transformation rates at the intermediate stage with bainite volume fraction ranging from around 0.1 to 0.6. The improved impact toughness of the Co-bearing steel results from the higher dense block boundaries dominated by the V1/V2 variant pair. Furthermore, the addition of Co induces a larger transformation driving force and a lower bainite start temperature (BS), thereby contributing to the refinement of blocks and the increase of the V1/V2 variant pair. These findings would be instructive for the composition, microstructure design, and property optimization of high-strength steels.