Small SciencePub Date : 2026-08-25eCollection Date: 2026-08-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.70329
Jonathan Henzel, Klaas Bakker, Sjoerd Veenstra, Olindo Isabella, Luana Mazzarella, Arthur Weeber, Mirjam Theelen
{"title":"Luminescent Imaging of the Reverse Bias Behavior of Perovskite Solar Cells Using ReBEL.","authors":"Jonathan Henzel, Klaas Bakker, Sjoerd Veenstra, Olindo Isabella, Luana Mazzarella, Arthur Weeber, Mirjam Theelen","doi":"10.1002/smsc.70329","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.70329","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Partial shading remains a critical challenge for perovskite photovoltaics, as shaded cells in otherwise illuminated modules operate in reverse bias, which can accelerate degradation. In other solar cell technologies, reverse bias electroluminescence (ReBEL) imaging has been successfully employed to investigate the reverse bias breakdown mechanism. Here, ReBEL imaging is proposed as technique for imaging the local reverse bias current flow on perovskite solar cells. To that end, the ReBEL signal is affirmed to originate from radiative recombination in the absorber layer. ReBEL imaging is compared to established thermal current imaging techniques and reveals superior sensitivity and spatial resolution while showing similar features in the investigated samples. Further experiments reveal a dependence on the reverse bias current: The spatial distribution of the ReBEL signal differs significantly between small and large current injection levels. This could point towards two different breakdown mechanisms. These results show that, despite some open questions, ReBEL imaging could help understand the reverse bias behavior of perovskite solar cells better.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"6 8","pages":"e70329"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13516957/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148833008","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2026-08-25eCollection Date: 2026-08-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.70395
Mohamed S Attia, Mariusz Skwarczynski, Waleed M Hussein
{"title":"Cover Feature: Advances in Polyethyleneimine-Derived Nanoformulations (Small Sci. 8/2026).","authors":"Mohamed S Attia, Mariusz Skwarczynski, Waleed M Hussein","doi":"10.1002/smsc.70395","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/smsc.70395","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Drug Delivery Polyethyleneimine(PEI)-based nanoformulations offer efficient delivery at a cellular cost. Inside the endosome, PEI's protonatable amines trigger the proton sponge effect, rupturing the vesicle and releasing the therapeutic cargo into the cytosol. However, PEI's excess cationic charge can damage the plasma membrane and depolarize mitochondria, generating ROS and activating caspase-9-dependent apoptosis. More in article number e70330, Waleed M. Hussein and co-workers.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"6 8","pages":"e70395"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13516924/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148833023","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2026-08-25eCollection Date: 2026-08-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.70396
Fida Tanos, Chaimaa Gomri, Clément Trellu, Mehmet A Oturan, Shuaishuai Li, Minghua Zhou, Kehinde D Jayeola, Omotayo A Arotiba, Elisama Vieira Dos Santos, Carlos A Martínez-Huitle, Mikhael Bechelany, Marc Cretin
{"title":"Cover Feature: Basic Notions and Innovations in Electrochemical Advanced Oxidation Processes for Water Treatment (Small Sci. 8/2026).","authors":"Fida Tanos, Chaimaa Gomri, Clément Trellu, Mehmet A Oturan, Shuaishuai Li, Minghua Zhou, Kehinde D Jayeola, Omotayo A Arotiba, Elisama Vieira Dos Santos, Carlos A Martínez-Huitle, Mikhael Bechelany, Marc Cretin","doi":"10.1002/smsc.70396","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1002/smsc.70396","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Water Treatment In article number e70332, Mikhael Bechelany, Marc Cretin, and co-workers highlight recent advances in electrochemical advanced oxidation processes for the removal of persistent organic pollutants from water. It explores anodic oxidation, electro-Fenton, photo-assisted processes, and persulfate/peroxymonosulfate activation, emphasizing electrode materials, operating conditions, and reactive species. Computational modelling is also discussed as a powerful tool for understanding mechanisms and optimizing treatment performance.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"6 8","pages":"e70396"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-25","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13516958/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148833037","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2026-08-22eCollection Date: 2026-08-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.70376
Hrachya Ishkhanyan, David J Barlow, M Jayne Lawrence, Christian D Lorenz
{"title":"Oligomerisation Drives Internal Cavity Formation and Conformational Heterogeneity in Mixed Triton X-100/Tyloxapol Micelles.","authors":"Hrachya Ishkhanyan, David J Barlow, M Jayne Lawrence, Christian D Lorenz","doi":"10.1002/smsc.70376","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.70376","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Oligomeric surfactants exhibit physicochemical properties distinct from their monomeric counterparts, including lower critical micelle concentrations, yet how oligomerisation shapes the internal architecture of the micelles they form remains poorly understood. Here, we combine all-atom molecular dynamics simulations with small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) to study mixed micelles of Triton X-100 and its oligomeric analogue Tyloxapol (trimer and heptamer) across eight compositions spanning pure Triton X-100 to pure Tyloxapol. Tyloxapol content and oligomer length control the internal organization of the micelles: Tyloxapol-rich micelles adopt compact, oblate structures containing internal, water-filled cavities formed by headgroup penetration into the hydrophobic core, accompanied by reduced <i>π</i>-<i>π</i> stacking between aromatic tail groups. For pure Tyloxapol micelles, SANS corroborates the simulated size, aggregation number, oblate shape, and core hydration. Neighbor analysis shows no preferential association between Triton X-100 and Tyloxapol, consistent with random mixing across all compositions studied, while unsupervised clustering (UMAP/HDBSCAN) of Tyloxapol conformations shows that the local micelle environment selects for distinct conformational states. Together, these findings identify surfactant oligomerisation as a route to controlling internal micelle architecture, rather than only overall micelle size and shape, with implications for the design of nanocarriers and functional soft materials with tunable internal structure.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"6 8","pages":"e70376"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13516858/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148832979","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2026-08-22eCollection Date: 2026-08-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.70378
Alejandro E Perez-Mendoza, Moonjoo Kim, Rico Zehl, Emmanuel Batsa Tetteh, Ellen Suhr, Alfred Ludwig, Wolfgang Schuhmann, Corina Andronescu
{"title":"Evaluation of the Potential of Zero Charge of Thin-Film (111) Platinum at the Nanoscale Using Scanning Electrochemical Cell Microscopy.","authors":"Alejandro E Perez-Mendoza, Moonjoo Kim, Rico Zehl, Emmanuel Batsa Tetteh, Ellen Suhr, Alfred Ludwig, Wolfgang Schuhmann, Corina Andronescu","doi":"10.1002/smsc.70378","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.70378","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The potential of zero charge (PZC) is a key descriptor of the electrochemical interface, influencing ion distributions, mass transport, and reaction thermodynamics. It depends on the local surface structure, including grain orientation and atomic steps, making spatially resolved measurements essential. Scanning electrochemical cell microscopy (SECCM) enables local probing of electrochemical properties, including PZC. However, PZC probing via SECCM has been limited to pipette diameters above 1 µm due to low transient charging currents near the PZC, often at the instrumental detection limit. Here, PZC measurements on a Pt (111) thin film are demonstrated using submicron pipettes (~500 and ~250 nm diameters). Under conditions where the interfacial response is dominated by double-layer charging, the measured PZC is consistent with macroscale results, with values of ~0.30 V versus standard hydrogen electrode (SHE). The study reveals the impact of preconditioning, electrolyte pH, and gas atmosphere used during SECCM measurements on the recorded PZC at the nanoscale on Pt (111). In particular, variations in preconditioning potential lead to systematic shifts in both PZC and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity, reflecting the correlation between both properties. Overall, this work establishes a robust experimental protocol for PZC mapping at the submicron scale using SECCM.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"6 8","pages":"e70378"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13516997/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148833020","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Micelle-Assisted Encapsulation Strategy in Metal-Organic Framework Nanocontainers Enables Durable Corrosion Protection.","authors":"Asep Sugih Nugraha, Kwang Keat Leong, Yusuke Yamauchi, Yuan Ma, Nasim Amiralian","doi":"10.1002/smsc.70367","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.70367","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Encapsulation is an effective strategy for stabilizing and controlling functional molecules. Although amphiphilic micelles are widely used to host molecular cargo, their intrinsic encapsulation capability remains underexplored for directly confining functional molecules within inorganic or hybrid architectures. Here, we report a hierarchical nanocontainer integrating micelle-assisted molecular encapsulation, ZIF-8 confinement, and SiO<sub>2</sub> interfacial engineering for smart self-healing corrosion protection. Amphiphilic P123 micelles first encapsulate benzotriazole (BTA) in situ and direct ZIF-8 framework growth around the loaded micelles, enabling efficient one-pot inhibitor confinement without a separate post-loading step. A subsequent SiO<sub>2</sub> shell improves structural robustness and compatibility with environmentally friendly waterborne polyurethane (WBPU) while preserving pH-responsive release. Under corrosive conditions, local pH changes trigger BTA release, enabling active inhibition and self-healing at damaged sites. The nanocontainers achieve inhibitor loadings up to 16.2 wt% and pH-dependent release, reaching ~35% at pH 3 and ~32% at pH 10, compared with ~4% at pH 7. Incorporated into WBPU coatings, the composite maintains ~1.4 × 10<sup>7</sup> Ω·cm<sup>2</sup> after 39 days in 3.5 wt% NaCl. It also shows a corrosion current density of 3.2 × 10<sup>-9</sup> A cm<sup>-2</sup> and a corrosion rate of 0.0000372 mm year<sup>-1</sup>, demonstrating durable protection. This strategy enables high-loading, release-regulated nanocontainers for anticorrosion coatings.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"6 8","pages":"e70367"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13516867/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148832967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2026-08-21eCollection Date: 2026-08-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.70380
Wenjing Wang, Di Wang, Srivatsan K Vasantham, Hongrong Hu, Yan Liu, Andreas H Schäfer, George Mathew, Navid Hussain, Masooma Ibrahim, Jasmin Aghassi-Hagmann, Annie K Powell, Michael Hirtz
{"title":"Polyoxometalate@Metal-Organic Framework-Based Imprinted Electrochemical Sensor for Dopamine Detection.","authors":"Wenjing Wang, Di Wang, Srivatsan K Vasantham, Hongrong Hu, Yan Liu, Andreas H Schäfer, George Mathew, Navid Hussain, Masooma Ibrahim, Jasmin Aghassi-Hagmann, Annie K Powell, Michael Hirtz","doi":"10.1002/smsc.70380","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.70380","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Electrochemical determination of dopamine (DA) has received considerable attention in recent years, with current research primarily focused on improving sensor sensitivity and selectivity. In this study, a printed electrochemical sensor modified with a hybrid material comprising polyoxometalates (POMs), metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), and molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) is fabricated for DA detection. The POM@MOF component enhances charge transfer, thereby improving sensitivity, while the MIP acts as a selective receptor for DA, providing high selectivity. The fabricated sensor exhibits selective recognition of DA from interferents with similar electrochemical behaviors using cyclic voltammetry (CV), and the CV responses are linear with DA concentration in the range 200-800 μM, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 59.03 μM. Moreover, the sensors show good stability, regeneration ability, and reproducibility. The results demonstrate that the proposed material can facilitate the electrochemical sensing performance toward DA, providing a basis for the future design and optimization of material-based electrochemical DA sensing platforms.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"6 8","pages":"e70380"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13517000/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148833081","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2026-08-21eCollection Date: 2026-08-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.70382
Min Chen, Yaping Lu, Xinmin Zhang, Yixin Song, Fengtao Shao, Xuetao Gao, Zhichao Liu, Chunmei Xu, Yiting Peng, Yaping Feng, Kai Xi, Yatao Liu
{"title":"Suppressing Polysulfide Shuttle and Boosting Reaction Kinetics via UiO-66-SH-Functionalized Separators for Lithium-Sulfur Batteries.","authors":"Min Chen, Yaping Lu, Xinmin Zhang, Yixin Song, Fengtao Shao, Xuetao Gao, Zhichao Liu, Chunmei Xu, Yiting Peng, Yaping Feng, Kai Xi, Yatao Liu","doi":"10.1002/smsc.70382","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.70382","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries represent promising energy storage devices by virtue of their ultrahigh theoretical energy density, yet their practical deployment is severely impeded by the polysulfide shuttle, sluggish sulfur redox kinetics, and progressive degradation of lithium anodes. Herein, we design a thiol-functionalized UiO-66 (UiO-66-SH)-coated polypropylene separator that addresses these challenges simultaneously. The UiO-66-SH combines abundant coordinatively unsaturated Zr sites and -SH groups, enabling both strong chemical anchoring of lithium polysulfides and catalytic acceleration of their conversion to Li<sub>2</sub>S. The modified separator exhibits superior electrolyte wettability, a high Li<sup>+</sup> transference number (0.76), and enhanced ionic conductivity. Furthermore, it regulates lithium deposition to achieve a dendrite-free anode and mitigates polysulfide-induced corrosion. Consequently, Li-S cells incorporating UiO-66-SH/PP separator deliver an initial discharge capacity of 821.3 mAh g<sup>-1</sup> at 1 C, retain 521 mAh g<sup>-1</sup> after 500 cycles, and achieve a high-rate capacity of 590.9 mAh g<sup>-1</sup> at 5 C. Even under a high sulfur loading of 5.05 mg cm<sup>-2</sup>, a reversible capacity of 620.1 mAh g<sup>-1</sup> is maintained after 200 cycles. This work offers a rational design of a multifunctional MOF-based separator that integrates polysulfide entrapment, catalytic conversion, and anode protection, paving the way toward high-performance, long-life Li-S batteries.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"6 8","pages":"e70382"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13516994/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148833050","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2026-08-21eCollection Date: 2026-08-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.70387
Ajeet K Singh, M Sridevi, Dhrubajyoti Paul, Annu Agarwal, Nancy Punia, Rajiv Singh, Inamur Rahaman Laskar
{"title":"Solvent Polarity as a Diagnostic for Vibronic/Vibrational Coherences Distinction in an Efficient TADF-TTA Switchable Emitter.","authors":"Ajeet K Singh, M Sridevi, Dhrubajyoti Paul, Annu Agarwal, Nancy Punia, Rajiv Singh, Inamur Rahaman Laskar","doi":"10.1002/smsc.70387","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.70387","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Distinguishing vibrational from vibronic coherences in donor-acceptor (D-A) emitters remains a central challenge in excited-state spectroscopy, particularly for thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) systems where temperature-dependent analysis is often compromised by conformational changes and altered charge-transfer (CT) populations. Here, we introduce a pump-probe-only, solvent-polarity-based strategy to resolve this problem using 1,8-naphthalimide D-A chromophores. In nonpolar n-hexane, resonant LE-CT coupling generates persistent coherent beating, whereas in polar dichloromethane, the CT state is stabilized, the LE-CT gap widens, and vibronic coherence is quenched while vibrational oscillations remain comparatively robust. This establishes a practical diagnostic for identifying LE-CT vibronic mixing without recourse to temperature variation or two-dimensional spectroscopy. Beyond coherence assignment, the same LE-CT coupling explains intensity borrowing and the appearance of CT absorption even in near-orthogonal geometries, providing a route to estimate the effective CT transition dipole and to rationalize enhanced optical absorption. Finally, we show unprecedented polarity-controlled switching between TADF and triplet-triplet annihilation (TTA) in a single deep-blue emitter, thereby linking coherence physics, LE-CT electronic structure, and triplet harvesting into a unified framework for designing polarity-robust optoelectronic materials.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"6 8","pages":"e70387"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13517017/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148833133","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Small SciencePub Date : 2026-08-20eCollection Date: 2026-08-01DOI: 10.1002/smsc.70347
Mahesh Nepal, Tara P Dhakal
{"title":"Silicon Anodes for Next-Generation Li-Ion Batteries: Design, Metrics, and Practical Routes to 500 Wh kg<sup>-1</sup> and 1000 Cycles.","authors":"Mahesh Nepal, Tara P Dhakal","doi":"10.1002/smsc.70347","DOIUrl":"10.1002/smsc.70347","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Silicon (Si) anodes are key to enabling 500 Wh kg<sup>-1</sup> lithium-ion batteries for longer-range electric vehicles, lightweight aerospace systems, and high-energy consumer electronics. However, despite their high theoretical capacity (3579 mAh g<sup>-1</sup>), commercialization remains limited by severe volume expansion, unstable solid electrolyte interphase (SEI), low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE), and insufficient long-term Coulombic efficiency (CE). Here, we critically evaluate Si-dominant anode architectures across three classes: nanoparticles and their secondary microspheres, micro-silicon (µ-Si), and structured Si, including nanowires and thin films supported on three-dimensional scaffolds. Performance is benchmarked using practical capacity, ICE/CE, cycling stability, and volumetric metrics. We show that current Si technologies can realistically deliver ~400 Wh kg<sup>-1</sup>, with defined pathways toward ~500 Wh kg<sup>-1</sup>; however, achieving ≥1000 cycles remains a major challenge, primarily due to insufficient long-term CE. Across architectures, high-surface-area electrodes, while beneficial for kinetics and strain accommodation, increase irreversible losses and limit cycle life. Strategies that reduce exposed surface area while maintaining transport and mechanical integrity, particularly through dense secondary particle design, offer a practical route toward scalable implementation. Progress toward commercial viability will require coordinated advances in interfacial passivation, contact-preserving architectures, electrode densification, and manufacturing compatibility.</p>","PeriodicalId":29791,"journal":{"name":"Small Science","volume":"6 8","pages":"e70347"},"PeriodicalIF":7.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13516851/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148833073","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}