Shuangshuang Liu, Yuanyuan Lian, Yizhi Zhao, Hua Hou, Juanna Ren, Eman Ramadan Elsharkawy, Salah M. El-Bahy, Zeinhom M. El-Bahy, Nannan Wu
{"title":"Recent advances of MXene-based nanocomposites towards microwave absorption: a review","authors":"Shuangshuang Liu, Yuanyuan Lian, Yizhi Zhao, Hua Hou, Juanna Ren, Eman Ramadan Elsharkawy, Salah M. El-Bahy, Zeinhom M. El-Bahy, Nannan Wu","doi":"10.1007/s42114-024-01145-5","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s42114-024-01145-5","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Owing to the extensive usage of information technology, serious electromagnetic (EM) radiation pollutions are caused. Hence, investigating high-performance microwave absorption materials is crucial to dealing with the severe EM radiation problem. MXene, a novel 2D material, attracts extensive attention in EM fields due to its remarkable specific surface area, abundant functional groups, and high electrical conductivity. Meanwhile, various MXene-based nanocomposites with different components and morphologies were fabricated as efficient microwave absorbers. In this study, the theories of microwave absorption and the MXene fabrication methods were summarized, and recent advancements in MXene-based absorbers were comparatively discussed with detailed examples, especially, some newly emerged Mene-based composites including MXene/metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) derived composites and MXene/layered double hydroxides (LDHs) composites. The vital shortcomings of MXene-based nanocomposites for microwave absorption are disclosed, and the prospects have been proposed for synthesizing MXene-based microwave absorbers with multiple innovative applications. This review guides the structure and component design as effective absorbers.</p><p>This review summarized the most recent advancements of MXene-based composites for microwave absorption.\u0000</p>","PeriodicalId":7220,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142995555","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Qiang Zhou, Quazi T. H. Shubhra, Peng Lai, Jiayi Shi, Chenhao Fang, Qian Guo, Wanqing Li, Rui Chen, Xinkun Shen, Lina Huang, Xiaojun Cai, Sen Lin
{"title":"Genistein and chlorin E6-loaded versatile nanoformulation for remodeling the hypoxia-related tumor microenvironment and boosting photodynamic therapy in nasopharyngeal carcinoma treatment","authors":"Qiang Zhou, Quazi T. H. Shubhra, Peng Lai, Jiayi Shi, Chenhao Fang, Qian Guo, Wanqing Li, Rui Chen, Xinkun Shen, Lina Huang, Xiaojun Cai, Sen Lin","doi":"10.1007/s42114-024-01158-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s42114-024-01158-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is an epithelial malignancy with a poor prognosis that is usually advanced at the time of diagnosis. Photodynamic therapy (PDT), with its safety and reproducibility, offers significant potential for advanced NPC treatment, though its efficacy is hindered by the hypoxic tumor microenvironment and continuous oxygen depletion during therapy. This study presents a versatile nanoformulation (CGP) co-loaded with chlorin e6 (Ce6) and genistein (Gen) within peptide dendritic nanogel (PDN) for enhanced NPC treatment. The positively charged CGP is efficiently internalized by NPC cells, followed by glutathione (GSH)-responsive degradation, releasing Ce6 and Gen. The released Gen reduces intracellular oxygen consumption and tumor metastability by inhibiting the HIF-1 signaling pathway, thereby efficiently boosting PDT efficacy. In vitro and in vivo studies confirmed that the combination of Gen and PDT effectively eliminates tumors and inhibits metastasis. Multi-omics analysis (RNA sequencing and targeted energy metabolomics) revealed that CGP suppresses HIF-1α, GLUT1, and VEGFA expression, downregulating the HIF-1 pathway and reducing anaerobic glycolysis, thereby successfully remodeling the hypoxia-associated tumor microenvironment. This study demonstrates that the Gen-PDT combination is a versatile approach capable of enhancing PDT efficacy and holds promise for NPC management.\u0000</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7220,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142995475","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Woojin Yang, Minju Park, Yoohyeon Choi, Il-Soo Park, Jae Won Yun, Heewoong Yoon, Dongjae Lee, Jiwon Seo, Heesuk Kim, Jae Hong Kim
{"title":"Biodegradable, ionic thermoelectric composites via self-assembly of dipeptides and deep eutectic solvents","authors":"Woojin Yang, Minju Park, Yoohyeon Choi, Il-Soo Park, Jae Won Yun, Heewoong Yoon, Dongjae Lee, Jiwon Seo, Heesuk Kim, Jae Hong Kim","doi":"10.1007/s42114-025-01239-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s42114-025-01239-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The growing demand for biodegradable conductive composites is driven by the need to mitigate electronic waste and advance bioelectronics for healthcare applications. Self-assembled peptide composites, particularly diphenylalanine (FF) derivatives, represent a promising class of materials for such electronics due to their inherent biodegradability and ease of hybridization with functional materials. However, the integration of ionic species with these peptides is often limited by the disruption of non-covalent interactions between FF derivatives. In this study, we developed biodegradable, ionic thermoelectric composites by co-assembling Fmoc-FF with deep eutectic solvents (DESs) composed of choline chloride (ChCl) and ethylene glycol (EG). Spectroscopic analyses revealed that Fmoc-FF formed eutectogels through π-π interactions between Fmoc groups, resulting in a highly porous colloidal network. The Fmoc-FF eutectogels exhibited an ionic conductivity of up to 47.5 mS·cm<sup>−1</sup> and a Seebeck coefficient of 7.39 mV·K<sup>−1</sup>, making them suitable for heat harvesting. Additionally, they were entirely degraded within 48 h under proteolytic conditions, confirming their biodegradability. The eutectogels also displayed self-healing and shear-thinning behaviors, highlighting compatibility with additive manufacturing techniques for device integration.</p><h3>Graphical Abstract</h3>\u0000<div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":7220,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s42114-025-01239-8.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142995554","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ziyang Fan, Min Sang, Yu Wang, Jianpeng Wu, Xinyi Wang, Xinglong Gong, Honghao Ma, Shouhu Xuan
{"title":"Synchronous enhancement of safety protection and impact perception in intelligent leather","authors":"Ziyang Fan, Min Sang, Yu Wang, Jianpeng Wu, Xinyi Wang, Xinglong Gong, Honghao Ma, Shouhu Xuan","doi":"10.1007/s42114-025-01232-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s42114-025-01232-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>High protection performance and intelligence are gradually becoming indispensable key factors with the ever-improving personal protective equipment. However, protective material that can not only resist but also percept full type of impacts is an urgent need due to complex combat scenarios. This work reports an intelligent leather/shear stiffening gel (SSG)/Kevlar-shear thickening fluid (STF)/non-woven fabric (LSKSN) composite, which exhibits superior and comprehensive impact resistance performance in needle puncture, knife puncture, ballistic impact, and blunt impact. Especially, the LSKSN composite not only improves the puncture resistance performance by 71% but also still maintains a large resistance after being punctured. Moreover, the LSKSN composite possesses a high limit penetrated velocity of 159 m s<sup>−1</sup> and can dissipate a high impact energy of 24.6 J, causing the bulletproof to be improved by 22%. Due to the excellent force-buffering performance and rate-dependent energy dissipation characteristics in wide-impact energy, the maximum energy dissipation rate of the LSKSN composite reaches 95%. Simultaneously, the further developed electronic LSKSN (E-LSKSN) composite shows outstanding perceptual capability, which is sensitive to various impacts and can accurately identify the impact types through different resistance changes (10–8000%) and response times (0.1–100 ms). Finally, based on the bending sensing and impact sensing properties of the E-LSKSN composite, a wireless signal transmission system is constructed to monitor the safety and movement status of the human body in real-time, which demonstrates this LSKSN composite possesses high potential in the next generation of intelligent protective equipment.</p><h3>Graphical Abstract</h3>\u0000<div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":7220,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s42114-025-01232-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142995524","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Scheelite ZnMoO4 cathode catalyst boosts the cycle durability at a wide range temperature of Li-O2 batteries through crystal structure rearrangement by oxygen vacancy","authors":"Mengtian Yu, Guanyu Yi, Xiuqi Zhang, Xiupeng Ding, Zhongping Zou, Hailong Ma, Zhongkui Zhao, Yuqi Fan","doi":"10.1007/s42114-025-01240-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s42114-025-01240-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Lithium-oxygen batteries (LOBs) have received intense attention due to their ultra-high energy density. However, the major impediments of LOBs, including poor cycle stability, sluggish reaction kinetics, and high overpotentials, are mainly derived from unreliable cathode catalysts. Unfortunately, most of the batteries only exhibit satisfactory performance at room temperature conditions; finding better catalysts that work in sub-ambient temperatures remains a challenge. In this study, a scheelite ZnMoO<sub>4</sub> catalyst was reported which can stably work over 580 cycles at room temperature and 297 cycles at sub-ambient temperatures (10 °C). The experimental and theoretical investigation demonstrated that the oxygen vacancies cause structural rearrangement to form pentahedrons in the scheelite structure, which is conducive to surface metal ion exposure, strong adsorption ability, and high electron transfer efficiency, which is beneficial to stabilize the LiO<sub>2</sub> and the surface formation route of Li<sub>2</sub>O<sub>2</sub>. This work provides a novel strategy for the design of cathode catalysts for LOBs at a wide range of temperatures.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7220,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s42114-025-01240-1.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142995508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Min Liu, Weihua Ma, Mai Zhang, Shuyi Huang, Shishi Lin, Jianjun Liao, Ping Zhang, Linlin Zhang
{"title":"Bio-inspired design of antifouling polymeric coatings with natural extracts: key evidence for resistance to fouling adhesion","authors":"Min Liu, Weihua Ma, Mai Zhang, Shuyi Huang, Shishi Lin, Jianjun Liao, Ping Zhang, Linlin Zhang","doi":"10.1007/s42114-024-01094-z","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s42114-024-01094-z","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Marine environmentally friendly antifouling materials are emerging as a viable and promising alternative to the conventional toxic antifouling agents. Within this field, the exploration of natural antifouling substances has become a significant research focus, representing an auspicious avenue for innovation in eco-friendly technologies. In this study, we delve into the development of eco-friendly antifouling coatings through a novel chemical modification process. By incorporating natural antifouling agents onto an acrylic acid substrate through a grafting process, we have successfully synthesized three distinct varieties of natural antifouling coatings: isobornyl acrylate polymer (IBAP), acrylate indole polymer (AIP), and indole isobornyl co-modified acrylate polymer (IAA-IBOMA). Through meticulous surface characterization, structural analysis, and a comprehensive suite of antifouling performance tests, our findings indicate that these coatings exhibit superior antifouling properties. Notably, the IAA-IBOMA coating demonstrated exceptional anti-adhesion effects. The specific inhibition rates against <i>E. coli</i>, <i>S. aureus</i>, and <i>Pseudoalteromonas aeruginosa</i> were impressive, achieving 93.5%, 92.8%, and 95.7%, respectively. Moreover, the anti-mussel selective adhesion inhibition rate was found to be 93.3%. Furthermore, environmental toxicity assessments have validated the eco-friendly and stable nature of the IAA-IBOMA coating. These results underscore the potential of these natural product-based coatings as sustainable solutions for the marine industry. This work offers valuable insights and holds significant implications for guiding the future development of environmentally friendly antifouling coatings, steering the industry towards a more sustainable and eco-conscious direction.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7220,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142995327","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Design of oxygen vacancy-rich Er-Bi2WO6 flower-like nanoparticles for enhanced photocatalytic performance in dye degradation and sterilization applications","authors":"Shan Huang, Mengmeng Wang, Xinjie Ni, Xinqi Liu, Yi Fang, Qi Xiao, Yue Zhang","doi":"10.1007/s42114-024-01169-x","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s42114-024-01169-x","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Catalysts that effectively degrade organic pollutants and exhibit bactericidal properties are highly up-and-compromising for water treatment applications. To overcome the inherent limitation that the rapid recombination of the photogenerated carriers and to extend the practical utility of Bi<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub>, a flower-like structure of 7 wt.% Er<sup>3+</sup>-doped Bi<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub> (Er<sub>7%</sub>-Bi<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub>) capable of oxygen vacancy and crystal defect was synthesized using a straightforward hydrothermal method. Under visible light irradiation (λ > 420 nm), the Er<sub>7%</sub>-Bi<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub> achieved a Rhodamine B (RhB) degradation efficiency of 92% within 80 min, significantly surpassing that of pristine Bi<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub>. The kinetic rate constant of Er<sub>7%</sub>-Bi<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub> was determined to be 0.0288 min<sup>−1</sup>, which is 5.9 times higher than the 0.0049 min<sup>−1</sup> observed for Bi<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub>. Additionally, the bactericidal rate against <i>Escherichia coli</i> after 120 min of visible light exposure was 93.9%, nearly twice that of Bi<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub> at 49.8%. Density functional theory calculations and experimental results confirmed that doping with Er<sup>3+</sup> introduced lower band gap and more photogenerated carriers, enhanced visible light absorption, and ultimately improved the photocatalytic performance. Electron paramagnetic resonance and radical trapping experiments identified h⁺ and ·O<sub>2</sub>⁻ as the primary active species generated during the photocatalytic process of Er<sub>7%</sub>-Bi<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub>. The RhB removal rate remained above 90% after five degradation cycles, and the treatment efficacy on actual water samples was 76%. This study highlights the potential of Er-doped Bi<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub> to enhance both photocatalytic degradation of organic pollutants and bactericidal performance, thereby expanding the application scope of Bi<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub> in water treatment.</p><h3>Graphical Abstract</h3>\u0000<div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":7220,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142995366","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recent development of elastomer-based smart sensing materials and structures","authors":"Yunfei Yu, Xiaojian Liao, Wei Feng","doi":"10.1007/s42114-024-01168-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s42114-024-01168-y","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>With the rapid advancement of wearable smart devices, there is an increasing demand for intelligent flexible strain sensors. However, to date, traditional metallic or inorganic semiconductor strain sensors exhibit poor stretchability and sensitivity, limiting their applications in this field. Flexible elastomer-based smart sensing materials (FESSM) offer several advantages, including lightweight design and quantifiable production capabilities. These FESSM have garnered significant attention for their potential applications in robotic electronic skins and intelligent homecare systems. The materials and structural design of FESSM are continually being optimized to facilitate the development of high-performance flexible electronics. This article reviews the latest advancements in the design concepts of materials and structures for FESSM. It examines the preparation methods for various elastic substrates, such as polyurethane fibers and polydimethylsiloxane films, and explores the design of their micro-nano structures, as well as the appropriate use of conductive fillers. This review aims to provide insights and strategies for the design of high-performance FESSM.</p><h3>Graphical abstract</h3>\u0000<div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":7220,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142995436","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Wenda Zhang, Yuncong Shang, Jinjie Wang, Hongbin Liu, Hong Xu
{"title":"Effect of heat treatment on microstructure and properties of SiCp-Cf/ZL109 aluminum matrix composites prepared by hot pressing sintering","authors":"Wenda Zhang, Yuncong Shang, Jinjie Wang, Hongbin Liu, Hong Xu","doi":"10.1007/s42114-024-01062-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s42114-024-01062-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The hot press sintering and heat treatment processes each play a crucial role in influencing the interface between the fibers and the matrix alloy; therefore, this work evaluated the interfacial evolution between carbon fibers and the matrix alloy in SiC<sub>p</sub>-C<sub>f</sub>/Al composites under sintered and heat-treated conditions. 5SiC<sub>p</sub>-5C<sub>f</sub>/ZL109 hybrid-reinforced aluminum matrix composites were prepared by hot pressing sintering and T6 heat treatment to investigate their microstructure and properties. The analysis revealed that the SiC<sub>p</sub> and C<sub>f</sub> were uniformly distributed in the matrix alloy, and after heat treatment, Ni diffused and the Al<sub>3</sub>Ni phase on the surface of the carbon fiber transformed into a jagged one. The mechanical interlock between the carbon fiber and the matrix alloy was formed by the jagged Al<sub>3</sub>Ni phase, which improved the interface bonding between the carbon fiber and the matrix alloy. The yield strength and the tensile strength of the heat-treated 5SiC<sub>p</sub>-5C<sub>f</sub>/ZL109 hybrid-reinforced aluminum matrix composites reached 324 MPa and 343 MPa, respectively, 93.3% and 55.5% higher than those of the matrix alloy.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7220,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142995438","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Ui Young Lee, Dong In Jeong, Jun Seok Ha, Ju Hyeok Lee, Hyuk Choi, Jung Hyeon Yoo, Hyuck Gu Choi, Hyun You Kim, Bong Kyun Kang, Yoo Sei Park, Dae Ho Yoon
{"title":"Fine-tunable N-doping in carbon-coated CoFe nano-cubes for efficient hydrogen evolution in AEM water electrolysis","authors":"Ui Young Lee, Dong In Jeong, Jun Seok Ha, Ju Hyeok Lee, Hyuk Choi, Jung Hyeon Yoo, Hyuck Gu Choi, Hyun You Kim, Bong Kyun Kang, Yoo Sei Park, Dae Ho Yoon","doi":"10.1007/s42114-025-01237-w","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s42114-025-01237-w","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>To obtain environment-friendly and renewable hydrogen energy, research is being actively conducted towards lowering the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) energy barrier through various modifications to the surface of a transition metal bimetal electrochemical catalyst. Herein, we report the development of highly N-doped carbon shell-encapsulated cobalt iron nano cube (CoFe@HNCS) through fine-tuning of the nitrogen-doping content in the carbon shell. The pyridinic N-rich N-doped carbon shell, achieved by adding melamine through electrostatic interactions, improves conductivity, increases active sites, and optimizes Gibbs free energy for hydrogen adsorption. In alkaline HER performance, the optimized CoFe@HNC20 exhibits a lower overpotential (98.2 mV) than CoFe@NCS (133.2 mV) at 10 mA cm<sup>−2</sup>. Furthermore, CoFe@HNCS20 as cathode catalyst in anion exchange membrane (AEM) water electrolyzer also shows low cell voltage of 1.808 V to achieve the current density of 0.5 A cm<sup>−2</sup>. The expansion of the application to combine solar cells and AEM electrolyzer suggests the possibility of a hydrogen ecosystem.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":7220,"journal":{"name":"Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":23.2,"publicationDate":"2025-01-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s42114-025-01237-w.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142995435","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"材料科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}