Oxygen Vacancy Formation at Metal‒TiO₂ Interface Yielding Enhanced Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation.

Strong Metal-Support Interaction (SMSI) is a key concept in heterogeneous catalysis, but it remains underexplored in the context of photon-to-hydrogen conversion, as coupling of metallic nanoparticles with photocatalysts is overlooked and only discussed in terms of Schottky barrier formation. In this study, we provide deep insights into the effect of Au encapsulation with TiO overlayer on enhancing photocatalytic hydrogen generation. Our findings reveal that the construction of a SMSI-like nanostructure induces the formation of oxygen vacancies at the Au‒TiO interface which actively facilitate charge carrier separation through interfacial band reconstruction.

Strong charge-photon coupling in planar germanium enabled by granular aluminium superinductors.

High kinetic inductance superconductors are gaining increasing interest for the realisation of qubits, amplifiers and detectors. Moreover, thanks to their high impedance, quantum buses made of such materials enable large zero-point fluctuations of the voltage, boosting the coupling rates to spin and charge qubits. However, fully exploiting the potential of disordered or granular superconductors is challenging, as their inductance and, therefore, impedance at high values are difficult to control.

Mechanistic Insights and Technical Challenges in Sulfur-Based Batteries: A Comprehensive / Monitoring Toolbox.

Batteries based on sulfur cathodes offer a promising energy storage solution due to their potential for high performance, cost-effectiveness, and sustainability. However, commercial viability is challenged by issues such as polysulfide migration, volume changes, uneven phase nucleation, limited ion transport, and sluggish sulfur redox kinetics. Addressing these challenges requires insights into the structural, morphological, and chemical evolution of phases, the associated volume changes and internal stresses, and ion and polysulfide diffusion within the battery.

Promoting Polysulfide Redox Reactions through Electronic Spin Manipulation.

Catalytic additives able to accelerate the lithium-sulfur redox reaction are a key component of sulfur cathodes in lithium-sulfur batteries (LSBs). Their design focuses on optimizing the charge distribution within the energy spectra, which involves refinement of the distribution and occupancy of the electronic density of states. Herein, beyond charge distribution, we explore the role of the electronic spin configuration on the polysulfide adsorption properties and catalytic activity of the additive.

Enhanced Oxygen Evolution and Zinc-Air Battery Performance via Electronic Spin Modulation in Heterostructured Catalysts.

Beyond optimizing electronic energy levels, the modulation of the electronic spin configuration is an effective strategy, often overlooked, to boost activity and selectivity in a range of catalytic reactions, including the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). This electronic spin modulation is frequently accomplished using external magnetic fields, which makes it impractical for real applications. Herein, spin modulation is achieved by engineering Ni/MnFeO heterojunctions, whose surface is reconstructed into NiOOH/MnFeOOH during the OER.

Enhanced Electrochemical Hydrogenation of Benzaldehyde to Benzyl Alcohol on Pd@Ni-MOF by Modifying the Adsorption Configuration.

Electrocatalytic hydrogenation (ECH) approaches under ambient temperature and pressure offer significant potential advantages over thermal hydrogenation processes but require highly active and efficient hydrogenation electrocatalysts. The performance of such hydrogenation electrocatalysts strongly depends not only on the active phase but also on the architecture and surface chemistry of the support material. Herein, Pd nanoparticles supported on a nickel metal-organic framework (MOF), Ni-MOF-74, are prepared, and their activity toward the ECH of benzaldehyde (BZH) in a 3 M acetate (pH 5.

Cobalt-Iron Oxyhydroxide Obtained from the Metal Phosphide: A Highly Effective Electrocatalyst for the Oxygen Evolution Reaction at High Current Densities.

The development of high current density anodes for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is fundamental to manufacturing practical and reliable electrochemical cells. In this work, we have developed a bimetallic electrocatalyst based on cobalt-iron oxyhydroxide that shows outstanding performance for water oxidation. Such a catalyst is obtained from cobalt-iron phosphide nanorods that serve as sacrificial structures for the formation of a bimetallic oxyhydroxide through phosphorous loss concomitantly to oxygen/hydroxide incorporation.

Is Soft Carbon a More Suitable Match for SiO in Li-Ion Battery Anodes?

Silicon oxide (SiO ), inheriting the high-capacity characteristic of silicon-based materials but possessing superior cycling stability, is a promising anode material for next-generation Li-ion batteries. SiO is typically applied in combination with graphite (Gr), but the limited cycling durability of the SiO /Gr composites curtails large-scale applications. In this work, this limited durability is demonstrated in part related to the presence of a bidirectional diffusion at the SiO /Gr interface, which is driven by their intrinsic working potential differences and the concentration gradients.

Reducing charge noise in quantum dots by using thin silicon quantum wells.

Charge noise in the host semiconductor degrades the performance of spin-qubits and poses an obstacle to control large quantum processors. However, it is challenging to engineer the heterogeneous material stack of gate-defined quantum dots to improve charge noise systematically. Here, we address the semiconductor-dielectric interface and the buried quantum well of a Si/SiGe heterostructure and show the connection between charge noise, measured locally in quantum dots, and global disorder in the host semiconductor, measured with macroscopic Hall bars.

Majorana-like Coulomb spectroscopy in the absence of zero-bias peaks.

Hybrid semiconductor-superconductor devices hold great promise for realizing topological quantum computing with Majorana zero modes. However, multiple claims of Majorana detection, based on either tunnelling or Coulomb blockade (CB) spectroscopy, remain disputed. Here we devise an experimental protocol that allows us to perform both types of measurement on the same hybrid island by adjusting its charging energy via tunable junctions to the normal leads.

Machine learning in electron microscopy for advanced nanocharacterization: current developments, available tools and future outlook.

In the last few years, electron microscopy has experienced a new methodological paradigm aimed to fix the bottlenecks and overcome the challenges of its analytical workflow. Machine learning and artificial intelligence are answering this call providing powerful resources towards automation, exploration, and development. In this review, we evaluate the state-of-the-art of machine learning applied to electron microscopy (and obliquely, to materials and nano-sciences).

Sub-nanometer mapping of strain-induced band structure variations in planar nanowire core-shell heterostructures.

Strain relaxation mechanisms during epitaxial growth of core-shell nanostructures play a key role in determining their morphologies, crystal structure and properties. To unveil those mechanisms, we perform atomic-scale aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy studies on planar core-shell ZnSe@ZnTe nanowires on α-AlO substrates. The core morphology affects the shell structure involving plane bending and the formation of low-angle polar boundaries.

A singlet-triplet hole spin qubit in planar Ge.

Spin qubits are considered to be among the most promising candidates for building a quantum processor. Group IV hole spin qubits are particularly interesting owing to their ease of operation and compatibility with Si technology. In addition, Ge offers the option for monolithic superconductor-semiconductor integration.

Ballistic InSb Nanowires and Networks via Metal-Sown Selective Area Growth.

Selective area growth is a promising technique to realize semiconductor-superconductor hybrid nanowire networks, potentially hosting topologically protected Majorana-based qubits. In some cases, however, such as the molecular beam epitaxy of InSb on InP or GaAs substrates, nucleation and selective growth conditions do not necessarily overlap. To overcome this challenge, we propose a metal-sown selective area growth (MS SAG) technique, which allows decoupling selective deposition and nucleation growth conditions by temporarily isolating these stages.