Renewed interest in polymer nanocomposites (PNCs) has garnered significant impact towards next-generation hybrid materials. Owing to the outstanding mechanical, thermal, electrical, and chemical properties of PNCs, the integration of various nanoparticles or other emerging nanofillers into polymer matrices renders their applicability. This review outlines recent progress and a comprehensive overview across multidisciplinary fields of chemistry and physics concepts including surface chemistry and polymer science, emphasizing their enhanced photophysical performance over traditional composites. To examine their promising physicochemical nature, several fabrication techniques are outlined: in situ polymerization, solution blending, melt compounding, and electrospinning. In addition, state-of-the-art characterization tools that cover in situ or operando, including X-ray diffraction, neutron scattering, and various spectroscopic methods, are summarized for nanoscale structures and dynamics interpretation. Driven by stringent requirements for improved interfacial bonding and nanofiller dispersion, recent advancements in computational techniques such as density functional theory (DFT) in combination with machine learning (ML) are introduced to achieve high accuracy in terms of polymer structure predictive design. The multitude of aspects of PNCs embarked on diverse applications spanning from energy sector (fuel cells, solar cells, batteries, and supercapacitors), petroleum engineering (enhanced oil recovery), environmental fields (wastewater treatment via photocatalysis), biomedicine (drug delivery), and in biosensors (high-precision volatile analytes). This review highlights the vast potential of PNCs in addressing technological challenges such as structural complexity and engineering trade-offs. Moreover, several profound future research directions, including scalable fabrication and multifunctional material design are discussed.

Piezocatalysis that brings the conversion from mechanical energy to chemical energy has caught more and more attention of researchers in the field of wastewater treatment, due to its advantages of environmental friendliness and sustainability. In particular, Zinc oxide (ZnO) is regarded as an appropriate candidate material for the piezocatalytic degradation of aquatic pollutants because of the merits such as low-cost, non-toxicity and remarkable electron mobility. Besides, wurtzite ZnO possesses unique piezoelectricity owing to its noncentrosymmetric structure, which is constituted by alternating planes of Zn²⁺ and O^2- ions along the c-axis, each Zn²⁺ being tetrahedral with four surrounding O^2-, and vice versa. Nevertheless, the piezocatalytic performance of pure ZnO is unsatisfactory which greatly hinders its practical application. So numerous strategies are used to enhance its piezocatalytic activity. This review roundly sums up the strategies for the enhancement of ZnO-based piezocatalysis performance. Furthermore, current challenges and future perspectives of ZnO-based piezocatalysis are proposed, which would be conducive to the design and development of more serviceable ZnO-based piezocatalysts in the future.

The construction of S-scheme heterojunction represents a simple yet effective strategy for enhancing photogenerated charge carrier separation and optimizing the reduction and oxidation capability of the photocatalytic system. However, precise tuning of the internal electric field for optimizing charge carrier migration across the heterojunction remains challenging. Herein, we present a novel defect engineering approach to modulate the potential barrier in S-scheme heterojunctions through strategic oxygen vacancy introduction. Specifically, we first selectively introduce oxygen vacancies on Bi₂WO₆, followed by coupling with g-C₃N₄ to form oxygen-deficient Bi₂WO₆/g-C₃N₄ (OVs-BWO-CN) S-scheme heterojunction. Surprisingly, the selective oxygen vacancy engineering on OVs-BWO cannot only preserve the features of common oxygen vacancies, but also shrink the potential barrier formed between OVs-BWO and CN. This reduction in potential barrier facilitates enhanced charge carrier migration across the heterojunction interface. As a direct consequence of this optimized charge transfer, the CN/OVs-BWO heterojunction demonstrates exceptional photocatalytic CO₂ conversion performance, reaching a CO production rate of 48.65 μmol h⁻¹ g⁻¹. Such a work on selective oxygen vacancy engineering for optimizing potential barrier can provide important guidelines for photocatalysis.

The electrochemical conversion and storage of renewable energy presents substantial potential as a sustainable alternative to conventional fossil fuel energy systems. This approach not only supports the transition to cleaner energy but also enhances energy security and promotes environmental sustainability. Central to this field is electrocatalysis, which facilitates the transformation of reactants into high-value chemicals and relies on the efficiency of catalytic processes. The increasing interest in electrocatalytic activity is simulated by advances in catalyst design and mechanistic understanding. However, traditional electrochemical techniques often fall short in uncovering the distinct properties of nanomaterials. Recent advancements in physical nanoelectronic devices indicate that the application of small-scale devices in electrocatalysis offers a promising and innovative solution. These innovative devices enable precise electrochemical investigations by employing individual nanowires or nanosheets as working electrodes, thereby providing multi-dimensional insights into electrochemical interfaces. This review presents recent advancements in on-chip microdevices, emphasizing their significant developments in energy conversion and storage technologies. It highlights the critical role of micro-devices in fostering future innovations and enhancing their applications within the energy sector.

Red phosphorus (RP), as a promising non-metallic photocatalyst, has garnered considerable attention due to its unique structural characteristics and exceptional optoelectronic properties. While previous reviews have explored RP-based photocatalysis, recent advancements in fabrication strategies, characterization techniques, and theoretical modeling have significantly reshaped the design, synthesis, and optimization of these materials. This review provides a comprehensive and critical evaluation of the latest progress in RP-based photocatalysts over the past five years, with a particular focus on strategies aimed at enhancing light harvesting capabilities, improving the separation and transport of photogenerated charge carriers, and ensuring long-term stability. Particular emphasis is placed on the role of innovative in-situ characterization techniques and density functional theory (DFT) simulations in elucidating the underlying photocatalytic mechanism across diverse applications, including photocatalytic hydrogen evolution, CO₂ reduction, bacterial disinfection and organic pollutant degradation. Finally, this review highlights emerging challenges and forward-looking strategies to further boost the photocatalytic performance of RP-based systems, offering valuable insights for the rational design of next-generation non-metallic photocatalysts.

Hollow-structured materials exhibit breakthrough potential in energy storage and conversion, leveraging unique advantages including high specific surface area, controllable cavity architecture, and short-range mass transfer pathways, alongside tunable functional properties. This review synthesizes recent progress, emphasizing the constitutive relationships governing material synthesis, structural engineering, and resultant performance. Key synthesis strategies including encompassing hard-templating, soft-templating, and template-free approaches are delineated with respect to their mechanisms and characteristics. Subsequently, cutting-edge applications in energy storage systems (e.g., lithium-ion batteries, supercapacitors), conversion systems (e.g., photoelectrocatalysis) and the application of partial in-situ testing technology for exploring the reaction mechanism are highlighted. The review concludes by outlining critical challenges and opportunities pertaining to scalable fabrication, structural stability, and device integration, providing a roadmap for the precise design and performance optimization of these materials.

Magnesium hydride (MgH₂) as a solid-state hydrogen storage material has obtained intense attention in extensive research because of its high hydrogen-storage capacity, excellent reversibility, and a relatively low cost. However, two primary obstacles of slow kinetics during hydrogenation/dehydrogenation process and high thermodynamic stability of Mg-H bond hinders the large-scale application of MgH₂. Therefore, developing high-efficiency catalysts is necessary for hydrogen storage system. Titanium (Ti) as an active element has the promising in enhancing hydrogen storage activity and has been reported extensively. Herein, this review summarized the synthesis approaches, testing technology, and hydrogen storage performance of various Ti-based additives in detail. The structure-activity relationship of Ti-based materials was researched by combining experiment and DFT simulations. In particular, the focus is on the investigation of synthesis, characterization and reaction mechanism of various Ti-based additives. The real active sites and different reaction mechanisms during MgH₂ hydrogen storage system are discussed. Finally, a summary and outlook were also presented. This review may have potential in designing high-efficient catalysts and providing embedded guidance for future development and application of Mg-based materials during the system of hydrogen storage.