SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3713-y
Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are promising electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), yet their practical application remains limited by poor electrical conductivity and sluggish reaction kinetics. In this work, we synthesize three high-entropy LDHs (HELDHs) featuring a hierarchical architecture of microspheres assembled from ultrathin nanosheets, via a simple hydrothermal method using a combination of low-cost, catalytically active transition metals (Fe, Co, Ni, Mn, Zn, Cu, and Cr). Among them, the FeCoNiMnZn HELDH exhibits outstanding OER performance, requiring an overpotential of only 306 mV to reach a current density of 100 mA cm−2. Notably, during 200 h of continuous operation, the device exhibits a stable and, in some cases, increasing current output. This exceptional activity is attributed to the formation of abundant cation vacancies, induced by Zn leaching, which enhance the intrinsic catalytic properties by optimizing the adsorption energies of key OER intermediates. Density functional theory calculations further validate that these vacancies modulate the electronic structure and lower reaction barriers, underscoring the effectiveness of cation-vacancy engineering in high-entropy systems for efficient and durable water oxidation catalysis. The optimized catalyst was further evaluated as the air cathode in a zinc–air battery, demonstrating practical electrochemical performance.
The Chinese Journal of Process Engineering•2026•DOI: 10.12034/j.issn.1009-606X.225250
Slag foaming is a critical phenomenon in electric arc furnace (EAF) steelmaking, enhancing thermal efficiency, suppressing metal splashing, and stabilizing the refining process. Accurate prediction and control of slag foaming are essential for green and efficient steelmaking. This review systematically examines research progress on slag foaming prediction, clarifying the applicability, advantages, and limitations of different predictive methods to support intelligent control of foamy slags. Following the framework of 'influencing factors-prediction methods-development trends', the study summarizes the coupling effects of multiple variables such as basicity, viscosity, surface tension, suspended particles, gas parameters, and temperature on foam formation and stability. It compares five major prediction approaches: empirical formulas, dimensionless modeling, thermodynamic calculations, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, and machine learning models, analyzing their core concepts, merits, and constraints. Results indicate that single models often struggle to balance real-time capability and accuracy, particularly under multi-variable coupling and complex operating conditions. Therefore, a hybrid prediction framework combining mechanism-based and data-driven models is proposed, emphasizing physical constraints, multi-scale coupling, and multi-source data fusion. This integrated approach is expected to advance slag foaming prediction from 'computable' to 'controllable and adjustable', offering methodological insights for the development of green and intelligent EAF steelmaking.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4123-0
Aqueous aluminum-ion batteries (AAIBs) are promising for large-scale energy storage due to safety, sustainability, and theoretical high capacity. However, sluggish electron/ion transport in conventional cathodes limits rate capability. Here, we first propose high-entropy engineering of metal oxides (HEOs) as cathodes in AAIBs, leveraging the 'cocktail effect' and abundant electron transport pathways to enhance rate-capacity. Atomic-level interactions between different metal atoms broaden the d-band with reduced electronic level degeneracy, facilitating rapid electron transport, achieving one of the best rate capabilities (119.4 mAh g−1 at 10.0 A g−1) among metal-oxide cathodes. The disordered layered oxides formed with a high-entropy framework alleviate electrostatic repulsion between aluminum ions and the fixed lattice, mitigating structural degradation and imparting excellent cycling stability (over 95.1 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles at 2.0 A g−1). The optimized HEO-Cr cathode (Fe0.6Co0.6Ni0.6Mn0.6Cr0.6O4) exhibits outstanding rate performance and cycling stability. DFT simulations and electrochemical tests reveal that multi-transition metal incorporation, bandgap narrowing, and unique lattice structure drastically enhance electron transport efficiency. The layered phase formed after cycling, based on a high-entropy framework, overcomes challenges from high charge density aluminum ions, significantly enhancing cycling stability. This work paves the way for high-performance AAIBs and other aqueous multivalent metal ion batteries by rationally designing high-entropy engineering.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3631-1
Anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) offers cost and dynamic-response advantages over proton exchange membrane systems, yet commercial deployment is constrained by the alkaline stability of anion exchange membranes (AEMs) and the sluggish kinetics of non-precious metal catalysts. This work reports a series of poly(terphenyl-diphenylmethane piperidinium) (QPDPMTP) membranes synthesized with varied diphenylmethane (DPM) content. The alkyl chain of DPM induces pronounced microphase separation and elevates free volume fraction, yielding an OH− conductivity of 152 mS cm−1 at 80 °C for QPDPMTP-10. After 1032 h immersion in 6 M NaOH at 80 °C, the membrane retains 90.7% of its initial conductivity. An AEMWE cell integrating QPDPMTP-10 with a non-precious NiFeCo LDH/NiS/NF anode achieves 3.11 A cm−2 at 2 V in 1 M KOH at 80 °C and sustains 1 A cm−2 for 1800 h under gradient KOH concentration. These results establish a viable pathway for durable, low-cost AEMWE systems.