SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4395-x
Electrocatalysts in lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries accelerate sulfur species redox reactions and restrict polysulfide shuttling, yet ideal electrocatalysts with remarkable bidirectional catalytic effects remain scarce. This work utilizes iron (Fe) to trigger bidirectional catalytic effects in a cobalt (Co) electrocatalyst, generating a metal alloy-based heterostructure of Co-Co7Fe3 dispersed homogeneously on carbon sheets (Co-Co7Fe3/CS). Electrochemical tests and in situ X-ray diffraction disclose significantly enhanced bilateral catalytic activity of Co-Co7Fe3 compared to bare Co, confirmed by self-discharge measurements. Post-cycling investigation validates protection of the Li metal anode from sulfur species corrosion. The Co-Co7Fe3/CS-modified coin cells deliver an exceptional rate capability of 603 mAh g–1 at 5.0 C and steady long-life cycling for 500 cycles at 1.0 and 2.0 C. Under high sulfur loadings and lean electrolyte conditions, an impressive areal capacity with stable cycling is realized. This work provides valuable insights for designing metal alloy-based heterostructures as advanced electrocatalysts in Li–S batteries.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3912-0
This erratum corrects an error in the Chinese name of co-first author Tianxiao Xiao (肖天孝) as originally published in the article 'A multi-modal smart chest patch for real-time cardiopulmonary monitoring and anomaly detection' (Sci China Mater, 2025, 68(12): 4413–4422). The corrected Chinese name is 肖天笑. The correction applies solely to the author's name and does not affect the scientific content, experimental data, or conclusions of the original paper. The authors and publisher apologize for any inconvenience caused.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3946-2
High energy-density lithium–sulfur (Li–S) batteries with rapid intermediate conversion and forbidden shuttle effect require superior electrocatalysts with tunable catalytic activity. In this protocol, binary FeNi3 alloy nanoparticles homogeneously embedded within carbon nanosheets (FeNi3/CNS) are synthesized to regulate the conversions of sulfur species. Time of flight-secondary mass ion spectroscopy reveals a significantly improved catalytic effect of binary FeNi3 alloy compared to bare Ni, which is confirmed by a larger Li2S amount generated during in situ X-ray diffraction measurement. Further anode characterization validates efficient shuttling suppression and good lithium metal protection. In Li–S batteries, electrochemical tests demonstrate a remarkable rate capability of 852 mAh g−1 at 3.0 C, and outstanding long-term cycle at 1.0 C (639 mAh g−1 after 500 cycles). Even under a wide operation temperature range (−15–60 °C), Li–S batteries exhibit stable cycling with high specific capacities under high current rates. Moreover, Li–S batteries using FeNi3/CNS attain a maximum areal capacity of 5.60 mAh cm−2 under ~4.0 mg cm−2 sulfur. This study highlights the advantages of adopting binary or multi-component metal alloys as electrocatalysts and points out the research directions to advance Li–S batteries into practical applications.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3423-6
Copper sulfide (Cu2−xS) is a low-cost, eco-friendly thermoelectric material, but its performance is limited by the trade-off between electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity. This study introduces an intermediate doping strategy using copper alloys (bronze, cupronickel, brass) to partially replace the copper source in Cu1.8S, addressing excessive Cu vacancies. The approach enhances the solubility limits of Zn, Sn, Pb, and Ni, optimizing carrier concentration, and generates in situ nanoscale second phases that scatter phonons. The optimal composition, Cu1.8S + 5 wt.% bronze + 3 wt.% cupronickel + 2 wt.% brass, achieves a ZT of 1.7 at 673 K, a 247% improvement over pristine Cu1.8S and the highest reported for this system. This work establishes intermediate doping as a viable paradigm for optimizing thermoelectric properties in alloy-based systems.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3667-7
Cardiopulmonary homeostasis disruption often signals early pathology, yet existing wearables are limited to single or few modalities, failing to capture heart-lung interactions. This work presents a multimodal smart chest patch (SCP) integrating flexible sensing modules with a multi-criteria, multimodal fusion (MCMF) machine learning model. The patch (5.4 g, 3.6 mm) simultaneously monitors electrocardiogram (ECG), heart sound (HS), and respiratory (Resp) signals, extracting 12 cardiopulmonary parameters in real time. Compared with commercial devices, the SCP maintains stable signal quality across diverse individuals. The MCMF model, validated on 5,561 recordings from 475 participants, achieved 87% classification accuracy for detecting cardiac and respiratory anomalies, surpassing conventional methods. Real-time exercise monitoring revealed dynamic physiological shifts (ΔHR = 21 bpm, ΔPEP = −30 ms) with superior signal fidelity. These results demonstrate the SCP's potential for scalable, personalized health management, enabling early detection of cardiopulmonary dysfunction and optimized exercise regimens.