Topological semimetals have a linear-dispersed low energy excitation, exhibiting significant responses to a magnetic field. Some of them also have an excellent magneto-thermoelectric performance.

Thermoelectric materials, as a kind of green energy material that can convert “heat energy” into “electricity” without external force, can use the ubiquitous environmental heat energy to provide continuous power supply for small sensors or electronic devices in the Internet of Things (IoT) system.

Electronic skins (e-skins) are devices that can respond to mechanical stimuli and convert mechanical information to digital signals. A great challenge for existing e-skins is that they may easily fail under extreme mechanical conditions due to their multilayered architecture with mechanical mismatch and weak adhesion between the interlayers.

Bioelectronics is blurring the boundary between electronics and the human body. It is proven to be an effective alternative to pharmaceutical therapy in treating various diseases. Recent research is pushing bioelectronics into the era of soft bioelectronics, which aims to apply tissue-like soft materials to replace the traditional metal and plastic that make electronic devices. The soft materials used are expected to be more compatible with bio-tissue to reduce the immune response.

Electric vehicles are very limited in mileage due to the low energy density of batteries. Developing batteries with high energy density and long calendar life is urgently needed. Commercial lithium (Li)-ion batteries are already very close to their ceiling values. Further substantial increase in energy density depends on developing new electrode materials.

Aprotic LABs (LABs), which employ lithium metal as the anode and oxygen as the cathodic active substances, are a promising energy storage device to significantly boost the endurance mileage of electric transport systems due to its much higher theoretical energy density (3450 Wh kg−1) than that of the current Li-ion batteries (300-500 Wh kg−1). In the recent decade, extensive research efforts have been devoted to this battery technology in terms of the exploration of reaction mechanisms and the improvement of battery performance. Therefore, some significant progress has been achieved. However, the detailed oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) chemistry, especially unambiguous identification of various discharge products and their specific distribution, is still largely unknown or in controversy.

Thermoelectric nanocomposite is one of the hot topics in the field of thermoelectric materials, including both the externally added nanoparticles or internally precipitates from the matrix. Associate Professor Weishu Liu’s team from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and their co-authors have made significant progress in exploring new thermoelectric nanocomposites.

Professor Xugang Guo from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) has led his research team to publish several important papers in high-profile journals such as Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), Advanced Materials, Energy & Environmental Science, Angewandte Chemie, and Accounts of Chemical Research.

The local coordination environment (LCE) around catalytically active sites plays a vital role in tuning the activity of electrocatalysts made of carbon-supported metal nanoparticles.