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.

Recently, Professor Zhouguang Lu from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) reported a simple yet straightforward strategy to improve the cycling stability of ultra-high voltage LiCoO2 at 4.6V. This study, entitled “Dextran sulfate lithium as versatile binder to stabilize high-voltage LiCoO2 to 4.6 V,” was published in Advanced Energy Materials, a high-profile journal in material science.

Recently, Professor Meng Gu from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) and Professor Joseph S. Francisco from the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pennsylvania (UPenn) collaborated to report an iridium single-atom on Ni2P catalyst (IrSA-Ni2P) with a record low overpotential of 149 mV at a current density of 10 mA·cm−2 in 1.0 M KOH. Their study, entitled “Single Iridium Atom Doped Ni2P Catalyst for Optimal Oxygen Evolution,” was published in the high-impact journal Journal of the American Chemical Society.

Stoichiometry has a very important effect on the properties of oxides. Taking vanadium dioxide (VO2) as an example, the increase of oxygen vacancies significantly decreases the phase transition temperature from high-temperature metallic tetragonal R phase to low-temperature insulating monoclinic M1 phase. At the same time, excess oxygen can effectively stabilize two metastable insulating phases, the monoclinic M2 phase and the triclinic T phase. Up to date, there are still many difficulties in the fine regulation of oxygen content in oxides, which is a very important and challenging research topic.

Recently, Professor Hui Li’s group from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), published a review paper in Nature Energy, entitled “Bridging the gap between highly active oxygen reduction reaction catalysts and effective catalyst layers for proton exchange membrane fuel cells”. This review discusses the performance discrepancy between ex-situ thin-film rotating disk electrode (RDE) and real membrane electrode assembly (MEA). Furthermore, it elucidates various intrinsic limitations that have resulted in a persistent failure to transfer the high RDE activities of catalysts into maximized energy output at the MEA level.

Recently, Professor Hsing-Lin Wang from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering and Professor Haiping Xia from the Department of Chemistry at the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) made significant progress on the research of cathode interfacial materials (CIL) in perovskite solar cells (PSCs), leading to a publication in the Journal of American Chemical Society (JACS), which was also selected as the front cover.