Graphene has played a major role in wearable electronic textiles due to its excellent electrical conductivity, superior flexibility and environmental stability. In this work, a green-yellow reversible electrothermochromic fabric was constructed via a facial double side coating. The self-made graphene paste is coated on the surface of polyester fabric by screen printing technology. The hybrid thermochromic ink with reversible color-changing property is coated on the opposite side of the graphene layer by screen printing technology. Structural properties and discoloration principle of the fabric were analyzed. Their thermal and color-changing properties were studied by using infrared thermal imaging and colorimeter. The results show that the graphene forms a conductive layer with a thickness of 250 μm that allows Joule heating to supply the thermal resource for the electrothermochromic behavior. This fabric changes from green to yellow with a gradual heating that exceeded 45 ℃ at 12 V due to the ring closure and opening of crystal violet lactone. Its color change response time is about 15 s, while fading response time is about 27 s. The electro-thermochromic fabric is not disturbed once undergoing a bending angle range from 30° to 180° and the voltage-current curve remains stable. Performance of the fabric does not significantly degrade after 200 heating/cooling continuous cycles. In conclusion, a sensitive electro-thermochromic fabric with good cycle performance from green to yellow with the structure of graphene film‖polyester fabric‖thermochromic film is successfully prepared, which has a high application potential in the fields of military camouflage and wearable display.

Silicon carbide fiber reinforced silicon carbide (SiC_f/SiC) composites have become the preferred candidate for structural applications in advanced nuclear energy systems, because of their low neutron toxicity, neutron irradiation tolerance and high-temperature oxidation resistance. In recent years, both academia and industry either domestic or abroad have carried out a lot of researches on SiC_f/SiC composites for nuclear application, and numerous important achievements have been made. This paper summarized and analysed some critical directions of SiC_f/SiC composites for nuclear applications, including nuclear-grade SiC fibers, fibre/matrix interfaces, composite processing, modeling and simulation, corrosion behavior and surface protection, joining technology, as well as radiation damage. The key issues and potential solutions of SiC_f/SiC composites for nuclear applications have been pointed out in account to the requirements, anticipating to be beneficial to promoting further researches and final applications.

Oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is the key reaction in cathode for fuel cells. Because of the sluggish kinetics, platinum (Pt) is widely used as the electrocatalysts for ORR. However, the high cost of Pt and poor stability of carbon black support under high voltage limit the commercialization and durability of fuel cells. Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (2D TMDs) possess large specific area, tunable electronic structure, and high chemical stability, making them a good candidate for ORR catalysts with high activity and durability. This paper reviews the recent progress of 2D TMDs-based ORR electrocatalysts. First, crystal structure, electronic properties, and ORR reaction mechanism are briefly introduced. Then some strategies for adjusting ORR performance of 2D TMDs are summarized, including heteroatom doping, phase conversion, defect engineering, and strain engineering. Meanwhile, the ORR activity enhancement arising from 2D TMDs-based heterostructures is also analyzed. Finally, perspectives are given for current issues and their possible solutions.

Spontaneous coagulation casting (SCC) is a novel in-situ ceramic forming method, not only universal for various ceramics but also working well at room temperature in air. Here presents the finding of SCC, involving an anion dispersant which acts as both dispersing and coagulating agent. Then, the difference between SCC and other in-situ coagulation methods in principle was elucidated. In SCC, particles participate in the formation of organic network which originates from hydrophobic interaction and hydrogen bonding among the dispersant molecular chains. The ceramic gel formed by SCC is a physical gel and possesses low density which is conducive to water transportation and stress relaxation during drying. In contrast, the one by conventional gelcasting is a chemical gel in which particles are fixed by a dense organic network. Based on the hydrophobic interaction, this review focuses on the design and synthesis of a series of SCC agents to meet the demand of forming dense and porous ceramics from particles with different sizes. That is, an anion dispersant is hydrophobically modified by a surfactant with a short or long chain. The obtained two agents are used for preparation of dense and porous ceramics, respectively. Progress of key technologies in this area including ceramic joining without interface, construction of grain orientation, drying, preparation of dense ceramics and porous ceramics, by SCC is summarized. Typically, alumina disc with a diameter up to 1010 nm and alumina parts with complicated shape such as dome and guide are shown. Future development of SCC is also proposed to enable SCC is a more universal forming technology for advanced ceramics with a large and/or complicated dimension.

Solar thermal radiant energy is abundant in storage and pollution-free, and is one of the most competitive clean energies in the future. In recent years, halide perovskite quantum dots (PQDs) are widely used in solar cells and luminescent concentrator solar cells due to their excellent photoelectric properties and unique advantages such as quantum confinement effect and solution processing, and possess vast application prospects, but they are still facing many challenges in future commercial applications. In this review, optimization strategies for improving cell performance are emphatically summarized combined with the domestic and foreign research progress in the field of PQD solar cells. The application of PQDs in luminescent concentrator cells is introduced. Finally, the current challenges in this field are elaborated, and its development trends are prospected. This review provides some ideas for the design and development of the photovoltaic technology in the future.

Piezoelectric ceramic is a type of functional ceramic, which is able to convert the mechanical signal and the electronic signal mutually. Composed of piezoelectric ceramics and organic phase, piezoelectric composites have different kinds of connectivities, which not only determine the diverse applications of piezoelectric devices, but also promote the development of various shaping techniques in manufacturing piezoelectric materials and devices. In comparison with the traditional shaping methods, the most distinguishable advantage of additive manufacturing lies in its ability of quickly shaping a small batch of samples into geometrically complex designs without a mould, which makes it a highly suitable technique for investigating piezoelectric ceramics and its derivative devices in different kinds of connectivities. Meanwhile, the final additively manufactured samples require only tiny post-processing, have a high rate of utilization of the raw material and do not need cutting fluid during manufacturing. Due to the above-mentioned advantages, it attracts the widespread concerns from both academic and industrial communities. When focusing in the field of additive manufacturing ceramics, the data of scientific reports in additive manufacturing functional ceramics and devices prove that it is still in a growing period. In the perspective of different additive manufacturing techniques, this article discusses and compares additive manufacturing of both lead-free and lead-based piezoelectric ceramics in the aspects of their historical development of each technique, preparation of the raw materials, geometrical designs, measurement of functional properties, and applications of the printed samples, and forecasts the future development based on the current benefits and drawbacks of each additive manufacturing technique.

Ceramics, with its excellent thermal, physical and chemical properties, have great potential applications in various fields, such as aerospace, energy, environmental protection and bio-medicine. With the development of relevant technology in these fields, the structural design of core components is increasingly complex, and the internal microstructures gradually become customized and gradient. However, the hard and brittle features of ceramics make it difficult to realize the forming of special-shaped parts by traditional manufacturing methods, which in turn limits further application. As a rapidly developing additive manufacturing technology, laser additive manufacturing technology presents a momentous advantage in the manufacturing process of extremely precision ceramic components: free molding without mold and support, quick response feature and short developing cycle, etc. At the same time, the technology can realize the flexible deployment of ceramic parts, which is expected to solve the problems mentioned above. Three kinds of powder-based laser additive manufacturing techniques of ceramic were reviewed in this paper: selective laser sintering and selective laser melting based on powder bed fusion technology; laser engineered net shaping based on direct energy deposition technology. The forming principle and characteristics were mainly discussed; the research progress of ceramic green body densification process in selective laser sintering technology and the forming principle, propagation mechanism and control methods of ceramic green body cracks in selective laser melting, and laser engineered net shaping technology were reviewed; the technical characteristics of selective laser sintering, selective laser melting and laser engineered net shaping technologies in shaping of ceramic parts were compared and analyzed; and the future development trends of laser additive manufacturing technology of ceramic parts were prospected.

BaTiO₃ has a wide range of applications in microelectromechanical systems and integrated circuits due to its excellent dielectric, ferroelectric, piezoelectric, and pyroelectric properties. For the applied research and device applications of BaTiO₃ films, reducing its deposition temperature to be compatible with the CMOS-Si technology is an important Challenge. Here, with the help of a LaNiO₃ buffer layer which has a closely-matched lattice with BaTiO₃, (001)-textured BaTiO₃ films were sputter-deposited at 450 ℃ on single crystalline Si(100) substrates, which consisting of well-cryotallized, evenly-distributed columnar nanograins with an average grain size of 27 nm. Our result showed that this deposition temperature can maintain the columnar nanograin structure with a relatively large grain size, leading to a good ferroelectric performance. In addition, a small residual strain on Si was also helpful to improve its ferroelectric and dielectric properties. The remnant polarization and saturated polarization of these BaTiO₃ films reached 7 and 43 μC·cm^-2, respectively, while leakage current densities were as low as 10^-5 A·cm^-2 at an applied electric field of 0.8 MV·cm^-1. These BaTiO₃ films also displayed excellent frequency stability with a low dielectric loss in which relative dielectric constant measured to be ~155 at 1 kHz, slightly being reduced to ~145 after increasing the frequency to 1 MHz. Meanwhile, the dielectric loss slightly increased from 0.01 at 1 kHz to 0.03 at 1 MHz. Lastly, through capacitance-voltage (C-V) tests, these films exhibited a large dielectric tunability of~51% and a figure of merit (FOM) of ~17 (@1 MHz). These films have a good potential for applications in tunable dielectrics.

As an important branch of nonlinear optics, second harmonic generation (SHG) is becoming one of the most important means to characterize crystal structure. Among various methods of characterization, because of nondestructive detection, high stability, tunability, ultrafast response, polarization sensitivity, versatility and simplicity, SHG is widely used to characterize the structure of two-dimensional (2D) materials. It provides important information for the physical properties and functional applications of 2D materials, as well as greatly promotes the rapid development of basic research on 2D materials. Here, the current state of the art focuses on the recent research work of SHG in 2D material structure characterization. Firstly, the principle of the second harmonic generation is briefly introduced. Then, the second harmonic generation device with femtosecond laser connected to confocal Raman spectrometer is taken as an example to present the mechanism of SHG. Afterwards, the applications of SHG are demonstrated in the thickness of interlayer stacking of 2D materials, the stacking angle between different layers of 2D materials, the grain boundary and the crystal orientation of monolayer 2D materials. The second harmonic intensity is used as a direct and sensitive means to monitor the strain amplitude, and the SHG signal changes are used to track defects in materials. Meanwhile, the importance of multi-dimensional correlation analysis of second harmonic generation, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence in comprehensive and in-depth characterization of materials is also explored. Finally, the potential research directions and prospects based on SHG in material characterization in the future is prospected.

Optical property, such as color, transmittance, reflectance and emissivity, of electrochromic materials can be changed reversibly under low applied voltages. Electrochromic materials have a wide range of regulatable spectrum, which can realize the broadband control from the visible to mid-far-infrared. Electrochromic materials show a wide application prospect in the fields of intelligent window, display, anti-glare rearview mirror, intelligent thermal control, and camouflage. At present, most of researches on inorganic electrochromic materials focus mainly on transmission characteristics, but less on reflection characteristics. This is mainly because most inorganic electrochromic materials have single color and are not as easy to design as organic electrochromic materials. In recent years, through special preparation and structural design, the research on reflective properties of inorganic electrochromic materials has gradually attracted researchers’ attention. Based on reflection characteristics of inorganic electrochromic materials, methods and principles of regulating the reflectance spectrum in the visible near infrared to mid-far-infrared bands are introduced, and the latest research progress is summarized. Within the visible band, reflectance spectrum control is mainly achieved by vanadium pentoxide (V₂O₅) and V₂O₅ doping, microstructure of one dimensional photonic crystal, Fabry Perot nanocavity structure and localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR). Within the mid-to-far infrared band, electrochromic devices (ECDs) based on the molecular vibration absorption of tungsten oxide (WO₃) or other electrochromic materials and related theory are designed and fabricated to regulate reflectance spectra. Finally, the practical application of inorganic electrochromic materials in future is prospected.

Vanadium dioxide (VO₂), as a transition metal oxide, has thermochromic property, which undergoes metal to insulator transition (MIT) in response to external temperature changes, and is accompanied by numerous changes in physical property. It has attracted widespread attention in the field of smart windows. In recent years, research on the preparation method of VO₂, the phase change mechanism, and the improvement of optical performance are quite rich. However, practical applications still face technical bottlenecks and challenges such as higher intrinsic transition temperature (T_c), lower luminous transmittance (T_lum), insufficient solar modulation ability (ΔT_sol), nonideal metastability and durability, and uncomfortable color for human eyes (brownish yellow). At present, there are many researches related to the improvement of the performance of VO₂ itself owing to its insufficient optical property, and general methods for improving its performance such as elements doping, multilayer film structure design, and microstructure design have been widely adopted. This review summarizes the general performance improvement strategies of VO₂ film, and highlights the latest research progress of VO₂-based smart window service performance, low-temperature flexible preparation and color modulation in practical applications. Future development trends are also discussed in terms of skin comfort and environmental friendliness.

Synchrotron Radiation (SR) is the electromagnetic radiation emitted along the tangent direction of the electron orbit by high-speed electrons moving in a circular accelerator when passing through a bending magnet. SR source, as a platform-type scientific and technological infrastructure, plays an important supporting role in the research and development of inorganic materials. SR techniques become an indispensable research tools of modern science and technology, and inorganic materials are one of the main application fields of SR techniques. Compared with conventional light source used for research, SR techniques in the study of inorganic materials have following obvious advantages: 1) higher obtained data qualities; 2) better spatial and temporal resolutions; 3) easier simulated in-situ and material service environment; 4) synchronously acquiring multi-scale, multi-faceted and multi-type structural information; 5) new means more likely to detect new structural characteristics. SR techniques help solve some key scientific problems in the field of inorganic materials, and greatly promote their research. Firstly, this paper briefly introduces the current status of SR sources and their three existing domestic SR facilities: Beijing Synchrotron Radiation Facility (BSRF), Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility (SSRF), and National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (NSRL). Secondly, some application examples related to inorganic materials research are given from the four aspects of X-ray diffraction, scattering, spectroscopy and imaging. Finally, summary and prospect are given to the SR source, the structurally characterization techniques, and their application in inorganic materials.

The triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is a kind of green power source which can harvest and transform small mechanical energy into electricity. Triboelectric nanogenerators have various active materials, simple structures, and easy to integrate with other devices. However, its relatively low output power density hinders the further practical application of TENGs. How to improve the output performance of TENGs through the modification of the active triboelectric materials is one of the hottest spots. It is a facile and effective way to introduce functional fillers into polymer substrates to fabricate composite materials, which improve the triboelectricity of pristine material and bring new functions for the device. Thus, composite films are widely used in TENGs. For example, inorganic fillers like TiO₂, SiO₂, BaTiO₃, ZnSnO₃, MoS₂, r-GO sheets, and nanofibril-phosphorene have been introduced into polymers to improve the output power density of TENGs by dozens of times. Based on domestic and international research, this review introduces the applications of the composite film in TENGs. The improvements of TENGs induced by the fillers are discussed from two aspects: the surface property and electrical property. Finally, future challenges in developing composites based TENGs are prospected.

Due to high power, high brightness, small size, energy saving, and environment friendliness, solid-state lighting has been becoming the most promising lighting technology in this century. As the key material of solid-state lighting, the luminescent properties of phosphors directly determine the crucial parameters such as the color rendering index, luminous efficacy and reliability of solid-state lighting devices. Compared with single crystals, phosphor glasses, phosphor films and quantum-well LEDs, phosphor ceramics have become the most excellent phosphor materials for high-power solid-state lighting due to its excellent thermal and optical properties and easy control of microstructure. In the future, phosphor ceramics is expected to be more widely used and developed in automotive headlights, outdoor lighting, laser TVs, laser cinema projectors, and other fields, and have a broad market prospect. In this review, design principles of high-power solid-state lighting phosphor ceramics are put forward firstly, and then their research progress of oxide phosphor ceramics (mainly refers to Y₃Al₅O₁₂) and nitrogen/oxynitride phosphor ceramics are reviewed mainly. Finally, the development of phosphor ceramics for high-power solid-state lighting is prospected.

Rare earth ions doped Gd₂O₂S scintillators are new type of oxysulfide scintillators, which have been developed since 1980s. The Gd₂O₂S matrix with cross section of high density and high thermal neutron absorption has high X ray and thermal neutron stopping capacity. The doping of different rare earth ions (Pr³⁺, Tb³⁺, etc.) shows fast decay or high light yield, which plays a very important role in application of scintillation. Composition control of oxysulfide is always a key problem to be solved in the synthesis process. However, the high melting point of Gd₂O₂S material and the serious volatilization of sulfur restrict the preparation of Gd₂O₂S single crystals, with high optical quality and excellent scintillation performance. Ceramic is the main application form of Gd₂O₂S scintillation material. Its pure phase Gd ₂O₂S phosphors with small particle size, narrow particle size distribution and low agglomeration is the key to sintering high quality scintillation ceramics. These ceramics prepared by simply increasing the sintering temperature produce a large number of sulfur vacancies and oxygen vacancies, decreasing the scintillation properties. Therefore, preparation of Gd₂O₂S scintillation ceramics usually need pressure assistance to increase the production cost. In this paper, their scintillation mechanism and research situation are introduced firstly. Then, their fabrication process, solution of defects removal, research status and applications in neutron imaging and medical X-CT fields are overviewed. Finally, we summarized the previous and prospected the future development of Gd₂O₂S scintillation ceramics.

Fuel cells are highly efficient and green devices for direct chemical-to-electrical energy conversion. However, limited by slow kinetics of oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in cathode, fuel cells require catalysts with noble metal like Pt, thus significantly increasing the cost of the fuel cells. Carbon-supported metal single atom catalysts (C-SACs) have excellent properties such as high atom utilization efficiency and selectivity. In addition, C-SACs show high ORR activity under different pH conditions, hence have been recognized as economical candidates to replace noble metal in fuel cells. This article reviewed the strategies used to improve ORR activity of C-SACs, including selecting different kinds of metal single atoms, tailoring coordination structure of metal centers, and heteroatomic doping to substrate. Performances of C-SACs in rotating disk electrode or battery device are also introduced. At last, the feasibility and potential challenges of C-SACs in practical application are prospected and summarized.

High-entropy brings high-entropy effect on thermodynamics, lattice distortion effect on structure, diffusion retardation effect on dynamics and “cocktail” effect on properties in materials. It is a hotspot to improve the properties of ceramics by high-entropy design. However, it still lacks the study of high-entropy structures and their correlation to the properties through transmission electron microscopy (TEM). In this study, high-entropy borides and carbides powders were fabricated by using metal oxides, boron carbide and graphite as raw materials. The high-entropy (TiZrHfNbTa)B₂ and (TiZrHfNbTa)C ceramics were then synthesized by spark plasma sintering of the as-fabricated powders. Transmission electron microscope and energy dispersive spectrometry were used to characterize the structure of the two high-entropy ceramics at the nano-scale and atomic-scale. The integrity of crystal structure maintained after solid solution of five transition metal elements which were found to uniformly distribute in the ceramics. However, at atomic scales, concentration oscillations of solid solution elements, atomic dispersion and lattice strain were observed. The solid solution structures at atomic scales as-obtained in this work can help to understand the structure-property relationship of high-entropy ceramics and provide experimental basis for the composition and structure design of high-entropy ceramics.

Environmental barrier coatings (EBCs) have been developed to improve the durability of SiC_f/SiC CMC components against harsh combustion environment. Among the most promising EBC candidates, rare-earth (RE) silicates attract attentions for their low thermal expansion coefficient, excellent high temperature water vaper and CMAS corrosion resistance, and good thermal and chemical compatibility with silicon-based ceramics and composites. Herein, we reviewed the optimizations of critical key properties of rare-earth silicates through strategic high entropy design to modify the current performance deficiencies of rare-earth silicates like thermal properties (coefficient of thermal expansion and thermal conductivity), CMAS corrosion resistance and high temperature phase stability. The present advancements demonstrate the merits of high entropy engineering for advanced EBCs for the improvement of crucial properties in engine applications.

Electrochromism is the phenomenon of reversible color/optical change of materials induced by redox reactions under an applied electric field. Since electrochromism was first introduced by Platt in 1961, electrochromic (EC) technology continues to develope due to its advantages of multiple colors energy saving and controllability, and was applied in many fields, for example, smart windows, displays, anti-dazzling rear view mirrors, etc. Recently, with the rapid development of optoelectronic and photoelectric technologies, highly integrated electronic devices attracted extensive interests, and the EC technology is developed towards functionalization and intellectualization. For example, self-powered EC devices (ECDs) were fabricated through integrating with the green energy technology, which further reduced the building energy consumption. Because of the visualization of the EC phenomena by naked eyes, the signal reading became more convenient for the sensors integrated with ECDs. In addition, because of similar device structure, electrochemical principles, active components with other functional devices, a lot of multifunctional EC technologies were explored based on single device, facilitating applications of ECDs in EC infrared control, EC energy storage, and EC actuation. In light of the recent emerging progress of EC technology, we reviewed multi-functional EC systems based on the integration of multiple devices and single device, respectively, including self-powered ECDs, EC sensors, infrared ECDs, and EC energy storage devices, etc. The integration modes, structure design and performance optimization were also summarized for different types of the multi-functional ECDs. At last, we introduced the challenges and potential pathway of multi-functional EC integration in the future.

As a new emergence material, high-entropy ceramics possess unique properties due to its high configurational entropy. Among these ceramics, high-entropy transition metal carbide ceramics (HETMCC) are expected to be the potential candidates for the thermal protection system of hypersonic aircraft. Compared with single-component ceramics, the comprehensive performance of single-phase HETMCC is greatly improved. At present, the research on HETMCC is still in the initial stage, and the composition design and theoretical analysis of HETMCC are lack of sufficient research support. In addition, it is necessary to further explore the preparation of high purity HETMCC. In terms of the properties of HETMCC, further in-depth research has been conducted. In this paper, the theoretical design and preparation methods of high-entropy ceramics are reviewed. Research progress of the mechanical properties, thermal conductivity, and oxidation resistance properties of HETMCC are introduced in detail. The concerned scientific issues of HETMCC are pointed out and their future development direction are also prospected.

As the extension of high-entropy alloy, entropy engineering has been already extensively used in thermoelectrics because it can guide the optimization of thermoelectric (TE) performance from the aspects of both electrical and thermal transports. Due to the inherent material gene-like feature, entropy can be used as a performance indicator to rapidly screen new multicomponent TE materials. In this review, we first reveal the reason why entropy can be used as the performance indicator of TE materials. The physical mechanisms of enhanced structure symmetry, improved Seebeck coefficient, and suppressed lattice thermal conductivity as a result of the increased configurational entropy are discussed. Then, the applications of entropy engineering in typical TE materials, such as liquid-like materials and IV-VI semiconductors, are outlined, and the approach to screen and identify candidate multicomponent TE materials with high configurational entropy is introduced. Finally, the future directions for entropy engineering are highlighted.

Silicon carbide is widely used because of its excellent physical and chemical properties. The chemical bonding characteristics of SiC make it difficult to be sintered. Therefore, preparation of high-quality SiC ceramics is one of the challenges in SiC research field. In this study, the ternary rare-earth carbide Dy₃Si₂C₂ was proposed as a new sintering additive for SiC ceramics, through the phase transition of Dy-Si-C system at high temperatures to promote the densification of SiC. The Dy₃Si₂C₂ coated SiC powders were synthesized via an in-situ reaction between metal Dy and SiC in high temperature molten salts. The Dy₃Si₂C₂ coated SiC powder was sintered by spark plasma sintering (SPS), at 1800 ℃, 45 MPa. As the result, high-purity SiC ceramic with the density of 99% and thermal conductivity of 162.8 W·m ^-1·K ^-1was obtained to form the SiC-Dy₃Si₂C₂ raw material with n(Dy) : n(SiC)=1 : 4. Further study shows that Dy₃Si₂C₂ and SiC undergo a eutectic reaction at high temperatures, which generates liquid phase at the grain boundaries and promotes the densification of SiC ceramics. This study shows that the ternary rare-earth carbides Re₃Si₂C₂ (Re=La, Ce…) has great potential to be used as the sintering additive for SiC.

Hydrolysis is a unique method for hydrogen generation at ambient condition. Widespread attentions have been paid to materials for hydrogen generation via hydrolysis due to several advantages: high theoretical hydrogen capacity, moderate storage and operation condition, safety, etc. In this paper, recent progress and development in this area were reviewed. Three types of materials including borohydride (NaBH₄, NH₃·BH₃), metal (Mg, Al), and metal hydride (MgH₂) were introduced. Several issues about them were discussed specifically: mechanism, main problems, designments of catalysts and materials, etc. Based on these discussions, we compared the different materials mentioned above, commented their current performances and practical difficulties. At last, prospects in this field were presented.

An electron irradiation induced fast phase-separation behavior was observed under convention Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observation of spark plasma sintered AlF₃ doped alumina ceramic. Spherical nanocrystalline Al precipitates separated out from original alumina grain surface within several seconds under transmission electron microscopy electron irradiation. By high resolution TEM observation combined with diffraction patterns analysis, it was found that the original alumina grain surface was in highly defected state. After electron irradiation under TEM, the defects on original alumina surface vanished accompanied by the precipitation of nanocrystalline Al particles. By thoroughly analysis of the defect reaction during doping process and the feature of cation sub-lattice of alumina, a defect assisted interstitial atom segregation mechanism was proposed to explain this behavior. According to this mechanism, doped F ions first occupied oxygen vacancy sites with corresponding Al ions at intrinsic interstitial sites. After oxygen vacancies being fully occupied, both F and Al ions tended to settle down at intrinsic octahedron interstitial sites, which resulted in a metastable doping state. Under the act of 1/3 [11ˉ00] partial dislocation of alumina matrix, distorted cation sub-lattice generated double aggregated vacant octahedron sites. When these doublets vacant octahedron sites were occupied by foreign Al ions, stacking faults composed of about three sequences were generated as that observed in high resolution TEM. Meanwhile, the segregated doping Al ions at double aggregated octahedron sites along the stacking faults worked as early stage precipitations. Under electron irradiation, with the ablation of F ions, the unstable segregated Al ions separated out as nano precipitation with the reconstruction of alumina lattice.

Chemotherapy is the main method used for cancer treatment. However, most chemotherapeutic drugs show low selectivity towards tumor cells. When killing tumor cells, chemotherapeutic drugs can also damage normal tissue cells and induce a series of side effects and toxic reactions, such as gastrointestinal reactions, calvities and so on. An effective way to reduce the adverse drug reactions is to construct targeted delivery systems based on the microenvironment properties of tumor tissue. Porous carbon nanomaterials (PCN), with excellent properties such as good structural stability, pores, and easily modified surface, are promising candidate to be used for such strategy. In this paper, the construction and application of the PCN-based targeted antitumor drugs delivery system were reviewed; the structural properties, the design philosophy of PCN suitable for drug loading were summarized; the effective strategies to improve drug loading on PCN for combined drug delivery were discussed both theoretically and experimentally. The mechanism and applications of PCN for tumor microenvironment based targeted delivery system were analyzed from the perspectives of endogenous sensitive stimulations (such as acidity, redox potential and specific enzyme), exogenous sensitive stimulations (such as light and magnetic) and multiple sensitive stimulations (such as double sensitive stimulations, including acidity/redox potential, acidity/magnetic and magnetic/light, and three sensitive stimulation, including acidity/redox potential/light). The biocompatibility and biodegradability of PCN used as anti-tumor drug delivery system was discussed, and the possible solutions were analyzed. The prospects of the application of PCN to be used in tumor drugs were discussed at the end of this review. This review provides theoretical basis and examples towards design and synthesis of porous carbon (PC) materials based anti-tumor drug delivery system, which may help the research and development of targeted and controllable tumor treatment.

Uranium dioxide is a potential multi-functional material as well as nuclear rod. It exhibits excellent semiconductor performance and anti-irradiation ability. It has the similar band gap (1.3 eV) of silicon crystal (1.1 eV), its Seebeck coefficient is 4 times of the commercial thermoelectric material BiTe, and it shows higher conversion efficiency of solar cells due to its nearly full absorption. These properties make it great potential applications in the fields of semiconductor, solar energy and thermoelectricity. However, the U atoms in uranium dioxide (UO_2±x) can vary from -0.5 to 1, which is called hyperstoichiometric characteristics, resulting in some problems in crystal growth and property homogeneity. In this paper, we analyzed the structure and chemical stability of uranium oxides according to U-O phase diagrams, summarized recent research progress on crystal growth and physical properties of UO₂ crystals. UO₂ is an ideal Mott insulator with a stable electric conductivity, while the hyperstoichiometric UO_2±x crystals are semiconductors, and their physical properties, including electric conductivity, thermal conductivity and diffusion coefficient, and optical properties, are closely related to x. So far, UO₂ crystals have grown via several methods, such as chemical vapor transport (CVT), sublimation, skull melting, hydrothermal and flux. The skull melting and hydrothermal techniques are expected to improve crystal dimensions and quality in future. The growth of UO₂ crystals is expected to enhance the understanding of the material and provide the possibility of great potential applications in solar cells, thermoelectric devices and future electronics.

The stable and reliable red phosphor with high-photon energy emission (620-650 nm) is critical for the fabrication of the phosphor-converted white light-emitting diode (WLED) with low correlated color temperature and high color rendering index. Mn ⁴⁺-activated phosphor is an emerging kind of red-emitting phosphor for WLED. Herein, the energy levels transition and photoluminescence characteristics of the Mn ⁴⁺ ion were introduced; then, the preparation, crystal structure and luminescent properties of as-far reported seven kinds of Mn ⁴⁺-doped oxyfluoride red phosphors (such as Na₂WO₂F₄:Mn ⁴⁺) containing d ⁰, d ¹⁰ or s ⁰ cations were reviewed. Currently, only in quite rare case of oxyfluoride, Mn ⁴⁺ was found to exhibit strong R-line emission, with local coordination remaining as either [MnF₆] or [MnO₆]. The studies on the chemical stability and quantum efficiency of Mn ⁴⁺-doped oxyfluoride phosphors are still insufficient. Finally, we prospected the future development of Mn ⁴⁺-doped oxyfluoride phosphor.

Dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) has the advantage of high sensitivity, excellent cooling system, flexible rotation testing part, multiple deformation mode, and continuous frequency and temperature scanning mode. DMA is able to characterize the strain response under alternating stress, creep, stress relaxation, and thermomechanical properties, which has application in the investigation of plastic, thermoset, composite, high elastomer, coating, alloy and ceramic. This paper briefly introduced the fundamental and method about DMA, the application of DMA in the investigation of ferroelectric-paraelectric phase transformation, low frequency relaxation, ferroelectric fatigue, and ferroelectric composite damping. In the measurement of relaxation behavior of PZT ceramics and single crystals, and BaTiO₃ ceramics, DMA tended to be more sensitive than dielectric characterization especially in the low frequency range. DMA has been one of the critical instruments for ferroelecric investigation.

Chromogenic materials are capable of optical change reversibly in response to physical stimuli (e.g., electric field, temperature, illumination, and atmosphere). Among them, electrochromic materials are expected to be widely used in smart windows, screen displays, multi-functional energy storage devices and other fields due to their characteristics such as large adjustment range, fast response rate, high coloring efficiency and good cycle stability. However, compared with semi-solid-state electrochromic devices that are difficult to package and organic electrochromic materials that are prone to denaturation and failure, inorganic all-solid-state electrochromic materials and devices have better comprehensive application. This paper focuses on the typical inorganic all-solid-state electrochromic materials and devices, presents a brief review on the current preparation methods of each structure layer of electrochromic devices and compares its advantages and disadvantages, introduces in detail the main alternative electrochromic materials and its key performance evaluation index, and explains the principle of several representative electrochromic devices, proposes to use transparent flexible electrodes with both high light transmittance, low surface resistance and excellent bending fold to replace the traditional rigid substrate in order to realize multi-field responsible device application development. Finally, the application prospect of inorganic all-solid-state electrochromic devices is prospected from the perspective of performance bottleneck, process difficulty and industrialization opportunity, which provides reference for the industrialization process of electrochromic devices.

Solid-state cooling technology based on the electrocaloric (EC) effect is attracting increasing attention as an important alternative for traditional cooling systems because of its advantages of high efficiency, environmental friendliness, light weight, low cost, and easy miniaturization. Ferroelectric materials are suitable candidates for EC refrigeration due to their large polarization and entropy change through applying or removing an external electric field. Recently, study on the EC effect of lead-free bulk ceramics has become one of hot topics on ferroelectric community due to the requirements of sustainable development. In this review, we firstly introduce the significant history events in EC research and the basic principles of EC refrigeration. Then, design strategy for achieving a large EC temperature change near room temperature and a wide using range is summarized. Subsequently, we systematically review the research status of EC effect in BaTiO₃-based, Bi_0.5Na_0.5TiO₃-based and K_0.5Na_0.5NbO₃-based lead-free bulk ceramics and discuss their advantages as well as challenges. Finally, we propose some prospects for the future work on EC effect in lead-free bulk ceramics.

In recent years, ternary layered carbide/nitride MAX phases and their derived two-dimensional nanolaminates MXenes have attracted extensive attention. The crystal structure of MAX phase is composed of M_n+1X_n unit interleaved with layers of A element. MAX phases combine good properties of metal and ceramic, which makes them promising candidates for high temperature structural materials, friction and wear devices, nuclear structural materials, etc. When etching the A-layer atoms of the MAX phase, the two-dimensional nanolaminates with the composition of M_n+1X_nT_x (T_x is surface termination), i.e. MXene, is obtained. MXenes have wide range of composition, and tunable physical and chemical properties, which endow them great potential in the applications of energy storage devices, electromagnetic shielding materials, and electronic devices, etc. In this paper, the research progress of MAX phase and MXene was introduced in terms of composition and structure, synthesis methods, and properties and application. Furthermore, the research prospects of this large family of materials were discussed.

Two-dimensional materials have attracted broad interest because of their wide variety of properties. They can be used as photocatalysts and electrocatalysts due to their extremely high specific surface area, and have great potential application in the field of environment and renewable energy. This review focuses on the structure and properties of common two-dimensional materials such as 2D carbides and nitrides (MXenes), g-C₃N₄ and black phosphorus (BP). Furthermore, the latest research on the modification of two-dimensional materials in the area of photocatalysis and electrocatalysis are discussed and commented. Finally, research prospects for two-dimensional materials in the future are predicted.

Ceramic matrix composites (CMCs) are promising candidates for application in aeroengine, aerospace aircraft thermal protection systems, nuclear power system, and other fields. At present, CMCs are developing from structural bearing materials to multi-functional composites. MAX phases are a group of layered ternary ceramics with excellent plastic deformation capacity, high electrical conductivity, good irradiation resistance and ablation resistance. Besides strengthening and toughening CMCs, the introducing MAX phases into CMCs can effectively improve the anti-irradiation, anti-ablation and electromagnetic interference shielding performance, meeting requirements of multi-functional CMCs. This paper reviewed the progress on MAX phases modified CMCs, design mechanism and application prospect.

Graphitic-like carbon nitride (g-C₃N₄), one of the most significant two-dimensional layered materials, has attracted worldwide attention in multidisciplinary areas such as photocatalysis, energy conversion and environmental pollution management. Its derivative compounds have also attracted multifarious attention owing to the intrinsic characters of their stable physicochemical properties, low cost and environmentally friendly features. This review focus on the design of high-performance g-C₃N₄-based nanomaterials and their potential for pollutant elimination in environmental pollution cleanup. Over the past few years, signi?cant advances have been achieved to synthesize g-C₃N₄ and g-C₃N₄-based nanomaterials, and their properties have been enhanced and characterized in detail. In this review, recent developments in the synthesis and modification of g-C₃N₄-based nanomaterials are summarized. The applications in heavy metal ions adsorption from wastewaters are gathered and their underlying reaction mechanisms are discussed. Finally, a summary and outlook are also briefly illustrated.

With the development of wearable flexible electronic technology, the demand for flexible sensor with high sensitivity and wide sensing range is gradually increasing. The application of suitable conductive materials with high electrical conductivity and high flexibility as sensitive materials for sensors is the key to obtain high performance sensors. In recent years, MXene materials have become very promising sensitive materials due to their good conductivity, high flexibility, good hydrophilicity, and controllable synthesis. The types of MXene-based flexible force sensors, microstructure design of sensitive materials, sensing performance, and sensing mechanism analysis have been expound and summarized in this paper.

Phase diagrams, also known as equilibrium phase diagrams, serve as a road map for materials design. However, preparation process of coatings (such as Physical Vapor Deposition, PVD) is generally far from equilibrium and results in metastable phases. Thus, the CALPHAD (Calculation of Phase Diagrams) approach faces a challenge in calculating the metastable phase diagrams for PVD coating materials. Here we summarized the development of the modeling methodology for the metastable phase diagrams, where the model with critical surface diffusion distance established in recent years were highlighted. The CALPHAD approach, first-principles calculations coupled with high-throughput magnetron sputtering experiments were used to model the atomic surface diffusion, while only one key combinatorial experiment was performed to obtain the basic data for the computation, and the calculated metastable phase diagrams were confirmed by further experiments. Therefore, the database of the stable and metastable phase diagrams can be established, which will be used to guide the design of the ceramic coating materials by the relationship of composition, processing, microstructure, and performance. This model can also help to achieve the goal to shorten the time and reduce the costs of materials research and development.

As smart electronic products are increasingly applied in our daily life, there is not only an increasing demand for high-performance photovoltaic power generation devices, but also strong need for in-situ energy storage functions in these devices. The integration of energy generating components and energy storage components into one device has become an attractive challenging technology. The basic idea is that by integration design and engineering the assembly of the photoelectric conversion layer and the energy storage layer into one in-situ energy conversion and storage system could not only offer multiple functions, such as self-powered ability, weak light buffer and portability, but reduce sunlight fluctuation effect on energy output. This review summarizes the research progress in novel in-situ integrative photovoltaic-storage tandem cells, classified by silicon solar cell, sensitized solar cell and perovskite solar cell. Evaluation of methodology, operational principle, construction feature, and performance parameter are also discussed and critically reviewed, and the further development of in-situ integrative photovoltaic-storage tandem cell is also prospected.

In recent years, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) two-dimensional (2D) atomic crystal has attracted considerable attention due to its unique structure, novel property and potential applications. The synthesis of high quality h-BN determines how far we can go for property research and practical applications. However, the sizes of h-BN domains obtained by mechanical exfoliation were limited to several micrometers. Transition metal substrates are usually used in the CVD growth of 2D h-BN layers, and thus a transfer process is required for fabricating h-BN-based electronic devices. Therefore, it is strongly desirable to directly synthesize 2D h-BN on dielectric substrates. In this article, we review recent process on the direct growth of h-BN by CVD, MOVPE, PVD on different dielectric substrates, including silicon-based substrates, sapphire, quartz, etc. Several approaches, such as, increasing substrate temperature, oxide-assisted nucleation, and surface nitridation were adopted to directly grow h-BN on dielectric substrates. Besides, we also summarized the main applications of 2D h-BN grown on dielectric substrates.

Silver nanowire transparent conductive film is one of the new indium-free electrode materials. It has attracted increasing attention from academia and industry due to its superior optoelectronic properties and excellent flexibility. It has been employed in a wide variety of applications in displays, touch panels, solar cells, smart heaters, electromagnetic interference shielding, and so on. However, silver nanowire transparent conductive film has a serious stability issue in service, for example, break or spheroidization above 300 ℃ under fulfidation, accelerating the degradation under ultraviolet light, pores for mation or even breakdown due to electromigration. In this review, the degradation phenomena is thoroughly introduced, the degradation mechanisms is analyzed, and the remedy strategy of degradation is discussed.

The structure and electrical properties of Ce ³⁺-doped intergrowth bismuth layer-structured piezoelectric ceramics Na_0.5Bi_8.5-xCe_xTi₇O₂₇ (NBT-BIT-xCe, 0≤x≤0.1) prepared by conventional solid-state reaction process were systematically studied. In this study, all the ceramic samples were found to possess a single bismuth layer structure, and with the increase of x content, there is an increasing trend towards the lattice distortion of the sample, while the average grain size decreased. As demonstrated by dielectric spectrum and DSC method, two dielectric anomalies of the samples occur, which corresponds to ferroelectric phase transitions of the ceramics. And Ce ³⁺doping significantly reduces concentration of oxygen vacancy and dielectric loss in materials, improving piezoelectric constant (d₃₃) of ceramic samples. The resultant ceramics with x=0.06 reached the optimal performance, possessing a d₃₃ up to 27.5 pC/N with the Curie temperature of 658.2 ℃ and tanδ=0.39%.