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With the rapid development of communication technology in civil and military fields, the problem of electromagnetic radiation pollution caused by the electromagnetic wave becomes particularly prominent and brings great harm. It is urgent to explore efficient electromagnetic wave absorption materials to solve the problem of electromagnetic radiation pollution. Therefore, various absorbing materials have developed rapidly. Among them, iron (Fe) magnetic absorbent particle material with superior magnetic properties, high Snoek’s cut-off frequency, saturation magnetization and Curie temperature, which shows excellent electromagnetic wave loss ability, are kinds of promising absorbing material. However, ferromagnetic particles have the disadvantages of poor impedance matching, easy oxidation, high density, and strong skin effect. In general, the two strategies of morphological structure design and multi-component material composite are utilized to improve the microwave absorption performance of Fe-based magnetic absorbent. Therefore, Fe-based microwave absorbing materials have been widely studied in microwave absorption. In this review, through the summary of the reports on Fe-based electromagnetic absorbing materials in recent years, the research progress of Fe-based absorbing materials is reviewed, and the preparation methods, absorbing properties and absorbing mechanisms of iron-based absorbing materials are discussed in detail from the aspects of different morphologies of Fe and Fe-based composite absorbers. Meanwhile, the future development direction of Fe-based absorbing materials is also prospected, providing a reference for the research and development of efficient electromagnetic wave absorbing materials with strong absorption performance, frequency bandwidth, light weight and thin thickness.

In order to improve photocatalytic activity and maximize solar energy use, a new composite material Fe2O3/P2Mo18 was prepared by combining polyoxometalates (P2Mo18) with Fe2O3 nanosheets. FT-IR, XRD, XPS, SEM, TEM, UV-vis, EIS, and PL were used to characterize the composite material, and nano-Fe2O3 of different sizes and morphologies with a controllable absorption range was prepared by adjusting the reaction time, and, when combined with P2Mo18, a composite photocatalyst with efficient visible light response and photocatalytic activity was constructed. The EIS, Bode, and PL spectra analysis results show that the Fe2O3/P2Mo18 composite material has outstanding interfacial charge transfer efficiency and potential photocatalytic application possibilities. Model reactions of methylene blue (MB) and Cr (VI) photodegradation were used to evaluate the redox activity of Fe2O3/P2Mo18 composites under simulated visible light. The photocatalytic degradation rate was as high as 98.98% for MB and 96.86% for Cr (VI) when the composite ratio was Fe2O3/P2Mo18-5%. This research opens up a new avenue for the development of high-performance photocatalysts.

Highlights Summarizing recent advances on synthesis and catalytic applications of Cu nanoclusters. The structure–property–functionality relationship is clearly elucidated. Critical analysis of the current challenges and future perspectives. Atomically precise metal nanoclusters are an emerging type of nanomaterial which has diverse interfacial metal–ligand coordination motifs that can significantly affect their physicochemical properties and functionalities. Among that, Cu nanoclusters have been gaining continuous increasing research attentions, thanks to the low cost, diversified structures, and superior catalytic performance for various reactions. In this review, we first summarize the recent progress regarding the synthetic methods of atomically precise Cu nanoclusters and the coordination modes between Cu and several typical ligands and then discuss the catalytic applications of these Cu nanoclusters with some explicit examples to explain the atomical-level structure–performance relationship. Finally, the current challenges and future research perspectives with some critical thoughts are elaborated. We hope this review can not only provide a whole picture of the current advances regarding the synthesis and catalytic applications of atomically precise Cu nanoclusters, but also points out some future research visions in this rapidly booming field.

Controllable design and synthesis of catalysts with the target active sites are extremely important for their applications such as for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in fuel cells. However, the controllably synthesizing electrocatalysts with a single type of active site still remains a grand challenge. In this study, we developed a facile and scalable method for fabricating highly efficient ORR electrocatalysts with sole atomic Fe–N4 species as the active site. Herein, the use of cost‐effective highly porous carbon as the support not only could avoid the aggregation of the atomic Fe species but also a feasible approach to reduce the catalyst cost. The obtained atomic Fe–N4 in activated carbon (aFe@AC) shows excellent ORR activity. Its half‐wave potential is 59 mV more negative but 47 mV more positive than that of the commercial Pt/C in acidic and alkaline electrolytes, respectively. The full cell performance test results show that the aFe@AC sample is a promising candidate for direct methanol fuel cells. This study provides a general method to prepare catalysts with a certain type of active site and definite numbers. A controllable and scalable strategy is used for fabricating oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) catalysts with a single type of atomic Fe–N4 species as the active site for fuel cell applications. The resulting catalyst aFe@AC exhibits superior ORR activity in both acidic and alkaline solutions. This study provides a practical method of fabricating electrocatalysts with the target active sites for high‐performance catalysis.

Microfluidic technology has exhibited remarkable potential and significance in the precise preparation of multifunctional nanomaterials. Thanks to its small reaction volume and superior hydrodynamic control, this technology has emerged as an essential tool for synthesizing multifunctional nanomaterials with precisely tunable microstructures and morphologies. This paper reviews the latest advancements in the controllable synthesis of metal nano‐electrocatalysts utilizing microfluidic technology. Firstly, it systematically elucidates the fundamental principles of microfluidic synthesis technology and its distinctive parameter control strategies. Subsequently, it delves deeply into the mechanism of reaction enhancement in the synthesis process of metal nanoparticles in the microfluidic environment. Through the analysis of specific cases, the extensive application prospects and distinctive advantages of the microfluidic system in the preparation of nano‐electrocatalysts have been further elucidated. Finally, it summarizes and looks forward to the challenges and future development directions that microfluidic technology faces in the synthesis of nano‐electrocatalysts. This review aims to provide valuable insights into the application of microfluidic synthesis technology in the morphology design and technological innovation of electrocatalysts. Microfluidic reactors offer significant opportunities for efficient synthesis, characterized by rapid heat and mass transfer, quick attainment of reaction conditions, precise parameter control due to the micrometer‐scale volumes. They also support continuous synthesis, increasing throughput, ensuring high reproducibility, enabling scalability and integration for production scale‐up while retaining microfluidic benefits.

Due to the high flexibility and conformity to people’s usage habits, text description has been widely used in image synthesis research recently and has achieved many encouraging results. However, the text can only determine the basic content of the generated image and cannot determine the specific shape of the synthesized object, which leads to poor practicability. More importantly, the current text-to-image synthesis research cannot use new text descriptions to further modify the synthesis result. To solve these problems, this paper proposes a text-guided customizable image synthesis and manipulation method. The proposed method synthesizes the corresponding image based on the text and contour information at first. It then modifies the synthesized content based on the new text to obtain a satisfactory result. The text and contour information in the proposed method determine the specific content and object shape of the desired composite image, respectively. Aside from that, the input text, contour, and subsequent new text for content modification can be manually input, which significantly improves the artificial controllability in the image synthesis process, making the entire method superior to other methods in flexibility and practicability. Experimental results on the Caltech-UCSD Birds-200-2011 (CUB) and Microsoft Common Objects in Context (MS COCO) datasets demonstrate our proposed method’s feasibility and versatility.

Surface engineering is known as an effective strategy to enhance the catalytic properties of Pt-based nanomaterials. Herein, we report on surface engineering Ni-Pt nanoalloys with a facile method by varying the Ni doping concentration and oleylamine/oleicacid surfactant-mix. The alloy-composition, exposed facet condition, and surface lattice strain are, thereby manipulated to optimize the catalytic efficiency of such nanoalloys for methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). Exemplary nanoalloys including Ni 0.69 Pt 0.31 truncated octahedrons, Ni 0.45 Pt 0.55 nanomultipods and Ni 0.20 Pt 0.80 nanoflowers are thoroughly characterized, with a commercial Pt/C catalyst as a common benchmark. Their variations in MOR catalytic efficiency are significant: 2.2 A/mg Pt for Ni 0.20 Pt 0.80 nanoflowers, 1.2 A/mg Pt for Ni 0.45 Pt 0.55 nanomultipods, 0.7 A/mg Pt for Ni 0.69 Pt 0.31 truncated octahedrons, and 0.6 A/mg Pt for the commercial Pt/C catalysts. Assisted by density functional theory calculations, we correlate these observed catalysis-variations particularly to the intriguing presence of surface interplanar-strains, such as {111} facets with an interplanar-tensile-strain of 2.6% and {200} facets with an interplanar-tensile-strain of 3.5%, on the Ni 0.20 Pt 0.80 nanoflowers.

Graphene and its derivatives hold a great promise for widespread applications such as field‐effect transistors, photovoltaic devices, supercapacitors, and sensors due to excellent properties as well as its atomically thin, transparent, and flexible structure. In order to realize the practical applications, graphene needs to be synthesized in a low‐cost, scalable, and controllable manner. Plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is a low‐temperature, controllable, and catalyst‐free synthesis method suitable for graphene growth and has recently received more attentions. This review summarizes recent advances in the PECVD growth of graphene on different substrates, discusses the growth mechanism and its related applications. Furthermore, the challenges and future development in this field are also discussed. Plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is one of the promising methods for controllable synthesis of graphene with the advantages of low growth temperature and being catalyst‐free. This review summarizes recent advance in the PECVD growth of graphene on different substrates, and discusses the growth mechanism and its related applications in electrical devices, supercapacitors, sensors, and so on.

HighlightsAtomic substitution applied in the synthesis of different dimensional transition metal chalcogenide (TMC) is dissertated.The controllable synthesis and property modification realization with atomic substitution or ion exchange are introduced.The substitution principle and mechanism in different TMCs are concluded.In recent years, low-dimensional transition metal chalcogenide (TMC) materials have garnered growing research attention due to their superior electronic, optical, and catalytic properties compared to their bulk counterparts. The controllable synthesis and manipulation of these materials are crucial for tailoring their properties and unlocking their full potential in various applications. In this context, the atomic substitution method has emerged as a favorable approach. It involves the replacement of specific atoms within TMC structures with other elements and possesses the capability to regulate the compositions finely, crystal structures, and inherent properties of the resulting materials. In this review, we present a comprehensive overview on various strategies of atomic substitution employed in the synthesis of zero-dimensional, one-dimensional and two-dimensional TMC materials. The effects of substituting elements, substitution ratios, and substitution positions on the structures and morphologies of resulting material are discussed. The enhanced electrocatalytic performance and photovoltaic properties of the obtained materials are also provided, emphasizing the role of atomic substitution in achieving these advancements. Finally, challenges and future prospects in the field of atomic substitution for fabricating low-dimensional TMC materials are summarized.

In recent years, bimetallic nanocrystals have attracted great interest from many researchers. Bimetallic nanocrystals are expected to exhibit improved physical and chemical properties due to the synergistic effect between the two metals, not just a combination of two monometallic properties. More importantly, the properties of bimetallic nanocrystals are significantly affected by their morphology, structure, and atomic arrangement. Reasonable regulation of these parameters of nanocrystals can effectively control their properties and enhance their practicality in a given application. This review summarizes some recent research progress in the controlled synthesis of shape, composition and structure, as well as some important applications of bimetallic nanocrystals. We first give a brief introduction to the development of bimetals, followed by the architectural diversity of bimetallic nanocrystals. The most commonly used and typical synthesis methods are also summarized, and the possible morphologies under different conditions are also discussed. Finally, we discuss the composition-dependent and shape-dependent properties of bimetals in terms of highlighting applications such as catalysis, energy conversion, gas sensing and bio-detection applications.