The thermophysical properties and rapid solidification mechanism of Fe-19 wt%Si alloy were investigated by electrostatic levitation aboard China Space Station and terrestrial drop tube techniques. All the solidification events neither favour the retention of the metastable Fe₂Si phase nor induce the decomposition of the Fe₅Si₃ phase. The density was determined to be a linear decreasing relationship with temperature, in which the liquid density at eutectic temperature was determined to be 6.19 g cm^-3. The surface tension and viscosity were measured to be 1.44 N m^-1 and 29.8 mPa s at liquid state. Because space environment suppresses the gravity-driven liquid flow required for solidification feeding, the space shrinkage was significantly higher than the ground condition. The Fe₃Si and Fe₂Si phases only displayed a divorced eutectic growth mode in the ground-based experiments, while the coupled growth appears under the space condition due to the suppression of long-range solute transport. The crystal grain size of Fe₃Si phase in space condition was larger than that on the ground.

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have emerged as an effective and promising interface engineering approach to enhance the performance and stability in perovskite solar cells (PVSCs). In recent years, they have gained significant attention due to their advantages of minimal light absorption, low material consumption, simple processing, and conformal coating. By optimizing the energy level alignment, suppressing interface defects, boosting charge extraction, and improving resistance to moisture and oxygen, highly efficient and stable PVSCs have been successfully achieved. In this review, we provide a comprehensive summary of the development and progress of SAMs for interfacial engineering in PVSCs. We specifically discuss strategies for growing high-quality SAM films on various interfaces with desired properties, highlighting the key principles for selecting, designing, and optimizing SAMs for different interfaces in the context of device fabrication. Finally, we offer perspectives on the future development of SAMs to further enhance PVSC performance and stability, thereby advancing their commercialization.

This paper presents a systematic review of biomedical Ti alloys fabricated through additive manufacturing. It begins with an overview of the development of Ti metals and their applications in biomedical fields, particularly in orthopedic and dental implants. The review highlights recent advancements, such as the incorporation of porous structures. Key aspects of additive manufacturing for biomedical Ti alloys are explored, including material characteristics, preparation parameters, solidification behavior, and post-heat treatments, with emphasis on their effects on microstructure and material properties. This paper further summaries the current states of biomedical standards for Ti alloys, and concludes with a discussion of future trends, opportunities, and challenges in the additive manufacturing of biomedical Ti alloys, including advancements in material innovation, process optimization, and the integration of personalized implants. This review aims to provide valuable insights into the ongoing developments and future directions for additive manufacturing biomedical Ti alloys.

This review focuses on recent progress in optimizing the energy storage performance of dielectric ceramic and indicates the correlation between performance and the designed microstructure. Principles and key parameters of dielectric energy storage are described, and optimized strategies on microstructure with improving energy storage performance are briefly collected, named domain engineering, grain refining strategy, textured ceramic design, multi-phase engineering, core-shell structure design, and multilayer structural design. Conclusion with existing challenges and perspectives of microstructure control on optimizing energy storage performance dielectric ceramic are finally presented.

Two-dimensional clay-based materials have shown significant potential in key electrochemical processes, including hydrogen evolution reaction (HER), oxygen evolution reaction (OER), and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Two-dimensional clay-based materials possess intrinsic properties such as porous structures, tunable specific surface areas, excellent thermal and mechanical stability, abundant reserves, and cost-effectiveness. However, limited electrocatalytic activity of two-dimensional clay-based materials remains a major challenge. The issue is closely tied to microscopic structures, including spin states, orbital hybridization, energy band alignment, and lattice stability of two-dimensional clay-based materials. The review delves into the relationship between modified two-dimensional clay-based materials and catalytic performance, summarizing strategies such as defect engineering and heteroatom doping to enhance orbital overlap, thereby improving HER, OER, and ORR activities. Finally, this review discusses the development prospects of clay-based materials, emphasizing the critical role of combining advanced computational and experimental techniques in driving innovations in energy conversion materials.

The accurate knowledge of liquid properties for Ti-Al based alloys is of great significance for scientific explorations such as revealing the atomic-scale behaviors in alloy processing and realizing the optimization of manufacture technology. By means of the active learning method based on deep neural network (DNN) and electromagnetic levitation technology (EML), we investigate the microstructure evolution of Ti₄₇Al₄₇Zr₆ alloy, and with a focus on obtaining its liquid state properties. The density, surface tension, viscosity of this liquid alloy and the related self-diffusion coefficient are predicted by the DNN potential. The calculated surface tension exhibits only a deviation of less than 2 % as compared with EML experimental values. The liquid local structure characteristics acquired through Voronoi polyhedron analysis indicate that the fraction of relatively high-coordinated clusters with Al as the central atom displayed an anomalous decrease with the falling of liquid temperature. This effect is attributed to the tendency of these clusters to form icosahedral-like geometries, resulting in an increased fraction of icosahedral-like geometries in liquid alloy.

Failure of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) under subfreezing conditions limits their further development in aerospace and military applications, including severe capacity degradation, poor charge ability, and safety issue. Sluggish electrochemical reaction kinetics in the cathode-electrolyte interphases (CEI) would restrict the diffusion transfer of electric charge and Li⁺ ions, which is regarded as the main factor contributing to the low-temperature electrochemical failure issue. This review introduces and discusses the latest important interfacial CEI engineering on the layered oxide cathode in enhancing the low-temperature performance of LIBs based on the electrolyte modulation strategies. Firstly, the interfacial issues of layered oxide cathodes and the formation mechanism of CEI film under subzero temperatures are introduced. Secondly, recent progress about the interfacial engineering on inducing CEI construction under low temperature is summarized in terms of the components mainly involved in anions of Li salt, solvent molecule and additive. Thirdly, considering the unique composition and structure of CEI films, advanced interfacial characterization techniques and analysis are summarized. Finally, a perspective of electrolyte design matched with layered cathode materials in low-temperature LIBs is further presented, which may supply a new sight into designs and manufacture of LIBs and other devices for subzero-temperature applications.

Metal matrix composites (MMCs) reinforced by various dimensional nanoscale reinforcements (ranging from 0D to 3D) have gained significant importance in numerous fields such as electronic circuits, aerospace and new energy vehicles due to their exceptional mechanical and functional properties. Despite their widespread applications, the inherent disparity in properties between the matrix and nanoscale reinforcements often results in a trade-off between strength and plasticity, as well as diminished physical characteristics. This dilemma significantly impedes the advancement of MMCs. This review aims to discuss the current state of research on MMCs reinforced by nanoscale reinforcements, highlighting the intricately designed approaches for achieving high strength-ductility matching or enhanced physical properties. Furthermore, the review systematically examines the factors influencing strengthening, toughening mechanisms and deformation behavior, as supported by current experimental and theoretical research across various reinforcement dimensions. Analyzing and evaluating the internal mechanisms and influencing factors that govern the distinctive dimensional design to achieve specific properties can provide fundamental principles for designing and fabricating high-performance composite materials, facilitating the extensive application of the MMCs in cutting-edge fields such as aerospace, electronic communications, and artificial intelligence.

Chalcogenide phase-change materials are capable of switching rapidly between a disordered amorphous phase and an ordered crystalline phase, associating with the pronounced differences in electrical and optical properties. The resistance contrast is widely used for data storage in phase-change memories (PCMs). As the most promising emerging non-volatile memory, PCMs have been intensively explored for embedded data storage applications. The key challenge of embedded PCMs (ePCMs) is to realize reliable electrical switching performance in an environment with high thermal budget, in which the thermal stability of chalcogenide phase-change materials is crucial to retain the encoded information. We present a review of the material engineering of chalcogenide phase-change materials by doping to address the high thermal stability challenge. The mechanism of performance optimization and industrial applications of the chalcogenide materials are also included, which are important for the development of ePCMs with high thermal stability and excellent performance.

With the continuous increase in operating speed of high-speed trains, enhanced safety and stability in braking systems are necessitated. Copper-based friction materials (CBFMs) are predominantly utilized in brake pads for high-speed trains exceeding 300 km/h. Substantial braking energy is dissipated by CBFMs through direct interaction with counterpart materials, and their pivotal role in maintaining the safety and reliability of high-speed braking systems is ensured. The components and intrinsic properties, the multiple variations at the interface, and the distinctive characteristics of brake conditions are regarded as the primary factors influencing the braking properties of CBFMs. Recent advancements in CBFMs and tribological properties are systematically explored in this review from three critical perspectives: components, interfaces, and tribo-layers. Firstly, the emerging trends in matrix, lubricant components, and abrasive components in CBFMs are detailed. Secondly, the correlation between interfacial and tribological properties at both micro and macro scales is investigated. Thirdly, the characteristics of tribo-layers at different scales and the associated wear mechanisms of CBFMs are examined. Lastly, the challenges CBFMs face and the constraints of multi-component synergistic design, evaluation methodologies, and novel wear mechanisms are highlighted.