Heterostructured Electrocatalysts: from Fundamental Microkinetic Model to Electron Configuration and Interfacial Reactive Microenvironment
Heterostructures have emerged as advanced electrocatalysts to convert earth-abundant simple molecules into high-value-added products. On the basis of atomistic understanding to accelerate the electrochemical processes, the architecture of heterostructured electrocatalysts is comprehensively discussed from the point of view of modulating electronic configuration and interface reactive microenvironment. The influence of rectification, space charge region, built-in electric field, synergistic interactions, lattice strain, and geometric effect is considered.
Abstract
Electrocatalysts can efficiently convert earth-abundant simple molecules into high-value-added products. In this context, heterostructures, which are largely determined by the interface, have emerged as a pivotal architecture for enhancing the activity of electrocatalysts. In this review, the atomistic understanding of heterostructured electrocatalysts is considered, focusing on the reaction kinetic rate and electron configuration, gained from both empirical studies and theoretical models. We start from the fundamentals of the microkinetic model, adsorption energy theory, and electric double layer model. The importance of heterostructures to accelerate electrochemical processes via modulating electron configuration and interfacial reactive microenvironment is highlighted, by considering rectification, space charge region, built-in electric field, synergistic interactions, lattice strain, and geometric effect. We conclude this review by summarizing the challenges and perspectives in the field of heterostructured electrocatalysts, such as the determination of transition state energy, their dynamic evolution, refinement of the theoretical approaches, and the use of machine learning.
Buried and Bulk Synergistic Engineering Enable High-Performance Inverted 2D/3D Perovskite Solar Cells
DOI: 10.1039/D5EE00156K, PaperZonglong Song, Yu Zou, Yuping Gao, Xingbang Gao, Liu Yang, Hang Liu, Yuting Ma, Rui Wang, Ziyang Hu, Yongsheng Chen, Baomin Xu, Yongsheng Liu
Crystal growth regulation play a key role for fabrication high-quality perovskite films. While surface defects have been extensively studied, optimization of the buried interfaces and bulk properties remains a significant...
The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Working day and night
Nature Energy, Published online: 05 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41560-025-01735-7
Photocatalytic conversion of CO2 typically requires a concentrated gas stream, making direct conversion of atmospheric CO2 to value-added products a challenge. Now, researchers report a photocatalytic reactor to produce useful molecules directly from air-captured CO2 using solar energy.Environmentally friendly solvents
Nature Energy, Published online: 05 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41560-025-01740-w
The fabrication of perovskite photovoltaics often relies on hazardous solvents that limit their implementation in manufacturing. Now, researchers develop a green solvent system for fabrication of large-area perovskite solar modules using industrially viable and scalable deposition methods, which achieve high power conversion efficiencies.The effect of residential solar on energy insecurity among low- to moderate-income households
Nature Energy, Published online: 05 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41560-025-01730-y
Energy insecurity is a major concern in the USA, but rooftop solar may be an effective tool for reducing this insecurity of vulnerable households. New research finds that rooftop solar leads to a large reduction in energy insecurity, particularly among low- to moderate-income households in the country.Surfactant-induced hole concentration enhancement for highly efficient perovskite light-emitting diodes
Nature Materials, Published online: 05 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41563-025-02123-y
Additives help to increase the surface hole concentration in metal halide perovskites, enabling high electroluminescence yields with low operating voltages.Rapid growth of inch-sized lanthanide oxychloride single crystals
Nature Materials, Published online: 05 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s41563-025-02142-9
Inch-sized bulk lanthanide oxychloride single crystals and single-crystalline thin films with thickness down to the monolayer are synthesized through flux-enabled oriented attachment, providing a library of van der Waals materials with interesting dielectric and quantum properties.Tue 04 Mar 14:30: On the geometric Serre weight conjecture for Hilbert modular forms
Let $F$ be a totally real field in which $p$ is unramified and $\rho: \Gal(\overline{F}/F)\rightarrow \GL_2(\Fpbar)$ be a totally odd, irreducible, continuous representation. The geometric Serre weight conjecture formulated by Diamond and Sasaki can be viewed as a geometric variant of the Buzzard-Diamond-Jarvis conjecture, where they have the notion of geometric modularity in the sense that $\rho$ arises from a mod $p$ Hilbert modular form and algebraic modularity in the sense of Buzzard-Diamond-Jarvis. I will discuss the relation between algebraic and geometric modularity and show their consistency for the weights in a certain cone, under the assumption that $F$ is a real quadratic field.
- Speaker: Speaker to be confirmed
- Tuesday 04 March 2025, 14:30-15:30
- Venue: MR13.
- Series: Number Theory Seminar; organiser: Rong Zhou.
Tue 04 Mar 14:30: On the geometric Serre weight conjecture for Hilbert modular forms
Let $F$ be a totally real field in which $p$ is unramified and $\rho: \Gal(\overline{F}/F)\rightarrow \GL_2(\Fpbar)$ be a totally odd, irreducible, continuous representation. The geometric Serre weight conjecture formulated by Diamond and Sasaki can be viewed as a geometric variant of the Buzzard-Diamond-Jarvis conjecture, where they have the notion of geometric modularity in the sense that $\rho$ arises from a mod $p$ Hilbert modular form and algebraic modularity in the sense of Buzzard-Diamond-Jarvis. I will discuss the relation between algebraic and geometric modularity and show their consistency for the weights in a certain cone, under the assumption that $F$ is a real quadratic field.
- Speaker: Speaker to be confirmed
- Tuesday 04 March 2025, 14:30-15:30
- Venue: MR13.
- Series: Number Theory Seminar; organiser: Rong Zhou.
Wed 19 Mar 12:30: Trump, Episode II: The Imperial Presidency Strikes Back
Donald Trump’s return to office in 2025 has been marked with a flurry of unilateral commands and dramatic confrontations with the executive branch he heads. On issues ranging from immigration to trade to “patriotic education,” he has demanded that the rest of government (and the world) submit to his will. How has presidential power expanded over time – and what’s new under Trump 2.0? Which of his actions are legal – and which go too far? Come join a leading scholar of the American presidency in discussing Trump’s efforts to reboot the “imperial Presidency” and the prospects of his success.
- Speaker: Andrew Rudalevige, Thomas Brackett Reed Professor of Government at Bowdoin College
- Wednesday 19 March 2025, 12:30-13:30
- Venue: Provost's Drawing Room, King's College.
- Series: King's Occasional Lectures; organiser: Bert Vaux.
Towards Stable Metal–I2 Battery: Design of Iodine–Containing Functional Groups for Enhanced Halogen Bond
A halogen bond (XB)-enhanced strategy is proposed, where ─B(OH)I3 groups are incorporated into a highly integrated porous carbon/I2 cathode (HOCF–BIn) to extend interactions between ─B(OH)I3 and subsequent I2 molecules. The strong intermolecular forces in HOCF–BIn cathodes significantly enhance I2/I3 −/I− confinement, enabling exceptional cycling stability at I2 loadings of 1.8–6.2 mg cm−2.
Abstract
The redox chemistries of iodine have attracted tremendous attention for charge storage owing to their high theoretical specific capacity and natural abundance. However, the practical capacity and cycle life are greatly limited by the active mass loss originating from the dissolved iodine species in either non-aqueous or aqueous batteries. Despite intensive progress in physical and physicochemical confinements of iodine species (I2/I3 −/I−), less attention has been paid to confining iodine species beyond the host–iodine interface, inhibiting further development of iodine cathodes with high I2 contents. Here a halogen bond (XB)– enhanced design concept is proposed between I2 molecules to achieve stable cycling performances, as exemplified by the Na–I2 battery. The enhanced XB is derived from the incorporation of –B(OH)I3 groups in highly integrated porous carbon/I2 cathode (HOCF–BIn), which can generate extended interactions between –B(OH)I3 and following I2 molecules. Due to the strong intermolecular force between I2 molecules, the HOCF–BIn cathodes exhibit substantially strengthened I2/I3 −/I− confinement, enabling outstanding cycling stability at I2 loading ranging from 1.8 to 6.2 mg cm−2. This findings demonstrate a functional group to manipulate XB chemistry within I2 molecules and polyiodides for stable and low-cost metal–iodine batteries.
Engineered Bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles‐Based Doxorubicin and CD47‐siRNA Co‐Delivery Nanoplatform Overcomes Immune Resistance to Potentiate the Immunotherapy of Glioblastoma
The nanoplatform based on engineered attenuated OMVs has good biosafety and can cross the BBB and target GBM with the assistance of Angiopep-2. The co-delivery of doxorubicin and CD47-siRNA and the immunogenicity of OMVs synergistically overcome the intrinsic and adaptive immune resistance of GBM, which ultimately triggers a powerful antitumor immune response.
Abstract
Apart from the blood-brain barrier (BBB), the efficacy of immunotherapy for glioblastoma (GBM) is limited by the presence of intrinsic and adaptive immune resistance, implying that co-delivery of various immunotherapeutic agents or simultaneous regulation of different cells is urgently needed. Bacterial outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) offer a unique advantage in the treatment of GBM, owing to their multifunctional properties as carriers and immune adjuvants and their ability to cross the BBB. However, traditional OMVs can lead to toxic side effects and disruption of tight junctions in the BBB. Therefore, to enhance the in vivo safety and targeting capability of OMVs, we introduced engineered OMVs to reduce toxicity and further constructed a modularly assembled nanoplatform by performing simple peptide modifications. This nanoplatform demonstrates satisfactory biosafety and is able to continuously cross the BBB and target GBM with the assistance of Angiopep-2. Subsequently, immunogenic substances on OMVs, along with carried small-interfering RNA (siRNA) and doxorubicin, can promote and enhance the reprogramming and phagocytic abilities of macrophages and microglia, respectively, and increase the immunogenicity of GBM, ultimately overcoming GBM immune resistance to enhance the efficacy of immunotherapy. This OMVs-based nanoplatform provides a new paradigm and insights into the development of immunotherapy for GBM.
Record thermoelectric figure of merit in Bi1-xSbx achieved by 1-D Landau level quantization
DOI: 10.1039/D5EE00253B, Paper Open Access   This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.Bin He, Xiaolong Feng, Dong Chen, Federico Serrano, Mohamed Nawwar, Haihua Hu, Urlich Burkhardt, Berit Goodge, Claudia Felser, Joseph P. Heremans, Yu Pan
Landau-level quantization confines electrons to a one-dimensional motion, generating a nearly δ-like energy distribution of the density of states that enhances the Seebeck coefficient and produces a high zT in...
The content of this RSS Feed (c) The Royal Society of Chemistry
Fri 14 Mar 13:00: Shared Talk: Identifying Key Countries in the Illegal Elephant Ivory Trade Network; Machine Learning for Building-Level Heat Risk Mapping
First Talk
Title
Identifying Key Countries in the Illegal Elephant Ivory Trade Network
Abstract
Illegal wildlife trade is a key driver of biodiversity loss, but targeting policy to maximise disruption to trade remains a key challenge. A network approach was applied to seizure data to prioritise national action disrupting the illegal trade of elephant ivory. By simulating the removal of countries from trade, targeting groups of countries was found to be most effective due to network redundancy. Despite temporal variability, trade was highly concentrated and cessation in less than 10 countries would have disrupted 75% of trade in 2018-2020. These findings support evidence-based legislation and efficient allocation of conservation resources for tackling illegal wildlife trade.
Bio
Jakob is a PhD student in the Conservation and Development Lab (Department of Geography). His research focuses on evaluating policy for sustainable land systems, supervised by Prof. Rachael Garrett and Prof. Srinivasan Keshav. This work is supported by the Centre for Doctoral Training on Artificial Intelligence applied to the study of Environmental Risk (AI4ER CDT ). Before starting his PhD, Jakob completed an MRes with AI4ER in Environmental Data Science, where he collaborated with TRAFFIC to develop data-driven tools to inform international illegal wildlife trade policy. Previously, Jakob completed an undergraduate degree in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, specialising in Plant Sciences, and contributed to research on metrics for biodiversity offsetting, novel approaches to wildlife monitoring and forest ecology.
Second Talk
Title
Machine Learning for Building-Level Heat Risk Mapping
Abstract
Climate change is intensifying the frequency and severity of heat waves, increasing risks to public health and energy systems worldwide. However, many existing heat vulnerability assessments focus primarily on outdoor temperatures, overlooking indoor conditions that directly affect occupants. Although building simulations can reveal the types of buildings whose occupants are most at risk, they rarely pinpoint the exact locations of these vulnerable buildings. In this presentation, I will present a data-driven workflow that locates high-risk buildings and discuss the labeling strategies we have explored for classifying real-world structures using satellite imagery.
Bio
Andrea is a first-year PhD student in the Department of Computer Science and Technology at the University of Cambridge. She is supervised by Prof Srinivasan Keshav. Her research bridges machine learning with civil and environmental engineering, focusing particularly on its applications within the built environment.
- Speaker: Jakob Poffley, University of Cambridge; Andrea Domiter, University of Cambridge
- Friday 14 March 2025, 13:00-13:55
- Venue: SC04, William Gates Building. Zoom link: https://cl-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/4361570789?pwd=Nkl2T3ZLaTZwRm05bzRTOUUxY3Q4QT09&from=addon .
- Series: Energy and Environment Group, Department of CST; organiser: lyr24.
Fri 07 Mar 15:30: Discussion on Causal Representation Learning with Generative Artificial Intelligence: Application to Texts as Treatments
See preprint by Kosuke Imai and Kentaro Nakamura at : https://arxiv.org/abs/2410.00903
In this paper, we demonstrate how to enhance the validity of causal inference with unstructured high-dimensional treatments like texts, by leveraging the power of generative Artificial Intelligence. Specifically, we propose to use a deep generative model such as large language models (LLMs) to efficiently generate treatments and use their internal representation for subsequent causal effect estimation. We show that the knowledge of this true internal representation helps disentangle the treatment features of interest, such as specific sentiments and certain topics, from other possibly unknown confounding features. Unlike the existing methods, our proposed approach eliminates the need to learn causal representation from the data and hence produces more accurate and efficient estimates. We formally establish the conditions required for the nonparametric identification of the average treatment effect, propose an estimation strategy that avoids the violation of the overlap assumption, and derive the asymptotic properties of the proposed estimator through the application of double machine learning. Finally, using an instrumental variables approach, we extend the proposed methodology to the settings, in which the treatment feature is based on human perception rather than is assumed to be fixed given the treatment object. The proposed methodology is also applicable to text reuse where an LLM is used to regenerate the existing texts. We conduct simulation and empirical studies, using the generated text data from an open-source LLM , Llama 3, to illustrate the advantages of our estimator over the state-of-the-art causal representation learning algorithms.
- Speaker: Martina Scauda (University of Cambridge)
- Friday 07 March 2025, 15:30-17:00
- Venue: MR12, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge.
- Series: Causal Inference Reading Group; organiser: Martina Scauda.
Fri 07 Mar 14:00: Lithography metal manufacturing: The next generation of precision 3D printing
Abstract: Imagine an additive manufacturing (AM) technology capable of 3D printing any design in any metal directly to a net shape bypassing costly workshop post-processing. This once-distant goal has recently materialized with Lithography Metal Manufacturing (LMM), a vat photopolymerization approach that employs digital light projection to 3D print metal-filled resin into “green” structures, which are then debound and sintered in a furnace. Leading AM pioneers, such as Lithoz, Admatec, and Autodesk, have spun off startups producing LMM printers whose accuracy and preciseness intriguing even Swiss watchmakers. Through collaboration with one such startup, we successfully refined a now-industry-adopted LLM printer to fabricate steel components with a level of detailing, surface finish, and design complexity surpassing what powder bed systems can achieve. The entire end-to-end process, from feedstock preparation to finished parts, fit within a compact 10m² lab space, empowering small AM service providers in further decentralizing the production landscape.
Bio: Dr Ruslan Melentiev is an incoming Assistant Professor in Smart Manufacturing at the University of Nottingham’ Ningbo Campus, who was trained in manufacturing technologies at KAUST (postdoc), University College Dublin (PhD), Aircraft Industry (R&D Engineer), Turin Polytechnic (Scholar), and Odesa Polytechnic (MSc). He has received three Erasmus Mundus awards, Young Inventor award, and Science Foundation Ireland grant. He is the member of the International Academy of Engineering and Technology (AET), UK Metamaterials Network, and Saudi Arabian Society for Composite Materials. He has first-authored over 30 publications and 8 patents, commercialized with Saudi Basic Industries Corp, TOYOTA Motors, and several original equipment manufacturers in the US and India.
- Speaker: Dr. Ruslan Melentiev (KAUST）
- Friday 07 March 2025, 14:00-15:00
- Venue: Oatley 1 Meeting Room, Department of Engineering.
- Series: Engineering - Mechanics and Materials Seminar Series; organiser: div-c.
Thu 13 Mar 14:30: Estimating the Global Average Treatment Effect under Structured Interference
The field of causal inference develops methods for estimating treatment effects, often relying on the Stable Unit Treatment Value Assumption (SUTVA), which states that a unit’s outcome depends only on its own treatment. However, in many real-world settings, SUTVA is violated due to interference—where the treatment assigned to one unit influences the outcomes of others. Such interference can arise from social interactions among units or competition for shared resources, complicating causal analysis and leading to biased estimates. Fortunately, in many cases, interference follows structured patterns that can potentially be leveraged for more accurate estimation. In this paper, we examine and formalize two specific forms of structured interference—monotone interference and submodular interference—which we believe arise in many practical settings. We investigate how incorporating these structures can improve causal effect estimation. Our main contributions are (i) a set of bounds relating key interference estimands under these structural assumptions and (ii) new estimators that integrate these structures through constrained optimization. Since these constraints may introduce bias, we further develop debiasing techniques based on treatment regeneration and bootstrap methods to mitigate this issue.
This is joint work (ongoing) with Kevin Han and Johan Ugander.
- Speaker: Shuangning Li (University of Chicago, Booth School of Business)
- Thursday 13 March 2025, 14:30-16:00
- Venue: MR19, Centre for Mathematical Sciences, Wilberforce Road, Cambridge.
- Series: Causal Inference Reading Group; organiser: Martina Scauda.
Proton Exchange Membrane Water Splitting: Advances in Electrode Structure and Mass‐Charge Transport Optimization
This review probes recent advancements in PEMWEs for green hydrogen production from the perspective of acidic OER, identifies challenges related to corrosive environments and oxidative conditions, and proposes strategies to enhance the long-term stability of PEMWEs by addressing both catalyst and membrane electrode assembly deactivation.
Abstract
Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) represents a promising technology for renewable hydrogen production. However, the large-scale commercialization of PEMWE faces challenges due to the need for acid oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts with long-term stability and corrosion-resistant membrane electrode assemblies (MEA). This review thoroughly examines the deactivation mechanisms of acidic OER and crucial factors affecting assembly instability in complex reaction environments, including catalyst degradation, dynamic behavior at the MEA triple-phase boundary, and equipment failures. Targeted solutions are proposed, including catalyst improvements, optimized MEA designs, and operational strategies. Finally, the review highlights perspectives on strict activity/stability evaluation standards, in situ/operando characteristics, and practical electrolyzer optimization. These insights emphasize the interrelationship between catalysts, MEAs, activity, and stability, offering new guidance for accelerating the commercialization of PEMWE catalysts and systems.
Fri 14 Mar 08:45: Geospatial Analysis of Bacterial Meningitis Outbreaks in Africa
Molly is a first year PhD student working on the epidemiology of meningitis in relation to climate change. Before starting her PhD, Molly graduated with an MSc in Tropical Disease Biology from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and worked as an epidemiologist at the UK Health Security Agency. Whilst at UKHSA Molly conducted analysis on a wide variety of communicable disease outbreaks and undertook a secondment with the World Health Organisation, supporting the European MPox outbreak.
Chaired by Liza Hadley and Andrew Grant
- Speaker: Molly Cliff, Department of Veterinary Medicine
- Friday 14 March 2025, 08:45-10:00
- Venue: LT2.
- Series: Friday Morning Seminars, Dept of Veterinary Medicine; organiser: Fiona Roby.
Covalent Anchoring of Mechanical Polymer for Highly Stable Zinc Metal Batteries
A sustainable Zn interfacial architecture is established, where a robust polyimide nanofilm is covalently anchored to the Zn substrate through electronegative F atoms. The strong covalent interactions provide excellent interfacial adhesion during repeated Zn/Zn2+ cycling. The remarkable resilience, modulus, and low creep of FPI film effectively resist the impact stress from electroplated Zn while maintaining structural integrity.
Abstract
Artificial interfacial protective coatings (IPCs) on Zn anodes provide a viable solution for suppressing dendritic growth by spatially confining and homogenizing the Zn2+ flux. However, repeated Zn deformation during electroplating/stripping cycles can lead to the rupture or exfoliation of IPCs, as well as the formation of detrimental interfacial gaps. Herein, a highly durable IPC is developed on a Zn substrate using a mechanically robust fluorinated polyimide nanofilm (FPI). This unique FPI interphase forms strong covalent bonds with Zn through electronegative fluorine atoms, facilitating Zn plating/stripping while maintaining interfacial adhesion. The superior resilience, modulus, and low creep of the FPI film resist the impact stresses from electroplated Zn, ensuring structural integrity. With this FPI coating, the FPI-Cu||Zn half cells demonstrate high reversibility in Zn2+ electroplating/stripping over 4000 h, maintaining Coulombic efficiency above 99.33%. When coupled with a MnO2 cathode, the MnO2||FPI-Zn full cells exhibit a long lifespan, surpassing 5000 cycles, with a high specific capacity retention of 75.21%. This study highlights the importance of achieving a balance between the customized compatibility and mechanical properties of IPCs to modulate zinc interfacial chemistries.