The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) involves the recombination of diamagnetic hydroxyl (OH) or water (H₂O) into the paramagnetic triplet state of oxygen (O₂). The spin conservation of oxygen intermediates plays a crucial role in OER, however, research on spin dynamics during the catalytic process remains in its early stages. Herein, β‐Ni(OH)₂ and Fe‐doped β‐Ni(OH)₂ (Ni₅Fe₁(OH)₂) are utilized as model catalysts to understand the mechanism of spin magnetic effects at iron (III) sites during OER. Combined with magnetic characterization, it is founded that the introduction of Fe transforms the antiferromagnetic Ni(OH)₂ into a ferromagnetic material. Testing the magnetic response of the catalyst under an external magnetic field, the OER activity of Ni₅Fe₁(OH)₂ is significantly enhanced in comparison to Ni(OH)₂. This improvement is likely due to the introduction of iron sites, which promote spin magnetic effects and enhance reaction kinetics, thereby increasing catalytic efficiency. Combining experimental and theoretical characterization, it is discovered that the iron sites accelerate the formation of heterogeneous dual‐site O─O bridging, represented as ─Ni─O─O─Fe─, thereby effectively enhancing the kinetics of the OER reaction. This study provides a magnetic perspective on the structure‐function relationship of magnetic iron‐based catalysts and has significant implications for the design of new catalysts.

Significant research efforts have been directed toward anode-free lithium metal batteries, primarily attributed to their exceptional energy density and low manufacturing costs. Nevertheless, significant lattice mismatch, poor lithiophilicity, and surface roughness of Cu CCs result in non-uniform lithium deposition and dendrite formation, critically undermining the cycle life and safety of the batteries. The core strategy for regulating lithium deposition/stripping behavior lies in the construction of lithiophilic interfaces or functional coatings. In this study, a highly efficient magnetron sputtering technique was employed to co-deposit a uniform and dense Zn–Ag alloy film on copper CCs. This low-temperature, large-area, and highly homogeneous process significantly reduced the lithium nucleation overpotential and localized current density, thereby promoting the establishment of a stable, inorganic-dominated solid electrolyte interphase (SEI). Experimental results demonstrated that the modified ZnAg@Cu CCs retained an average coulombic efficiency of 98.43% over 800 cycles in half-cell tests (0.5 mA cm⁻², 1 mAh cm⁻²). Furthermore, symmetric cells exhibited an ultralow voltage hysteresis of 18 mV after 3500 hours of cycling under identical conditions. Notably, full cells paired with a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode achieved a 92.12% capacity retention after 100 cycles at 0.5C. This study presents an innovative solution for the interfacial engineering of current collectors for anode-free metal batteries, offering dual advantages of high-efficiency fabrication and performance optimization.

In order to address the weaknesses of poor corrosion resistance of hydraulic cylinder piston rods, we have developed a surface protection strategy for titanium aluminum nitride coatings by filter cathode vacuum arc (FCVA) technology. The optimization and regulatory mechanism of N₂ flow rate on the microstructure, mechanical, and electrochemical oxidation behaviors have been emphasized. The results indicated that all coatings revealed a nanocrystalline amorphous composite structure dominated by an fcc TiAlN phase. However, the solid solution content, growth orientation, and grain size could be controlled by the nitrogen flow rate, thereby achieving optimized hardness, adhesion strength, corrosion, and oxidation resistance. Specifically, with the increase in the N₂ flow rate, the solid solution content continued to rise, while the crystal orientation transformed from the (111) to the (200) plane, and the grain size initially increased and then decreased. As a result, mechanical properties, including hardness, toughness, resistance to plastic deformation, and adhesion strength, displayed a trend of initially increasing and then decreasing. The corrosion failure of coatings was linked to surface defects controlled by the N₂ flow rate, rather than the composition and phase structure. The coating displayed superior corrosion resistance at low N₂ flow rates due to fewer macroscopic particles and pore defects. This study provides valuable insights into the corrosion behavior of an aluminum titanium nitrogen coating, providing crucial guidance for coating design in harsh environments.

Micro-arc oxidation (MAO) films were fabricated on the Ti-39Nb-6Zr alloy at different voltages in the silicate and silicate/glycerin electrolyte. Their morphology, phase structure and composition were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). It was found that the glycerin additive in the silicate electrolyte improved the compactness of the MAO film. The corrosion resistance was evaluated, and the influence of glycerin additive in electrolyte on the growth of micro-arc oxidized film was revealed by optical emission spectra.

To improve the low deposition rate of atomic layer deposition (ALD), we introduced filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) technology for the high-rate deposition of Al₂O₃ films. The FCVA-Al₂O₃ process achieved a deposition rate of 15 nm/min, which is approximately an order of magnitude higher than that of conventional ALD. This process does not involve hydrogen, preventing hydrogen ion penetration and thereby ensuring the high stability of the oxide TFT backplane. FCVA-Al₂O₃ films were integrated with inkjet-printed (IJP) organic layers to form a hybrid thin-film encapsulation (TFE) structure for OLEDs. The resulting laminated encapsulation exhibited excellent water vapor barrier properties (WVTR, Water Vapor Transmission Rate of 1.2 × 10⁻⁴ g/m²/day), demonstrating the great potential of FCVA for packaging high-throughput and high-performance flexible electronics. In addition to evaluating barrier properties (surface roughness, residual stress, and WVTR) to assess the suitability of TFE, the impact of FCVA technology was assessed via oxide thin-film transistor (TFT) electrical performance and OLED device reliability tests. The electrical properties of oxide TFTs show no significant degradation post-encapsulation, while OLED performance, despite a slight increase in current efficiency, remains effectively unchanged. Additionally, the lifetime of OLED devices reached 300 h under accelerated aging conditions (85 °C, 85% relative humidity), which is nearly twice that of devices without FCVA-Al₂O₃ encapsulation.