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By employing 3,5-bis(trifluoromethyl) pyrazole (TFMP) as an electrolyte additive in both aqueous and non-aqueous mediums, a versatile interphase strategy is achieved. This facilitates stable Zn anodes with improved efficiency and longer cycling life. 

The fast and efficient synthesis of nanoparticles on flexible and lightweight substrates is increasingly critical for various medical and wearable applications. However, conventional high temperature (high-T) processes for nanoparticle synthesis are intrinsically incompatible with temperature-sensitive substrates, including textiles and paper ( i.e. low-T substrates). In this work, we report a non-contact, ‘fly-through’ method to synthesize nanoparticles on low-T substrates by rapid radiative heating under short timescales. As a demonstration, textile substrates loaded with platinum (Pt) salt precursor are rapidly heated and quenched as they move across a 2000 K heating source at a continuous production speed of 0.5 cm s −1 . The rapid radiative heating method induces the thermal decomposition of various precursor salts and nanoparticle formation, while the short duration ensures negligible change to the respective low-T substrate along with greatly improved production efficiency. The reported method can be generally applied to the synthesis of metal nanoparticles ( e.g. gold and ruthenium) on various low-T substrates ( e.g. paper). The non-contact and continuous ‘fly-through’ synthesis offers a robust and efficient way to synthesize supported nanoparticles on flexible and lightweight substrates. It is also promising for ultrafast and roll-to-roll manufacturing to enable viable applications. 

Ceramics are an important class of materials with widespread applications because of their high thermal, mechanical, and chemical stability. Computational predictions based on first principles methods can be a valuable tool in accelerating materials discovery to develop improved ceramics. It is essential to experimentally confirm the material properties of such predictions. However, materials screening rates are limited by the long processing times and the poor compositional control from volatile element loss in conventional ceramic sintering techniques. To overcome these limitations, we developed an ultrafast high-temperature sintering (UHS) process for the fabrication of ceramic materials by radiative heating under an inert atmosphere. We provide several examples of the UHS process to demonstrate its potential utility and applications, including advancements in solid-state electrolytes, multicomponent structures, and high-throughput materials screening. 

For the first time, a fast heating–cooling process is reported for the synthesis of carbon‐coated nickel (Ni) nanoparticles on a reduced graphene oxide (RGO) matrix (nano‐Ni@C/RGO) as a high‐performance H₂O₂fuel catalyst. The Joule heating temperature can reach up to ≈2400 K and the heating time can be less than 0.1 s. Ni microparticles with an average diameter of 2 µm can be directly converted into nanoparticles with an average diameter of 75 nm. The Ni nanoparticles embedded in RGO are evaluated for electro‐oxidation performance as a H₂O₂fuel in a direct peroxide–peroxide fuel cell, which exhibits an electro‐oxidation current density of 602 mA cm⁻²at 0.2 V (vs Ag/AgCl), ≈150 times higher than the original Ni microparticles embedded in the RGO matrix (micro‐Ni/RGO). The high‐temperature, fast Joule heating process also leads to a 4–5 nm conformal carbon coating on the surface of the Ni nanoparticles, which anchors them to the RGO nanosheets and leads to an excellent catalytic stability. The newly developed nano‐Ni@C/RGO composites by Joule heating hold great promise for a range of emerging energy applications, including the advanced anode materials of fuel cells.