Binghui Ge

• Professor
• Professor at Anhui University

The hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) in alkaline media is pivotal for the advancement of anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), and the development of single‐atom catalysts offers a promising solution for creating cost‐effective, highly efficient HOR catalysts. Although the transition from nanoparticle to single‐atom catalysts enhances catal...

Electrocatalytic water splitting, a promising alternative to fossil fuels, has substantial potential for hydrogen generation. However, developing efficient electrocatalysts for the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) faces challenges, especially in alkaline...

The intercalation of magnetic atoms into van der Waals (vdW) gaps offers a versatile approach for manipulating local magnetic ordering in vdW magnets. However, these intercalated magnetic atoms are often intricately positioned within the gaps, resulting in an ambiguous impact on local magnetic interactions and spin configurations. Herein, the atomi...

In cuprates, the superconducting transition temperature (Tc) is closely related to the number n of CuO2 planes per unit cell. The studies on multi‐layered cuprates offer insights into the physical properties and pairing mechanisms of superconductivity. However, the synthesis and stability of ultra‐multilayered cuprates pose significant challenges....

Engineering the electronic band structures upon doping is crucial to improve the thermoelectric performance of materials. Understanding how dopants influence the electronic states near the Fermi level is thus a prerequisite to precisely tune band structures. Here, we demonstrate that the Sn-s states in SnTe contribute to the density of states at th...

Metal-semiconductor contacts play a pivotal role in controlling carrier transport in the fabrication of modern electronic devices. The exploration of van der Waals (vdW) metal contacts in semiconductor devices can potentially mitigate Fermi-level pinning at the metal-semiconductor interface, with particular success in two-dimensional layered semico...

The microstructure significantly influences the superconducting properties. Herein, the defect structures and atomic arrangements in high-temperature Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ (Bi-2212) superconducting wire are directly characterized via state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscopy. Interstitial oxygen atoms are observed in both the charge rese...

Low-cost thermoelectric materials with simultaneous high performance and superior plasticity at room temperature are urgently demanded due to the lack of ever-lasting power supply for flexible electronics. However, the inherent brittleness in conventional thermoelectric semiconductors and the inferior thermoelectric performance in plastic organics/...

The recent discovery of superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelate films has sparked significant interest and expanded the realm of superconductors, in which the infinite-layer structure and proper chemical doping are both of the essence. Nonetheless, the reasons for the absence of superconductivity in bulk infinite-layer nickelates remain puzzl...

Nonlinear transport is a unique functionality of noncentrosymmetric systems, which reflects profound physics, such as spin-orbit interaction, superconductivity and band geometry. However, it remains highly challenging to enhance the nonreciprocal transport for promising rectification devices. Here, we observe a light-induced giant enhancement of no...

The utilization of thermoelectric (TE) technology for eco-friendly energy harvesting presents a promising solution for off-grid power generation from waste heat.

The vast majority of research on eco-friendly mid-temperature SnTe thermoelectrics has focused solely on improving material performance, often neglecting effective module design. Consequently, constructing high-efficiency thermoelectric devices has posed tremendous...

Finding a real thermoelectric (TE) material that excels in various aspects of TE performance, mechanical properties, TE power generation, and cooling is challenging for its commercialization. Herein, we report a novel multifunctional Ge 0.78 Cd 0.06 Pb 0.1 Sb 0.06 Te material with excellent TE performance and mechanical strength, which is utilized...

Multi-shell transition metal oxide hollow spheres show great potential for applications in energy storage because of their unique multilayered hollow structure with large specific surface area, short electron and charge transport paths, and structural stability. In this paper, the controlled synthesis of NiCo2O4, MnCo2O4, NiMn2O4 multi-shell layer...

The recent discovery of superconductivity in infinite-layer nickelate films has sparked significant interest and expanded the realm of superconductors, in which the infinite-layer structure and proper chemical doping are both of the essence. Nonetheless, the absence of superconductivity in bulk infinite-layer nickelates remains puzzling. Herein, we...

The adaptability of living organisms to dynamically adjust their biological behavior in response to fluctuating surroundings is a prerequisite for their evolutionary success. However, artificially‐synthesized materials, especially semiconductors, have not been able to replicate such adaptability due to their inherent physical rigidity and lack of i...

Synchrotron-based in situ pressure small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering and associated strain analysis reveal a pressure-driven anisotropic strain distribution across a Pt nanocube (NC) assembled supercrystal that has an obtuse rhombohedral superlattice. This strain anisotropy is largely controlled by the rational interplay between soft organic m...

The discovery of superconductivity in doped infinite-layer nickelates has attracted great interest recently. Here, a metal–insulator–superconductor transition is demonstrated by engineering the process of topotactic reduction. By employing topotactic reduction, a superconducting Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO2 layer is obtained from high-quality Nd0.8Sr0.2NiO3, whi...

Na2Ti3O7 is considered one of the most promising anode materials for sodium ion batteries due to its superior safety, environmental friendliness, and low manufacturing cost. However, its structural stability and reaction mechanism still have not been fully explored. As the electron beam irradiation introduces a similar impact on the Na2Ti3O7 anode...

Ammonia (NH3) plays a crucial role in the production of fertilizers, medicines, fibers, etc., which are closely relevant to the development of human society. However, the inert and nonpolar properties of NN seriously hinder artificial nitrogen fixation under mild conditions. Herein, we introduce a novel strategy to enhance the photocatalytic effic...

The donor‐like effect, depicting the uncontrollable increase of electron density that can significantly alter the thermoelectric performance of both p‐type and n‐type polycrystalline Bi2Te3‐based materials, has long been an intriguing phenomenon, while its origin is still elusive. Herein, it is found that different from the common argument, the don...

Electrode contact interfaces for practical thermoelectric (TE) devices require high bonding strength, low specific contact resistivity, and superb stability. Herein, the state‐of‐the‐art Cu2MgFe/Mg2Sn0.75Ge0.25 interface is designed for Mg2Sn0.75Ge0.25‐based TE devices, adhering to the general strategy of high bonding propensity, thermal expansion...

Half‐Heusler compounds with semiconducting behavior have been developed as high‐performance thermoelectric materials for power generation. Many half‐Heusler compounds also exhibit metallic behavior without a bandgap and thus inferior thermoelectric performance. Here, taking metallic half‐Heusler MgNiSb as an example, a bandgap opening strategy is p...

The recently developed defective 19‐electron half‐Heusler (HH) compounds, represented by Nb1−δCoSb, possess massive intrinsic vacancies at the cation site and thus intrinsically low lattice thermal conductivity that is desirable for thermoelectric (TE) applications. Yet the TE performance of defective HHs with a maximum figure of merit (zT) <1.0 is...

Currently, the efforts to find materials with high κ anisotropy ratios mainly focus on layered materials, however, the limited quantity and lower workability comparing to non‐layered ones boost the exploration of non‐layered materials with high κ anisotropy ratios. Here, taking PbSnS3, a typical non‐layered orthorhombic compound, as an example, we...

Carbonates (CO3 2- ) have always been known as impurities to degrade the superconductivity in cuprate high-Tc superconductors. Herein, the atomic arrangement of carbonates is directly visualized in (Cu,C)Ba2 Ca3 Cu4 O11+δ via integrated differential phase contrast (iDPC) combined with state-of-the-art scanning transmission electron microscopy. The...

Homogeneous and nanometric metal clusters with unique electronic structures are promising for catalysis, however, common synthesis techniques for metal clusters suffer from large size and even metal nanocrystals attributing to their high surface energy and unsaturated configurations. Herein, a generalized rapid annealing strategy for synthesizing a...

Currently, the efforts to find materials with high κ anisotropy ratios mainly focus on layered materials, however, the limited quantity and lower workability comparing to non‐layered ones boost the exploration of non‐layered materials with high κ anisotropy ratios. Here, taking PbSnS 3 , a typical non‐layered orthorhombic compound, as an example, w...

Vortex dynamics has attracted tremendous attention for both fundamental physics and applications of type-II superconductors. However, methods to detect local vortex motion or vortex jump with high sensitivity are still scarce. Here, we fabricated soft point contacts on the clean layered superconductor 2H–NbSe2, which are demonstrated to contain mul...

The topological Hall effect (THE) is critical to the exploration of the spin chirality generated by the real-space Berry curvature, which has attracted worldwide attention for its prospective applications in spintronic devices. However, the prominent THE remains elusive at room temperature, which severely restricts the practical integration of chir...

Revealing the electrocatalytic microstructure is the basis for finding more efficient and stable electrode materials for clean energy conversion devices. However, there is still a lack of direct understanding of the phase transition process of the sample during heating, which makes the synthesis conditions of the catalyst often rely on experienced...

Dielectric capacitors with high power densities are crucial for pulsed electronic devices and clean energy technologies. However, their breakdown strengths (Eb) strongly limit their power densities. Herein, by modifying the interfacial polarization by adjusting the difference in activation energies (Δϕ) between the grain and grain boundary phases,...

Integrated differential phase contrast scanning transmission electron microscopy (iDPC-STEM) technique has been well developed for studying atomic structures at sub-Å resolution with the capability of simultaneously imaging heavy and light atoms even at an extremely low electron dose. As a direct phase contrast imaging technique, atomic resolution...

Scanning moiré fringes (SMFs) in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) have a broad application prospect owing to the low-magnification imaging and hereto the low electron irritation damage, especially in defects localization, strain analysis etc. However, the dynamic evolution mechanism of SMFs is still not clear. In this paper, we carr...

Diffusion-mediated assembly of octahedral PbS nanocrystals (NCs) in a confined antisolvent environment displays a primary burst nucleation and Ostwald ripening growth of rhombic bcc supercrystals, followed by a secondary seed-based nucleation and oriented attachment growth of triangle fcc supercrystals. As the diffusion proceeds from ethanol across...

The physicochemical properties of a semiconductor surface, especially in low-dimensional nanostruc-tures, determine the electrical and optical behavior of the devices. Thereby, the precise control of surface properties is a prerequisite for not only preserving the intrinsic material quality but also manipulating carrier transport behavior for promo...

Dielectric energy storage devices are important components of high-power and pulsed electronic systems. High recoverable energy density (Wrec) and high efficiency (ƞ) are critical parameters for such applications. In this work we propose a strategy of polyphase engineering in the superparaelectric (SPE) state to achieve high-performance energy stor...

Dual topological insulators, simultaneously protected by time-reversal symmetry and crystalline symmetry, open great opportunities to explore different symmetry-protected metallic surface states. However, the conventional dual topological states located on different facets hinders integration into planar opto-electronic/spintronic devices. Here, we...

We report comprehensive transport, electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy studies on transition-metal chalcogenides Cu 1.89 Te single crystals. The metallic Cu 1.89 Te displays successive metal-semiconductor transitions at low temperatures and almost ideal linear MR when magnetic field up to 33 T. Through the electron diffraction patterns, the...

High-precision piezo actuators necessitate dielectrics with high electrostrain performance with low hysteresis. Polarity-modulated (Sr0.7Bi0.2□0.1)TiO3-based ceramics exhibit extraordinarily discrete multiphase coexistence regions: (i) the relaxor phase coexistence (RPC) region with local weakly polar tetragonal (T) and pseudocubic (Pc) short-range...

The interplay between dimensionality and topology manifests in magnetism via both exotic texture morphology and novel dynamics. A free magnetic skyrmion exhibits the skyrmion Hall effect under electric currents. Once it is confined in one-dimensional (1D) channels, the skyrmion Hall effect would be suppressed, and the current-driven skyrmion speed...

We report comprehensive transport, electron microscopy and Raman spectroscopy studies on the transition-metal chalcogenides Cu 1.89 Te single crystals. The metallic Cu 1.89 Te displays successive metal-semiconductor transitions at low temperatures and almost ideal linear MR when magnetic field up to 33T. Through the electron diffraction patterns, t...

Lead-free relaxor ferroelectric ceramics with ultrahigh energy-storage performance are vital for pulsed power systems. We herein propose a strategy of phase and band structure engineering for high-performance energy storage. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this strategy, (1 - x)(0.75Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3-0.25SrTiO3)-xCaTi0.875Nb0.1O3 (NBT-ST-xCTN, x =...

Reversible topotactic phase transition between perovskite (PV) and oxygen-vacancy-ordered brownmillerite (BM) structures provides an effective platform for realizing the control of physical properties in complex transition metal oxides. However, such reversibility always requires extreme external conditions, that is, a high temperature and vacuum e...

In cuprate superconductors, the Hg-, Tl- and Bi-based systems with multilayers of CuO2 planes within one unit cell usually have critical temperatures higher than 100 K. However, the applications of these materials under high magnetic fields in liquid nitrogen temperature region are strongly limited by the very high anisotropy and strong vortex moti...

The electrocatalysis of water to hydrogen is expected to play an essential and significant role in the development of future electrochemical energy conversion and storage technologies, together with the exploration of green energy. However, the high cost of noble metal catalysts remains a key challenge and it still requires further investigations t...

The natural nitrogenase is still the most efficient catalyst on earth to reduce the ambient N2 into ammonia. The central part of the molecular machine is powered by a metallic core, usually a molybdenum atom, whose coordination valence state remains an enigma for us to unveil and mimic. Unlike the flexible bio-enzyme, inorganic heterogeneous cataly...

SnTe is an emerging Pb‐free thermoelectric compound that has drawn significant attention for clean energy conversion. Chemical doping is routinely used to tailor its charge carrier concentration and electronic band structures. However, the efficacy of dopants is often limited by their small solubility. For example, only 0.5% Ag can be incorporated...

Here, using various substrates, we demonstrate that the in-plane uniaxial strain engineering can enhance the Jahn-Teller distortions and promote selective orbital occupancy to induce an emergent antiferromagnetic insulating (AFI) phase at x = 1/3 of La1-xCaxMnO3. Such an AFI phase depends not only on the magnitude of epitaxial strain but also on th...

Mg3Sb2-xBix compounds have recently attracted surging research attention owing to their low cost and high thermoelectric performance that is comparable with the commercialized Bi2Te3-xSex alloys. For practical applications, chemical stability is another key factor that determines the lifetime of the materials, which is rarely investigated for Mg3Sb...

The running of environmental purification usually employs massive consumption of energy, and it is of significant scientific importance and real impact to reduce the energy cost in environmental treatments. In particular, it is urgently required to minimalize the energy cost of the catalytic oxidation of gaseous pollutants represented by volatile o...

The thermal stability of the electrode interface is always a critical concern in the long-term service of thermoelectric power generators (TEGs). This work has systematically investigated the thermal stability of the interfaces of Ni/Bi2Te2.7Se0.3 and Ni/Bi0.4Sb1.6Te3 of the Bi2Te3-based Thermoelectric generator (TEG) device by using high-resolutio...

Electrocatalytic ammonia (NH3) conversion under ambient atmosphere is crucial to mimic the nature’s nitrogen cycle. But currently it is always interrupted by the HER process which is more competitive. Herein, we tactically cultivate a series of incompletely etched Ti3AlC2 MAX / Ti3C2 MXene based heterostructure catalysts whose composition can be fi...

Cluster catalysts are rapidly growing into an important sub-field in heterogeneous catalysis, owing to their distinct geometric structure, neighboring metal sites, and unique electronic structure. Although the thermodynamics and kinetics of the formation of nanoparticles have been largely investigated, the precise synthesis of clusters in wet chemi...

Controlling of lattice vibrations to obtain intrinsic low thermal conductivity play a critical role in thermal management of electronic and photonic devices, energy converters and thermal insulation, which necessitates exploring new compounds and a thorough understanding of their chemical structure, bonding and lattice dynamics. Herein, we demonstr...

Topologically protected spin textures, such as magnetic skyrmions, have attracted considerable attention owing to their emergent electromagnetic phenomena and potential applications in spintronics. The antiskyrmion, a new member of the skyrmion family in the nanoscale dimension, consists of alternating Néel‐ and Bloch‐type boundary walls; it has al...

Palladium (Pd)-based catalysts are essential to drive high-performance Suzuki coupling reactions, which are powerful tools for the synthesis of functional organic compounds. Herein, we developed a solution-rapid-annealing process to stabilize nitrogen-mesoporous carbon supported Pd single-atom/cluster (Pd/NMC) material, which provided a catalyst wi...

The emerging single atom catalysts (SACs) with tailorable, uniform and well-defined metal sites provide an ideal platform for studying the atomic-level correlation between structural configuration and catalytic behaviour on heterogeneous catalysis. Here we demonstrate the electronic synergy of neighbouring Ir and Ni diatomic sites on carbon support...

Writing, erasing and computing are three fundamental operations required by any working electronic device. Magnetic skyrmions could be essential bits in promising in emerging topological spintronic devices. In particular, skyrmions in chiral magnets have outstanding properties like compact texture, uniform size, and high mobility. However, creating...

Broadband photodetectors with polarization-sensitive ability have received extraordinary attention for modern optoelectronic devices. Ideal photodetectors should possess high responsivity, fast response, and good stability, which are rare to meet at the same time in one low-symmetric two-dimentional (2D) material. In this work, neodymium diantimoni...

The control of perpendicular magnetic anisotropy(PMA) of complex oxides on the widely used SrTiO3 (STO) or STO buffered silicon substrates is of technology importance in the development of integrated multifunctional oxide spintronic devices. Perovskite manganite shows great potential as magnetic layer due to its rich physical properites and spin po...

Room‐temperature sodium–sulfur (RT Na–S) batteries are arousing great interest in recent years. Their practical applications, however, are hindered by several intrinsic problems, such as the sluggish kinetic, shuttle effect, and the incomplete conversion of sodium polysulfides (NaPSs). Here a sulfur host material that is based on tungsten nanoparti...

Sample thickness is an important parameter in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging for interpreting image contrast and understanding the relationship between properties and microstructure. In this study, we introduce a method for sample thickness determination in scanning TEM (STEM) mode based on scanning moiré fringes (SMFs). Focal-serie...

Novel zero-dimensional SnO2(ZnO:Sn)m superlattice nanoparticles were synthesized by a simple method of annealing ZnO nanoparticles precoated with the sol-gel Sn-Zn-O precursor. The annealing temperature and duration are systematically evaluated, and...

Being a typical state of the art heterogeneous catalyst, supported noble metal catalyst often demonstrates enhanced catalytic properties. However, a facile synthetic method for realizing large-scale and low-cost supported noble metal catalyst is strictly indispensable. To this end, by making use of the strong metal-support interaction (SMSI) and me...

Due to the intrinsic low lattice thermal conductivity (κL), AB2X2 Zintl compounds with a P3-M1 crystal structure have been demonstrated as potential thermoelectric candidates. Recently, a novel AB2X2 compound with a Pnma crystal structure has been revealed to possess an even lower κL, which motivates this work to focus on BaAg2Te2 for its potential...

Sample thickness is an important parameter in transmission electron microscopy (TEM) imaging, for interpreting image contrast and understanding the relationship between properties and microstructure. In this study, we introduce a method for determining thickness in scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) mode based on scanning moir\'e frin...

Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric materials are widely used in solid-state refrigeration near room temperature. However, the room temperature figure of merit (zT) of n-type Bi2Te3-based polycrystals produced by once sintering is always lower than 0.8. Herein, low-angle grain boundaries (LAGBs) are introduced in n-type Bi2Te2.7+xSe0.3 by a simple step-hot...

Enhancement of interfacial ferroelectricity is crucial for the development of nanoscale ferroelectric devices, such high density and nonvolatile memory. Although the epitaxial strain can lead to improved properties, the limited choices of substrates and strain relaxation have hindered the further tuning of ferroelectricity by strain engineering. To...

Tungsten Disulfide (WS2) films, as one of the most attractive members in the family of transition metal dichalcogenides, were synthesized typically on SiO2/Si sub-strate by confine-spaced chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The whole pro-cess could be controlled efficiently by precursor concentration and fast thermal pro-cess. To be priority, t...

Cu2-xSe has been known as an ideal thermoelectric material for application in the middle-high temperature range due to the outstanding electric transmission conductivity and relatively low lattice thermal conductivity. However, its performance is significantly constrained by its high thermal conductivity and thermal stability issues, as well as its...