Lianzhou Wang

University of Queensland | UQ

Introducing superconductivity into group IV elements by doping has long promised a pathway to introduce quantum functionalities into well-established semiconductor technologies. The non-equilibrium hyperdoping of group III atoms into Si or Ge has successfully shown superconductivity can be achieved, however, the origin of superconductivity has been...

Growing interest in p‐block metal single‐atom catalysts (PM‐SACs) is driven by their low toxicity, economic viability, and transition metal‐like catalytic properties. However, selection criteria for p‐block single‐atom species and catalytic mechanisms of PM‐SACs remain unclear. This study explores the catalytic abilities of PM‐SACs and their transi...

Growing interest in p‐block metal single‐atom catalysts (PM‐SACs) is driven by their low toxicity, economic viability, and transition metal‐like catalytic properties. However, selection criteria for p‐block single‐atom species and catalytic mechanisms of PM‐SACs remain unclear. This study explores the catalytic abilities of PM‐SACs and their transi...

The isolation and purification of all‐inorganic Sn‐based perovskite nanocrystals (PNCs) remain troublesome, as common antisolvents accelerate the collapse of the optically active perovskite structure. Here, we mitigate such instabilities and endow strong resistance to antisolvent by incorporating the organometallic compound zinc diethyldithiocarbam...

Rechargeable aluminum‐ion batteries (AIBs) with organic electrode materials have garnered significant attention due to their excellent safety profile, cost‐effectiveness, and eco‐friendly nature. This review examines the fundamental properties of organic compounds and their effects on battery performance, with a primary focus on how changes in ion...

A strong driving force for charge separation and transfer in semiconductors is essential for designing effective photoelectrodes for solar energy conversion. While defect engineering and polarization alignment can enhance this process, their potential interference within a photoelectrode remains unclear. Here we show that oxygen vacancies in bismut...

Methane is a critical energy resource but also a potent greenhouse gas, significantly contributing to global warming. To mitigate the negative effect of methane, it is meaningful to explore an effective methane conversion process motivated with green energy such as green electricity and sunlight. The selectivity and production rate are the key crit...

Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have emerged as attractive candidates for producing green hydrogen via photocatalytic pathway. However, the presence of abundant defects and absence of efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) active sites on MHPs seriously limit the solar‐to‐chemical (STC) conversion efficiency. Herein, to address this issue, we...

In this work, combining the density functional theory (DFT) calculations and the ab initio molecular dynamics (AIMD) simulations, the water adsorption behavior, including the molecular and the dissociative adsorption on the negatively polarized (001) surface of ferroelectric PbTiO3 was comprehensively studied. Our theoretical results show that the...

Ferroelectric materials hold great promise in photocatalytic water splitting because their built-in electric field induced by the depolarization field can fulfill the separation of photogenerated carriers. However, a number of intrinsic charged vacancy defects are simultaneously generated to screen the depolarized field for stabilizing the crystal...

Oxygen vacancy (VO) has been recognized to possess an effect to promote the charge separation and transfer (CST) in various n‐type semiconductor based photoelectrodes. But how external stimulus will change this VO effect has not been investigated. In this work, external polarization is applied to investigate the effect of VO on the CST process of a...

Carbon nitride photocatalysts are among the most studied candidates for efficient solar hydrogen (H2) production due to their abundance of precursors, suitable bandgap, and visible light utilization. However, the polymeric nature of carbon nitride materials raises concerns regarding the self‐decomposition during photocatalytic redox processes. Yet,...

Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) have emerged as attractive candidates for producing green hydrogen via photocatalytic pathway. However, the presence of abundant defects and absence of efficient hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) active sites on MHPs seriously limit the solar‐to‐chemical (STC) conversion efficiency. Herein, to address this issue, we...

Rechargeable zinc-iodine (ZnI2) batteries have gained popularity within the realm of aqueous batteries due to their inherent advantages, including natural abundance, intrinsic safety, and high theoretical capacity. However, challenges persist in their practical applications, notably battery swelling and vulnerability in aqueous electrolytes, primar...

Herein, we demonstrate a sodium/molybdenum (Na/Mo) co-doped ferroelectric PbTiO3 for efficient photocatalysis under visible light. Doped with high concentration of Mo6+, quasi-continuous new energy levels are successfully introduced below the...

Hollow multishelled structure (HoMS), a promising and complex multifunctional structural system, features at least two shells that are separated by internal voids. The unique structure endows it with numerous advantages including low density, high loading capacity, large specific surface area, facilitated mass transport, and multiple spatial confin...

High‐voltage LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4 (LNMO) spinel oxides are highly promising cobalt‐free cathode materials to cater to the surging demand for lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). However, commercial application of LNMOs is still challenging despite decades of research. To address the challenge, the understanding of their crystallography and structural evolutions...

Perovskite light‐emitting diodes (PeLEDs) have gained significant attention due to their promising optoelectronic properties and potential applications in the fields of lighting and display devices. Despite their potential, PeLEDs face challenges related to stability, high turn‐on voltage, and low external quantum efficiency (EQE) which has restric...

Aurivillius compounds‐based photocatalysts have attracted extensive interest largely due to their ferroelectric properties and modifiable characteristics arising from the alternate stacking of structural units. However, the interfacial Schottky barrier between such semiconducting compounds as light absorbers and metallic cocatalysts for hydrogen ev...

Metal halide perovskites emerge as promising semiconductors for optoelectronic devices due to ease of fabrication, attractive photophysical properties, their low cost, highly tunable material properties, and high performance. High‐quality thin films of metal halide perovskites are the basis of most of these applications including solar cells, light...

Water molecules, which act as both solvent and reactant, play critical roles in photocatalytic reactions for methanol conversion. However, the influence of water on the adsorption of methanol and desorption of liquid products, which are two essential steps that control the performance in photocatalysis, has been well under‐explored. Herein, we reve...

Water molecules, which act as both solvent and reactant, play critical roles in photocatalytic reactions for methanol conversion. However, the influence of water on the adsorption of methanol and desorption of liquid products, which are two essential steps that control the performance in photocatalysis, has been well under‐explored. Herein, we reve...

Memristive devices such as resistive switching memories and artificial synapses have emerged as promising technologies to overcome the technological challenges associated with the von Neumann bottleneck. Recently, lead halide perovskites have drawn substantial research attention as the candidate material for memristors and artificial synapses due t...

Aluminum batteries employing organic electrode materials present an appealing avenue for sustainable and large‐scale energy storage. Nevertheless, conventional organic materials encounter limitations due to their restricted active sites, known instability, and sluggish redox kinetics. In this study, a redox‐active covalent organic framework support...

The rapid evolution of wearable devices, the Internet of Things, and flexible displays has underscored the need for thin, flexible batteries. Screen‐printing has emerged as a mature technique for manufacturing these batteries, particularly those using a zinc chemistry. This study presents a commercially viable polymer electrolyte using a low‐cost o...

Amorphous semiconductors without perfect crystalline lattice structures are usually considered to be unfavorable for photocatalysis due to the presence of enriched trap states and defects. Here we demonstrate that breaking long-range atomic order in an amorphous ZnCdS photocatalyst can induce dipole moments and generate strong electric fields withi...

The practical applications of solar-driven water splitting pivot on significant advances that enable scalable production of robust photoactive films. Here, we propose a proof-of-concept for fabricating robust photoactive films by a particle-implanting technique (PiP) which embeds semiconductor photoabsorbers in the liquid metal. The strong semicond...

A large depolarization field in single‐domain PbTiO3 is anticipated to drive the spatial separation of photogenerated charge carriers and enable potential active sites for photocatalytic overall water splitting reaction. However, the negatively polarized surface usually cannot provide sufficient active sites for water oxidation to oxygen because of...

Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have experienced exceptional development in recent years, due to their outstanding photoelectronic properties and low‐cost solution processing. Many state‐of‐the‐art PSC designs have been effectively demonstrated using a stacked 3D perovskite/2D perovskite heterostructure, yet limitations arise due to the low conductiv...

Lead-free organic-inorganic hybrid bismuth halides have been recognized as promising alternatives to lead-based perovskites for non-toxic and environmentally-friendly optoelectronic applications. These materials showcase unique optoelectronic properties, ascribed to their low-dimensional...

Organic-inorganic hybrid perovskites are promising materials for the next generation photovoltaics and optoelectronics; however, their practical application has been hindered by poor structural stability mainly caused by ion migration and external stimuli. Understanding the mechanism(s) of ion migration and structure decomposition is thus critical....

With a stacking-layered architecture, the bilayer two-dimensional-three-dimensional (2D-3D) perovskite heterostructure (PHS) not only eliminates surface defects but also protects the 3D perovskite matrix from external stimuli. However, these bilayer 2D-3D PHSs suffer from impaired interfacial charge carrier transport due to the relatively insulatin...

Nanostructured electrode materials have attracted enormous attention because of their kinetic advantages endorsed by nanoscale regime. Densification is required to improve their volumetric densities for practical applications but is challenged by the loss of kinetic features. In this work, a nano‐densification strategy is developed by co‐sintering...

The facile oxidation of Sn²⁺ to Sn⁴⁺ poses an inherent challenge that limits the efficiency and stability of tin‐lead mixed (Sn−Pb) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and all‐perovskite tandem devices. In this work, we discover the sustainable redox reactions enabling self‐healing Sn−Pb perovskites, where their intractable oxidation degradation can be r...

Electrochemical CO 2 reduction reaction (eCO 2 RR) is a promising strategy to achieve carbon cycling by converting CO 2 into value‐added products under mild reaction conditions. Recently, single‐atom catalysts (SACs) have shown enormous potential in eCO 2 RR due to their high utilization of metal atoms and flexible coordination structures. In this...

Bi 3 TiNbO 9 , a layered ferroelectric photocatalyst, exhibits great potential for overall water splitting through efficient intralayer separation of photogenerated carriers motivated by a depolarization field along the in-plane a -axis. However, the poor interlayer transport of carriers along the out-of-plane c -axis, caused by the significant pot...

The facile oxidation of Sn2+ to Sn4+ poses an inherent challenge that limits the efficiency and stability of tin‐lead mixed (Sn‐Pb) perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and all‐perovskite tandem devices. In this work, we discover the sustainable redox reactions enabling self‐healing Sn‐Pb perovskites, where their intractable oxidation degradation can be r...

The stellar optoelectronic properties of metal halide perovskites provide enormous promise for next-generation optical devices with excellent conversion efficiencies and lower manufacturing costs. However, there is a long-standing ambiguity as to whether the perovskite surface/interface (e.g. structure, charge transfer or source of off-target recom...

Lithiation dynamics and phase transition mechanisms in most battery cathode materials remain poorly understood, because of the challenge in differentiating inter- and intra-particle heterogeneity. In this work, the structural evolution inside Li1−xMn1.5Ni0.5O4 single crystals during electrochemical delithiation is directly resolved with operando X-...

Formamidinium lead iodide quantum dots (QDs) show great potential for solar cell applications but suffer from restricted charge transfer due to the insulating nature of their ligand shell. Management of the surface properties and resultant energy band alignment is the key to efficient and stable QD solar cells. Herein, an advance in QD surface pass...

Nanoengineering is an effective strategy to strengthen phonon scattering, reduce lattice thermal conductivity and boost thermoelectric material performance. However, nanostructure features are generally in the size of ∼10 nm, and the fine control of nanostructure characteristics down to the sub-nano level (below several nanometers) remains as a key...

Lead halide perovskite solar cells have been emerging as very promising candidates for applications in indoor photovoltaics. To maximize their indoor performance, it is of critical importance to suppress intrinsic defects of the perovskite active layer. Herein, a facile solvent‐engineering strategy is developed for effective suppression of both sur...

C−H dissociation and C−C coupling are two key steps in converting CH4 into multi‐carbon compounds. Here we report a synergy of Au and Ag to greatly promote C2H6 formation over Au1Ag single‐atom alloy nanoparticles (Au1Ag NPs)‐modified ZnO catalyst via photocatalytic oxidative coupling of methane (POCM) with O2 and H2O. Atomically dispersed Au in Au...

C−H dissociation and C−C coupling are two key steps in converting CH 4 into multi‐carbon compounds. Here we report a synergy of Au and Ag to greatly promote C 2 H 6 formation over Au 1 Ag single‐atom alloy nanoparticles (Au 1 Ag NPs)‐modified ZnO catalyst via photocatalytic oxidative coupling of methane (POCM) with O 2 and H 2 O. Atomically dispers...

Piezoelectric materials produce charges to directly act on cancer medium or promote reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation for novel tumor therapy triggered by sonography. Currently, piezoelectric sonosensitizers are mainly used to catalyze ROS generation by band‐tilting effect for sonodynamic therapy. However, it remains a challenge for piezoele...

Zinc-bromine rechargeable batteries (ZBRBs) are one of the most powerful candidates for next-generation energy storage due to their potentially lower material cost, deep discharge capability, non-flammable electrolytes, relatively long lifetime and good reversibility. However, many opportunities remain to improve the efficiency and stability of the...

Lead mixed‐halide perovskites offer tunable bandgaps for optoelectronic applications, but illumination‐induced phase segregation can quickly lead to changes in their crystal structure, bandgaps, and optoelectronic properties, especially for the Br–I mixed system because CsPbI3 tends to form a non‐perovskite phase under ambient conditions. These beh...

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous materials comprised of metal nodes and organic linkers, which feature highly tunable structures and compositions that can be tailored for energy storage applications. While MOFs research in this area has predominantly focused on the crystalline domain, amorphous MOFs have also attracted increasing interest...