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The introduction of electronegative non‐metallic heterostructures is promisingly desired to develop Ru‐based oxide catalysts, which have higher activity and robust stability for acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Developing scalable synthetic strategies and enlightening the mechanism understanding of the enhancement is imperative but still challenging. Herein, a facile selenium‐assisted reduction approach is reported to fabricate the partially reduced nano‐sized Ru with mixed‐valence Se species immobilization, directly from commercial RuO2 through ball milling and annealing procedures. The obtained Ru/Se‐RuO2 composites demonstrate superior electrocatalytic performance toward acidic OER with small overpotentials of 190 and 240 mV at 10 and 100 mA cm−2, a Tafel slope of only 43.7 mV dec−1, and no detectable activity decay under operation for 24 h. Experimental results further demonstrate a synergistic effect including enhanced electron transfer interaction by the formation of Ru/RuO2 heterostructures and more available active sites due to Se doping. Theoretical calculations indicate that slight Se doping and metallic Ru loading can significantly decrease the free energy change for the formation of *OOH intermediate, and thus dramatically promotes the OER performance. This strategy offers a promising strategy for the development of non‐metallic elements incorporated high‐performance catalysts and related water electrocatalytic devices for sustainable energy applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ice-core drilling to depths of 200–300 m is an important part of research studies concerned with paleoclimate reconstruction and anthropogenic climate change. However, conventional drilling methods face difficulties due to firn permeability. We have developed an electromechanical ice-core drill with air reverse circulation at the hole bottom. We believe that the new drilling system will recover ice cores faster than shallow auger drills, with high efficiency and low energy consumption. The theoretically estimated up-hole speed of the airflow should be not <7.7 m s−1 to allow proper removal of ice cuttings from the borehole bottom. The computer simulation and test results showed that the design of the new ice-coring drill is feasible. The maximum allowed penetration rate depends by square law on airflow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While high-entropy alloys, high-entropy oxides, and high-entropy hydroxides, are advanced as a novel frontier in electrocatalytic oxygen evolution, their inherent activity deficiency poses a major challenge. To achieve the unlimited goal to tailor the structure-activity relationship in multicomponent systems, entropy-driven composition engineering presents substantial potential, by fabricating high-entropy anion-regulated transition metal compounds as sophisticated oxygen evolution reaction electrocatalysts. Herein, a versatile 2D high-entropy metal phosphorus trisulfide is developed as a promising and adjustable platform. Leveraging the multiple electron couplings and d-p orbital hybridizations induced by the cocktail effect, the exceptional oxygen evolution catalytic activity is disclosed upon van der Waals material (MnFeCoNiZn)PS 3 , exhibiting an impressively low overpotential of 240 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm -2 , a minimal Tafel slope of 32 mV dec -1 , and negligible degradation under varying current densities for over 96 h. Density functional theory calculations further offer insights into the correlation between orbital hybridization and catalytic performance within high-entropy systems, underscoring the contribution of active phosphorus centers on the substrate to performance enhancements. Moreover, by achieving electron redistribution to optimize the electron coordination environment, this work presents an effective strategy for advanced catalysts in energy-related applications., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)