A new study published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts presents a novel rattan-derived biochar microreactor designed for continuous-flow water remediation. By adjusting the cellulose-to-lignin ratio in rattan, researchers engineered a hierarchically porous carbon structure with high surface area and abundant catalytic defects. The microreactor, driven by gravity alone, achieved ultrahigh flux degradation of tetracycline, methylene blue, and rhodamine B. The system operates via a non-radical pathway, offering a metal-free, reusable, and eco-friendly approach to advanced oxidation processes.

The inherent interdependence among the device footprint, resolution, and bandwidth of spectrometers poses a challenge for further miniaturization of on-chip spectrometers. Scientists in China report an ultra-miniaturized chaos-assisted spectrometer that breaks the trade-off limitation of current spectrometers. Optical chaos is introduced into the spectrum via cavity deformation. By utilizing a single chaotic cavity, chaotic behavior can be employed to effectively eliminate periodicity in resonant cavities and de-correlate the response matrix. A broad operational bandwidth of 100 nm can be attained with a high spectral resolution of 10 pm. Additionally, the footprint of the spectrometer is compacted to a mere 20×22 μm², in the meantime addressing the three-way trade-off of resolution-bandwidth-footprint metric in prior-art spectrometers.

Scanning near-field optical microscopy encounters difficulties in characterizing sub-10-nm confined light fields due to significant disturbances of the optical field caused by the probe. Here, by employing a high spatial-resolved photoemission electron microscopy, we succeeded in imaging the ultra-confined near fields of a nanoslit mode in a coupled nanowire pair with weak disturbance. Meanwhile, a PEEM image can identify fabrication defects that are influential to the confined field but are imperceptible to many other means.

Scientists worldwide are calling for accelerated development and standardization of energy metabolism measurement technologies to tackle pressing global challenges, from ecology under climate change to public health crises.

This study presents a sustainable strategy for upcycling ocean-derived CO₂ and opens new avenues for electrochemically driven biochemical synthesis.

With the rapid development of two-dimensional MXene materials, numerous preparation strategies have been proposed to enhance synthesis efficiency, mitigate environmental impact, and enable scalability for large-scale production. The compound etching approach, which relies on cationic oxidation of the A element of MAX phase precursors while anions typically adsorb onto MXene surfaces as functional groups, remains the main prevalent strategy. By contrast, synthesis methodologies utilizing elemental etching agents have been rarely reported. Here, we report a new elemental tellurium (Te)-based etching strategy for the preparation of MXene materials with tunable surface chemistry. By selectively removing the A-site element in MAX phases using Te, our approach avoids the use of toxic fluoride reagents and achieves tellurium-terminated surface groups that significantly enhance sodium storage performance. Experimental results show that Te-etched MXene delivers substantially higher capacities (exceeding 50% improvement over conventionally etched MXene) with superior rate capability, retaining high capacity at large current densities and demonstrating over 90% capacity retention after 1000 cycles. This innovative synthetic strategy provides new insight into controllable MXene preparation and performance optimization, while the as-obtained materials hold promises for high-performance sodium-ion batteries and other energy storage systems.

Aqueous alkali metal-ion batteries (AAMIBs) have been recognized as emerging electrochemical energy storage technologies for grid-scale applications owning to their intrinsic safety, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability. However, the practical application of AAMIBs is still severely constrained by the tendency of aqueous electrolytes to freeze at low temperatures and decompose at high temperatures, limiting their operational temperature range. Considering the urgent need for energy systems with higher adaptability and resilience at various application scenarios, designing novel electrolytes via structure modulation has increasingly emerged as a feasible and economical strategy for the performance optimization of wide-temperature AAMIBs. In this review, the latest advancement of wide-temperature electrolytes for AAMIBs is systematically and comprehensively summarized. Specifically, the key challenges, failure mechanisms, correlations between hydrogen bond behaviors and physicochemical properties, and thermodynamic and kinetic interpretations in aqueous electrolytes are discussed firstly. Additionally, we offer forward-looking insights and innovative design principles for developing aqueous electrolytes capable of operating across a broad temperature range. This review is expected to provide some guidance and reference for the rational design and regulation of wide-temperature electrolytes for AAMIBs and promote their future development.

Dr. LU Ming's group from the Shanghai Institute of Nutrition and Health of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with researchers from Huashan Hospital of Fudan University, has now identified a key acetate source by revealing how HCC cells trigger acetate secretion by tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) through a metabolic interaction involving lactate and the lipid peroxidation–aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 (ALDH2) pathway.

A collaborative research team led by the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences has developed a new “sandwiched” MoOx/Ag/MoOx (MAM) buffer layer to improve the performance and scalability of semi-transparent CsPbI₃/TOPCon tandem solar cells. The MAM buffer layer enhances light transmittance and charge carrier transport while effectively protecting underlying layers from sputtering damage. This innovation enabled semi-transparent CsPbI₃ solar cells to achieve a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.86% (0.50 cm²) and corresponding 4-T CsPbI₃/TOPCon tandem cells to reach 26.55% PCE. Significantly, the technology was successfully scaled to larger-area minimodules, achieving 16.67% and 26.41% PCE for CsPbI₃ and 4-T tandem minimodules (6.62 cm²), respectively—marking the first reported minimodule demonstration for this architecture. This work provides a scalable and efficient buffer layer strategy, paving the way for next-generation, high-efficiency perovskite-based photovoltaic systems.