Potatoes are a staple food worldwide, yet boosting their vitamin C content through conventional breeding has proved exceptionally difficult. 

Scientists developed a strategy to mitigate this backflow hazard by sculpting tiny and self-regulating "liquid diodes" directly inside the ultra-narrow tips of flexible catheters. Published in the International Journal of Extreme Manufacturing, researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Beijing Institute of Technology inscribed three-dimensional Tesla microvalves inside 100-micrometer channels using ultrashort laser pulses.

Hard carbon (HC) anodes are promising for sodium-ion batteries, yet achieving high initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE), large plateau contribution, and fast charge-transfer kinetics remains challenging due to insufficient control of micro–nanostructure and interphase chemistry. Here, we present a precursor-level molecular engineering strategy that simultaneously regulates sodium desolvation and interphase chemistry in HC. An iodine-mediated oxidative cross-linking process converts starch into spherical HC with uniformly distributed ultramicropores and carbonyl-rich surfaces. These nanoconfined pores are proposed to act as molecular sieves, preferentially excluding bulky solvent molecules while allowing PF₆⁻-coordinated Na⁺ access, thereby favoring anion-enriched electrolyte structures under confinement. Surface carbonyls exhibit strong PF₆⁻ affinity, which may promote fluorine-rich inorganic interphases on pore surfaces. The synergistic effects of anion-selective adsorption and confined desolvation are suggested to favor thin and robust NaF-rich interphases at external surfaces and within nanoconfined pore regions, contributing to reversible interfacial reactions and rapid Na⁺ storage kinetics. Consequently, the HC delivers an ICE of 88.4%, a reversible capacity of 352.9 mAh g⁻¹ at 0.1C, excellent rate capability (288.9 mAh g⁻¹ at 5C), and 95.6% capacity retention over 200 cycles. This work offers a molecular-level design paradigm integrating efficiency, capacity, and kinetics in HC anodes.

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction offers a promising route to convert CO₂ into valuable fuels and chemicals using renewable electricity. However, most current systems rely on high-purity CO₂ feeds, whereas practical carbon sources such as industrial flue gas and air contain much lower CO₂ concentrations together with impurities including O₂, SO_x and NO_x. A team of scientists has reviewed recent advances in electrochemical capture and conversion of dilute CO₂. The review highlights two major strategies, integrated CO₂ capture and conversion and direct electrolysis of dilute CO₂, and discusses how catalyst design and electrolyzer engineering can work together to move the technology toward practical applications. Their work is published in the journal Industrial Chemistry & Materials on July 15, 2026.

Invasive fungal infections induced by Candida species are becoming an urgent threat to global health. While a series of antifungal vaccines have been developed, their efficiency is frequently compromised by the failure of immune stimulation. In this study, a novel antifungal vaccine was constructed by assembling β-glucan with the Candida albicans antigen candidalysin on the surface of the genetically engineered Escherichia coli strain EcS. This co-assembly was mediated by the cell surface-exposed artificial glucan-binding protein CipC-mCherry-CipC, leading to the formation of the surface glucan nanofilm with a thickness of ~ 80 nm. Upon coincubation with macrophages, the vaccine efficiently escapes from the lysosomes, leading to enhanced production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and macrophage maturation. After mouse immunization, the vaccine persists longer in lymph nodes than free candidalysin or the glucan-free complex, and induces higher levels of CD4⁺, CD8⁺, TNFα⁺/CD4⁺ and IFNγ⁺/CD4⁺ T cells in the spleen. In a murine model of invasive fungal infection,immunization with this vaccine remarkably increases the survival rate, reduces the kidney fungal burdens and attenuates inflammatory responses. This bioengineering strategy offers a potentially viable approach for developing co-assembled whole-cell vaccines and can be extended to leverage bacterial carriers for surface antigen display. The vaccine acts not only as antigens but also as adjuvants, thereby eliciting strong and specific protective immunity against invasive fungal infections.

The eight-electron transfer pathway required for CH4 formation in eCO₂RR is kinetically slow, which leads to poor reaction selectivity. In this work, a CuZn-BDC-NH2 precursor was synthesized via a facile solvothermal method, and a series of CuZn@C materials were prepared by calcination under varying temperature conditions (700°C, 800°C, 900°C) utilizing the high-temperature volatility of Zn. Among them, the CuZn800@C sample demonstrates the best CH4 electro-reduction performance, achieving a methane Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 64.5% and a partial current density of -429.1 mA/cm² at a potential of -1.7 V vs. RHE, along with excellent stability, showing only a slight performance decline after a 24-hour test. Through in situ infrared spectroscopy and DFT calculations, electrocatalytic mechanism investigations reveal that Zn and Cu form a tandem reaction system. Zn sites promote water splitting to provide protons, while Cu sites reduce the energy barrier for *CO hydrogenation. Moreover, Zn and Cu can constitute dual active sites that enhance CO₂ adsorption, thereby boosting subsequent reactions. This work develops a new strategy for designing high performance Cu-based methanation catalysts.

Driven by the global carbon neutrality goals, lithium demand has surged sharply. Salt-lake brines suffer from an extremely high Mg²⁺/Li⁺ ratio, which severely hinders conventional Li extraction technologies. Inspired by biological potassium ion channels, researchers developed a bioinspired nanofiltration membrane with an asymmetric charge structure. This novel membrane overcomes the long-standing selectivity-permeability trade-off that has plagued traditional nanofiltration membranes, delivering exceptional Mg²⁺/Li⁺ separation performance. It successfully produces battery-grade lithium carbonate from simulated high-magnesium salt lake brines, laying a robust foundation for the large-scale, low-cost, and environmentally sustainable exploitation of salt lake lithium resources.