A research team led by Prof. LIU Zhongmin and Prof. YE Mao from the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and their collaborators proposed a theoretical model describing the migration-aggregation behavior of confined metal clusters within individual zeolite.

Optimizing the charge transfer pathway of dopant ions through heterojunction design is a powerful strategy for enhancing semiconductor luminescence. In this context, Dengfeng Peng's group at Shenzhen University developed a high-performance CaF₂/CaZnOS heterojunction mechanoluminescent (ML) material. By precisely controlling the CaF₂-to-CaZnOS ratio, they constructed an efficient heterojunction structure that significantly boosted ML performance. By doping these heterojunctions with lanthanide ions such as Tb³⁺, Pr³⁺, and Yb³⁺, the team has demonstrated highly efficient down-conversion, transforming single energy photons into multiple low-energy photons. This innovation takes advantage of the unique interfacial properties of heterojunction to produce strong luminescence under mechanical stress, offering a promising path toward passive, energy-saving light sources. Moreover, the system achieves quantum cutting, a process that converts one high-energy photon into several lower-energy photons, greatly enhancing luminous efficiency. These advanced heterojunction materials, with their down-conversion-enhanced ML, open new possibilities for a wide range of luminescence-based applications.

The SDG accelerator leverages circular economy solutions to drive efficient and sustainable consumption, emphasizing long-lasting, reusable, and recyclable products to reduce resource strain and waste. By shifting from a linear to a circular model, it aims to eliminate waste, circulate materials, and regenerate nature, fostering economic growth, job creation, and environmental benefits. The approach is central to achieving SDGs-especially responsible consumption and production-by optimizing resource use, supporting innovation, and enabling inclusive, resilient economies through collaboration among businesses, governments, and communities.

Zhengzhou University researchers unveil advanced strategies to overcome the commercialization barriers of lithium metal batteries (LMBs). the study highlights six key approaches—electrolyte optimization, artificial solid-electrolyte interfaces (SEI), separator innovation, solid-state electrolytes (SSEs), 3D electrode frameworks, and anode-free designs—to address challenges like dendrite growth, low Coulombic efficiency, and safety risks. By integrating cutting-edge materials science and multi-dimensional protection systems, this work paves the way for next-generation batteries with ultra-high energy density, extended lifespan, and enhanced safety, offering critical insights for advancing sustainable energy storage technologies.

High-temperature shock (HTS) successfully converts copper foil into a single-atom copper catalyst within just 0.5 seconds, reaching a reaction temperature of 1700 K and achieving a copper content of 0.54 wt%. This provides a novel and effective method to prevent the aggregation of single atoms and maintain their dispersion.

In the design of SACs, multiple variables (such as metal type, coordination configuration, substrate combination, etc.) poses significant challenges for traditional trial-and-error approach. The combination of DFT and ML brings new strategy of rapidly and effectively screening potential SACs. The catalytic mechanism is deeply understood from distinctive insights, which paves the way for more sustainable ammonia production.

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction (CO₂RR) is a promising process for reducing CO₂ emissions and producing high-value chemicals. However, this process remains hindered by diffusion-limited mass transfer, low activity, and high overpotentials. Here, we controllably prepared hierarchically porous nitrogen-doped carbon, carbon nanosheets, and carbon nanotubes confined single-atom Fe catalysts for electrochemical CO₂ reduction. The hierarchically porous Fe-N-C (Fe-HP) exhibited prominent performance with a Faradaic efficiency of CO (FE_CO) up to 80 % and a CO partial current density (j_CO) of -5.2 mA cm⁻² at -0.5 V vs. RHE, far outperforming the single-atom Fe on N-C nanosheets (Fe-NS) and N-C nanotubes (Fe-NT). The detailed characterizations and kinetic analysis revealed that the hierarchically porous structure accelerated the mass transfer and electron transfer processes toward single-atom Fe sites, promoting the desorption of CO and thereby enhancing CO₂ reduction efficiency. This study provides a promising approach to designing efficient single-atom catalysts with porous structures for energy conversion applications.

A review article published by the Fudan University presented the most recent progress for these purposes, with an emphasis on material properties such as foreign body response, on integration schemes with biological tissues, and on their use as bioelectronic platforms.

The new review paper, published on Apr. 29 in the journal Cyborg and Bionic Systems, summarized an envisioned applications involve advanced implants for brain, cardiac, and other organ systems, with capabilities of bioactive materials that offer stability for human subjects and live animal models.

Using the experimentally known aromatic icosahedral B₁₂H₁₂^2– and B₁₁CH₁₂^– as precursors and based on extensive density functional theory (DFT) calculations, bottom-up approaches are established to form a series of novel superatom-assembled 2D few-layered borophanes and carborophanes and the experimentally known 3D α-B₁₂, γ-B₂₈, and B₄C crystals which are all semiconductors in nature. In particular, the newly predicted trilayer, tetralayer, and pentalayer carborophanes (CB₁₁-CBC)_nH₈ (n=3-5) with the calculated band gaps of E_gap=1.32–1.26 eV appear to be well compatible with traditional silicon semiconductors in band gaps, presenting the viable possibility of a new class of boron-carbon binary 2D semiconducting nanomaterials different from monolayer graphene which features a Dirac cone.

A study published in Forest Ecosystems reveals that bark beetle-induced logging in Central Europe follows a 9 to 12-year cycle tied to solar activity and weather patterns. Researchers analyzed nearly 50 years of forestry and climate data from Austria, Czechia, and Slovakia, linking low solar activity to hotter, drier weather and severe beetle outbreaks, with implications for climate-informed forest management.