5G/6G expansion intensifies electromagnetic interference, demanding high‑performance absorbers (EWAs). Conventional equilibrium syntheses suffer from slow diffusion and long heating, driving materials toward stable configurations that erase defect‑rich, metastable features beneficial for microwave loss. Flash Joule heating (FJH) offers a paradigm shift: millisecond electrical pulses generate >3000 K and ultrafast quenching, trapping materials in non‑equilibrium states. This perspective establishes FJH as a programmable platform for designing EWAs with tailored defects, metastable interfaces, and discontinuous networks.

Organic fluorophores operating in the second near-infrared window can provide deep-tissue images with high contrast, but their performance often depends on nanocarriers that can prevent hydrophobic dyes from leaking in complex biological environments. Researchers at Tong and Xiang’s group have developed multivalent tetraphenylethylene-modified DNA nanoaggregates that remain assembled under denaturing conditions, stably retain NIR-II fluorophores, and enable high-contrast vascular imaging in living mice.

Safe disposal of radioactive ¹³⁷Cs and ⁹⁰Sr remains a major challenge, as conventional technologies separate adsorption and solidification processes and generate excessive secondary waste. Researchers report a novel non‑hydrothermal route to fabricate robust GXU‑SODs sodalite microspheres based on geopolymer. The material achieves high‑efficiency capture of Cs⁺/Sr²⁺ and retains >96 % performance after 500 kGy irradiation. Spent microspheres realize lattice‑level permanent immobilization at 1100 ℃ without extra additives, offering a promising all‑in‑one strategy for radioactive wastewater remediation.

Heat accumulation and severe light scattering limit high-power NIR pc-LEDs. Herein, Cr³⁺-doped MgNb₂O₆ transparent glass-ceramics were fabricated by co-melting and controlled crystallization, achieving single-phase precipitation. The material exhibits broadband NIR emission from 600 to 1300 nm (FWHM = 210 nm), ~50% transmittance, and retains 67.5% of its initial luminescence at 373 K. An integrated NIR LED delivers 240.9 mW output power and 6.3% power conversion efficiency, showing promising potential for night-vision illumination, food testing, biomedical diagnosis, and anti-counterfeiting.