Formic acid (FA) is a potential biomass resource of syngas with contents of carbon monoxide (CO, 60 wt.%) and hydrogen (H₂, 4.4 wt.%). Among the technologies for FA conversion, the photoreforming of FA has received widespread attention due to its use of green solar energy conversion technology and mild reaction conditions. Herein, a V–W bimetallic solid solution, V_xW_1−xN_1.5 with efficient co-catalytic properties was first and facilely synthesized. When CdS was used as a photocatalyst, the activity performance of the V_0.1W_0.9N_1.5 system was over 60% higher than that of the W₂N₃ system. The computational simulations and experiments showed the V_0.1W_0.9N_1.5 had great metallic features and large work functions, contributing a faster photo-generated carrier transfer and less recombination, finally facilitating a great performance in cocatalyst for syngas production in photoreforming FA. This work provides an approach to synthesizing novel transition metal nitrides for photocatalysis.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) pneumonia is a well-recognized cause of bacterial pneumonia, resulting in increased morbidity and mortality worldwide. Traditional antibiotics face challenges such as resistance development and microbiome disruption. Researchers have now developed a promising alternative: chitosan-coated self-assembled celastrol nanoparticles (CSC NPs), derived from a traditional Chinese herbal compound. These CSC NPs, optimized for lung delivery via nebulization, exhibit strong mucoadhesion and acid-responsive drug release at infection sites. By non-competitively inhibiting the virulence factor staphyloxanthin (STX), CSC NPs disrupt bacterial membranes and enhance immune clearance. In mouse models, they achieved remarkable antibacterial rates of 97% against S. aureus and 94% against MRSA, offering a clinically translatable strategy to combat resistant infections.

Scientists have developed an innovative ‘liquid-phase carbonization’ method to recycle waste polyethylene terephthalate into porous micro/nanostructured hard carbon enriched with intrinsic carbon defects. This material exhibits high specific capacity (355 mAh g^-1 at 0.1 A g^-1), superfast charging capability (132.6 mAh g^-1 input within 13 s of charging), and ultralong cycling stability (100,000 stable cycles at 50 A g^-1) as an anode for sodium-ion batteries. These findings are expected to have broader applications in energy storage and waste management.

Treating brain diseases like tumors and Alzheimer's is notoriously difficult due to the blood-brain barrier (BBB), which blocks most drugs. While nanomedicine offers a promising solution, its path to the brain is a complex, multi-stage journey fraught with obstacles. A new comprehensive review published in Nano Research provides a "roadmap" for this journey, systematically breaking down the entire process—from surviving in the bloodstream to crossing the BBB and precisely targeting diseased cells. By detailing the challenges at each step and highlighting innovative strategies to overcome them, this work serves as a crucial guide to accelerate the development of effective brain-targeted therapies.

As an innovative integrated practice in the field of digital traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), TCM Phenomics 2.0 deeply integrates the core technologies and values of digital medicine. Leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and medical digital twins, it addresses the developmental bottlenecks of the first-generation TCM phenomics, and constructs a systematic closed-loop diagnosis and treatment system. It not only upgrades TCM diagnosis and treatment toward digitization and standardization, but also builds a pivotal bridge for the integration of TCM and Western medicine, pioneering an entirely new paradigm for the advancement of precision medicine.