Flexible electronics is profoundly leading the wave of transformation in fields such as wearable devices, health monitoring, and intelligent robots, and material innovation is undoubtedly the core driving force behind this revolution. As a new type of material prepared by compounding liquid metals (LM) with other materials, LM thin films, with their unique properties, have become an ideal candidate in the field of flexible electronics preparation, laying a solid foundation for the vigorous development of flexible electronics technology.

Compressed air energy storage (CAES) is an effective technology for mitigating the fluctuations associated with renewable energy sources. In this work, a hybrid cogeneration energy system that integrates CAES with high-temperature thermal energy storage and a supercritical CO2 Brayton cycle is proposed for enhancing the overall system performance. This proposal emphasizes system cost-effectiveness, eco-friendliness, and adaptability. Comprehensive analyses, including thermodynamic, exergoeconomic, economic, and sensitivity evaluations, are conducted to assess the viability of the system. The findings indicate that, under design conditions, the system achieves an energy storage density, a round-trip efficiency, an exergy efficiency, a unit product cost, and a dynamic payback period of 5.49 kWh/m3, 58.39%, 61.85%, 0.1421 $/kWh, and 4.81 years, respectively. The high-temperature thermal energy storage unit, intercoolers, and aftercooler show potential for optimization due to their suboptimal exergoeconomic performance. Sensitivity evaluation indicates that the operational effectiveness of the system is highly sensitive to the maximum and minimum air storage pressures, the outlet temperature of the high-temperature thermal energy storage unit, and the isentropic efficiencies of both compressors and turbines. Ultimately, the system is optimized for maximum exergy efficiency and minimum dynamic payback period. These findings demonstrate the significant potential of this system and provide valuable insights for its design and optimization.

A new expert commentary in ENGINEERING Energy （formerly Frontiers in Energy）underscores a revolutionary "self-supplied hydrogen" strategy that achieves 99% selectivity in upcycling polyethylene into high-value fuel without external hydrogen sources.

POSTECH Professor Inseok Hwang’s team unveils ArithMotion, enabling socially-aligned avatar motions with simple arithmetic inputs.

The research team led by Researcher Tianyu Wang from the School of Integrated Circuits at Shandong University has systematically reviewed the latest advances in emerging memristors for in-memory computing applications. This review summarizes key breakthroughs and challenges in material design, device performance, and circuit implementation of memristors in logic gate applications, covering various material systems including two-dimensional materials, perovskite materials, and optoelectronic materials, as well as novel structures such as array architectures and wearable textile memristors, and evaluating their suitability for achieving stable and efficient logic operations.

As the installed capacity of renewable energy such as wind and solar power continues to increase, energy storage technology is becoming increasingly crucial. It could effectively balance power demand and supply, enhance allocation flexibility, and improve power quality. Among various energy storage technologies, liquid CO₂ energy storage (LCES) stands out as one of the most promising options due to its advantages such as high round-trip efficiency (RTE), high energy storage density (ESD), safety, stability, and longevity. Within the system, the cold and heat storage units play a critical role in determining the overall performance of the system and are particularly important among its various components. In this paper, a novel LCES system is proposed and the heat transfer characteristics are analyzed in detail. Then, the impact of key parameters on the liquefaction ratio and RTE is discussed. The results indicate that the RTE, ESD, and exergy efficiency of the system are 56.12%, 29.46 kWh/m³, and 93.73% under specified design conditions, respectively. During the gas–liquid phase change process of carbon dioxide or when it is in a supercritical state, the related heat transfer processes become more complex, leading to increased energy loss. The analysis of key parameters of the Linde-Hampson liquefaction unit reveals that as the liquefaction temperature decreases, both the liquefaction ratio and RTE increase. While the liquefaction pressure has a minimal impact on the liquefaction ratio, it significantly affects RTE, with an optimal liquefaction pressure identified.

Electromagnetic radiation interferes with the operation of electronic devices and poses a threat to human health, while traditional microwave absorbing materials are difficult to meet the core requirements of being "thin, light, wide and strong". Inspired by the structure of coral reefs, a Chinese research team has designed a ZnNiCo-LDH/MXene composite material. Through biomimetic porous structures and high-density heterojunction engineering, it achieves an electromagnetic reflection loss of -49.6 dB at a thickness of 1.35 mm and a radar cross-section suppression of -39.57 dB · m². This breakthrough provides a brand-new approach to solving the problems of electromagnetic pollution and military stealth technology.

Thermal stability and environmental sustainability are paramount to the practical deployment of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), which are designed to harness solar energy through high-efficiency and low-cost photovoltaic technology. Pseudo-halide thiocyanate anions (SCN⁻), employed as a crystallization modulator, have emerged as an ideal candidate for tailoring the formation of high-quality mixed-cation perovskite films, paving the way for a new era of efficient and high-quality PSCs.