SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3741-3
Functional motifs are essential microscopic units that govern the second harmonic generation (SHG) response in nonlinear optical (NLO) materials. While nonmetal-centered motifs have been extensively studied, metal-centered motifs with outstanding comprehensive performance remain scarce. Here, we report the successful synthesis of the first seven-coordinated indium oxy-chloride and oxy-bromide polyhedra, InO6X (X = Cl, Br), by leveraging the chelating and structure-directing properties of SeO3 groups. The InO6Br polyhedra exhibit the highest polarization anisotropy and hyperpolarizability among all reported indium oxy-chloride and oxy-bromide groups. Consequently, the first non-centrosymmetric halogenated indium selenites, In2(OH)(SeO3)2Cl (ISOC) and In2(OH)(SeO3)2Br (ISOB), were obtained. Both compounds demonstrate strong SHG intensity exceeding six times that of KDP (potassium dihydrogen phosphate) and wide band gaps greater than 4.0 eV, a combination rarely observed in inorganic selenites. This work presents a viable strategy for developing new NLO functional motifs and offers valuable insights for designing novel SHG materials with enhanced performance.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3965-5
Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) have emerged as a promising material platform for soft robotics, effectively integrating programmable molecular orientation with the inherent flexibility of elastomers. This unique combination enables significant, reversible deformations responding to external stimuli, including heat, light, electric, and magnetic fields. Due to these characteristics, LCEs serve as an ideal material system for bridging biological principles with engineered soft robotic applications, enabling the development of adaptive and multifunctional systems with enhanced biomimetic capabilities. However, the mechanisms of bioinspired motion and the effective integration of biomimetic functions in LCE-based robots remain insufficiently explored. This review systematically examines recent advances in LCE-based biomimetic soft robots, focusing on multimodal actuation strategies, including contraction, crawling, rolling, jumping, swimming, and plant-inspired motions. It highlights integrated functional enhancements achieved via innovative material compositions, structural designs, and advanced manufacturing techniques. These developments have enabled novel robotic functionalities, including programmable actuation, self-healing and recycling, color morphing and camouflage, and tunable bioinspired surface characteristics.
Journal of Environmental Engineering Technology•2026•DOI: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202608008
Medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), including caproate and caprylate, are promising biobased products with high energy density, hydrophobicity, and chemical conversion value, serving as key intermediates linking organic waste valorization to circular economy development. Compared to conventional anaerobic digestion for methane, chain elongation (CE) via reverse β-oxidation (RBO) converts short-chain intermediates (e.g., acetate, lactate, ethanol) into higher-value carboxylic acids, offering a novel route for resource recovery from sewage sludge, food waste, agricultural residues, livestock manure, and high-strength organic wastewater. However, natural mixed-culture CE systems face constraints from substrate composition fluctuations, electron donor competition, methanogenic carbon diversion, insufficient product selectivity, product toxicity, and high separation costs, hindering stable, efficient, and targeted MCFA production. This review systematically summarizes the metabolic mechanisms, artificial regulation strategies, and engineering bottlenecks in CE-based MCFA production, emphasizing directed recovery of carbon and electron resources from organic wastes. Future directions include stable continuous-flow operation, product separation and recovery, techno-economic assessment, and life cycle evaluation. The review aims to provide insights for high-value organic waste utilization and synergistic optimization of carbon and energy recovery.