SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4439-4
Silk fibroin (SF) hydrogels are promising for neural regeneration but suffer from progressive stiffening due to excessive β-sheet assembly, limiting their use in traumatic brain injury (TBI) repair. This study introduces a dopamine (DA)-mediated synergistic topological entanglement strategy to construct an SF-DA/gelatin-DA composite hydrogel (SG). The system integrates covalent cross-linking, net cationic electrostatic repulsion, hydrogen bonding, and π-π stacking to regulate SF assembly dynamics at the molecular level. The resulting SG hydrogel maintains stable mechanical softness over extended periods, with a storage modulus of approximately 1.2 kPa after 28 days, compared to a 5-fold increase in pure SF hydrogels. The sustained softness promotes neural stem cell (NSC) proliferation and differentiation, with a 2.5-fold increase in βIII-tubulin expression and a 1.8-fold increase in GFAP expression after 14 days. In a rat TBI model, SG hydrogel implantation reduced glial scar formation by 40% and improved neurological function scores by 30% at 8 weeks. The hydrogel degrades at a rate of 12% per week, matching tissue regeneration. This multi-crosslinking approach offers a clinically translatable strategy for neural tissue engineering, addressing the critical bottleneck of mechanical instability in SF-based biomaterials.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4426-y
Biomedical Mg alloys are candidate biodegradable metals for orthopedic and cardiovascular implants, yet their in vivo service life is governed by coupled mechanical-chemical attack that accelerates loss of mechanical integrity. This review consolidates recent advances in stress-assisted degradation of Mg alloys under physiological conditions, focusing on stress corrosion cracking (SCC), flow-induced corrosion, and corrosion fatigue. Biomechanical-chemical coupling test methods are assessed for their capacity to reproduce physiological loading, fluid shear, and electrolyte chemistry. Mechanistic pathways are analyzed, including anodic dissolution, hydrogen-induced cracking, passivation film rupture, and flow-induced shear stress. Modification strategies for enhancing resistance to stress-assisted degradation are categorized into alloying design, microstructure regulation, and surface treatments. The review further evaluates computer-aided predictive models and multi-physics coupling frameworks that link pit-to-crack transitions, phase-field damage localization, and mechano-chemical peridynamics. Empirical data from the cited literature demonstrate that SCC and corrosion fatigue in chloride-containing media reduce fatigue strength by 40–70% relative to air, while flow-induced shear stresses above approximately 1 Pa disrupt protective films and elevate degradation rates. These findings establish quantitative benchmarks for alloy design and surface engineering. The review concludes that integrating multi-physics modeling with physiologically relevant testing is essential for predicting implant service stability and accelerating clinical translation of high-performance biomedical Mg alloys.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3394-6
Hard carbon (HC) is a leading anode candidate for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to its disordered structure and expanded interlayer spacing (3.4–4 Å), which facilitate sodium-ion intercalation. However, the poor initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE) of HC remains a critical barrier to commercial viability. Phenolic resin (PF) precursors offer high carbon yield and good reversible capacity, yet the relationship between PF solid content and ICE is not fully understood. This study investigates four commercial PF-based hard carbons with varying solid contents, then modifies them via pore-forming agents, cross-linking curing, and ball-milling. The optimized U-HC sample, derived from the highest solid-content PF, achieves an ICE of 89.84% and a specific discharge capacity of 354.18 mAh g⁻¹ at 35 mA g⁻¹. Baseline PF-derived HCs typically exhibit ICE values below 82%, as reported for resorcinol-formaldehyde resin (82%) and PTCDA-modified PF (77.9%). The pore-forming strategy enhances ICE beyond 86% across modified samples, with U-HC reaching 89.84%. This improvement is attributed to optimized pore architecture that reduces irreversible sodium trapping and SEI formation. The findings provide a rational design pathway for high-ICE PF-derived hard carbon anodes, addressing a key bottleneck in SIB commercialization.