SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4452-8
Europium(III) complexes offer intrinsically narrow red emission (full-width at half-maximum < 5 nm) that is highly desirable for ultrahigh-definition displays, yet their electroluminescence performance is severely limited by unbalanced charge transport and inefficient energy transfer. This work reports a molecular design strategy that modulates both energy transfer and charge transport in Eu³⁺ OLEDs. The synthesized complex, Cz-Eu, incorporates a carbazole-functionalized ancillary ligand to facilitate host–guest energy transfer and hole transport. The single-crystal structure was deposited (CIF: Cz-Eu-cif.cif) and subjected to PLATON validation, which flagged 3 type-1 alerts (CIF construction/syntax errors), 8 type-2 alerts (possible structural model deficiencies), 12 type-3 alerts (low structure quality), and 4 type-4 alerts (improvement suggestions), with no duplication detected. These crystallographic alerts indicate that the reported structure requires further refinement before it can be considered reliable. Nevertheless, the device metrics demonstrate a promising route: the optimized OLED achieves efficient ultranarrow-band red emission, with the potential for high color purity and reduced power consumption. The findings underscore the critical role of ligand engineering in balancing charge fluxes and fostering efficient energy transfer, providing a viable pathway for next-generation red emitters. However, the structural ambiguities highlighted by the PLATON analysis warrant cautious interpretation of the structure–property relationships and suggest that additional crystallographic and device stability studies are necessary to substantiate the claimed performance.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3785-5
The effective separation and utilization of photo-generated carriers are critical for advancing photocatalysis, particularly in coupled reactions of H2 production and value-added chemical synthesis. Here, a sandwich-structured MnO2@ZnIn2S4@Ti3C2 hollow sphere was designed, with MnO2 and Ti3C2 loaded on the inner and outer surfaces of ZnIn2S4, respectively. MnO2 acts as an oxidation cocatalyst collecting photo-generated holes, while Ti3C2 serves as a reduction cocatalyst for electrons, promoting spatial separation of carriers and enabling spatially separated redox reactions. The hollow structure enhances light harvesting. The optimal catalyst achieves photocatalytic H2 production rate of 6.29 mmol g−1 h−1 and benzaldehyde production rate of 5.26 mmol g−1 h−1 from benzyl alcohol oxidation, significantly outperforming ZnIn2S4, MnO2@ZnIn2S4, and ZnIn2S4@Ti3C2. In situ irradiated X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirms effective carrier separation. In situ electron paramagnetic resonance and diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy reveal reaction intermediates. This work provides a strategy for designing efficient photocatalysts for coupled H2 production and selective oxidation.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3932-1
Organic room-temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials have attracted considerable interest due to their unique advantages, such as tunable molecular structures, excellent processability, intrinsic flexibility, and diverse excited-state characteristics. Among these, stimuli-responsive RTP materials, whose luminescence can be modulated by external stimuli (e.g., light, pH, heat, mechanical force or solvent), hold great promise for advanced applications like anti-counterfeiting, information encryption, and sensing. In this review, we systematically summarize recent advances in stimuli-responsive RTP materials, classifying them based on their activation mechanisms. Specifically, we elucidate the fundamental principles governing their stimulus-responsive behaviors and highlight representative examples from various categories. Furthermore, we explore structure-property relationships and design strategies to establish a foundational framework for understanding these materials. This review not only deepens the mechanistic insights into stimuli-responsive RTP systems but also provides strategic guidance for the rational design of next-generation intelligent RTP materials in multidisciplinary fields.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3802-0
Exploring efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for both hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions is key to water electrolysis. However, the inherently slow reaction kinetics of electrocatalysis are constrained by mass transfer limitations and unsuitable adsorption/desorption dynamics. Herein, a Fe-doped-Ni3S2/NiFeCoCeIn oxide hydroxide (FNS/HEOXY) crystalline–amorphous heterostructure electrocatalyst with a large work function difference (ΔΦ) and strong built-in electric field (BEF) is successfully designed and synthesized. Benefiting from the electron transfer behavior from FNS to HEOXY, the FNS/HEOXY shows outstanding catalytic activity for both hydrogen and oxygen evolution, along with ultra-high stability in an alkaline medium at an industrial-level current density. Moreover, the anion exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE) assembled by the FNS/HEOXY requires only a minimal cell voltage of 1.83 V to reach 1 A cm−2 at 80 °C. Both experimental and theoretical results confirm the interfacial charge redistribution induced by the strong BEF, thus finely optimizing the adsorption energy. This work proposes a new design principle toward efficient electrocatalysts for energy conversion.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3941-2
The precise and directed assembly of multicomponent aggregates remains a central challenge in materials chemistry, particularly the integration of neutral clusters. This study introduces a 'cation-mediated co-crystallization' strategy to overcome electrostatic assembly barriers between neutral aluminum molecular rings and polyoxometalates (POMs). By controllably functionalizing the rings with cationic moieties, the approach bypasses traditional 'ion-pair' limitations, enabling incorporation of diverse neutral clusters. The strategy exhibits structural extensibility, with cationic sites adjustable on ring exteriors or interiors, and potential extension to various polyanionic systems. The resulting hybrid materials demonstrate outstanding solution processability. When incorporated as dielectric dopants in a polymer matrix, they achieve a synergistic '1+1>2' effect: aluminum rings contribute high capacitance density (~11.19) and low dielectric loss (~0.03), while POMs provide high breakdown strength (~740 MV m−1). This work establishes a paradigm for directed macroscopic functional assembly via molecular-level cluster interaction 'encoding'.