SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4490-y
The development of efficient enzyme mimics for CO2 hydration remains a critical challenge for industrial carbon capture. This study reports a bioinspired three-dimensional Zn-coordinated organic framework (Zn-SOF) synthesized via solvothermal assembly of a salen-based ligand with zinc ions. The resulting material exhibits a carbonic anhydrase-like active site with a Zn-N2O2 coordination environment, as confirmed by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. The Zn-SOF demonstrates a CO2 hydration rate of 3.2 × 10^-3 s^-1 per active site, representing a 12-fold enhancement over the homogeneous Zn-salen complex and approaching 8% of native carbonic anhydrase II activity. The catalyst maintains structural integrity over 10 consecutive cycles with <5% activity loss and operates optimally at 25–40 °C and pH 7.4–9.0. Kinetic analysis reveals a Michaelis-Menten constant (Km) of 28 mM for CO2 and a turnover number (kcat) of 4.1 s^-1, outperforming benchmark Zn-based mimics. The framework's hierarchical porosity (BET surface area: 620 m2 g^-1) facilitates substrate diffusion, while the hydrophobic pore environment enhances CO2 affinity. This work establishes a design paradigm for robust, recyclable enzyme mimics that bridge the gap between homogeneous catalysts and natural enzymes, offering a scalable route for post-combustion CO2 capture.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4261-2
Developing ion exchange membranes with both high proton conductivity and high selectivity is crucial for vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs). Commercial Nafion membranes suffer from severe vanadium crossover, while conventional additives often aggregate, disrupting ion domains and significantly reducing proton conductivity. To overcome this conductivity–selectivity trade-off, we propose a modification strategy based on molecular-level functional strategy. Two complementary additives, polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and a fluoroalkyl-grafted polyoxometalate cluster (8FSiW11), are introduced into Nafion matrix to achieve precise, cooperative, regulation of ionic domains. PVP fills ion domains via hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interactions, constructing an efficient barrier against vanadium ions. Simultaneously, 8FSiW11 anchors at the hydrophilic/hydrophobic interface, providing additional proton sources and hopping sites to compensate for proton neutralization by PVP. The resulting hybrid membrane exhibits a proton/vanadium selectivity of 1×10^6 S min cm^-3, 8.6 times higher than commercial Nafion 212 (NR212), and enables VRFB energy efficiencies (EE) of 88.9% at 100 mA cm^-2 and 83.2% at 200 mA cm^-2. This work demonstrates the potential of synergistic molecular modification strategy to break conductivity–selectivity trade-off in membrane design for next-generation high-performance VRFBs.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4209-3
Solar interfacial evaporation and photocatalysis exhibit intrinsic complementarity in energy utilization pathways and reaction mechanisms. Integrating photocatalysis into interfacial evaporation systems enables a synergistic platform for efficient evaporation and pollutant removal. In this study, a defect-engineering strategy is developed for UiO-66 by covalently anchoring five carboxyl-containing organic dyes into its framework, where steric hindrance and ligand substitution synergistically induce abundant structural defects. This approach yields a series of defect-rich UiO-66 materials with tunable dye loading. Among them, the dye-sensitized UiO-66@dye-2 system demonstrates optimal light absorption capacity and vacancy defects. The dyes act as sensitizers, broadening the light absorption range and accelerating water evaporation, while the defect-inducing dyes introduce abundant trap sites, enabling rapid charge transfer and efficient spatial charge separation. Under 1-sun irradiation, the system achieves an outstanding water evaporation rate with a high solar-to-vapor conversion efficiency of 97.8%, along with excellent photocatalytic performance, achieving 95.4% degradation of phenol pollutants. Notably, it maintains stable degradation performance across highly acidic and alkaline environments, ensuring reliability for long-term operations in complex conditions. This work provides a molecular-level strategy for constructing defect-rich UiO-66 derivatives and offers insights for designing next-generation materials for integrated photothermal-photocatalytic environmental remediation.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3506-3
Metallic glasses (MGs) often suffer from sluggish hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) kinetics in neutral and alkaline media, with their catalytic performance predominantly confined to acidic environments. Herein, we reported a novel thermoplastic forming technique to fabricate a self-supported partially crystallized nanoporous Pt56.2Ni5.2Cu16.8P21.8 metallic glass (C-NPMG). The C-NPMG catalyst delivers ultralow overpotentials of 18.0 mV (0.5 M H2SO4), 42.2 mV (1 M KOH), and 88.0 mV (1 M phosphate-buffered saline (PBS)) at a current density of 10 mA cm−2, outperforming most state-of-the-art non-noble MGs and Pt-based benchmarks across all pH conditions. Notably, it maintains negligible performance decay for over 1000 h in alkaline electrolytes, showcasing superior stability. Experimental and computational analyses reveal that the enhanced HER activity arises from three synergistic effects: (1) the high-specific-surface-area nanoporous architecture that maximizes active site exposure; (2) the formation of crystallite-amorphous interfaces during partial crystallization, which lowers the energy barrier for H2 desorption; (3) the hierarchical super-hydrophilic and super-hydrophobic wettability of the C-NPMG, which optimizes mass transport and prevents electrolyte-induced corrosion. This work establishes a novel design paradigm for developing high-performance, pH-universal HER electrocatalysts by integrating structural nano-engineering and crystallite-amorphous phase synergy in metallic glass systems to overcome the trade-offs between performance and stability in electrochemical water splitting.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3686-6
Fused silica (SiO2) exhibits exceptional thermal stability and dielectric properties, making it an attractive material for aerospace and military applications. However, its relatively poor mechanical performance has limited its widespread practical utilization. This study proposed an innovative approach to fabricate SiO2-hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) composite ceramics via spark plasma sintering (SPS), leveraging the high-temperature phase transformation of cubic boron nitride (cBN) to introduce randomly oriented hBN as a reinforcing phase within the SiO2 matrix. The randomly oriented hBN nanoplates allow cracks to propagate along stronger grain boundaries, rather than along weaker interlayers of hBN, significantly improving the overall strength and fracture toughness of the composite. The maximum flexural strength and fracture toughness achieved are 183.4 MPa and 2.06 MPa m1/2 respectively, which are 3.6 times and 4 times that of fused SiO2. Concurrently, the composites exhibit low dielectric constants (ε = 3.58–3.69) and dielectric losses (tan δ < 0.0087) at 1 MHz. This work successfully enhanced the mechanical performance of fused SiO2 while preserving its excellent dielectric characteristics, opening new possibilities for its potential applications in advanced structural and functional fields.
Chinese Journal of Environmental Engineering•2026•DOI: 10.12030/j.cjee.202507038
To enhance the engineering practicality of pollutant pre-assessment, this study conducted environmental chamber tests for formaldehyde and TVOC emissions from 34 common decoration materials (25 solid and 9 liquid categories). Using the IndoorPACT software, variations in indoor pollutant concentrations under different material area loading rates and air change rates were simulated. Taking Harbin as a case study, concentration response ranges for various single materials under different area loading and ventilation conditions were simulated, leading to the construction of a simplified concentration prediction reference table. Results indicate that indoor pollutant concentrations from both solid and liquid materials peak on the second day after decoration, but decay rates differ significantly: liquid materials decrease by 70%–90% within about one week, and given their typically higher area loading rates in real projects, they exert a more significant impact on indoor air quality in the early post-decoration period. In contrast, solid materials decay more slowly and become the dominant long-term pollution source. The simplified estimation method based on these emission characteristics demonstrates good engineering applicability, providing effective reference for material selection, scheme comparison, and preliminary indoor air quality prediction and control in actual decoration projects.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3856-0
Replacing the kinetically sluggish oxygen evolution reaction (OER) with biomass oxidation at photoanodes offers a cost-effective and energy-efficient route for simultaneous hydrogen production and value-added chemical synthesis in a photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell. Here, titanium-doped hematite nanorods (Hem) decorated with CoNi bimetallic zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIF) were prepared via room-temperature deposition and employed as photoanodes for 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) oxidation. Using 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl (TEMPO) as a redox mediator in alkaline electrolyte, the CoNi-ZIF/Hem photoanode achieved a photocurrent density of 1.09 mA cm−2 at a low bias of 1.1 V vs. reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE). Experimental results and theoretical calculations reveal that CoNi-ZIF accelerates charge transfer and separation, and enhances TEMPO adsorption on the surface, benefiting PEC TEMPO-mediated HMF oxidation to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). In a flow-cell reactor under 1 sun illumination, the photoanode achieved ~99% HMF conversion and ~98% FDCA yield within 2 hours. The photoanode also exhibited excellent performance for TEMPO-mediated oxidation of various aldehyde-containing biomass-derived compounds. This work demonstrates a rational design of hematite-based photoanodes for efficient biomass valorization coupled with hydrogen production.
New Carbon Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1016/S1872-5805(26)61113-4
Porous pyrolytic carbon (PPyC) serves as the buffer layer in TRi-structural ISOtropic (TRISO) fuel particles, providing storage for fission gases, preventing damage to outer layers, and absorbing stresses caused by fuel-kernel swelling. However, the changes of PPyC micro- and meso-structure at high temperatures remain insufficiently understood. In this study, PPyC fabricated by chemical vapor deposition was heat-treated from 1200 to 1600 °C and characterized across atomic-to-mesoscopic scales. Results show that the structure changes with temperature with a transition at approximately 1400 °C. Below 1400 °C, a decrease in Raman ID/IG ratio, narrowing of the graphite diffraction peak, and increased sp2 hybridization indicate progressive ordering associated with defect redistribution. Concurrent decreases in true density and mesopore volume, together with increased closed porosity, are consistent with partial conversion of open pores into closed pores. Above 1400 °C, increased ID/IG ratio, broadening of the diffraction peak near the rhombohedral graphite (101) reflection, and transition regions between crystalline and amorphous material observed by TEM indicate increasing structural disorder. Meanwhile, initially distinct PPyC particle boundaries blur and merge into broad, plate-like domains. Subsequent decrease in closed porosity and increase in mesopore surface area are consistent with partial connection of closed pores to the open-pore network. This work shows that intrinsic coupling between atomic-scale structural change and mesoscale pore connectivity provides a basis for assessing high-temperature structural stability of PPyC in TRISO fuel particles.
Journal of Environmental Engineering Technology•2026•DOI: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202606006
Chitosan-based microsphere composites have attracted considerable attention for phosphorus adsorption due to their facile preparation, low cost, environmental friendliness, and high uptake capacity. This review summarizes the physicochemical properties and preparation methods of chitosan microspheres for phosphate removal, outlines common modification strategies to enhance adsorption capacity, and discusses their applications in aqueous environments. Adsorption mechanisms, regeneration, and resource recovery of spent microspheres are analyzed. Challenges and recommendations are proposed, including streamlined preparation, enhanced phosphorus recovery, removal of multiple phosphorus forms, and practical implementation. The review aims to guide the development of high-performance chitosan-based microspheres for phosphorus removal.
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'.
Chinese Journal of Environmental Engineering•2026•DOI: 10.12030/j.cjee.202510071
Carbon source is a critical factor driving heterotrophic denitrification, yet the low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio (C/N) of livestock wastewater limits this process. This study developed novel composite carbon sources by combining corncob (CC) and polycaprolactone (PCL). Static carbon release and denitrification experiments were conducted to evaluate carbon release patterns and nitrogen removal performance. Results showed that the carbon release index (n) was below 0.45, indicating Fickian diffusion as the dominant release mechanism. The composite carbon source prepared at a CC:PCL mass ratio of 3:2 (denoted YP4) achieved a nitrate nitrogen removal efficiency of 94.76%, with effluent ammonia nitrogen meeting the discharge limits of GB 18596-2001. High-throughput sequencing revealed that YP4 increased the relative abundance of genera capable of denitrification and biopolymer degradation (e.g., Aeromonas, Novosphingobium, Bacteroides, and Clostridium sensu stricto), thereby enhancing heterotrophic denitrification and nitrogen removal. These findings provide a novel approach for selecting and preparing external carbon sources for biological heterotrophic denitrification of low C/N wastewater.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-4008-2
Lung cancer, particularly non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), remains a leading cause of cancer-related mortality, with conventional therapies hampered by poor tumor specificity, low drug accumulation, and suboptimal efficacy. To address these challenges, we rationally designed a tumor-targeted, ferrocene-bearing, covalently immobilizable theranostic probe, dIR-CDF, for near-infrared (NIR) imaging-guided photodynamic-ferroptosis synergistic therapy. The probe exploits the overexpression of sulfenated proteins in the tumor microenvironment to specifically target integrin αvβ3-positive NSCLC cells and undergo covalent anchoring via the reaction between 1,3-cyclohexanedione and sulfenic acid, thereby enhancing tumor accumulation and retention. Under 808 nm irradiation, dIR-CDF generates singlet oxygen (1O2) for photodynamic therapy (PDT), while the sustained release of ferrocene catalyzes Fenton reactions to produce hydroxyl radicals (·OH), inducing ferroptosis. The synergistic action of PDT and ferroptosis amplifies lipid peroxidation and disrupts antioxidant defenses, leading to efficient suppression of NSCLC tumors in living mice. This work presents a universal and powerful theranostic platform for precise cancer diagnosis and treatment, with the covalent targeting strategy offering enhanced specificity and retention.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-4173-x
Ferroelectric memory, with its promise of low power consumption, high writing speed and exceptional endurance, requires the scaling of ferroelectric films to ultrathin dimensions—often just a few atomic layers thick. However, such extreme thinning risks destabilizing or even erasing electric polarization, mainly due to the detrimental depolarization field. Remarkably, certain ferroelectrics exhibit an intrinsic immunity to this effect, as predicted theoretically and confirmed experimentally. Examples include improper ferroelectrics, hyper ferroelectrics, engineered heterostructures, and low-dimensional van der Waals ferroelectrics. This review systematically examines these unique materials, unravelling the fundamental physics behind their polarization robustness and the mechanisms enabling them to resist the depolarization field. By bridging theory with experimental advances, we aim to inspire the design of next-generation ferroelectrics capable of overcoming critical challenges encountered in practical ferroelectric memory devices.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4186-7
The development of ultrahigh-temperature technologies, such as nuclear reactors, rocket nozzles, scramjet propulsion systems, and hypersonic vehicles, demands materials with melting points (Tm) exceeding 3273 K. However, the highest reported Tm among non-radioactive oxides is 3125 K (MgO), limiting progress. Existing predictive models for oxide Tm suffer from a trade-off between physical insight and practical utility: thermodynamic approaches require complex calculations, Lindemann's criterion relies on elusive parameters like Debye temperature, and semi-empirical correlations lack transferability. Machine learning models offer predictive power but lack interpretability and reliable extrapolation. Here, we simplify a previously derived semi-empirical model based on bond-breaking probability, which links Tm to effective potential barrier Ueff, proportional to bond length (d), bond density (Nb), and bond ionicity (fi). By analyzing a dataset of 68 oxides, we establish a simplified linear relationship between Tm and Ueff, expressed as Tm = 0.052Ueff + 122.6 K, with Ueff in kJ/mol. This model achieves a mean absolute error of 76 K and a coefficient of determination (R²) of 0.97, outperforming existing empirical models. The model's physical transparency and simplicity enable rapid screening of novel oxides, guiding the design of materials with Tm exceeding 3273 K. Our findings provide a practical tool for accelerating the discovery of ultrahigh-temperature oxides, addressing a critical bottleneck in next-generation thermal protection systems.