Acta Energiae Solaris Sinica•2026•DOI: 10.19912/j.0254-0096.tynxb.202608_9701
This paper proposes a novel cascaded H-bridge power electronic transformer (CHB-PET) employing a resonant push-pull converter in the DC/DC isolation stage, which reduces the number of switching devices compared to conventional dual active bridge (DAB) solutions. A unified control strategy based on open-loop modulation of the isolation stage is adopted for the two stages, simplifying system control and avoiding cascaded stability issues inherent in independent control schemes. The operating principle, equivalent model, control design, and system evaluation are described and analyzed. Evaluation results indicate that the proposed CHB-PET offers improvements in cost, efficiency, and stability relative to traditional approaches, while exhibiting degradation in intermediate bus voltage balancing and pre-commissioning procedures. Simulation and experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed CHB-PET scheme. The resonant push-pull converter utilizes series LC resonance to achieve zero-current switching (ZCS) and zero-voltage switching (ZVS) across all power semiconductors, independent of grid voltage and load fluctuations. The topology reduces the switch count by two per module compared to DAB, lowering component count and cost. The unified control eliminates the need for complex voltage and power balancing among modules, though it introduces challenges in bus voltage equalization. The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the CHB-PET, including its mathematical model, control parameter design, and performance assessment, demonstrating its potential for medium-voltage AC to low-voltage DC conversion in renewable energy integration and DC distribution systems.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4472-0
Dynamic electrocardiography (ECG) monitoring during physical activity remains compromised by motion artifacts that corrupt signal fidelity, particularly with conventional gel electrodes whose impedance rises sharply under deformation. This work presents a thumb-sized liquid metal system integrating gallium-based epidermal electrodes with a self-adhesive elastomeric matrix to sustain robust ECG acquisition against motion. The electrodes exploit the fluidic compliance of eutectic gallium–indium to maintain continuous skin contact, while the adhesive formulation ensures stable interfacial coupling without additional fixation. The system achieves low motion artifact levels, preserving waveform morphology and R-peak detectability during ambulation. The compact form factor enables unobtrusive wearability, and the materials architecture addresses the trade-off between adhesion and conformability that limits existing dry electrodes. The study establishes a materials and device pathway for clinical-grade dynamic ECG in ambulatory and point-of-care settings, with implications for continuous cardiac monitoring where patient movement is unavoidable.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4371-6
The sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) necessitates platinum-based catalysts, but their high cost and scarcity drive the search for platinum-group metal-free (PGM-free) alternatives. Fe−N−C catalysts with atomically dispersed Fe−N4 sites are promising, yet their practical performance is limited by buried active sites and poor mass transport. Here, a crumpled, multi-scale porous Fe−N−C catalyst (Fe−N−PCG) is synthesized via spray pyrolysis coupled with high-temperature metal etching. The crumpled morphology, formed by capillary compression during rapid solvent evaporation, and in-plane mesopores from Fe nanoparticle etching, synergistically enhance site accessibility and mass transport. Fe−N−PCG achieves a site density (SD) of 2.74×10^19 sites g−1 and Fe utilization (UFe) of 51.7%. As a gas diffusion electrode, it delivers a mass transport overpotential (ηmt) of 67 mV at 800 mA cm−2. In zinc-air batteries, Fe−N−PCG exhibits a peak power density of 296.1 mW cm−2 at 500 mA cm−2, outperforming Pt/C (241 mW cm−2 at 438 mA cm−2). At 50 mA cm−2, it delivers a discharge voltage of 1.19 V and a specific capacity of 815 mAh g−1, surpassing Pt/C (1.13 V, 715 mAh g−1). These results demonstrate that morphology and porosity engineering can concurrently optimize intrinsic activity, site utilization, and mass transport, offering a rational design strategy for high-performance PGM-free catalysts.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4383-8
Conventional cancer therapies remain constrained by undruggable oncogenic proteins and acquired resistance. Proteolysis targeting chimeras (PROTACs) have emerged as a transformative modality that harnesses the ubiquitin-proteasome system to selectively degrade target proteins, offering advantages over traditional small-molecule inhibitors. However, clinical translation of PROTACs is impeded by intrinsic physicochemical limitations: high molecular weight, poor bioavailability, and lack of tumor-specific delivery. Integrating PROTACs with nanotechnology has yielded advanced nano-PROTACs platforms. Nanocarriers enhance solubility and stability, optimize pharmacokinetics, and enable spatiotemporally controlled drug release through passive or active targeting. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in engineering multifunctional nano-PROTACs for cancer therapy, with particular emphasis on design strategies by which nanoengineering enhances PROTAC performance. We evaluate how these platforms improve anticancer efficacy and minimize systemic toxicity while exploring their therapeutic potential in monotherapy and synergistic treatment settings. Finally, we discuss current challenges and future perspectives, providing a theoretical and technical foundation for next-generation nano-PROTACs as a precise and potent strategy in precision oncology.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4342-3
Electron acceptors containing single-bond-linked building blocks offer attractive advantages for organic solar cells owing to their synthetic simplicity and structural modularity. However, achieving backbone planarity without compromising electronic compatibility remains a persistent challenge. Conventional conformational locking strategies based on alkoxy substitution can effectively suppress torsional freedom but often elevate the highest occupied molecular orbital energy level, limiting compatibility with widely used donor polymers. Here, we report a partially fused electron acceptor design that achieves intrinsic backbone planarity through heterocycle selection rather than side-chain-assisted conformational locking. By incorporating a benzodifuran core and furan-thiophene linkages, the resulting acceptors exhibit a near-coplanar backbone geometry as revealed by density functional theory calculations, without the need for electronically perturbing alkoxy groups. Devices based on the optimized acceptor (BDF-1) deliver a binary power conversion efficiency of 12.2%, and further improvement to 19.5% is achieved in a ternary blend with PM6 and BTP-eC9. The enhanced performance is accompanied by favorable morphology, balanced charge transport, and suppressed recombination losses. This work provides molecular-level insight into partially fused acceptor design and demonstrates that heteroatom-guided conformational locking offers a viable strategy for expanding the design space of acceptors with single-bond-linked building blocks while maintaining compatibility with mainstream donor systems.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4176-y
Three-photon microscopy (3PM) in the near-infrared-III (NIR-III) window (1600–1840 nm) enables high-resolution visualization of cerebral vasculature in vivo, but its imaging depth and quality are limited by the performance of fluorescent probes. Here, we report a probe optimization strategy transitioning from mirror symmetry to centrosymmetry, yielding a highly symmetric aggregation-induced emission (AIE) molecule, T4PQ. The centrosymmetric structure aligns donor-acceptor units, promoting uniform electron cloud delocalization and directional charge transfer, which enhances exciton formation and suppresses non-radiative decay, thereby increasing fluorescence quantum yield. This symmetry also boosts the three-photon absorption cross-section by enhancing electron delocalization and transition dipole moment, enabling stronger nonlinear optical responses under long-wavelength excitation. T4PQ nanoparticles (T4PQ NPs) exhibit an enhanced three-photon absorption cross-section, high fluorescence quantum yield, and excellent photostability. In murine models, T4PQ NPs achieved three-dimensional cerebrovascular imaging at a depth of 1785 μm and real-time hemodynamic observation in microvessels at 1006 μm depth, with good biocompatibility. These results validate the advantage of centrosymmetric molecular design for deep-brain imaging probes, offering a high-performance tool for neurovascular research.
Chinese Journal of Environmental Engineering•2026•DOI: 10.12030/j.cjee.202507032
To mitigate global warming, regional carbon neutrality pathways are critical. Based on the Guangdong Energy Policy Simulator (EPS) model, this study simulates total energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions under baseline, Carbon Neutral 60 (CN60), and Carbon Neutral 50 (CN50) scenarios, and analyzes the emission reduction effects and costs of various energy policies. Results show that by 2060, total energy consumption under CN60 and CN50 decreases by 39% and 44% relative to baseline, respectively. Primary electricity and other energy, natural gas, oil, and coal account for 56%, 26%, 14%, and 4% under CN60, and 60%, 24%, 13%, and 3% under CN50. GHG emissions under CN60 drop to 80×10^6 tCO2e by 2060, an 89% reduction from 2020; under CN50, emissions reach 92 and 55×10^6 tCO2e in 2050 and 2060, respectively, reductions of 87% and 92% from 2020. Policies such as increasing clean electricity share, industrial electrification (hydrogen), increasing green power purchases, building electrification, F-gas reduction, and improving industrial energy efficiency standards show significant reduction effects, with clean electricity share being the primary source. Policies like improving industrial energy efficiency standards, increasing industrial product utilization, and increasing clean energy vehicle market penetration are cost-effective; increasing clean electricity share, green power purchases, building electrification, and F-gas reduction effectively balance reduction effects and costs. Industrial electrification (hydrogen) contributes >5% cumulative reduction but faces economic challenges for full-scale promotion in the short term; industrial carbon capture and storage and electrolytic hydrogen contribute <2% cumulative reduction with high costs. Therefore, Guangdong should prioritize cost-effective policies, promote balanced policies, gradually optimize energy structure, achieve clean electricity, and foster green industrial transformation to achieve carbon neutrality at lower economic cost.
Journal of Environmental Engineering Technology•2026•DOI: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202604001
This study systematically investigated the occurrence, spatial distribution, sources, and ecological risks of 160 pesticides in Dianchi Lake, a typical plateau lake impacted by agricultural activities. A total of 37 pesticides were detected in the water, with total concentrations ranging from 64.2 to 1132.8 ng/L (average 610.0 ng/L). Fungicides, including boscalid (BOS), fluopicolide (FPC), and dimethomorph (DMM), were dominant, contributing up to 65.0% of the total concentration. Spatially, the southern lake region exhibited significantly higher concentrations (672.5 ng/L) than the north, attributed to intensive facility agriculture. Highly hydrophobic pesticides, such as penconazole (PEN), showed a tendency to enrich in bottom layers. Source apportionment identified inflowing rivers and wastewater treatment plant effluents as primary input sources, with average concentrations 7 and 9 times higher than lake water, respectively. Ecological risk assessment revealed that pesticides posed the highest risk to algae, followed by daphnia and fish. Prometryn (PMT) was identified as a high-risk factor for algae, while profenofos (PFF) and carbendazim (CBD) posed potential threats to higher trophic levels. These findings provide fundamental data and technical support for understanding pesticide pollution in plateau lake ecosystems.
Journal of Environmental Engineering Technology•2026•DOI: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202607006
This study evaluates the global warming potential (GWP) of three typical air pollution control device (APCD) configurations in municipal solid waste (MSW) incineration under ultra-low emission standards. The configurations are APCD1 (SNCR+SDS+DS+ACI+FF), APCD2 (SNCR+SDS+DS+ACI+FF+SCR+WS), and APCD3 (SNCR+SDS+DS+ACI+FF+WS+SCR). Life cycle assessment (LCA) was applied to quantify GWP. Results indicate that APCD3 exhibits the highest GWP due to increased electricity consumption, yet it achieves the lowest pollutant emissions among the three. APCD1 shows the highest NOx emissions, contributing significantly to GWP, and requires technological upgrades. APCD2 consumes more resources but does not proportionally reduce emissions, suggesting inefficiencies. Electricity consumption is the dominant factor influencing GWP across all processes; reducing electricity use and improving energy efficiency are critical for mitigating environmental impact. The study recommends further research on CO2 reduction strategies and adoption of more efficient DeNOx technologies to align MSW incineration with ultra-low emission and low-carbon goals.
Chinese Journal of Environmental Engineering•2026•DOI: 10.12030/j.cjee.202508006
Landfill leachate, characterized by high ammonia nitrogen, high organic load, complex toxic components, and low nitrogen removal efficiency, poses significant environmental challenges. To achieve efficient nitrogen removal, a continuous-flow two-stage anoxic/oxic (A/O) moving-bed biofilm reactor (MBBR) system coupled with anaerobic ammonium oxidation (Anammox) was constructed and operated for long-term treatment of actual landfill leachate. After biofilm attachment and multi-gradient acclimation, influent concentrations were gradually increased from low levels (NH4+-N ~200 mg·L−1, COD ~2500–3000 mg·L−1) to high levels (NH4+-N ~1800 mg·L−1, COD ~8500 mg·L−1). During stable operation, average removal efficiencies of NH4+-N and COD reached 97.7% and 66.8%, respectively, with total nitrogen (TN) removal efficiency improving to 93.9%. Along the reactor, the first A/O stage achieved major organic degradation and ammonia oxidation, while the second stage facilitated nitrite accumulation and promoted Anammox for synergistic nitrogen removal. High-throughput sequencing revealed Proteobacteria as the dominant phylum (>50%), with denitrifying genera such as Azoarcus and Thauera significantly enriched. Planctomycetota abundance increased from 0.6% to 3.7%, and Candidatus Kuenenia was detected, confirming successful Anammox colonization and participation in nitrogen removal. This study validates the efficient combined nitrogen removal mechanism of the A/O–MBBR system with Anammox, providing theoretical basis and technical support for engineering treatment of high-ammonia wastewater.
Chinese Journal of Environmental Engineering•2026•DOI: 10.12030/j.cjee.202511050
Municipal solid waste (MSW) management in Inner Mongolia has long relied on landfilling, facing land scarcity and leachate management challenges. This study addresses the region's dry, cold climate, high proportion of agricultural and livestock waste, fluctuating moisture content, and weak leachate treatment capacity. An engineering optimization was implemented on an 80 t·d−1 vertical rotary gasification-incineration system featuring a dual-combustion-chamber design (primary chamber for medium-temperature pyrolysis-gasification at 550–650 °C and secondary chamber for high-temperature oxidation above 900 °C), coupled with in-situ leachate recirculation. Field measurements showed improved processing capacity and continuous operation stability. Under the project's leachate yield, in-situ recirculation achieved on-site disposal without significant adverse effects on gasification-incineration conditions, providing buffering against moisture fluctuations. During the monitoring period, major gaseous pollutant emissions remained below current national standards. The results provide engineering references for the co-processing and stable operation of small-scale county-level MSW treatment facilities.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3355-0
Dense, non-porous pure platinum electrodes in conductivity sensors suffer from bubble accumulation and surface contamination, limiting sensitivity and stability for precise marine ion detection. This study introduces a combined ultrasonic and pulse electrodeposition technique to fabricate a cauliflower-like platinum black (CF-Pt-black) layer on bare platinum substrates. The resulting electrode exhibits superhydrophilicity with a contact angle of 34.52°, a 0.7-fold reduction in impedance, and a 3.54-fold increase in charge storage capacity compared to bare Pt. Mechanical and electrochemical stability are excellent. When integrated into marine conductivity sensors, the Pt black-modified electrodes improve accuracy from 0.0025 to 0.0012 mS/cm and reduce response time by 160 s. These enhancements stem from the increased surface area and active sites provided by the porous, cauliflower-like morphology, which facilitates electrolyte adsorption and ion transfer while minimizing contaminant adhesion. The findings position CF-Pt-black as a superior candidate for high-precision ion detection, biosensing, and neural recording applications.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3348-1
Chemotherapy induces immunogenic cell death (ICD) but is compromised by elevated cholesterol in the tumor microenvironment (TME), which activates myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) and exhausts CD8+ T cells. A poly(lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA)-based nanoplatform (COD/MTO@PLGA@FA) co-loading mitoxantrone (MTO) and cholesterol oxidase (COD) was engineered to respond to acidic TME, releasing MTO and COD. MTO kills tumor cells and triggers ICD; COD consumes cholesterol, downregulating PD-1 on tumor-infiltrating CD8+ T cells and inhibiting MDSC activation. In 4T1 tumor-bearing mice, COD/MTO@PLGA@FA plus αPD-L1 increased splenic CD4+ and CD8+ T cells from 63.4% to 72.3% and 25.7% to 32.5%, respectively. CD8+PD-1+ T cells decreased to 5.93% versus 35.9% (PBS), 31.4% (αPD-L1), 29.0% (MTO@PLGA), 23.0% (COD/MTO@PLGA), and 12.2% (COD/MTO@PLGA@FA). MDSC infiltration dropped from 16.3% to 2.25% (combination) and 6.14% (COD/MTO@PLGA@FA alone). DC maturation in tumor-draining lymph nodes reached 35.3% with the combination. The platform reverses CD8+ T cell exhaustion and remodels the immunosuppressive TME, significantly inhibiting tumor growth. This strategy offers a practical approach to enhance chemo-immunotherapy by targeting cholesterol metabolism.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3439-7
Slot-die coating with halogen-free solvents is a promising scalable fabrication strategy for organic solar cells (OSCs). However, the complex interplay between long-timescale solute diffusion and microstructural evolution during the coating process remains poorly understood, limiting further optimization of morphology and device performance. In this study, we elucidate the critical role of solution viscosity in regulating phase separation and aggregation kinetics. Specifically, lower solution viscosity enhances solute diffusion, accelerating molecular aggregation while suppressing liquid-liquid phase separation (LLPS). Notably, we observe that in three different systems with varying crystallinity and immiscibility (PM6:Y6, PTQ10:Y6, and D18:Y6), the optimal processing conditions for peak device efficiency consistently correspond to a nearly identical solution viscosity (~0.8 mPa s), despite variations in optimal processing temperatures. In situ characterizations reveal that at this viscosity, all three systems exhibit constrained LLPS and rapid molecular aggregation, promoting the formation of finely structured, continuous nanoscale domains. These findings establish solution viscosity as a universal governing parameter for morphology control in printed active layers. By providing a fundamental framework for understanding viscosity-mediated phase separation, this work offers valuable insights for advancing high-throughput, environmentally friendly printing techniques for high-efficiency OSCs.