SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4202-3
Carbon dots (CDs) with absorption in the second near-infrared window (NIR-II, 900-1700 nm) hold promise for tumor theranostics, yet existing synthesis methods often involve complex procedures, harsh conditions, or lack precise control. Here we report a 'self-photooxidation-restructuring' strategy that enables structural reorganization of the carbon core in CDs, achieving a significant redshift of absorption into the NIR-II region. Under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation, the precursor (B-CDs, absorption in UV region) generates singlet oxygen, which self-oxidizes aldehyde groups and the carbon skeleton of B-CDs to stronger electron-withdrawing carboxyl groups and carbon radicals, respectively. These processes facilitate the formation of new C=C bonds between isolated aromatic domains, thereby transforming B-CDs into novel CDs (N-CDs) characterized by enhanced donor-acceptor interactions and a redshift in absorption toward the NIR-II window. Various experimental data, including high-resolution XPS, FTIR, NMR, EPR, have proved the proposed formation mechanism. The novel N-CDs afforded a high photothermal conversion efficiency of up to 71.33%, which enabled 1064 nm laser-activated photoacoustic imaging (PAI)-guided photothermal therapy (PTT) in tumors. This work opens a new avenue for the synthesis and modulation of CDs in the NIR-II region.
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.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3671-0
Photothermal therapy (PTT) is a non-invasive tumor treatment that offers controllability, non-drug resistance, and precise ablation, yet its efficacy is limited by uncontrolled heat diffusion and weak immune responses, often leading to metastasis. Here, we report a chondroitin sulfate-modified Prussian blue-montmorillonite immunoregulator (PM@CS) that integrates tumor cell adhesion and Golgi targeting to confine photothermal damage at the organelle level. PM@CS accumulates on the Golgi apparatus, reducing heat transfer distance and enhancing photothermal ablation. This targeted hyperthermia disrupts post-translational modification and secretion of metastasis-associated proteins, with GOLPH3 and GOLM1 expression reduced by 63.4% and 70.3%, respectively. Furthermore, PM@CS promotes dendritic cell maturation (3.3-fold increase in CD80+ and CD86+ populations) and enhances antigen-specific CD4+ and CD8+ T cell proliferation, attributed to the immunoadjuvant properties of montmorillonite. Notably, PM@CS upregulates voltage-gated calcium channels (CaV) and enhances Ca2+ influx, activating calcium signaling cascades that amplify immunotherapy. This synergistic approach inhibits primary tumor growth and lung metastasis, offering a promising strategy for cancer treatment.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3762-9
The integration of interfacial photothermal conversion and hydrovoltaic effects into bifunctional evaporators offers a promising route to simultaneously address freshwater scarcity and energy demands. However, the development of low-cost bifunctional evaporators and elucidation of the underlying co-generation mechanism remain challenging. Here, we report a porous carbon derived from waste polyester via a metal-organic framework (MOF)-assisted carbonization strategy, which is subsequently fabricated into a bifunctional evaporator for freshwater and hydroelectricity co-generation. The porous carbon exhibits a high specific surface area of 904 m² g⁻¹, hierarchical micro- and mesopores, and abundant oxygen-containing groups. The resulting evaporator demonstrates broadband light absorption, localized thermal management, good hydrophilicity, and high flexibility. Under 1 sun illumination, it achieves an open-circuit voltage of 250 mV, a short-circuit current of 14 μA, and an evaporation rate of 2.34 kg m⁻² h⁻¹, ranking among the most efficient freshwater-hydroelectricity co-generators. The weakened hydrogen-bonding network reduces the water evaporation enthalpy to 1.7 kJ g⁻¹. Mechanistic studies, including molecular dynamics simulations, reveal that selective Na⁺ interaction induces differential ion migration rates, generating a streaming potential. Additionally, the photothermal effect enhances voltage output by promoting interfacial ion concentration gradients. Outdoor tests confirm stable voltage output of 250 mV and freshwater production of 2.34 kg m⁻². This work provides a scalable platform for fabricating advanced evaporators from waste plastics and unravels the co-generation mechanism, offering a sustainable strategy to mitigate freshwater and energy crises.
Journal of Environmental Engineering Technology•2026•DOI: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202606022
This study presents a numerical simulation of the internal flow field in a volatile organic compounds (VOCs) catalytic combustion reactor used in an enameled wire enterprise. Using ANSYS Fluent, the effects of inlet expansion section length, inlet expansion section angle, and catalyst bed spacing on the velocity field were systematically investigated. Additionally, the influence of heating tube configuration on the temperature field was analyzed. The results indicate that an expansion section length of 250 mm is optimal, balancing spatial constraints and the avoidance of recirculation zones. A zero-degree expansion angle yields the most uniform velocity distribution, though practical considerations necessitate case-specific angle selection. A catalyst bed spacing of 0.05 m satisfies the engineering requirement of maintaining pressure drop across a single catalyst layer below 200 Pa while significantly improving gas distribution within the bed. Alternating heating tubes on both sides of the reactor enhance temperature uniformity and elevate the overall catalyst bed temperature, thereby promoting efficient VOCs catalytic combustion. These findings provide quantitative guidance for reactor design optimization, contributing to improved catalytic performance and extended catalyst lifespan.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3864-4
Organic room temperature phosphorescence (RTP) materials, particularly those emitting in the near-infrared (NIR) region, hold great promise for bioimaging due to their deep-tissue penetration and minimal autofluorescence interference. However, achieving efficient NIR RTP with long lifetimes remains challenging due to inefficient triplet exciton utilization. Herein, we propose a dark triplet state activation strategy to achieve efficient NIR RTP by leveraging host–guest energy transfer. Using benzophenone derivatives (BP, OBP, MBP, PBP) as rigid host matrices with high intersystem crossing (ISC) efficiency and an NIR fluorophore (MPTCF) as the guest, we achieve efficient Dexter-type triplet-triplet energy transfer (TTET) that converts non-emissive host triplets into guest-centered NIR phosphorescence. Systematic optimization of the host–guest system has shown that PBP/MPTCF exhibits exceptional performance, including long phosphorescence centered at 705 nm, an ultralong phosphorescence lifetime (210.3 ms), and high ISC efficiency (44.4%). When fabricated into nanoparticles (NPs), PBP/MPTCF exhibits superior performance, featuring prolonged phosphorescence signals (>120 s), deep tissue penetration capability (>2 mm), and excellent biocompatibility (cell viability >95% at 300 μM). In addition, this system enables high-contrast subcutaneous imaging with excellent dispersibility and stable in vivo imaging capability. More importantly, PBP/MPTCF NPs demonstrate precise lymph node mapping through time-gated phosphorescence imaging and efficient tumor visualization within 4 h post-injection with a high tumor-to-liver ratio of 2.8. The successful activation of dark triplet states through this host–guest approach provides a general design principle for developing high-performance NIR RTP materials, while the demonstrated biomedical applications highlight their significant potential for advanced bioimaging and precision diagnostics.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-4104-4
Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are promising adsorbents for gas adsorption and separation, yet identifying optimal structures among their vast design space requires efficient high-throughput screening. Conventional machine-learning predictors rely heavily on specific gas-related features, which are time-consuming and limit scalability, leading to inefficiency and labor-intensive processes. Here, we propose COFAP, a universal COFs adsorption prediction framework that extracts multi-modal structural and chemical features via deep learning and fuses these complementary features through a cross-modal attention mechanism. Without relying on explicit gas-specific thermodynamic descriptors, COFAP achieves state-of-the-art prediction performance on the hypoCOFs dataset under the conditions investigated, outperforming existing approaches. Based on COFAP, we found that high-performing COFs for gas separation concentrate within a narrow range of pore size and surface area. A weight-adjustable prioritization scheme is also developed to enable flexible, application-specific ranking of candidate COFs. Superior efficiency and accuracy render COFAP directly deployable in crystalline porous materials.