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/s40843-025-3691-9
Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has significantly advanced NIR light sources, yet creating NIR emitters with optimal luminescence properties, high thermal stability, and adjustable emission peaks remains a critical challenge for future smart NIR devices. Here, we introduce a chemical unit cosubstitution strategy by incorporating Ca2+ and Sn4+ ions into the garnet structure. Through this approach, Y3−yCayGa4.95−ySnyO12:0.05Cr3+ (y = 0–1) phosphors were developed by modulating the A&C ligands, resulting in emission centers ranging from 708 to 768 nm. The modified local environment of Cr3+ accounts for the increased light intensity (2.71 times) and broadening observed. Furthermore, this study investigated the impact of varying Cr3+ concentrations (Y2.6Ca0.4Ga4.6−xSn0.4O12:xCr3+) on the production of high-performance phosphors. Compared with Y3Ga4.93O12:0.07Cr3+, the optimized phosphor exhibited exceptional external quantum efficiency (EQE = 34.96%). The luminescence enhancement is attributed to an increase in radiative transitions caused by octahedral Jahn-Teller distortion, whereas the notable thermal stability (91.3% at 423 K) is attributed to the presence of weak electron-phonon coupling (EPC) and oxygen vacancy (OV) defects. Finally, by combining it with a 450 nm blue LED chip, we constructed a near-infrared phosphor-converted LED (NIR pc-LED) device with superior electroluminescence efficiency (18.8% @ 100 mA), increasing the ultralow quenching rate (< 5% intensity loss after 30 days of operation) and demonstrating remarkable performance in plant lighting applications.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3608-8
Polymeric carbon nitride (PCN) is a promising photocatalyst for H2O2 production due to its visible-light response, low cost, and high selectivity for the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). However, its H2O2 yield is limited by narrow light absorption, low charge separation efficiency, and insufficient active sites. Here, crystalline poly(heptazine imide) (PHI)-based carbon nitride with highly dispersed In sites and N defects was prepared via an ionothermal method using LiCl/KCl molten salts. The large π-conjugated system and N defects enhance visible-light harvesting. Remaining K+ ions in nitrogen cavities act as interlayer electron channels, while N defects induce asymmetric charge distribution on the heptazine network, promoting interlayer and in-plane charge separation and transfer. In sites accelerate charge transfer dynamics and serve as active sites for ORR. The synergistic effect of metal modification and defect engineering boosts electron delocalization, significantly improving photocatalytic activity. The H2O2 production rate of 10InPHI reaches 15.3 mmol g−1 h−1 via a two-step single-electron ORR pathway, underscoring the potential of modified carbon nitride for efficient H2O2 photosynthesis.
Environmental Chemistry•2026•DOI: 10.7524/j.issn.0254-6108.2025030602
In the context of accelerated urbanization, regional air composite pollution in medium and large urban agglomerations is primarily characterized by PM2.5-O3 compound pollution. To elucidate the meteorological causes of PM2.5-O3 compound pollution in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region over the recent seven years (2017–2023), this study analyzed monitoring data from typical cities (Nanjing, Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Hefei) using Pearson and partial correlation coefficients. Results indicate: (1) PM2.5 pollution exhibited a significant downward trend across all four cities, with notable improvement during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, underscoring the effectiveness of air pollution control measures. Conversely, O3 pollution remained elevated or increased in some cities, indicating persistent challenges in O3 control. (2) During O3 pollution episodes, PM2.5 and O3 concentrations were positively correlated, whereas during PM2.5 pollution episodes, they were negatively correlated. (3) Compound pollution days were predominantly observed from February to October, with the highest frequency (20 days) occurring from April to June. (4) The significant reduction in PM2.5 weakened the aerosol 'umbrella effect', enhancing surface radiation and promoting near-surface O3 formation. Concurrently, changes in the NOx/VOCs ratio weakened O3 titration, and climate warming accelerated O3 precursor generation and potentially altered boundary layer structure, collectively contributing to O3 accumulation in the cold season and an increasing frequency of compound pollution during that period. (5) The formation mechanisms of PM2.5 and O3 are driven by distinct meteorological conditions, with low overall concentration correlation; however, under compound meteorological conditions such as high temperature, stagnant air, and weak diffusion, both pollutants tend to rise synchronously, indicating that compound pollution events are typically driven by multiple adverse meteorological factors. This study demonstrates that from 2017 to 2023, PM2.5 pollution significantly decreased while O3 pollution showed an increasing trend. Compound pollution was concentrated in April–June and influenced by high temperature, stagnant air, and weak diffusion. With effective PM2.5 control, enhanced surface radiation and changes in O3 precursors led to O3 accumulation in the cold season, increasing compound pollution frequency. Overall, compound pollution is driven by multiple meteorological factors, posing complex challenges for control.