SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4412-y
GeTe-based thermoelectric materials are promising lead-free alternatives to PbTe, but their intrinsically high Ge vacancy concentration (~10^21 cm^-3) leads to excessive carrier density and degraded Seebeck coefficient. This study integrates resonant levels (RLs) via In doping and local van der Waals gaps via Sb/Bi alloying to decouple electron and phonon transport. The optimal composition Ge0.91Sb0.04Bi0.04In0.01Te exhibits a Seebeck coefficient of ~287.31 μV K^-1 at 323 K, more than double that of the In-free sample (~102.28 μV K^-1). The peak figure of merit zT reaches ~1.8 at 723 K, with an average zT of ~1.0 over 323–723 K. Vickers hardness is enhanced to ~224 HV, a ~93% improvement over pristine GeTe (~116 HV). X-ray diffraction reveals a structural evolution toward a pseudo-cubic phase with increasing In content, and the (202) peak shifts to lower angles, indicating lattice expansion. These results demonstrate that synergistic RLs and van der Waals gaps effectively optimize carrier concentration and suppress thermal conductivity, offering a viable route for high-performance, mechanically robust GeTe thermoelectrics.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3721-y
Anisotropic hydrogels have attracted significant attention for applications in actuators, soft robotics, and artificial muscles due to their ability to undergo shape morphing and generate anisotropic responses under external stimuli. Here, we report a novel strategy for fabricating anisotropic hydrogels using liquid crystal polymers (LCPs). A series of liquid crystal polyester-polyethylene glycol (LCP-PEG) multiblock copolymers with varying PEG block molecular weights were synthesized via one-pot melt-polycondensation. Upon stretching, LCP-PEG forms a stable, oriented microphase-separated lamellar structure, which enables reversible shape changes driven by melting-induced contraction and crystallization-induced expansion of the oriented PEG crystals. This unique structure imparts anisotropic swelling behavior to the films when exposed to water or humidity. The oriented microphase-separated lamellar structure confers high fracture strength (11.2–14.7 MPa), fracture strain (1600%–2100%), fracture energy (1.7–2.8 MJ m−2), and Young’s modulus (51.2–139.9 MPa). Furthermore, the anisotropic LCP-PEG hydrogel actuators exhibit versatile locomotion modes, including object grabbing and transfer between water and air, object gripping in rainy conditions, walking and somersaulting on ratchet-patterned bases under humidity stimuli, and slope climbing through somersault locomotion under salty water stimuli. These results demonstrate the potential of LCP-based anisotropic hydrogels for advanced soft robotic applications.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3675-3
The tumor microenvironment (TME) is characterized by elevated H2O2 levels and hypoxia, posing significant challenges to effective cancer treatment. Chemodynamic therapy (CDT) exploits these conditions to generate cytotoxic hydroxyl radicals via Fenton reactions, yet its efficacy as a monotherapy is limited. Sonodynamic therapy (SDT) offers deep-tissue ROS generation under ultrasound (US) but is oxygen-dependent. Immunotherapy can modulate systemic immune responses but often suffers from low response rates. Here, we highlight a recent breakthrough published in Nature Nanotechnology by Prof. Jiatao Zhang and colleagues, who engineered a multifunctional quantum dot system (FAQD) integrating CDT, SDT, and immunotherapy through atomically dispersed iron and selenium chemistry. The FAQD comprises zinc selenide quantum dots with Ag doping and Fe decoration, synthesized via a three-step method. Structural analyses (HAADF-STEM, XRD, XPS, EXAFS) confirmed a quasi-single-crystalline structure with atomically dispersed Fe(III) and Ag(I). Optimal Ag:Zn ratio (5:100) maximized singlet oxygen yield under US. In vitro, FAQD-1 (with MMP-cleavable PEG) exhibited negligible cytotoxicity without US, but under US and H2O2, induced substantial ROS production, mitochondrial impairment, and apoptosis in HeLa cells. In vivo, FAQD-1 with US achieved complete suppression of primary and abscopal tumors within two weeks, eliciting robust systemic immune responses (increased CD8+ and CD4+ T cells, reduced Tregs, elevated IL-2 levels). This work demonstrates a synergistic trimodal nanoplatform with precise spatiotemporal control, offering a promising strategy for cancer therapy.
New Carbon Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1016/S1872-5805(25)61036-5
Large graphene oxide (LGO) sheets offer significant advantages over smaller ones in various applications, yet their production via Hummers-type oxidation of large natural graphite flakes remains challenging due to difficulties in achieving full oxidation and avoiding fragmentation. This study provides the first direct evidence that large graphite flakes (up to 1 mm) can be completely oxidized without fragmentation under static conditions, as revealed by in-situ monitoring. The oxidation process is governed by diffusion of the oxidizer between layers, described by Fick's law, where a high oxidizer concentration gradient increases the diffusion rate. By minimizing the amount of concentrated H2SO4 solvent, we achieved a semi-solid state that elevates oxidizer concentration, facilitating Mn(VII) diffusion and enabling complete oxidation of gram-scale large flakes with significantly reduced reagent consumption. Reaction temperature was optimized to balance graphite oxidation and Mn(VII) self-decomposition. Using this approach, 200-, 100-, and 50-mesh natural graphite were fully oxidized with reduced H2SO4 and KMnO4 usage. After exfoliation, LGO with average lateral sizes of 27.3, 58.7, and 116.2 μm were obtained, respectively, with 100% conversion and yield over 165%. This work not only provides a scalable, cost-effective strategy for LGO production but also advances the fundamental understanding of Hummers-type oxidation.
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.202604027
Magnesia production processes generate carbon monoxide (CO) emissions, yet publicly available measured data on CO emission factors for these processes remain scarce, constraining the accuracy of emission accounting and mitigation assessment in the industry. To address this data gap, this study selected three representative magnesia-producing enterprises in Anshan, Liaoning Province, China, covering three typical technological routes: the two-stage calcination process (light burning-briquetting-shaft kiln dead burning), the suspension calcination-dead burning sintering process, and the electric arc furnace melting process. Under the condition that enterprises were not equipped with online CO monitoring modules, an estimation approach coupling manual measurements with conventional indicators from the Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) was developed. By establishing characteristic concentration ratios between CO and nitrogen oxides (NOx) or particulate matter (PM), and combining them with annual CEMS monitoring data, product-level CO emission factors were calculated. The results showed that the CO emission factors for the two-stage calcination process, the suspension calcination–dead burning sintering process, and the electric arc furnace melting process were 5.35, 5.18, and 1.40 kg/t, respectively, among which the emission level of the electric arc furnace melting process was significantly lower than that of sintering-based processes. This study provides enterprise-level measured CO parameters for the magnesia industry, filling the data gap in emission factors for typical technological routes. It also proposes an emission factor estimation method applicable under conditions where online CO monitoring data are unavailable, which can provide methodological support for pollutant emission accounting and emission inventory development in similar data-constrained industries.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3882-y
Organic semiconductor crystals with well-defined morphologies are highly desirable for high-performance optoelectronic devices, yet precise control over their growth remains a challenge. Here, a novel donor-acceptor (D-A) molecule, TQDPT, has been successfully developed, featuring a rigid π-conjugated acceptor core composed of thiazoloquinoxaline and naphthalene, coupled with phenylphenothiazine donors. This study presents a temperature-mediated crystallization strategy for precisely controlling the morphology and carrier transport properties of TQDPT single crystals. By systematically investigating the growth kinetics across a controlled temperature range (15–35°C), we reveal a distinct transition from needle-like structures to plate-like crystals, with tunable average widths spanning from around 2.8 to 30.1 μm. This morphological evolution is driven by temperature-dependent molecular diffusion and nucleation kinetics. Significantly, the plate-like crystals grown at 25°C exhibit an order-of-magnitude enhancement in mobility compared to needle-like counterparts, while higher temperatures of 35°C yield broader crystals with improved carrier mobility and device stability. This work highlights the critical role of temperature as a pivotal parameter in the dimensional and electronic optimization of organic crystals, offering an attractive approach to optimize functional materials for advanced optoelectronics.
Journal of Environmental Engineering Technology•2026•DOI: 10.13205/j.hjgc.202605013
The escalating eutrophication of aquatic systems has intensified algal blooms, leading to substantial release and accumulation of algal-derived dissolved organic matter (ADOM), which profoundly influences carbon cycling and pollutant transport. Iron minerals, particularly ferrihydrite, are recognized as critical mediators of DOM sequestration, yet the adsorption fractionation of ADOM under varying environmental conditions remains poorly understood. This study systematically investigated the effects of pH (2.0–10.0) and initial dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration (2–100 mg C/L) on the adsorption capacity and selectivity of ADOM onto ferrihydrite, employing UV-Vis spectroscopy and excitation-emission matrix fluorescence with parallel factor analysis (EEM-PARAFAC). Results demonstrated that adsorption capacity increased with pH from 2.0 to 7.0, reaching a maximum of 21.59 mg C/g at pH 7.0, followed by a decline at pH > 7.0 due to enhanced electrostatic repulsion. Within the environmentally relevant pH range of 3.0–9.0, selective fractionation intensified with increasing pH, favoring highly aromatic, high-molecular-weight chromophoric DOM (CDOM) and protein-like/aromatic amino acid fluorescent DOM (FDOM) with high humification and autochthonous characteristics. With increasing initial DOC concentration, adsorption exhibited non-linear growth, with preferential uptake of low-aromaticity, high-molecular-weight CDOM and protein-like FDOM of lower humification and stronger autochthonous features. These findings elucidate that ferrihydrite can effectively sequester reactive ADOM components via pH- and concentration-dependent selective adsorption, potentially altering DOM composition and reactivity in eutrophic waters, thereby providing fundamental data for understanding iron mineral-mediated internal carbon sequestration.
The Chinese Journal of Process Engineering•2026•DOI: 10.12034/j.issn.1009-606X.225241
Amid the global pursuit of carbon neutrality, the catalytic conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) into high-value-added aromatics represents a critical frontier in sustainable chemistry. This process offers the dual benefit of mitigating greenhouse gas emissions while establishing a non-petroleum route for the production of indispensable platform chemicals. However, the practical realization of CO2 conversion is hindered by formidable challenges originating from the thermodynamic stability of CO2 and the kinetic challenges in C-C bond formation. This review provides a critical and comprehensive analysis of recent progress on CO2 hydrogenation to aromatics, focusing on the development of catalyst design, reaction kinetics, and reactor engineering, with the goal of accelerating industrial application. The two dominant reaction pathways, i.e., the methanol-intermediate and the olefin-intermediate routes, are summarized and progress in the design of efficient multifunctional catalysts for each pathway is given. A key point in bifunctional catalyst development is the challenge of balancing the synergy and separation of hydrogenation sites and acidic aromatization active sites. Synergy is crucial for driving the reaction equilibrium forward by rapidly consuming intermediates, whereas separation, often achieved through sophisticated architectures like core-shell structures, is vital for preventing deactivation, such as the migration of alkaline promoters into the zeolite (the aromatization component). Also, this review analyzes the kinetic modeling progress proposed for this complex, multi-step reaction system. For the initial CO2 conversion step, the authors highlighted the evolution of kinetic models, particularly the ongoing efforts to accurately quantify the critical water inhibition effect in methanol synthesis. For the subsequent aromatization stage, this review critically compares two distinct modeling strategies: the use of lumping models, which simplify the reaction network for robust engineering simulations, and the single-event microkinetic (SEMK) models, which offer profound mechanistic insights by considering elementary reaction steps. Furthermore, it is pointed out that these kinetic models serve as indispensable inputs for computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations, which guide the design, optimization, and scale-up of industrial reactors. These simulations can address practical engineering challenges such as thermal management to control hotspots and fluid dynamics to mitigate excessive pressure drop. By systematically bridging the conceptual gap from atomic-level catalyst design to macro-scale reactor optimization, this review provides theoretical guidance aimed at accelerating the engineering scale-up of this vital carbon utilization technology.
The Chinese Journal of Process Engineering•2026•DOI: 10.12034/j.issn.1009-606X.225225
The non-Newtonian rheological properties of plastic melts are critical for regulating plastic processing, molding, and recycling processes, ensuring processing stability and product performance. However, rheological data for commonly used plastics and their blends remain incomplete. This study combined experimental testing and theoretical modeling to investigate the rheological behaviors of four pure plastics—polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), and acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene copolymer (ABS)—and three binary blend systems: PE/ABS, PP/ABS, and PS/ABS. Rheological tests were conducted using a rheometer over a shear rate range of 0.1–100 s⁻¹ and temperatures from 180°C to 250°C. Results showed that the flow behavior index n was less than 1 for all samples, and apparent viscosity decreased significantly with increasing shear rate, indicating clear shear-thinning behavior. The consistency coefficient K followed the Arrhenius relationship with temperature, and melt viscosity decreased as temperature increased. The study quantitatively characterized the relationship between the mass fraction m (0.5 < m ≤ 1) of the main component in binary blends and melt viscosity. Based on experimental data, a component correction term was introduced into the traditional power-law model to construct a constitutive equation that simultaneously describes the effects of shear rate, temperature, and component fraction on melt viscosity. The average relative error between model predictions and experimental values was only 5.90%. These rheological data and the modified constitutive equation provide important theoretical support and data reference for optimizing process parameters in waste plastic recycling and injection molding.
Chinese Journal of Environmental Engineering•2026•DOI: 10.12030/j.cjee.202511051
Photosynthetic bacteria (PSB) wastewater treatment technology is promising for simultaneous pollutant removal and resource recovery (e.g., single-cell protein, hydrogen). However, poor cell hydrophobicity and aggregation lead to low biomass retention and short sludge retention time, hindering engineering application. This study investigated the driving role and mechanism of upflow velocity as a key hydraulic selection pressure on PSB granulation under stepwise increasing organic loading rate (OLR). In laboratory up-flow photobioreactors (UPBR), comparative experiments were conducted with macro-index monitoring and micro-mechanism analysis. Results showed that under high upflow velocities of 3.00–6.30 m·h−1, PSB granular sludge with an average diameter of 285.58 μm and excellent settleability (sludge volume index, SVI = 22.73 mL·g−1) was successfully formed within approximately 60 days. Compared to the control, the granules in the experimental group were larger, with clear boundaries and compact structure, and significant enrichment of filamentous bacteria was observed. Mechanism analysis indicated that OLR provided nutritional driving force for microbial growth, while upflow velocity supplied high hydraulic shear force, physically screening and enriching settleable aggregates, and specifically inducing secretion of hydrophobic tryptophan-like proteins and humic acids (key extracellular polymeric substances, EPS). Additionally, core genera such as Xanthobacteraceae, possessing stress tolerance and EPS secretion functions, were enriched. This study reveals a chain mechanism of 'physical selection–biological response' centered on hydraulic selection, demonstrating that upflow velocity is a key controllable factor for PSB granulation, providing theoretical basis and technical pathway for solving PSB biomass washout and promoting resource-oriented treatment of high-strength organic wastewater.
Environmental Chemistry•2026•DOI: 10.7524/j.issn.0254-6108.2025021902
Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) ultrafiltration membranes are widely used in water treatment, yet their anti-fouling performance remains a challenge. In this work, PAN was first reacted with sodium azide via click chemistry to synthesize 1,2,3,4-tetrazolium polyacrylonitrile (PAN-N). Subsequently, PAN-N was reacted with iodoacetamide (IAM), 2-iodoethanol (IH), iodoacetic acid (IA), and chlorosulfonic acid (CSA) to introduce hydrophilic groups, and anti-fouling PAN ultrafiltration membranes were fabricated via phase inversion. The membranes were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, 1H nuclear magnetic resonance, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and contact angle measurements. Results showed that the PAN-N membrane exhibited superior performance to pristine PAN, with water flux increasing from 0.9233 to 1.232 L·(m2·h·kPa)−1 and bovine serum albumin (BSA) rejection from 69.23% to 82.4%. Hydrophilic modification further enhanced performance; the PAN-N-IA membrane achieved the highest water flux of 1.7347 L·(m2·h·kPa)−1 and rejection of 93.57%. Anti-fouling tests revealed that modified membranes followed the order: PAN-N-CSA > PAN-N-IA > PAN-N-IH > PAN-N-IAM > PAN-N > PAN. PAN-N-CSA and PAN-N-IA showed comparable anti-fouling performance, with total fouling indices of 56.1% and 58.47%, reversible fouling indices of 47.17% and 46.97%, and irreversible fouling indices of 8.97% and 11.47%, respectively. This work demonstrates that PAN-N-IA membranes combine high flux, high rejection, and excellent anti-fouling properties, making them promising for water treatment applications.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3870-9
High-purity (HP) alloys are critical for next-generation technologies requiring extreme reliability, yet trace impurities at parts-per-million levels can severely degrade mechanical properties, corrosion resistance, and long-term stability. This review comprehensively examines recent advances in HP alloy development, covering purification approaches, processing strategies, and performance optimization. It details how trace impurities influence microstructural evolution and material properties, and discusses techniques for achieving ultralow impurity levels, including vacuum melting, zone refining, and chemical vapor deposition. The review highlights impurity sensitivity across major alloy systems—such as aluminum, titanium, zirconium, copper, and steels—and summarizes strategies to mitigate impurity-induced degradation, including advanced alloy design, grain refinement, and surface treatments. Advanced characterization techniques for detecting and quantifying impurities are also outlined. The review emphasizes the essential role of HP alloys in advanced structural and functional materials, and identifies key challenges and future directions, including the need for standardized purity definitions and cost-effective purification methods. This synthesis provides a roadmap for researchers and engineers aiming to harness the full potential of high-purity alloys in demanding applications.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3903-4
Cross-wavelength near-perfect light capture technology is crucial in various fields, including spectroscopy, energy conversion, and electromagnetic control. Nevertheless, the primary challenge in broadband absorption is effectively coordinating the intrinsic response behavior of various electromagnetic waves across the nanometer-centimeter scale when interacting with matter. By adopting a multi-scale structural design strategy, the carbon-zirconium heterointerface is integrated into the macroscopic periodic unit cell (PUC) to develop an ultra-wideband light capture material. The optical coupling effect, strengthened by electronic transitions, molecular motion, and spatial scattering effects, endows ZC-PUC with exceptional light-capture performance ranging from ultraviolet to microwave frequencies. Specifically, the ZC-PUC absorber possesses a near-perfect absorption rate of 95.7% across the ultraviolet-visible-infrared spectrum (190–2500 nm), and an effective absorption coverage of 99.99% in the microwave and terahertz bands (1997.9 GHz). More importantly, the as-prepared material maintains the morphology structure and physical phase even when exposed to an alkaline or acidic environment for 365 days and simultaneously possesses stable light capture properties. The easily scalable approach retains excellent structural stability and ultra-wideband light trapping capability under extreme conditions, offering a versatile platform for the development of next-generation devices.
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•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-4021-5
Lead-free halide double perovskites have attracted significant attention owing to their eco-friendliness, structural tunability, and self-trapped exciton emission. Nevertheless, achieving efficient and stable near-infrared-II (NIR-II) luminescence, especially in materials incorporating lanthanide ions, remains a considerable challenge in photonics research. Herein, we report a notable advance in the design and synthesis of Sb3+-sensitized Cs2NaLuCl6:Er3+ double perovskite single crystals, which exhibit an unprecedented external quantum efficiency of 45.3% for emission at 1542 nm. Sb3+ acts as a broadband ultraviolet absorber and transfers energy to Er3+ via self-trapped exciton emission. Moreover, at high concentrations of Er3+, Er3+-Er3+ cross relaxation (2H11/2 + 4I15/2 → 4I9/2 + 4I13/2) selectively populates the NIR-emitting 4I13/2 state, suppressing competitive visible emission pathways. This synergistic host-sensitizer-activator design strategy, supported by density functional theory calculations, addresses long-standing efficiency limitations and opens new avenues for high-performance NIR-II emitters in bioimaging, night vision, and optical communications.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-4004-3
The development of efficient and stable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysts is critical for clean energy technologies, yet conventional cobalt-based spinel catalysts often suffer from insufficient activity and structural instability under operating conditions. To address these challenges, this study proposes and constructs a cation-ordered spinel-like catalyst (HVI Metal-CoMoO4/NF). The unique crystalline framework induces significant Jahn-Teller distortion and pre-stabilizes a Co2+/Co3+ mixed-valence state at the cobalt active centers via asymmetric Co–O–Mo bridges, effectively optimizing bulk charge transport. Electrochemical tests demonstrate that its performance significantly surpasses that of benchmark materials, requiring only an overpotential of 307 mV to drive a current density of 100 mA cm−2 in 1.0 M KOH, with a Tafel slope of 63.13 mV dec−1, maintaining stable operation for over 320 h at high current density. Crucially, our structural and in situ characterization results clearly reveal a stable and well-crystallized reconstruction behavior from the surface into the bulk of the spinel-like pre-catalyst during the OER. This work fundamentally addresses the challenges of disordered reconstruction and unstable active phases in traditional spinel catalysts, providing a paradigm for regulating the dynamic evolution of electrocatalysts through precise structural design.
Journal of Fuel Chemistry and Technology•2026•DOI: 10.1016/S1872-5813(26)60684-6
Tungsten trioxide (WO3) is a transition metal oxide of significant interest in heterogeneous catalysis due to its environmental friendliness, cost-effectiveness, and favorable electrical properties. The catalytic performance of WO3 is strongly dependent on its exposed crystal facets, which exhibit distinct physicochemical properties including charge separation efficiency, reactant adsorption capacity, and redox activity. These differences arise from variations in atomic arrangement, electronic structure, and surface energy. This review systematically examines the facet effect of WO3 across photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, photoelectrocatalysis, and thermal catalysis. Theoretical calculations are integrated to elucidate the intrinsic mechanisms underlying facet-dependent behavior from an atomic structure perspective. The paper synthesizes general rules governing the WO3 facet effect across these applications, critically assesses current research limitations, and outlines future directions. Key findings highlight that facet engineering enables precise tuning of catalytic activity and selectivity, with specific facets such as {001}, {110}, and {010} demonstrating enhanced performance in various reactions. The review underscores the importance of morphology control in optimizing WO3-based catalysts and identifies challenges in achieving facet-selective synthesis and stability under operational conditions. Future research should focus on advanced characterization techniques and computational modeling to further unravel facet-dependent mechanisms and guide rational catalyst design.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4229-6
The escalating retirement of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) necessitates efficient recycling technologies to recover cathode materials, particularly lithium iron phosphate (LFP), which dominates the traction battery market. Conventional pyrometallurgical and hydrometallurgical methods are energy-intensive and environmentally burdensome. Here, we report a fluorine doping-assisted direct regeneration strategy for spent LFP (SLFP) cathodes, yielding a regenerated LFP-F (RLFP-F) with a hybrid structure of ordered crystalline and disordered domains. Fluorine doping reduces the Li+ diffusion energy barrier, as evidenced by density functional theory calculations, and strengthens Fe–O bonding, suppressing Fe migration and anti-site defect formation. The O 2p band center shifts downward, increasing the Fe 3d–O 2p energy separation from 3.23 eV in pristine LFP to 3.46 eV in RLFP-F, enhancing structural stability and electronic conductivity. Electrochemical tests demonstrate that RLFP-F delivers a high-rate capability and excellent cycling stability. Life-cycle assessment reveals that direct regeneration consumes only 9.986 MJ kg−1 and emits 0.324 kg CO2-equivalent per kg of cell, significantly outperforming pyrometallurgy and hydrometallurgy. Economic analysis based on 2025 Chinese market prices indicates a net profit of $397.15 per ton of SLFP battery recycling, attributed to the closed-loop cathode-to-cathode design. This work provides a sustainable and economically viable route for upcycling spent LFP batteries.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3455-4
Seawater uranium extraction is constrained by ultra-low uranium concentration (~3 ppb), high salinity, competing ions, and dynamic marine conditions. Electrochemical uranium extraction (EUE) offers high efficiency and controllability by promoting uranyl ion migration and reduction-deposition, but conventional EUE requires elevated voltages that trigger side reactions and limit selectivity. Recent advances in cathode materials—amidoxime, phosphate, and other uranyl-binding ligands—have improved adsorption capacity, yet most systems deposit uranium only at the cathode, underutilizing the electrochemical cell. Wang et al. (2025) introduce a bipolar EUE system that replaces the oxygen evolution reaction with low-potential copper oxidation, reducing cell voltage to 0.6 V. This enables simultaneous uranium extraction at both electrodes: at the anode, Cu(0) oxidizes to Cu(I), forming Cu–OH bonds that adsorb U(VI)O2^2+; in the presence of Cl−, Cu(I) transforms into Cu2(OH)3Cl, concurrently facilitating uranium capture. The bipolar design achieves long-term stability, selectivity against competing ions, and reduced energy consumption compared to traditional EUE systems. This breakthrough addresses the trade-off between extraction performance and energy input, offering a scalable pathway for sustainable uranium recovery from seawater.