SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-026-4295-5
Carbon nanomaterials (CNMs), including carbon nanotubes, graphene, and fullerenes, exhibit exceptional promise in precision biomedicine due to their tunable biocompatibility, programmable surface chemistry, large specific surface area, and quantum confinement effects. However, their clinical translation is hindered by aggregation, poor physiological dispersibility, and limited targeting specificity. This review systematically elaborates on surface engineering strategies—covalent functionalization, non-covalent assembly, and heteroatom doping—to optimize the multifunctionality, biocompatibility, and targeting capabilities of CNMs at the nano-bio interface. We explore how engineered interfaces enable advanced applications in biosensing, stimuli-responsive drug delivery, multimodal bioimaging, antibacterial therapy, and regenerative tissue engineering. The review also addresses challenges such as scalability, long-term toxicity, and regulatory hurdles, and proposes future directions to expedite clinical adoption. By providing a comprehensive framework for rational surface design, this work aims to bridge the gap between fundamental materials science and clinical needs, offering a roadmap for developing next-generation carbon-based theranostics.
Journal of Fuel Chemistry and Technology•2026•DOI: 10.3724/2097-213X.2025.JFCT.0027
Electrocatalytic CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR) offers a promising route to mitigate CO2 emissions while producing valuable chemicals. This study reports a Cu-Sn alloy catalyst with a wheat-ear-like dendritic structure, fabricated via a one-step electrodeposition method, for selective CO2 electroreduction to formate. Compared to pure Cu and Sn electrodes, the Cu-Sn alloy exhibits superior catalytic activity and selectivity toward formate, achieving a maximum Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 80% and maintaining above 70% FE over a potential window from -1.7 V to -2.0 V (vs. Ag/AgCl). The enhanced performance is attributed to the unique dendritic morphology that provides abundant active sites and the synergistic alloying effect that modulates the adsorption of the CO2*- intermediate, as corroborated by electrochemical measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). This work presents a facile strategy for designing bimetallic catalysts for efficient CO2RR to formate.
Chinese Journal of Environmental Engineering•2026•DOI: 10.12030/j.cjee.202512066
This study addresses the removal of ammonia nitrogen (NH4+-N) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from real coal chemical wastewater via electrochemical chlorine evolution. A nanorod-structured ruthenium dioxide catalyst (N-RuO2) was synthesized by modifying ruthenium trichloride precursor with ammonium chloride. Compared with unmodified RuO2, commercial DSA, and commercial RuO2 (Com-RuO2), N-RuO2 exhibited significantly enhanced electrochemical performance: Faradaic efficiency for chlorine evolution increased by 12.9%, 18.5%, and 25.6%, respectively; accelerated lifetime improved by 1.7, 1.9, and 2.9 times, respectively. In treating real coal chemical wastewater, N-RuO2 reduced NH4+-N to 86.4 mg·L−1 and COD to 72 mg·L−1, with degradation rate constants approximately 2.08 and 1.46 times higher than Com-RuO2, while energy consumption decreased by 17.7 Wh·g−1 and 1.5 Wh·g−1, respectively. Further studies showed that increasing chloride ion concentration enhanced removal rates and reduced energy consumption; higher current density accelerated removal but increased energy use; alkaline conditions favored NH4+-N removal, while neutral conditions favored COD removal. The excellent electrochemical performance of RuO2 nanorods indicates broad application prospects in practical water treatment.
SCIENCE CHINA Materials•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40843-025-3953-5
Tin-based perovskite solar cells (TPSCs) are the leading candidate for lead-free perovskite photovoltaics, yet their efficiency lags behind lead-based counterparts due to interfacial losses. This highlight analyzes a recent breakthrough by Li et al. (Nature Publishing Group, 2025) that addresses these losses via a triphenylamine-based starburst-shaped D-D-p-A self-assembled monolayer (SAM) molecule, MBP, anchored on nickel oxide (NiOx) as a buried hole-transport layer. The MBP molecule features a cyanoethyl phosphate anchoring group, enabling homogeneous adsorption on NiOx, and an expanded conjugated structure that yields a highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) level of -4.95 eV, closely matching the valence band maximum of tin perovskites. This alignment reduces energy mismatch, while the push-pull electron system enhances hole extraction. Time-resolved photoluminescence (TRPL) and steady-state photoluminescence (PL) measurements confirm faster hole extraction and reduced non-radiative recombination at the NiOx/MBP interface. Contact angle measurements demonstrate super-wettability of the perovskite precursor on NiOx/MBP, promoting high-quality film growth. Devices incorporating NiOx/MBP achieve a champion power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.6% (as reported in the original paper), with significantly improved long-term shelf stability and operational stability under illumination. This work underscores the potential of tailored SAM molecules to overcome energy-level and wettability bottlenecks, advancing TPSCs toward practical application.