Monomer Design Enables Mechanistic Mapping of Anionic Ring-Opening Polymerization of Aromatic Thionolactones.

Degradable chalcogenide polyesters, e.g., polythioesters (PTEs), typically exhibit improved thermal, mechanical, and optical properties.

Sargassum Nanocellulose-Based Fully Ingestible Supercapacitor.

Small high-performance energy modules have significant practical value in the biomedical field, such as painless diagnosis, alleviation of gastrointestinal discomfort, and electrical stimulation therapy. However, due to performance limitations and safety concerns, it is a formidable challenge to design a small, emerging ingestible power supply. Here, a fully ingestible supercapacitor (FISC) constructed of sargassum cellulose nanofiber is presented.

Secondary Coordination Effects of Adjacent Metal Center in Metal-Nitrogen-Carbon Improve Scaling Relation of Oxygen Electrocatalysis.

Heterogenous single-atom catalysts (SACs) are reminiscent of homogeneous catalysts because of the similarity of structural motif of active sites, showing the potential of using the advantage of homogeneous catalysts to tackle challenges in hetereogenous catalysis. In heterogeneous oxygen electrocatalysis, the homogeneity of adsorption patterns of reaction intermediates leads to scaling relationships that limit their activities. In contrast, homogeneous catalysts can circumvent such limits by selectively altering the adsorption of intermediates through secondary coordination effects (SCEs).

Peri-centrosomal localization of small interfering RNAs in C. elegans.

The centrosome is the microtubule-organizing center and a crucial part of cell division. Centrosomal RNAs (cnRNAs) have been reported to enable precise spatiotemporal control of gene expression during cell division in many species. Whether and how cnRNAs exist in C.

In-Situ Formation of Three-Dimensional Network Intrinsic Microporous Ladder Polymer Membranes with Ultra-High Gas Separation Performance and Anti-Trade-Off Effect.

The global quest for clean energy and sustainable processes makes advanced membrane extremely attractive for energy-intensive industrial gas separations. Here, we disclosed a series of ultra-high-performance gas separation membranes (PIM-3D-TB) from novel network polymers of intrinsic microporosity (PIM) that combine the advantages of solution processible PIM and small pore size distribution (PSD) of porous organic polymers (POP), which was synthesized by in situ copolymerization of triptycene-2,6-diamine as linear part and triptycene-2,6,13(14)-triamine (TTA) as crosslinker. The resulting PIM-3D-TB membranes demonstrated outstanding separation properties that outperformed the latest trade-off lines for H/CH and O/N.

Photoelectron Imaging and Photodetachment Spectroscopy for the Cryogenically Cooled Cyanocyclopentadienide Anion.

The cyano-cyclopentadiene molecule (CN-CH) has attracted significant interest since its detection in the interstellar medium, but the radical (CN-CH) and anionic (CN-CH) forms of cyano-cyclopentadiene have not been studied. The cyano-cyclopentadienyl radical (CN-Cp) has a strong dipole moment, rendering it an ideal system for vibrational and rotational spectroscopy. We report an investigation of the cryogenically cooled cyano-cyclopentadienide anion (CN-Cp) using high-resolution photoelectron imaging, photodetachment spectroscopy, and resonant photoelectron imaging.

Strong and Fireproof Regenerated Wood a Combined Phosphorylation-Surface Nanofibrillation and Ionic Cross-Linking Strategy.

To reduce the environmental impact of plastics, an increasing number of high-performance sustainable materials have emerged. Among them, wood-based high-performance structural materials have gained growing attention due to their outstanding mechanical and thermal properties. Here, we introduce phosphate groups onto the wood veneers for surface nanofibrillation, effectively altering both the molecular structure and surface morphology of wood, which enhances the interactions between wood veneers and endows the wood with excellent fire resistance properties.

Dual-Grid and Mixed-Precision Methods for Accelerating Plane-Wave Hybrid Functional Electronic Structure Calculations.

Hybrid functionals that incorporate exact Hartree-Fock exchange (HFX) into density functional theory (DFT) are crucial for accurately predicting the electronic structures of extended systems in condensed-matter physics and materials science. Although the exact exchange contributes only a small fraction of the total energy, HFX calculations in hybrid functionals demand significant computational resources. Here, we introduce dual-grid and mixed-precision techniques, based on two low-rank approximations, adaptively compressed exchange (ACE) and interpolative separable density fitting (ISDF) methods, to significantly improve the computational efficiency of plane-wave hybrid functional calculations in the software package PWDFT (plane wave density functional theory).

Catalytic effects of iron adatoms in poly(-phenylene) synthesis on rutile TiO(110).

-Armchair graphene nanoribbons (nAGNRs) are promising components for next-generation nanoelectronics due to their controllable band gap, which depends on their width and edge structure. Using non-metal surfaces for fabricating nAGNRs gives access to reliable information on their electronic properties. We investigated the influence of light and iron adatoms on the debromination of 4,4''-dibromo--terphenyl precursors affording poly(-phenylene) (PPP as the narrowest GNR) wires through the Ullmann coupling reaction on a rutile TiO(110) surface, which we studied by scanning tunneling microscopy and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy.

Supramolecularly Built Local Electric Field Microenvironment around Cobalt Phthalocyanine in Covalent Organic Frameworks for Enhanced Photocatalysis.

The local electric field (LEF) plays an important role in the catalytic process; however, the precise construction and manipulation of the electric field microenvironment around the active site remains a significant challenge. Here, we have developed a supramolecular strategy for the implementation of a LEF by introducing the host macrocycle 18-crown-6 (18C6) into a cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc)-containing covalent organic framework (COF). Utilizing the supramolecular interaction between 18C6 and potassium ion (K), a locally enhanced K concentration around CoPc can be built to generate a LEF microenvironment around the catalytically active Co site.

Ordered Interfacial Water Generated at Poly(ionic liquid) Membrane Surface Imparts Ultrafast Water Transport and Superoleophobicity.

Achieving ultrahigh permeance and superoleophobicity is crucial for membrane application. Here, we demonstrated that a poly(ionic liquid)/PES hydrogel membrane can achieve dual goals. The high polarity of the ionic liquids induces the water molecules on the membrane surface to be arranged more ordered, as verified by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation and advanced femtosecond sum frequency generation (SFG) vibrational spectroscopy.

Engineering Atom-Scale Cascade Catalysis via Multi-Active Site Collaboration for Ampere-Level CO Electroreduction to C Products.

Electrochemical reduction of CO to value-added multicarbon (C) productions offers an attractive route for renewable energy storage and CO utilization, but it remains challenging to achieve high C selectivity at industrial-level current density. Herein, a MoCu single-atom alloy (SAA) catalyst is reported that displays a remarkable C Faradaic efficiency of 86.4% under 0.

A Robust, Biodegradable, and Fire-Retardant Cellulose Nanofibers-Based Structural Material Fabricated from Natural Sargassum.

With increasing concern about the environmental pollution of petrochemical plastics, people are constantly exploring environmentally friendly and sustainable alternative materials. Compared with petrochemical materials, cellulose has overwhelming superiority in terms of mechanical properties, thermal properties, cost, and biodegradability. However, the flammability of cellulose hinders its practical application to a certain extent, so improving the fire-retardant properties of cellulose nanofiber-based materials has become a research focus.

Femtosecond-Laser-Ablated Porous Silver Nanowire Heater with Ultralow Driven-Voltage and Ultrafast Sensitivity for Highly Efficient Crude Oil Remedy.

The development of viscous-crude oil and water separation technology is important for overcoming pollution caused by oil spills. Although some separators responding to light, electric, and temperature have been proposed, their poor structural homogeneity and inferior controllability, together with weak capillary forces, hinder the rapid salvage of viscous crude oil. Herein, a Joule-heated hydrophobic porous oil/water separator is reported, which has advantages of low energy consumption (169.

Solar-driven production of renewable chemicals via biomass hydrogenation with green methanol.

Solar-driven, selective biomass hydrogenation is recognized as a promising route to renewable chemicals production, but remains challenging. Here, we report a TiO supported Cu single-atom catalyst with a four-coordinated Cu-O structure, which can be universally applied for solar-driven production of various renewable chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass-derived platform molecules with good yields using green methanol as a hydrogen donor, to address this challenge. It is significant that the biomass upgrading driven by natural sunlight on a gram scale demonstrates the great practical potential.

Highly Tension-Strained Copper Concentrates Diluted Cations for Selective Proton-Exchange Membrane CO Electrolysis.

Electrolysis of carbon dioxide (CO) in acid offers a promising route to overcome CO loss in alkaline and neutral electrolytes, but requires concentrated alkali cations (typical ≥3 M) to mitigate the trade-off between low pH and high hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) rate, causing salt precipitation. Here we report a strategy to resolve this problem by introducing tensile strain in a copper (Cu) catalyst, which can selectively reduce CO to valuable multicarbon products, particularly ethylene, in a pH 1 electrolyte with 1 M potassium ions. We find that the tension-strained Cu creates an electron-rich surface that concentrates diluted potassium ions, contributing to CO activation and HER suppression.

Copper-Catalysed Electrochemical CO2 Methanation via the Alloying of Single Cobalt Atoms.

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to methane (CH4) presents a promising solution for mitigating CO2 emissions while producing valuable chemical feedstocks. Although single-atom catalysts have shown potential in selectively converting CO2 to CH4, their limited active sites often hinder the realization of high current densities, posing a selectivity-activity dilemma. In this study, we developed a single-atom cobalt (Co) doped copper catalyst (Co1Cu) that achieved a CH4 Faradaic efficiency exceeding 60% with a partial current density of -482.

Multiple Electron Transfers Enable High-Capacity Cathode Through Stable Anionic Redox.

Single-electron transfer, low alkali metal contents, and large-molecular masses limit the capacity of cathodes. This study uses a cost-effective and light-molecular-mass orthosilicate material, KFeSiO, with a high initial potassium content, as a cathode for potassium-ion batteries to enable the transfer of more than one electron. Despite the limited valence change of Fe ions during cycling, KFeSiO can undergo multiple electron transfers via successive oxygen anionic redox reactions to generate a high reversible capacity.

Overrated energy storage performances of dielectrics seriously affected by fringing effect and parasitic capacitance.

Dielectric capacitors are vital for modern power and electronic systems, and accurate assessment of their dielectric properties is paramount. However, in many prevailing reports, the fringing effect near electrodes and parasitic capacitance in the test circuit were often neglected, leading to overrated dielectric performances. Here, the serious impacts of the fringing effect and parasitic capacitance are investigated both experimentally and theoretically on different dielectrics including AlO, SrTiO, etc.

The molecular mechanism of temperature-dependent phase separation of heat shock factor 1.

Heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) is the critical orchestrator of cell responses to heat shock, and its dysfunction is linked to various diseases. HSF1 undergoes phase separation upon heat shock, and its activity is regulated by post-translational modifications (PTMs). The molecular details underlying HSF1 phase separation, temperature sensing and PTM regulation remain poorly understood.

Excited-State and Steric Hindrances Engineering Enable Fast Spin-Flip Narrowband Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence Emitters with Enhanced Quenching Resistance.

Multi-resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) materials have great potential for applications in ultrahigh-definition (UHD) organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays, that benefit from their narrowband emission characteristic. However, key challenges such as aggregation-caused quenching (ACQ) effect and slow triplet-to-singlet spin-flip process, especially for blue MR-TADF materials, continue to impede their development due to planar skeletons and relatively large ΔESTs. Here, an effective strategy that incorporates multiple carbazole donors into the parent MR moieties is proposed, synergistically engineering their excited states and steric hindrances to enhance both the spin-flip process and quenching resistance.

Nitrogen-Bridged S-N-Cu Sites for CO Photoreduction to Ethanol with 99.5 % Selectivity in Pure Water.

Solar-driven CO reduction to ethanol is extremely challenging due to the limited efficiency of charge separation, sluggish kinetics of C-C coupling, and unfavorable formation of oxygenate intermediates. Here, we elaborately design a red polymer carbon nitride (RPCN) consisting of S-N and Cu-N dual active sites (Cu/S-RPCN) to address this challenge, which achieves an impressive ethanol evolution rate of 50.4 μmol g h with 99.

Scalable and Low-Energy Synthesis of Metal-Organic Frameworks by a Seed-Mediated Approach.

The synthesis of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) by low energy input has been a long-term target for practical applications yet remains a great challenge. Herein, we developed a low-energy MOF growth strategy at a temperature down to 50 °C by simply introducing seeds into the reaction system. The MOFs are continuously grown on the surface of the seeds at a growth rate dozens of times higher than that of conventional solvothermal synthesis at low temperature, while the resulting MOFs possess high crystallinity, porosity, and stability similar to solvothermal seeds.