Latest ArticlesElectrochemical ozone production (EOP) has emerged as an eco-friendly, cost-effective alternative to the current industrial corona discharge approach; however, the low Faradaic efficiency (FE) of electrochemical ozone production (EOP) and anode instability at high current density of the conventional plate electrode hinders its actual application. Herein, we introduce a strategy to enhance the EOP performance of β-PbO2 by constructing a three-dimensional (3D) porous architecture. This approach elevates the EOP FE of the 3D-porous β-PbO2@Ti mesh anode (14.73%) to over twice that of the conventional β-PbO2@Ti mesh (6.11%) at a current density of 100 mA/cm2. Furthermore, it demonstrates a robust service life and consistent O3 production capability, sustaining stable output over extended periods (70 h, 20 h) at higher current densities (100, 250 mA/cm2). This strategy of external structural anode modification exerts a beneficial effect on the internal oxygen environment within β-PbO2, increasing the availability of adsorption sites for oxygen intermediates and thus providing favorable conditions for efficient O3 generation. This work shows the potential of 3D porous anode for practical industrial deployment of EOP.
Bone abnormalities induced due to inflammation, trauma, or diabetes have emerged as a serious issue during treatment and post-treatment. Currently, the prevalent treatments for bone abnormalities are surgery and antibiotics. However, they are progressively struggling to meet clinical needs. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are acquiring attention among many bone repair and bone regeneration materials due to their excellent role in this area of research. MOFs -based nanomaterials are characterized by long-term stability, large specific surface area, and can be easily modifiable. Furthermore, their porous structure and increased mechanical capabilities are similar to alternative tissues, making them useful for bone repair and regeneration. This review article outlines the application of MOFs in bone repair and bone regeneration therapy. First, the mechanics of bone repair and regeneration are discussed, followed by a summary of the most frequent synthetic methods of MOFs for treating bone defects. Secondly, the strategies of different types of MOFs in bone repair and bone regeneration therapies are reviewed. Eventually, the challenges and future of MOFs in bone repairs and bone regeneration therapies are described, introducing a novel approach to treating bone abnormalities.
Transition metal oxides are regarded as promising alternatives to graphite anode material due to their high theoretical capacities. However, their low conductivity, large volume change and fragile structure during battery operation hamper large-scale applications. Herein, we synthesize F-doping and oxygen defect CoO composite (F/O-CoO) through a facile hydrothermal and following annealing process. Benefiting from the synergy of F-doping and oxygen defect, the F/O-CoO anode material delivers a high reversible capacity of 1112 mAh/g at 0.5 C and capacity retention of 609 mAh/g (79.1%) at 2 C after 400 cycles, as well as a rate capacity of 449 mAh/g at 5 C. This superior capacity enhancement is attributed to the enrichment of oxygen defect and necessary substitution of lattice oxygen atom by F, which play an important role in improving electrical conductivity and thus reducing polarization. DFT calculation provides a further explanation that F doping can reduce the Li+ adsorption energy and the bandgap energy of F/O-CoO material, as well as increase Li+ storage sites and Li+/e- conductivity.
Although the distinctive physicochemical properties of Pt-based intermetallic nanomaterials are well-recognized, the critical influence of Pt skin-induced lattice strain effects on their enzyme-mimicking catalytic performance remains unexplored. This knowledge gap primarily stems from the technical challenges in achieving atomic-level precision and structural uniformity when engineering active sites within Pt-based intermetallic systems. Herein, we demonstrate exceptional peroxidase-like catalytic activity (25.545 U/mg) and remarkable specificity through strain-engineered L10 PtCo@Pt core-shell architectures. Experimental and theoretical analyses reveal that significantly reduces H2O2 adsorption energy (-1.49 eV) and the energy barrier of rate-determining step (0.128 eV). This strain-driven electronic modulation enables a 17.4-fold enhancement in peroxidase-like activity compared to conventional Pt nanoparticles, establishing a quantitative correlation between interfacial lattice compression (3.5% strain) and catalytic efficiency. Three key advances emerge from this work: (1) Identification of lattice strain as a dominant descriptor for nanozyme specificity in H2O2 activation, (2) development of a universal synthesis framework (<1 min) for ordered intermetallic core-shell systems, and (3) demonstration of strain engineering as a generalizable strategy exceeding noble metal-dependent activity enhancement. The developed methodology not only resolves long-standing challenges in scalable nanozyme production but also opens new avenues for designing biocatalysts through atomic-level strain manipulation.
The nickel-rich layered cathode materials (LiNixCoyMn1-x-yO2) in lithium-ion batteries suffer from labile surface reactivity, leading to the formation of residual lithium impurities and the induction of interfacial side reactions, ultimately degrading battery performance. Here, a controlled reaction between residual lithium and the glassy material H3BO3 on the surface of commercial LiNi0.82Co0.12Mn0.06O2 cathode materials converts into a protective fast ionic conductor layer. It was observed that sintering temperatures distinctly influenced the composition and structure of interface coating, subsequently affecting electrochemical properties of cathode. Notably, upon treatment at a relatively low temperature of 300 ℃, the surface of sample was enveloped in an amorphous LiBO2 layer, which effectively alleviates interfacial side reactions, stabilizes the crystal structure and enhances lithium-ion transport kinetics. Furthermore, during cycling, the amorphous LiBO2 coating facilitates the formation of a stable cathode electrolyte interphase layer enriched with LiF. Consequently, the material exhibits exceptional electrochemical performance, balancing high capacity and excellent cycling stability. This interfacial engineering strategy, compatible with industrial-scale processing, provides a viable pathway to enhance the durability of nickel-rich cathodes for high-energy-density batteries.
The diverse structure and hierarchical bonding found within Zintl phases play a crucial role in decoupling the electrical and thermal transport properties, thus conferring them with the desired "phonon-glass, electron-crystal" characteristics necessary for high thermoelectric performance. In the last twenty years, a multitude of promising Zintl thermoelectrics have been explored and investigated, with significant systems such as the 1–2–2 phase, 3–1–3 phase, 5–2–6 phase, 9–4–9 phase, 10–1–9 phase, and 14–1–11 phase standing out. More recently, the emergence of 1–1–1 type Zintl phase compounds as potential thermoelectric candidates have sparked considerable interest. In particular, the low lattice thermal conductivity in these compounds offers great possibilities to achieve high thermoelectric figure of merit zT. This review provides a summary of the crystal structures and thermoelectric performance of typical 1–1–1 type Zintl compounds ABSb (A stands for alkali, alkali-earth, or divalent rare-earth metals, B stands for IA, IB or IIB metals). The focus is placed on elucidating the interesting mechanisms of low lattice thermal conductivity in real-space (r-space) and reciprocal-space (k-space), such as huge fluctuation in bonding strengths, larger atomic displacement parameters, rattling-like behavior of atomic vibration, intrinsic vacancy structure, soft optical phonons, phonon softening strategy, avoided crossing effect. This comprehensive review enhances the understanding of structure-property relationships and offers guidance for further improving the thermoelectric performance of 1–1–1 type Zintl compounds.
We report herein the synthesis, structure and catalysis of a cobalt-kernelled icosahedral gold nanocluster CoAu12, providing an opportunity for the in-depth understanding of rarely reported Co-doped gold nanoclusters. CoAu12 possesses a symmetric and contracted metal kernel compared to the 4d and 5d metal-kernelled MAu12 nanoclusters (M = Pd, Pt, Rh, Ir, Au), thus exhibiting highly structural stability. Meanwhile, CoAu12 demonstrates efficient energy and electron transfer activity toward oxygen, thus endowing this nanocluster with exceptional catalytic activity in converting oxygen to singlet oxygen as well as superoxide. Structural features such as the unpaired electron of CoAu12 have been verified as contributing to its catalytic activity. Efficient organic transformations involving singlet oxygen and superoxide were developed based on the structurally stable and catalytically active CoAu12 nanocluster.
The low-temperature performance of lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries remains a significant challenge. Electrolyte engineering has emerged as an effective strategy to address this issue efficiently. Herein, ethyl pentafluoropropionate (pFEP) is introduced into the carbonate-based electrolyte as a functional additive that enables LiLFP cells to cycle at −20 ℃ or even −40 ℃. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and spectroscopic characterization demonstrate that adding only 3% pFEP could effectively modify the electrolyte solvation structure, significantly increasing the content of contact ion pairs (CIPs) and aggregates (AGGs). This structural modification promotes the formation of a uniform LiF-rich interphase, which is crucial for improved battery performance. As a result, LiLFP cell with active cathode loading of 8.5 mg/cm2 delivers 117.2 mAh/g and cycling stability over 130 cycles at −20 ℃. This work provides a cost-effective strategy for enhancing the low-temperature performance of LFP batteries.
Self-trapped exciton (STE) emissions based on Sb3+ ion materials have recently received widespread attention, due to the excellent photoluminescence (PL) properties and stereochemical activity of Sb3+ ions. Pressure can precisely regulate the electronic structure and configuration of chromophores, becoming an effective approach to enhance the STE emissions. Recently, STE emission enhancements in Sb3+-based materials under pressure mainly focus on metal halides, however, studies on inorganic oxides are very limited. Herein, the high-pressure STE behavior of SbTaO4 was investigated up to 13.2 GPa. The STE emission exhibits a bi-peak feature, and the strongest emission occurs at 3.8 GPa, in which two peaks are enhanced by ~20 and ~3 times and the STE emission displays a bright green color. The mechanism is explained using a variety of methods, including steady-state PL spectroscopy, kinetic spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, cryogenic PL spectroscopy and theoretical calculations. It shows that the strong electron-phonon coupling of SbTaO4 is weakened, which suppresses non-radiative transitions. Also, the distortion of the [SbO4] unit inhibits the transition between two STE states. The synergistic effect of these factors leads to a strong enhancement of the STE emission in SbTaO4 under pressure. The STE emission enhancement of SbTaO4 highlights the potential of inorganic oxides for future high-pressure STE exploration and provides the promising material in photonic devices under extreme conditions.
In this study, we employed sodium hydroxide and 2,6-pyridinedimethanol as modulators to tailor the structure of metal-organic crystals via “coordination modulation strategy”. Based on this strategy, two copper-based crystalline materials were synthesized via hydrothermal synthesis and structurally characterized. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis elucidates that [Cu2(μ2–OH)(μ3–OH)(H2dcppa)(H2O)]·H2O (dcppa = 3-(3′,5′-dicarboxyphenoxy)phthalic acid, CP-1) exist a kind of [Cu4(μ2–OH)2(μ3–OH)2(H2O)2]4+ cluster. Each [Cu4(μ2–OH)2(μ3–OH)2(H2O)2]4+ is interconnected in-plane with H2dcppa ligands, forming a four-directional extended coordination network that ultimately generates a periodically arranged layered architecture. In [Cu4(Hdcppa)2(H2dcppa)(H2O)3] (MOF-1), there are two types of binuclear copper building blocks, [Cu2(H2O)]4+ and [Cu2(H2O)2]4+, respectively. The adjacent [Cu2(H2O)]4+ units are interconnected via Hdcppa ligands, forming a 1D metal-organic chain. These 1D chains are connected by [Cu2(H2O)2]4+ to establish a 2D layer, which is further extended by H2dcppa ligands to a 3D framework. The successful implementation of this synthetic route further validates the feasibility and effectiveness of combining hydrothermal methods with coordination modulation strategies for the targeted construction of functionalized metal-organic crystals. The proton conductivities (σ) of CP-1 and MOF-1 were measured under conditions of 85 ℃ and 98% relative humidity (RH), resulting in values of 2.14 × 10−3 and 2.55 × 10–2 S/cm, respectively. This study presents a novel approach to fabricating MOFs as proton conductors through coordination modulation strategy.
No. 86 Xueyuan South Road, Haidian District, Beijing
010-62662699(Operation and Technical Support)
qkjq@cast.org.cn
Copyright © 2025 China Association for Science and Technology. All rights reserved. For all open access content, the relevant licensing terms apply.
Sponsored by the Office of the Leading Group for Cybersecurity and Informatization of CAST, and supported by Science and Technology Review Publishing House
