To bypass hydrogen storage bottlenecks, we propose a Zn//H2 battery with asymmetric Mn-Ov-Co. A dual-site relay decouples water dissociation from hydrogen adsorption, breaking scaling relations. The catalyst achieves an exchange current density of 0.45 mA cm-2 (exceeding that of Pt/C) and stability for over 50 h, enabling safe on-demand hydrogen-electricity storage.

Due to the difficulty of conventional photocatalytic systems in simultaneously achieving strong oxidation and reduction processes, the treatment of wastewater containing coexisting uranium and organic pollutants remains a critical challenge in the field of photocatalysis. Herein, a novel g-C3N4/Bi2MoO6/Bi2WO6 (GBMW) ternary photocatalyst with a dual Z-scheme heterojunction architecture was rationally constructed for the removal of U(VI) and tetracycline (TC) under visible-light irradiation. The dual Z-scheme heterojunction extends the visible-light response range and accelerates interfacial charge transfer, while preserving strong redox potentials. Within 100 min, GBMW achieves a U(VI) reduction efficiency of 91.6% and a TC degradation efficiency of 97.6%, with corresponding kobs values of 0.02332 and 0.03664 min−1, respectively, which are significantly superior to those of BiMO, BiWO, GCN and GBW. Notably, U(VI) can act as an efficient electron acceptor to promote the separation of electrons and holes in GBMW, which significantly facilitates the degradation of TC. Moreover, GBMW demonstrates excellent stability and anti-interference performance in various real water matrices. This work not only provides a feasible strategy for constructing high-efficiency dual Z-scheme heterojunctions photocatalysts, but also offers an effective solution for treating complex wastewater containing coexisting organic pollutants and radioactive contaminants.

Aqueous calcium-ion batteries (ACIBs) are a prospective solution for electrochemical energy storage. The scarcity of cathode materials with high capacity and long cycling lifespan making CIBs' development still in infancy. Vanadium-based compounds have long been considered promising cathode materials due to their low cost, abundance and high theoretical capacity. However, the low conductivity of vanadium-based materials and the lattice volume expansion during charging and discharging processes have been limiting their development and potential applications. Herein, to tackle these fundamental challenges, we designed and synthesized core-shell calcium vanadate cathode nanoparticles that feature rich oxygen defects and carbon encapsulation (denoted as d-CaV2O5-X@C). Compared with the pure phase vanadium trioxide without calcium ions, calcium vanadate materials incorporating calcium ions exhibit enriched defect structures that provide additional active sites, thereby enhancing the reaction kinetics. The further carbon encapsulation protects of structural integrity and increases conductivity. The d-CaV2O5-X@C cathode material exhibits a high specific capacity of 188.4 mAh center dot g- 1 at a current density of 200 mA center dot g- 1 and long cycle stability with 96.6 mAh center dot g- 1 retention after 4500 cycles at a current density of 5000 mA center dot g- 1 for aqueous calcium ion storage. This work provides a novel design approach for the advancement of cathode materials for advanced CIBs.

Despite the intrinsic low surface energy and stress adaptability of silicone rubber insulators, achieving their sustainable anti-pollution flashover reliability in harsh environments remains a significant challenge. To address this, we designed a flexible, superhydrophobic coating that synergistically combines mechanical compliance with extreme and stable water repellency, aiming to fundamentally enhance surface flashover performance. Herein, a flexible insulating superhydrophobic coating (FISC) was developed via a straightforward two-step spraying process, involving a flexible primer followed by a superhydrophobic topcoat. The resulting coating not only closely adapts to the stress deformation of the silicone rubber substrate but also dramatically improves its sustained anti-pollution flashover capability. It demonstrates robust mechanical flexibility and durability, retaining its superhydrophobicity after 10,000 bending cycles at 60 % strain and 800 stretching cycles at 200 % strain. Crucially, the coating exhibits superior and persistent repellency against water droplets and mists. This key characteristic enables an exceptional anti-pollution flashover capacity, measured to be more than 10 times greater than that of traditional room-temperature-vulcanized silicone rubbers at 10 kV, even under harsh, salt-polluted conditions. The integration of flexibility, durability, and extreme water repellency in this coating offers a promising strategy to enhance the reliability, longevity, and sustainability of electrical grids.

The 2mm thick LA81 ultra-light dual-phase Mg-Li alloy was successfully welded by friction stir welding. The microstructure of the joint at different welding speeds was studied, and the relationship between the microstructure of the joint and the tensile strength was explored. In comparison to the base metal (BM), both the microhardness and ultimate tensile strength of the stir zone (SZ) were enhanced. At a welding speed of 60 mm/min, complete dynamic recrystallization occurred in the SZ, accompanied by the transformation of low-angle grain boundaries into high-angle grain boundaries, resulting in the formation of uniform and fine equiaxed grains with a more random crystallographic texture. Furthermore, the Zn-rich precipitates within the joint followed a distinct phase transformation sequence: α-Mg → θ′-MgLi₂Zn → θ-MgLiZn. The resultant short rod-like MgLiZn phase was primarily distributed along the grain boundaries of the α and β phases, where it effectively impeded dislocation motion. Under the optimal processing parameters, the average hardness and ultimate tensile strength of the weld reached 66.9 HV and 228.3 MPa, respectively, corresponding to 122.75% and 125.44% of the BM values. Digital image correlation analysis revealed that during tensile testing, as strain increased, localized deformation was predominantly confined to the BM on either side of the weld, while the SZ itself exhibited minimal yielding.

Mesoporous molecular sieve-supported metals have been widely investigated as catalysts for the removal of tetracycline (TC) from water via a "preconcentration-activation-degradation" catalytic system. However, the design and construction of bimetallic catalysts supported on MCM-41 for TC degradation remains a challeng. In this study, highly dispersed Al-Fe3N species within MCM-41(Al-Fe3N/Al-MCM-41) was successfully prepared, where Al originates from Al-MCM-41 subjected to high-temperature dealumination. In the presence of Al-Fe3N/Al-MCM-41 and PDS, 98.5% of TC was efficiently degraded within 60 min. The corresponding reaction rate constant (0.07262 min-1) was 2.92 times that of Fe3N/MCM-41 (0.02486 min-1). The excellent degradation performance is attributed to the enhanced electron cloud density of Fe induced by Al doping, thereby enhancing the activation efficiency of peroxydisulfate (PDS). At the same time, micro-mesoporous structure in Al-Fe3N/Al-MCM-41 is beneficial to preconcentration of target contaminants for the enhancement of degradation efficiency. In addition, the disinfection performance of Al-Fe3N/Al-MCM-41 system against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and its device-level application were explored. This work provides a novel strategy to fabricate MCM-41 with doping Fe3N species for the water treatment. This strategy provides a new perspective for the rational utilization of Al atoms via high-temperature dealumination method.

The disposal of Chinese medical herb waste (CMHW) and continued reliance on chemical agricultural inputs are important environmental concerns. This study evaluated whether biochar amendment could improve nitrogen retention and antibacterial activity during CMHW composting and assessed the resulting compost in soil challenged with a phytopathogen. Compared with the biochar-free control, 9–15% biochar reduced total nitrogen loss to 11.1–17.9% and increased antibacterial activity against plant pathogens by 44.6–51.7%. Microbial co-occurrence analysis showed that potentially beneficial taxa, including Pseudomonas and Monascus, were associated with ammonia monooxygenase activity and antibacterial properties. Structural equation modeling further indicated a positive association between antibacterial activity and NO3−-N (P < 0.05) and identified a strong direct effect of bacterial α-diversity on antibacterial activity (standardized path coefficient = 0.94, P < 0.05). In the subsequent pot experiment, the medium-dose CLD2 compost provided multifunctional benefits relative to the separately tested urea and chemical disease-control reference treatments; Chinese cabbage flavonoid content reached 0.26 μg/cm2, and soil nitrogen-fixation-related enzyme activity reached 270.9 U/g. Tax4Fun2 predictions also indicated enrichment of functions related to siderophore production, nitrogen fixation, and indole-3-acetic acid metabolism after the application of biochar-amended CMHW compost. Overall, biochar-amended CMHW compost simultaneously improved nitrogen retention, nutrient cycling, and pathogen suppression. Future studies should include a combined urea-plus-fungicide treatment to determine how this approach compares with conventional integrated chemical management.

Silica aerogels are widely employed in oil-water separation owing to their high specific surface area and porosity. However, their poor mechanical strength and high hygroscopicity significantly restrict their application under harsh conditions. Herein, we report a silica aerogel-melamine sponge (MS) composite exhibiting robust superhydrophobicity (Water contact angle > 156 degrees) and superoleophilicity (similar to 0 degrees), fabricated via a sol-gel process combined with ambient pressure drying (APD). The composite demonstrates excellent self-cleaning ability, chemical stability, mechanical resilience, and oil-water separation efficiency. Notably, the water contact angle remains above 150 degrees after immersion in strong acid, base, or saline solutions for 168 h. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of physical anchoring and hydrogen-bonding interactions, the composite exhibits a high retention rate of over 85.9% after 1000 compression cycles. Furthermore, its superhydrophobicity is preserved even after 100 tape-peeling cycles. The material shows effective adsorption of various oils and organic solvents, achieving a separation efficiency of 99% over 100 cycles, which remains unchanged after 168 h of immersion in salt water. Importantly, the fabrication process is simple and scalable, providing a promising strategy for the development of high-performance aerogel-based materials for oil-water separation.

Toxic metal pollution is one of the environmental problems that seriously affect water resources and ecosystems. Antimony, recognized for its teratogenic and carcinogenic properties, poses significant health risks due to its widespread presence in natural water sources. In this study, cobalt-doped manganese oxide bimetallic composites were designed as an efficient adsorbent for the antimony removal from water. The adsorbent exhibits robust performance over a range of pH values, achieves a significant adsorption capacity of 591.1 mg/g, and exhibits adsorption equilibrium within 25 min. The effectiveness of the adsorption is attributed to the interaction between metal-O bonds and antimony, as well as the hydrogen bonding. In line with the concept of sustainable development, waste adsorbents are used as negative electrodes for SbO2--based aqueous alkaline batteries. It exhibits a high reversible specific capacity of 122.8 mAh.g(-1). This research not only sheds light on innovative approaches to antimony removal but also opens up avenues for the sustainable reuse of waste materials, in line with the principles of sustainable development.

For Cu-based composites, the electrical conductivities, hardness and the size and distribution of the reinforcing phase have significant influence on the arc erosion resistance. Ti3SiC2 combine the excellent properties of both metals and ceramics and are ideal reinforcing phases for electrical contact materials. Friction stir processing (FSP), as a post-treatment technique, can effectively address the inherent shortcomings of cold-sprayed materials. FSP and heat treatment (HT) were used to change the microstructure and physical properties of Cu-xTi3SiC2 (x = 10, 20 wt%) composites, and its arc erosion resistance were tested at AC 220 V/20 A. The results show that Cu20Ti3SiC2 composite has higher electrical conductivity (80.9 %IACS) and uniform ultrafine structure after FSP, so that it has the lowest surface roughness, contact resistance (20 m Omega) and ratio of arc energy to arc duration time (283 mJ/ms). The erosion surface appeared molten copper, craters, cracks, droplet splashing and pores, and Ti3SiC2 particles absorbed arc energy and were decomposed into TiO2 and SiO2.

High concentrations of organic pollutants have become a significant environmental issue worldwide. In this study, a hybrid material of metal-organic framework (MOF) and covalent organic framework (COF) was synthesized by covalently modifying NH2-MIL-125(Ti) with the COF monomers 1,3,5-tri(4-aminophenyl)benzene (TAPB) and 2,5-di(allyloxy)benzaldehyde (TBAB) via an acetic acid-catalyzed reaction, named NH2-MIL-125 (Ti)@TAPB-TBAB (NMTT). The resulting NMTT material inherited the advantages of both MOF and COF, including good crystallinity, large surface area, porous structure, and strong visible light absorption capacity. The prepared MOF@COF hybrid demonstrated excellent adsorption performance and photocatalytic activity. Experimental results showed that NMTT was highly effective in removing high concentrations of rhodamine B (RhB) dye, with a removal rate of 100 % for 50 ppm RhB at pH = 5, significantly outperforming both NH2-MIL-125(Ti) and TAPB-TBAB. Additionally, NMTT showed broad applicability for the removal of other high-concentration organic pollutants. Through systematic characterization and experimental analysis, a potential Z-scheme heterojunction reaction mechanism was proposed. This study provides new insights for the development of novel MOF@COF composite materials and presents promising potential for environmental remediation of high-concentration organic pollutants.

To achieve superhydrophobicity with an apparent contact angle (θ*) greater than 150° on rough surfaces, materials with a high Young's contact angle (θY > 90°) are commonly utilized. However, achieving superhydrophobicity with θY < 90° materials without specific auxiliary designs faces unknown challenges. Here, we develop a novel superhydrophobic nanocoating with θ* of ∼155° sprayed by an ethanol suspension only composed of bisphenol A epoxy resin (EPA) with a low θY of ∼70° and hydrophilic SiO2 nanoparticles. Additionally, we also show more superhydrophobic nanocoatings created by low θY resins that even down to 58°. This superhydrophobicity results from sustained three-dimensional hydrogen bonding equilibrium on the droplet surface postcontact with the rough surface, despite low θY. We also constructed a wetting transition model to quantify the impact of surface energy on the stability of droplet surface structures and revealed how the concentration of EPA can regulate the wetting behavior of the coating.

A series of novel ceramics, specifically HfCxN1-x (where x = 0.3, 0.4, 0.5, 0.6, 0.7), HfC0.5N0.5-20 vol% SiB6, and HfC0.5N0.5-20 vol% SiC, were successfully synthesized in this study. The ultra-high temperature oxidation behaviors at 1800 degrees C in air and under low-pressure air conditions were systematically investigated. The oxidation kinetics of the HfCxN1-x ceramics basically follow a parabolic law, and the oxidation resistance of the samples are improved with the increasing nitrogen content in HfCxN1-x ceramics. Besides, the incorporation of SiB6 and SiC enhanced oxidation resistance by forming molten SiO2, which facilitates the production of HfSiO4 and fills the porous HfO2 oxide scale. However, HfC0.5N0.5-20 vol% SiB6 generates the volatilizable product B2O3, which results in poorer oxidation behavior compared to HfC0.5N0.5-20 vol% SiC. Additionally, the effect of air pressure (5, 10, 20 kPa) on the oxidation behavior of HfC0.5N0.5-20 vol% SiC was examined. Oxidation at low air pressure leads to the active oxidation of SiC, where the formation of gaseous SiO can easily evaporate, causing a gradual degradation of the protective oxide layer.

This study employs CT non-destructive detection to quantitatively analyze the pore structure of sintered steel and investigate copper infiltration mechanisms. As density increases from 6.55 to 6.95 g/cm3, pore characteristics exhibit significant changes: pore quantity initially increases then decreases, while average pore size monotonically reduces from 35.7 to 17.2 μm. Copper infiltration dramatically transforms the material’s porosity, characterized by reduced pore count, decreased distribution uniformity, increased closed pore proportion, and morphological regularization. The infiltration process demonstrates selective filling, primarily governed by pore connectivity, size effect, and capillary forces. Molten copper preferentially penetrates high-connectivity networks, prioritizing irregular angular regions. Medium-sized pores (10.52–23.76 μm) with optimal connectivity are predominantly filled. At 6.75 g/cm3, an optimal balance between pore quantity, size, and connectivity facilitates uniform copper infiltration.

Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) is a burgeoning organic pollutant, which has attracted increasing concern. Due to its high toxicity, bioaccumulation, and damage to physiological systems, an efficient PFOS detection method is required. This study develops a new point-of-care PFOS detection method based on nanozymes and smart mobile phone. Notably, [(CH3)2NH2]V3O7, a polyoxometalate (POM) nanozyme is synthesized, which shows remarkable oxidase-mimic activity with Km 0.105 mM and Vmax 3.84 x 10-8 M s-1. Mechanism study confirms OH and O2- contribute greatly in oxidase-mimic process. Density function theory (DFT) calculation illustrates the excellent oxidase-mimic activity originates the intensive adsorption toward O2. POM nanozyme can prompt the oxidation of colorless 3,3 ',5,5 '-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB) and generates blue ox-TMB. The color of blue ox-TMB can be faded by PFOS. Based on this, a visible colorimetry is developed for PFOS detection with low limit of detection (LOD) 0.46 mu M. When employed for PFOS detection in tap water, river water, and lake water, this colorimetry receives favorable results. The work not only opens a new platform for POM nanozymes but also develops an efficient technique for PFOS detection in real water samples.

Currently, selective laser melting (SLM) primarily uses more expensive 15-53 mu m powders, which has limited the wide application of this technology. The use of coarse powder is the most convenient way to reduce the cost of SLM. Considering the high reflectivity of copper, using coarse powder to manufacture CuCrZr alloy by SLM has been extremely challenging and fascinating. Therefore, we prepared CuCrZr alloy with 53-120 mu m coarse powder by the two-step strategy, and analyzed their microstructure, strength, hardness and electrical conductivity. In addition, we investigated the effect of aging treatment on the microstructure and properties. The highest relative density of 99.7 % was achieved with the first step energy density of 56 J/mm3 and the second of 111 J/mm3. After aging at 480 degrees C for 2h, the ultimate tensile strength (UTS), hardness and electrical conductivity increased from 290 MPa, 105 HV and 27.94 % International Annealed Copper Standard (IACS) to 591 MPa, 184 HV and 71.15 % IACS, respectively. During direct aging (DA), numerous nanoscale Cr phases and Cu5Zr phases precipitated from the supersaturated solid solution, thereby enhancing the strength of the alloy. The computational results showed that precipitation strengthening represents the primary mechanism responsible for alloy strengthening. The CuCrZr alloys manufactured with coarse powder performed even better than most alloys manufactured with fine powder, and both cost and printing time were greatly reduced.