Facing increasingly severe global challenges such as climate change, population growth and resource shortages, agriculture plays a crucial role in ensuring food security, supporting people's livelihoods and maintaining ecological balance. This urgent situation highlights the need to develop innovative and environmentally friendly technologies. Among the functional nanomaterials, carbon dots (CDs) offers a highly promising solution for enhancing agricultural productivity and promoting sustainable development, due to inexpensive raw materials, simple synthesis pathways, excellent biocompatibility, tunable optical properties, versatile surface chemistry and multifunctionality. Their advantages make them a key supporting material for the next generation of agricultural science. The convergence of CDs with agriculture marks a major frontier in agricultural nanotechnology, opening new ways to solve complex agricultural problems. This review provides a comprehensive classification of CDs' agricultural functions into five modules, integrates the latest studies, elucidates mechanisms (electron transfer regulation, enzyme activation, gene reprogramming, and rhizosphere modulation), and critically discusses key bottlenecks, including long-term biosafety, regulatory uncertainty, large-scale production, and social acceptance. To fully realize the potential of CDs in future sustainable agriculture, interdisciplinary cooperation, standardized safety assessments, and integration with innovative agricultural technologies are necessary.

DNA integrity is essential for cellular function and chemotherapy response, but real-time, single-cell monitoring of DNA damage has been difficult to achieve. In this study, we constructed an electrochemical biosensor using a DNA-modified platinum nanoelectrode (PtNE/DNA) combined with fast-scan voltammetry (FSV) at 30 kV s-1 for dynamic detection of DNA damage in a single living cell. The sensing platform utilizes a ferrocene-labeled hairpin DNA probe that specifically recognizes structural damage, while the high temporal resolution and strong anti-interference capability are provided by the FSV technology. We successfully monitored real-time DNA damage in a single HeLa cell treated with chemotherapeutic agents including doxorubicin (DOX), cisplatin (CDDP), and paclitaxel (PTX). Distinct kinetic profiles were observed: DOX elicited the most rapid and severe damage, CDDP induced intermediate progression, and PTX resulted in delayed and attenuated effects. Furthermore, we revealed enantioselective cytotoxicity of chiral carbon dots (D-CDs and L-CDs), with L-CDs showing significantly higher toxicity. These results demonstrate the utility of our approach in assessing drug sensitivity and nanomaterial biocompatibility at the single-cell level, providing a valuable tool for advancing precision medicine and toxicological research.

Water electrolysis for practical applications faces challenges such as slow kinetics of catalysts in oxygen evolution reaction (OER). These can be effectively improved by facilitating the migration of oxygen intermediates at the material's interface. In this work, we employed carbon dots to modify a heterophase Ir-based oxide catalyst (h-IrO2 @CDs) to improve their acidic OER performance. Experimental and theoretical studies reveal that CDs enhances oxygen intermediate migration between rutile and 1T phases, enabling a synergistic oxidation pathway. The small amount addition of CDs reduces energy barriers in the rate-determining step and mitigates excessive oxidation, which significantly boost catalytic activity and stability of IrO2 @CDs. The optimal h-IrO2 @CDs-3 catalyst achieves a low overpotential (161 mV) for 10 mA/cm2 OER current and remains stable for > 762 h at 10 mA/cm(2) . The low cost and easy synthesis make CDs highly promising for enhancing overall performance in catalytic fields. (c) 2026 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of Chinese Chemical Society and Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Photocatalysis represents a promising green catalytic technology. The coupling of photogenerated charge and photothermal effect is of crucial significance for the design of practical photocatalysts. Presently, most research has primarily focused on photogenerated charge carriers, frequently overlooking the substantial role of thermal effects. In this study, distinct and spatially separated photothermal hotspots (carbon dots, CDs) and photocatalytic active sites (carbon nitride, CN) were incorporated into polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanomembranes via electrospinning. Through the process of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) photosynthesis, a comprehensive exploration was carried out to examine the respective contributions of these components. A 4.5 - fold enhancement in H2O2 productivity was achieved in CDs/CN/PAN compared to the CN/PAN membrane, which demonstrated the coupling effects between the CDs hotspots and CN photocatalytic active sites. Moreover, a mathematical model was established to further verify the coupling between photocatalysis and photothermal effects. This research offers novel insights into the contributions of light and heat at the nanoscale and lays the foundation for the rational design of highly efficient photo - thermal catalysts for practical applications. This study elucidates the distinct contributions of light and heat at the nanoscale within interfaces, advancing interface science by establishing thermal field engineering as a foundational strategy for the rational design of spatially organized photothermal catalysts with optimized interfacial reaction dynamics for practical solar energy conversion applications.

Here, we report a memristive device based on a carbon dot-polyaniline (CDot-PANI) composite, working with an oxygen/proton coupled catalytic mechanism. Under external proton and oxygen stimulation, CDots catalyze a proton-assisted oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), which accelerates electron/proton transfer and dynamically modulates the ES/PNB redox transition of PANI. This coupled ORR-oxidation pathway enables fully reversible, catalyst-driven switching between high- and low-conductance states. The CDot-PANI composite exhibits strengthened electronic transport, high structural stability, and pronounced hysteretic switching behavior. Importantly, the coupled oxygen/proton stimuli trigger a spectrum of synaptic functions, including tunable short- and long-term plasticity (STP-LTP) and brain-like learning-forgetting dynamics, demonstrating that neuromorphic behaviors originate from electrochemically mediated catalytic processes rather than conventional filamentary or vacancy-based mechanisms. A fully coupled Poisson-Nernst-Planck (PNP) and Butler-Volmer (B-V) kinetic model further reveals the formation of ORR-induced proton concentration gradients, nonuniform potential distributions, and deep ion penetration arising from cascade oxygen-proton redox reactions. These simulations suggest that the memristive switching stems from catalytic reaction-driven ionic redistribution within the composite. This work establishes a mechanistic basis for metal-free mixed ionic-electronic devices and a design strategy for neuromorphic electronics.

Platinum (Pt) is the benchmark catalyst for acidic hydrogen evolution (HER) but suffers from high cost and suboptimal adsorption-desorption kinetics. Interface engineering offers a solution, yet support selection remains critical. Here, we propose a new two-dimensional trigonal metastable phase zirconium dioxide (Tri-ZrO2, space group: P3̅m1 (164)) as an advanced support for anchoring Pt nanoparticles (Pt NPs). Tri-ZrO2 induces significant charge enrichment in the supported Pt NPs (Pt/Tri-ZrO2). When evaluated for acidic HER, Pt/Tri-ZrO2 exhibits a low overpotential of 9 mV at -10 mA cm-2 and a Tafel slope of 18.7 mV dec-1. Theoretical calculations and experimental results reveal that the Tri-ZrO2 support modulates the electronic structure of Pt NPs, stabilizing the charge-enriched Pt species. The resulting downshifted d-band center of Pt weakens hydrogen intermediate (H*) binding, thereby accelerating H2 production. This work provides a novel strategy for synthesizing unconventional-phase oxides and advances the electronic engineering of Pt-based materials for efficient electrocatalysis.

CDs–TiO 2− x achieves an exceptional CO 2 reduction rate of 1301.1 mmol g −1 h −1 with ∼100% CO selectivity by synergistically integrating IR-driven upconversion, photothermal, and photochemical effects, rivaling noble-metal catalysts.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an indispensable green oxidant and chemical feedstock. Photocatalytic synthesis of H2O2 presents a sustainable alternative paradigm to the energy-intensive anthraquinone process due to its low energy consumption and zero pollutant generation. While cadmium sulfide (CdS) is a promising photocatalyst for H2O2 generation via the two-electron oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), its practical application is plagued by the inherent trade-off between activity and stability, resulting from weak oxygen adsorption and severe photocorrosion. Herein, we demonstrate that interfacial microenvironment engineering of CdS by Carbon dots (CDs) can enable efficient photocatalytic H2O2 production by modulating surface O2 adsorption. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations show that CDs enrich the concentration of reactant O2 by 4 times compared to the bare CdS surface, creating a favorable interfacial microenvironment for ORR. Consequently, the optimal CDs/CdS photocatalyst delivers an outstanding H2O2 production rate of 2.21 mmol g-1 h-1 and remarkable recyclability, sustaining stable performance over 13 consecutive cycles (cumulative reaction time > 50 h) under visible-light irradiation at ambient conditions, outperforming previously reported CdS-based systems. More importantly, the in-situ generated H2O2 by CDs/CdS photocatalysts demonstrates high practical utility, rapidly degrading over 99.5% of methylene blue (MB) within only 1 min via the Fenton reaction and effectively disinfecting the Escherichia coli (E. coli). This work provides a novel design principle of interface microenvironment engineering for developing high-performance photocatalytic systems.

Ammonia synthesis from nitrate via electrocatalysis offers a sustainable alternative to the energy-intensive Haber-Bosch process, yet achieving high efficiency is challenging due to sluggish multi-electron transfer and unstable intermediates. Here, we report a TaON@CL hybrid electrocatalyst (CL denotes an aggregate carbon dot-derived carbon layer), which integrates oxygen vacancy-rich TaON with the carbon layer to synergistically engineer interfacial water activation and electron transfer, leveraging a sustainable and waste-valorizing carbon source. The defect-engineered TaON@CL enhances nitrate adsorption and stabilizes key hydrogenated intermediates while concurrently promoting interfacial charge transfer, lowering the free energy requirement of the rate-determining step (RDS), and facilitating water activation at the catalyst-electrolyte interface. This synergistic design achieves an NH3 yield of 2843.1 mmol gcat.-1 h-1 with a faradaic efficiency of 86.4%. Operando attenuated total reflection surface-enhanced infrared absorption spectroscopy (ATR-SEIRAS), transient photovoltage (TPV) analysis, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations collectively reveal that the defect-engineered TaON and the biomass-derived carbon layer act cooperatively to enhance interfacial water activation, facilitate electron transfer, and lower the rate-determining energy barrier, thereby establishing the mechanistic basis for the high activity and selectivity of the catalyst.

H2O2 photosynthesis in pure water using organic semiconductors presents significant potential for sustainable energy storage and chemical production. However, conventional polymeric systems manifest fundamentally constrained charge separation processes due to the formidable challenge of Frenkel exciton dissociation, where binding energies (E-b) exceeding 100 meV. Herein, this limitation has been systematically addressed through precise dielectric property regulation via strategically engineered molecular modifications in linear conjugated polymer architectures. The optimized linear conjugated polymer incorporating electronegative furan moieties establishes exceptional dipole alignment (mu = 9.5 D) and achieves an unprecedented intrinsic dielectric constant (> 10) that outperforms all reported analogues. This dielectric engineering strategy is experimentally verified to reduce E-b to a remarkable 23 meV, thereby enabling barrier-free exciton dissociation and consequent Frenkel-to-Wannier-Mott transition. Theoretical modeling confirms a near-unity exciton separation efficiency (98 %) at a dielectric constant of 13, effectively addressing the long-standing charge carrier bottleneck in organic photocatalysis. The photocatalyst exhibits exceptional performance, delivering H2O2 production rates of 3289 mu molh(-)(1) g(-)(1) under visible light irradiation, with an apparent quantum yield of 26.8 % at 420 nm. This work demonstrated manipulation of coulombic interactions through molecular dipole alignment opens new frontiers for developing high-performance organic materials in solar-to-chemical energy conversion applications.

The electrochemical nitrate reduction reaction (NITRR) represents a sustainable strategy for ambient ammonia synthesis. However, copper-based catalysts often suffer from excessive adsorption of the *NO2 intermediate due to the high electron density on the Cu surface, resulting in active-site poisoning and sluggish reaction kinetics. Achieving an optimal balance between *NO2 adsorption and activation remains a major challenge for efficient nitrate reduction. Herein, we design a NITRR electrocatalyst consisting of oxygen-enriched carbon dots (CDs) and a carbon layer encapsulating copper nanoparticles (CuCECDs). Benefiting from the optimized decoupling of *NO2, the catalyst achieves an outstanding ammonia yield rate of 2.5 mol. gcat-1 h-1 with a Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 85% at -0.5 V versus RHE. Combined experimental and theoretical studies demonstrate that the oxygen-enriched carbon dots effectively regulate the electronic structure of Cu, weakening the excessive adsorption of *NO2 while confining its subsequent conversion within the carbon layer, thereby promoting efficient *NO2 transformation (*NO2 decoupling). Moreover, the carbon shell induces lattice strain in the Cu nanoparticles (Cu NPs), facilitating water dissociation and hydrogen generation, which further enhances ammonia electrosynthesis performance.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a green oxidant, but its conventional anthraquinone synthesis is energy-intensive and environmentally problematic. Photocatalytic oxygen reduction (ORR) offers a sustainable alternative, yet suffers from poor light absorption, inefficient charge separation, and sluggish kinetics. Here, we report a machine learning (ML)-assisted design of a chitosan-derived photocatalyst modified with carbon dots (CMCD), combining the sustainability of biomass-based materials with the optoelectronic advantages of CDs. ML optimization of synthesis parameters enabled precise tuning of catalyst structure and performance. The optimized CMCD catalyst achieved a maximum H2O2 production rate of 1356.7 mu mol/h/g, a 40 % improvement over pristine chitosanbased materials. Characterizations including transient potential scanning (TPS), transient photovoltage (TPV) and photo-induced current (TPC) revealed that CDs significantly enhance photoelectron generation and transfer, while the ORR mechanism remains a two-step, one-electron process. This work demonstrates the synergy of biomass-derived materials, nanostructure engineering, and data-driven optimization for efficient photocatalytic systems.

ABSTRACT Photocatalytic hydrogen evolution technology is a crucial approach to achieve efficient solar energy conversion and green hydrogen production. However, traditional semiconductor photocatalysts often face issues such as weak visible‐light response, high photogenerated charge carrier recombination, and poor structural stability, severely limiting their practical use. In this study, Cd 0.3 Zn 0.7 S (CZS) nanoparticles were employed as the photocatalytic functional unit, and polyvinylidene fluoride/polyacrylonitrile (PVDF/PAN) nanofiber membranes with varying CZS doping concentrations (referred to as CPP membranes) were constructed via electrospinning technology. This design ingeniously integrates the piezoelectric property of PVDF with the electron‐withdrawing characteristic of the ‐CN groups in PAN, thereby forming a functional support that can effectively promote the separation of photogenerated charge carriers and inhibit photocorrosion. Meanwhile, the composite membranes exhibit excellent structural robustness and satisfactory cyclic stability. The results demonstrate that the CPP membrane with a CZS doping ratio of 7.5 wt% achieves optimal comprehensive performance: Under visible‐light irradiation, its photocatalytic hydrogen evolution rate reaches 27.1 mmol g −1 h −1 , which is approximately 1.7 times that of pure CZS particles; moreover, the apparent quantum efficiency (AQE) at a wavelength of 420 nm attains 30.47%. This research provides a novel strategy for the construction of high‐efficiency and stable piezoelectric‐enhanced photocatalytic materials.

The heterogenization of homogeneous catalysts represents a major research direction in modern green catalysis, as it combines the high activity and selectivity features of molecular catalysts with the high stability and facile recyclability benefits of solid materials. A common drawback in most heterogenized catalyst systems is the significant decrease in catalytic activity compared to their homogeneous counterparts. Herein, we propose a facile strategy to heterogenize Fe3+ ions through coordination with the terminal ─COO- groups of serine-derived chiral carbon dots (C-CDs), forming a heterogeneous catalyst with COO-─Fe3+ active sites. The resulting Fe-CDs exhibit excellent stability across a broad pH range and display markedly enhanced peroxidase-like catalytic activity toward dihydroxyphenylalanine (DOPA) oxidation by 278.53% in average compared to the homogeneous Fe3+ catalyst. By combining excellent catalytic efficiency with well-resolved active-site architectures, the CDs-based ion-coordination-driven transition from homogeneous to heterogeneous catalysis successfully avoids the activity loss commonly linked to catalyst heterogenization.

Electrocatalyst design for ethylene glycol oxidation reaction (EGOR) typically focuses on electronic structures but overlooks the geometry influence on interfacial electric fields. This gap, combined with limitations in milligram-scale synthesis, prevents scalable electrosynthesis via EGOR. Herein, we bridge interfacial electrochemistry with industrial-scale catalyst manufacturing via evaporation-condensation, producing monodisperse Ni nanospheres (200–1,000 nm) at >2 tons per batch. Systematic investigations reveal a volcano-type size-activity relationship: ∼600 nm nanospheres (Ni600) exhibit optimal EGOR performance. In situ spectroscopies, finite-element analysis, and density functional theory calculations demonstrate that increasing particle size weakens the local electric field intensity, enhancing K+ accumulation and tuning the adsorption energetics of reactants, intermediates, and products. This geometry-field-activity correlation enables predictive catalyst optimization. Consequently, Ni600 delivers ∼93% EG-to-formate Faradaic efficiency with ∼96% yield at ∼400 mA cm−2. Notably, this catalyst sustains ∼500 mA cm−2 for >226 h in a flow stack, validating curvature-field principles under industrially relevant current densities.

The electrocatalytic nitrate reduction reaction (NO3RR) has been receiving increasing attention for ammonia (NH3) production, but it still faces great difficulty in real applications due to low NH3 selectivity and high nitrite (NO2-) residue, necessitating an intermediate pathway and microenvironment modulation beyond active sites. Here, we report a quasi-homogeneous nanoreactor via in situ NO3--mediated reconstruction in 2D Ag-doped Cu-Zn-Sn-S nanosheets for efficient NO3RR with ultralow NO2- release. Both Ag doping and NO3- were found to be critical during the reconstruction process, resulting in increased bidentate NO3- as a key intermediate. The catalyst achieves a high NH3 yield of 0.33 mmol h(-1) cm(-2) and Faradaic efficiency (FE) of 91.04% with an extremely low yield of NO2- (2.57 ppm). In situ spectroscopies further evidence the quasi-homogeneous phase with greatly enhanced adsorption of both NO3- and H2O, favoring restricted and directional conversion to *NO2 and ultimately strong *NH3 with negligible NO2- release. Moreover, the catalyst in a flow cell delivers an increased NH3 yield and maintains low NO2- release (<15 ppm) under widely varied concentrations and potentials simulating industrial conditions. This study provides a substrate-mediated reconstruction strategy toward a quasi-homogeneous active phase for high-selectivity NO3RR, which is also inspiring for other complex reactions.

The acidic oxygen-evolution reaction is intrinsically sluggish and requires large overpotentials, creating a key bottleneck for proton-exchange membrane water electrolysis technology. Here we show an edge-sharing single-layer oxide, 1T-phase ruthenium oxide (1T-RuO2). The edge-sharing configuration enables parallel alignment of ruthenium 4d orbitals across adjacent RuO6 octahedral clusters, facilitating intersite electron transport, in contrast to conventional rutile-type RuO2 with corner-/edge-sharing structures. 1T-RuO2 exhibits high acidic oxygen-evolution reaction activity with a low overpotential of 77 mV at 10 mA cm-2. It also delivers a mass activity of 3 , 743 . 43 A g Ru - 1 and a turnover frequency of 23.99 s-1 at 1.50 V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode, exceeding those of rutile-RuO2 and showing highly competitive performance under the described experimental framework. In addition, 1T-RuO2 maintains a current density of ∼2.9 A cm-2 at a cell voltage of 1.70 V for over 1,100 h in a proton-exchange membrane water electrolyser.

ABSTRACT Direct photosynthesis of H 2 O 2 under O 2 ‐deficient conditions offers a clean and robust route for sustainable H 2 O 2 production. The key challenge lies in achieving a highly efficient 4 e − water oxidation reaction (WOR) to alleviate O 2 mass‐transfer limitations. Here, we report a covalent polyoxometalate‐organic polymer photocatalyst, M‐POF‐3, constructed from polyoxomolybdate (tris‐CoMo 6 ) and β ‐ketoenamine (TDOEB). It achieves a specific activity of 305.17 µmol m −2 h −1 , exhibiting one to two orders of magnitude higher than reported photocatalysts. Mechanistic studies reveal that M‐POF‐3 enables a 4 e − WOR on tris‐CoMo 6 with an ultralow overpotential. The O 2 generated during WOR can subsequently undergo short‐range internal diffusion to organic linkers for 2 e − oxygen reduction reaction. Moreover, the covalent inorganic‐organic junction in M‐POF‐3 facilitates photogenerated charge separation, further improving photocatalytic activity and cycling stability. This work integrates the advantages of polyoxometalates and organic polymers, providing a model for the design of high‐performance overall H 2 O 2 photocatalysts under O 2 ‐deficient conditions.

Efficient conversion of solar energy into chemicals is regarded as one of the most promising technologies to alleviate the energy crisis and environmental issues. Smart semiconductor photocatalytic systems (SSPS) have garnered significant attention due to their potential in sustainable energy production, green chemical industry, and environmental remediation. Herein, the ‘smart’ nature of SSPS refers to their abilities to adjust reaction pathways, synergize various effects, and integrate multiple functions, thereby enhancing catalytic performance and surpassing the ordinary composite semiconductor photocatalytic systems (CSPS). Among the various nanomaterials explored to date, Carbon dots (CDs) have emerged as a promising “element” to design SSPS due to their unique physical and chemical properties, e.g., abundant functional groups, structural designability, superior optical properties, low toxicity, high stability, and outstanding electron-transfer ability. In this review, we summarize the latest advancements that utilize CDs to design highly efficient SSPS to address interdisciplinary challenges especially in water splitting, organic synthesis, CO2 reduction reaction (CO2RR), and pollutant degradation. We especially highlight the roles of CDs in adjusting reaction pathways, synergizing various effects, and integrating multiple functions with up-to-date examples and applications. In the last part, we discuss the challenges people are facing and look ahead to the future expectations, along with viable suggestions for the future development of CDs-based SSPS.

Light-emitting diodes (LEDs) are important and are evolving toward high efficiency, environmental friendliness, and mechanical flexibility. Most current LED devices still rely on rigid solid-state emissive layers, which may limit their potential integration into future mechanically adaptive optoelectronic systems. Gel materials have attracted considerable attention owing to their unique physicochemical properties, yet there is almost no involvement of them in LEDs systems. Here, we show that the luminescent carbon dots (CDs) synthesized in dimethylformamide (DMF) by a solvothermal method can serve as a gel-based emissive layer for pure white light-emitting diodes (WLEDs). These CDs-based WLEDs exhibit balanced chromaticity (CIE = (0.33, 0.33)), a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 5465 K, and a color rendering index (CRI) of 97. A series of control experiments, electrochemical measurements, and transient photovoltage and transient potential scanning analyses reveal efficient charge transport and storage behavior of CDs in gel state. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations suggested that the gel state plays a pivotal role in maintaining uniform dispersion of CDs, preventing phase separation, and enabling efficient charge transport across the network. This work both deepens the understanding of CDs–gel interactions and opens an unexplored avenue toward efficient, metal-free, solution-processable, and mechanically adaptive WLEDs.