Browse Articles

Engineering and supercritical systems for improving the solubility and nanoparticles by development of computational machine learning models

The fascinating complexity of seagrass bio-fibres: insights from bio-chemo-hygro mechanical analysis for their reuse as soil reinforcement

Abstract Beached Posidonia oceanica seagrass fibres are an abundant yet underutilised Mediterranean biowaste with potential for sustainable reinforcement of cement-treated sediments. We present a first multiscale bio–chemo–hygro–mechanical characterisation, combining high-resolution synchrotron X-ray tomography with a 250 nm voxel size, FE-SEM/EDX, tensile testing, water-retention measurements. An image-based method links Aegagropile diameter to fibre length, enabling targeted selection of fibres in the 10–25 mm range to minimise clustering and favour reinforcing-network formation within the potentially-treated material. Air-dried fibres exhibit higher tensile strength, whereas pre-soaked fibres show greater porosity, tortuosity, ductility and toughness, and water-retention capacity, highlighting a moisture-dependent trade-off between strength and deformability. Water-retention curves reveal two storage domains: intra-fibre absorption within the lumen’s porosity and capillarity in the inter-fibre pore space of bundled fibres. Within a cement-treated sediment mixture, 1% fibre addition does not significantly increase the unconfined compression strength, which is mainly governed by curing and cementation, but improves post-peak response, residual resistance, distributed cracking, ductility, and damage tolerance while maintaining comparable internal compactness. Ultrasonic pulse velocity results support that fibre inclusion does not compromise the internal compactness of the cement-treated sediment, while curing promotes progressive matrix densification. This dual mechanical and moisture-storage functionality positions Posidonia oceanica fibres as a circular bio-based reinforcement for cement-treated sediments.

Compatible Dynamically Wetting Electrolyte–Electrode Interface Design for Solid‐State Lithium–Sulfur Batteries

ABSTRACT Solid‐state lithium–sulfur batteries feature high energy density and stability, but their practical application is constrained by limited ion transport at the electrode/solid‐state electrolyte interfaces and safety concerns arising from Li dendrites. This study presents a solid polymer electrolyte (SPSLL) constructed from an ultrathin flame‐retardant sulfonated copolymer (phthalazinone biphenylether sulfone) skeleton, into which a mixed phase of poly(vinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoropropylene), succinonitrile, and lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide is incorporated, together with a liquid metal interfacial wetting phase. This design enables a dynamic wetting mechanism that facilitates the formation of compatible electrolyte‐electrode interfaces. Through its sulfonated polymer skeleton, SPSLL promotes lithium salt dissociation and enhances thermal stability. Simultaneously, the LM serves as dynamic active sites, both strengthening interfacial physical contact and facilitating the formation of alloyed solid electrolyte interphases. As a result, the SPSLL‐based solid‐state Li‐sulfurized polyacrylonitrile (Li||SPAN) battery exhibits excellent cycling stability, maintaining a capacity retention of 92.2% and a Coulombic efficiency of 99.9% after 500 cycles. Furthermore, the SPSLL single‐layer pouch cell has an initial specific capacity of 948 mAh g −1 . The dynamic wetting strategy presented in this work offers a promising research direction for interface design in solid‐state batteries.

Investigating the separation and sorting of high-quality sperm in spiral microchannels using the Dean flow regime

Abstract Infertility is a growing global issue that affects millions of couples, posing significant challenges to personal and societal well-being. This study explores a novel approach to separating and sorting high-quality sperm using spiral microchannels to enhance assisted reproductive technologies (ART). We developed a spiral microchannel that utilizes inertial microfluidics and Dean flow to effectively separate sperm based on motility and morphology. The microchannel was fabricated using CO 2 laser engraving, resulting in a spiral design with a width of 0.35 mm, a total radius of 18.5 mm, and a depth of 0.2 mm. In a series of experiments, semen samples were injected at varying flow rates (ranging from 0.5 to 2 ml/min) to determine the optimal conditions for separating motile sperm from non-motile sperm. The results indicated that increasing the flow rates significantly improved separation efficiency. The formation of Dean’s vortices directed motile sperm toward the inner wall of the channel, while immotile sperm and solid particles were directed toward the inner wall. Notably, at a flow rate of 1.3 ml/min, the separation rate improved significantly, demonstrating the effectiveness of this microfluidic approach in yielding a higher quantity of viable sperm with less DNA damage while preserving sperm integrity as quantified by the Sperm Retrieval Index (SRI) with up to 4.5 fold improvement over baselines per World Health Organization standards. This innovative method holds promise as a valuable supplement to conventional ART techniques, offering scalability and reduced processing time. Sperm DNA fragmentation assays at select rates (0.5, 1.3, and 2 mL/min) confirmed the channel’s superiority in minimizing damage relative to raw samples, likely attributable to diminished reactive oxygen species exposure. This label-free, scalable method serves as an efficacious adjunct to traditional ART protocols, curtailing processing duration and oxidative stress while enhancing clinical applicability for routine infertility management.

Energy based assessment of submarine landslide tsunamis in the Bay of Naples southern Tyrrhenian Sea

Abstract Submarine mass failures (SMF) represent a potential tsunami source for densely populated coastal areas such as the Bay of Naples (southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). This study applies a three-dimensional numerical modeling framework, combining GEOWAVE/TOPICS and FUNWAVE, to simulate tsunami generation, propagation, and nearshore impact associated with two geomorphologically plausible submarine landslides located at the Dohrn Canyon head and along the Ischia Bank slope. A third configuration considers their combined activation within a deterministic scenario-based approach. The simulations highlight the rapidity of near-field tsunami impact, with waves reaching all monitoring stations (Pozzuoli, Procida, Ischia, Napoli, Sorrento, and Capri) within a few minutes from slide initiation (e.g., arrival times as short as 201 s). The spatial distribution of maximum wave amplitude (MWA) shows significant variability, reflecting the influence of source location, bathymetry, and coastal morphology. In addition to MWA, a cumulative energy indicator (E tot ), obtained by integrating the squared free-surface elevation over time, was evaluated at each virtual gauge. The results indicate that MWA and cumulative energy do not scale linearly. For example, in the combined multi-source scenario, a relatively high MWA of 4.15 m at Ischia (IS) corresponds to a cumulative energy lower than that recorded at other stations characterized by smaller peak amplitudes. This behavior reflects the influence of wave-train duration, local bathymetric effects, and source orientation on energy redistribution. The findings suggest that, while MWA remains the primary parameter for hazard-oriented assessments, cumulative energy provides complementary information on the temporal persistence and overall hydraulic loading of tsunami signals in complex coastal environments.

Regulating π–π Stacking Interactions to Boost Near‐Infrared Light‐Driven CO ₂ Reduction

ABSTRACT Developing highly efficient photocatalysts to achieve near‐infrared (NIR) light‐driven CO 2 reduction is of great significance yet remains a great challenge. In this article, we found that BODIPY‐based π frameworks can serve as good NIR photocatalysts, achieving highly efficient CO 2 reduction to HCOO − coupled with benzyl alcohol oxidation to benzaldehyde in pure water. More impressively, the photocatalytic performance of these π frameworks can be improved by regulating π–π stacking interactions, among which the optimized π‐pyrenyl (π‐PY) framework with the most π–π stacking interactions exhibits HCOO − production rates of 4045 and 1693 µmol g −1 h −1 in >99% and 15% CO 2 atmospheres, respectively. π‐PY, thus, stands for the current state‐of‐the‐art photocatalyst in NIR‐light‐driven CO 2 reduction. Experiments together with theoretical calculations demonstrated that the high photocatalytic activity of π‐PY could be due to the abundant π–π stacking interactions, which accelerates charge separation and transfer, as well as prolongs carrier lifetime and reduces energy gap. This work gives new insights in understanding the contribution of π–π stacking interactions to photocatalysis, and introduces a new strategy for developing efficient photocatalysts for NIR‐light‐driven CO 2 reduction.

Palladium(II) complexes suppress biofilm formation and virulence in multidrug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus

Defect-Mediated Catalysis for Low-Temperature Formation of Graphene-Based Materials

Correction to “Thermally‐Stable Single‐Site Pd on CeO ₂ Catalyst for Selective Amination of Phenols to Aromatic Amines Without External Hydrogen”

An AI-enabled federated blockchain framework for adaptive energy coordination in smart electric mobility networks

Enhancement of red lettuce growth and photosynthesis through the use of coherent-structure and hybrid water sources supplemented with sodium selenate

Polymer-Modulated Solvation Chemistry via Compatibilizing-Solvent Plasticization for Stable High-Energy Lithium Metal Batteries

ST-GNNFormer: coupling dynamic graph learning and multi-scale temporal attention for traffic flow forecasting

A Deep‐Red‐Absorbing Osmium(II) Complex as a Photosensitizer for Photodynamic Therapy Inducing Immunogenic Cell Death

ABSTRACT Immunogenic cell death (ICD), which converts tumor cells into their own vaccine, plays a pivotal role in the development of novel anticancer therapies. Here, a small series of osmium(II) polypyridyl complexes was synthesized, and their biological activity in the dark and upon light irradiation against various cancer cell lines was studied. The compound Os2 (bearing two 4,7‐diphenyl‐1,10‐phenanthrolines and one substituted bipyridine ligand) was discovered to be the most effective photosensitizer (PS) for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of this series through the photogeneration of 1 O 2 and •OH. In addition, Os2 was found to exhibit promising toxicity upon deep‐red irradiation under both normoxia and hypoxia. These observations indicate that this PS is working through a mixture of Type‐I and Type‐II mechanisms. More interestingly, upon 740 nm irradiation, Os2 can stimulate a strong ICD response on CT26 and MCA205 cells both in vitro and in vivo. A comprehensive immune analysis showed that mice vaccinated with Os2 ‐treated CT26‐luc cells boosted the systemic specific adaptive immune responses, including the activation of CD8 + T cells and reprogramming of macrophages, leading to effective inhibition of tumor growth. Os2 is, to the best of our knowledge, the first photoactive osmium‐based complex inducing ICD.

One-year clinical outcomes of implantable collamer lens implantation for myopic regression after laser vision correction

Ultrahigh‐Efficiency and Long‐Calendar‐Life Aqueous Cadmium Metal Batteries Under Extremely Harsh Conditions

ABSTRACT Aqueous multivalent metal batteries (AMMBs) hold great promise for non‐flammable, cost‐effective, and scalable energy storage. However, the parasitic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) has severely plagued the metal plating efficiency and calendar life, particularly under realistic stress conditions, including low current densities, extended storage periods, and harsh temperatures. Herein, we leverage the inherent HER resistance of cadmium metal and the water‐confining solvation structures of concentrated electrolytes to synergistically tackle the HER challenge, and we successfully demonstrated ultrahigh‐efficiency and long‐calendar‐life cadmium metal batteries under strict conditions (0.1 mA cm −2 , 99.75% efficiency, 21.4 months’ life). Even under extreme conditions, such as ultralow current (0.01 mA cm −2 ), long rest periods (up to 60 days), and wide temperature ranges (−50°C to +80°C), Cd maintains a high efficiency of 90%–99.9%. In stark contrast, zinc suffers from drastic performance degradation and loses 27%–73% efficiency. The superior performance is correlated with the distinct solvation structure in the concentrated electrolyte, which transforms the hydration form of Cd 2+ cations and strengthens water molecules via a strong cation‐coordination effect. Our work establishes a new benchmark for AMMBs and highlights the decisive role of electrode selection and electrolyte design in advancing AMMB performance.

A chance-constrained Bi-level scheduling framework for EV-integrated microgrids considering travel demand and uncertainty

Selectivity Reversal from CO to Ethylene Products in CO ₂ Photoreduction via Electronic Modulation of SnS ₂ Using a Vinyl-Bridged Porous Organic Polymer

Beyond Hyperfluorescence: Leveraging a Host‐Guest Exciplex to Significantly Suppress the Efficiency Roll‐Off and Improve the Operational Stability in Narrowband Emissive Devices

ABSTRACT Narrowband emissive devices using multiple resonance (MR) thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters show strong efficiency roll‐offs and low operational stability, largely due to the low reverse intersystem crossing (RISC) rates ( k RISC ) of the emitters. TADF/phosphorescence‐sensitized fluorescence (i.e., hyperfluorescence) effectively solves this issue but requires a suitable sensitizer. Here, a “host‐guest exciplex promoted RISC” strategy effectively solves the issue beyond the hyperfluorescence mechanism. Three electron‐transporting hosts with a 2,4,6‐triphenyl‐1,3,5‐triazine motif, namely SF3‐TRZ , SF3‐TRZ‐DBF , and SF3‐TRZ‐DBSe , are developed for a typical MR‐TADF guest (DtBuCzB). The exciplex formed between the host and DtBuCzB effectively promotes the RISC of DtBuCzB, especially for selenium‐embedded SF3‐TRZ‐DBSe . The host‐guest films show narrowband emission from DtBuCzB, with the k RISC of the [ SF3‐TRZ‐DBSe : DtBuCzB] film being boosted by nearly 60‐fold to 4.7 × 10 5 s −1 . A narrowband blue‐green organic light‐emitting diode (OLED) based on a [ SF3‐TRZ‐DBSe : DtBuCzB] emissive layer shows maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE max )/EQE at 1000 cd m −2 (EQE 1000 ) of 30.1%/28.1%, with the EQE 1000 being the highest and the efficiency roll‐off being the lowest among narrowband OLEDs (including hyperfluorescence ones) based on DtBuCzB reported so far. The device also shows markedly improved operational stability compared to counterpart devices using the other two hosts or counterpart hyperfluorescence devices.

Performance characterization of non-Lambertian beams for 6G visible-light inter-satellite links

Abstract Visible-light inter-satellite communication is a promising physical-layer option for secure and interference-resilient 6G satellite networking. However, most analytical studies still assume Lambertian emission, which limits insight into emitters with asymmetric or multi-lobe radiation patterns. This paper presents a controlled analytical framework for Lambertian, Z-Power, and non-symmetric power-weighted (NSPW) beams using consistent transmitter–receiver modeling, channel-gain, receiver-noise, signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), and bit error rate (BER) formulations, including solar-background effects under Fraunhofer-line operation. The analysis considers six design dimensions: link distance, irradiance angle, transmitted optical power, receiver-bandwidth scaling, optical-filter background leakage, and beam azimuth rotation. The results show a clear operating-regime transition: Lambertian emission is competitive for near-aligned links, whereas non-Lambertian beams offer markedly higher robustness at wide irradiance angles. In a representative proximity-case stress point (0.5 km, $$80^\circ$$ irradiance angle), Z-Power and NSPW links achieve about 4.7 dB and $$-9.7$$ dB, respectively, while the Lambertian baseline remains near $$-55.4$$ dB, corresponding to gains of approximately 60 dB and 45.7 dB. The bandwidth, distance-scaling, and link-budget discussions clarify that these values are beam-profile sensitivity margins rather than a flight-qualified payload budget. Overall, the findings provide a practical roadmap for beam selection, link-margin interpretation, and attitude-aware adaptation in robust 6G visible-light inter-satellite communication systems.