Estimating the multigenerational effects of chiral pesticide metabolites is essential for fully understanding their ecological impacts. This study demonstrated that S-o,p'-DDD accumulated preferentially in adult zebrafish and transferred more efficiently to their offspring compared to the R-enantiomer, leading to pronounced developmental defects and endocrine disruption across both generations. Molecular docking against key thyroid-related proteins provided a mechanistic explanation for this stereospecific toxicity. These findings suggest that evaluating only racemic mixtures may underestimate real-world hazards.

Super-resolution imaging is essential for visualizing fine biological structures beyond the diffraction limit. To advance this field, Scientists in Korea developed a super-resolution imaging system based on a novel multifocal metalens. This ultrathin metalens generates dense, uniform focal arrays optimized for image scanning microscopy (ISM), achieving twice the resolution of conventional wide-field (WF) imaging. The technique successfully revealed fine neuronal structures in brain organoids and is expected to open new avenues for advanced optical microscopy systems.

Research teams from Swinburne University of Technology and University of Southern Queensland have provided a deep overview of the current state of the art of fire-retardant recyclable epoxy systems (FRREs) based on covalent adaptable networks. By integrating dynamic covalent bonds (DCBs) and flame-retardant groups into the epoxy crosslinking network can effectively improve fire safety and recyclability. However, how to balance the recyclability, flame retardancy, and network stability of FRREs remains a key challenge. This review provides valuable insights into the directional design of high-stability FRREs.

In an era where climate change looms large, the aviation industry—responsible for 3%–4% of global CO2 emissions and growing—faces immense pressure to go green without grounding our connected world. Aviation powers trillions in economic activity and millions of jobs, yet its reliance on fossil fuels spews not just CO2 but also NOx, particulates, and other pollutants that harm air quality and accelerate global warming. Enter hydrogen: a boundless, clean-burning fuel that could slash in-flight emissions to zero. But harnessing it means conquering storage challenges onboard aircraft. This survey dives into cutting-edge hydrogen tank technologies, exploring how to safely store gaseous or liquid hydrogen amid extreme pressures and frigid temperatures, all while integrating seamlessly into plane designs. By reviewing materials, structures, and innovations, it highlights hydrogen's role in aligning aviation with global sustainability goals, making eco-friendly flights not just a dream, but an impending reality.

An international research team from the Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory (SLAB), the Institute of Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the International Iberian Nanotechnology Laboratory have developed a novel lead-doped ruthenium-iridium oxide (RuIrPbOₓ) catalyst that exhibits outstanding stability and efficiency for oxygen evolution reactions (OER) in proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs) operating at high current densities of 3 A/cm². This work addresses longstanding challenges in catalyst durability and performance under acidic, harsh conditions, paving the way for more reliable and cost-effective hydrogen production technologies.

As silicon-based transistors face fundamental scaling limits, the search for breakthrough alternatives has led to innovations in 3D architectures, heterogeneous integration, and sub-3 nm semiconductor body thicknesses. However, the true effectiveness of these advancements lies in the seamless integration of alternative semiconductors tailored for next-generation transistors. In this review, we highlight key advances that enhance both scalability and switching performance by leveraging emerging semiconductor materials. Among the most promising candidates are 2D van der Waals semiconductors, Mott insulators, and amorphous oxide semiconductors, which offer not only unique electrical properties but also low-power operation and high carrier mobility. Additionally, we explore the synergistic interactions between these novel semiconductors and advanced gate dielectrics, including high-K materials, ferroelectrics, and atomically thin hexagonal boron nitride layers. Beyond introducing these novel material configurations, we address critical challenges such as leakage current and long-term device reliability, which become increasingly crucial as transistors scale down to atomic dimensions. Through concrete examples showcasing the potential of these materials in transistors, we provide key insights into overcoming fundamental obstacles—such as device reliability, scaling down limitations, and extended applications in artificial intelligence—ultimately paving the way for the development of future transistor technologies.

Luminescent metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have garnered significant attention due to their structural tunability and potential applications in solid-state lighting, bioimaging, sensing, anti-counterfeiting, and other fields. Nevertheless, due to the tendency of 1,4-benzenedicarboxylic acid (BDC) to rotate within the framework, MOFs composed of it exhibit significant non-radiative energy dissipation and thus impair the emissive properties. In this study, efficient luminescence of MIL-140A nanocrystals (NCs) with BDC rotors as ligands is achieved by pressure treatment strategy. Pressure treatment effectively modulates the pore structure of the framework, enhancing the interactions between the N, N-dimethylformamide guest molecules and the BDC ligands. The enhanced host–guest interaction contributes to the structural rigidity of the MOF, thereby suppressing the rotation-induced excited-state energy loss. As a result, the pressure-treated MIL-140A NCs displayed bright blue-light emission, with the photoluminescence quantum yield increasing from an initial 6.8% to 69.2%. This study developed an effective strategy to improve the luminescence performance of rotor ligand MOFs, offers a new avenue for the rational design and synthesis of MOFs with superior luminescent properties.

Professor Xiao Shen's research group at Wuhan University developed a new type of palladium-catalyzed tandem cyclization reaction between trifluoroacetylsilane and 1,3-enyne. This strategy effectively suppressed competitive cyclopropanation and cyclopropenylation pathways, selectively promoting the formation of trifluoromethyl-substituted oxatrienes. Subsequently, oxa-6π-electrocyclization efficiently converted them into a series of 6-CF3-2H-pyran derivatives. The authors elucidated the tandem reaction mechanism through DFT calculations: the carbon-carbon triple bond in the 1,3-enyne substrate preferentially inserts into the Pd-Si bond of the acyl divalent palladium intermediate, followed by reductive elimination to generate trifluoromethyl-substituted oxatriene compounds, and finally undergoes oxa-6π-electrocyclization to release the 6-CF3-2H-pyran product. The article was published as an open access research article in CCS Chemistry, the flagship journal of the Chinese Chemical Society.

A major international webinar will take place on November 26 to present new scientific breakthroughs that could accelerate the global transition toward clean hydrogen. The event will feature Dr. Muhammad Aziz, Associate Professor and Lab Head at the Institute of Industrial Science at The University of Tokyo, who will unveil recent advances in chemical looping technology that enable efficient hydrogen production, inherent carbon capture, and recovery of useful heat or power in a single integrated system.

Antibiotics that enter rivers and coastal wetlands through wastewater, agriculture, and urban runoff may have far reaching impacts on the chemistry of these ecosystems, according to a new study that identifies the bacteria responsible for breaking down the antibiotic sulfamethoxazole and links this process to increased emissions of nitrous oxide, a potent greenhouse gas.