Developing durable oxygen evolution reaction (OER) catalysts for acidic media is vital for advancing proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWE). This study reveals that the stability of spinel oxide Co₃O₄ is profoundly dictated by the anchoring sites of iridium single atoms. By directly comparing iridium atoms at surface three-fold hollow sites versus lattice sites, the researchers found that lattice-embedded iridium dramatically suppresses cobalt and oxygen migration, enhances metal–oxygen covalency, and preserves structural integrity under harsh acidic conditions. These findings highlight a site-specific stabilization mechanism and provide an effective atom-level strategy for designing durable and low precious-metal OER catalysts.

Sustainable nitrogen transformation is central to clean energy development, environmental protection, and future chemical manufacturing. This study summarizes major advancements in designing metal–organic framework–nanoparticle (MOF–NP) composite catalysts that accelerate key nitrogen electrochemical reactions under mild conditions. By integrating the structural tunability and porosity of metal–organic frameworks MOFs with the conductivity and catalytic activity of nanoparticles, these hybrid materials significantly improve nitrogen reduction, nitrate reduction, and ammonia oxidation. The analysis highlights how MOF–NP interfaces enhance reaction selectivity, stabilize intermediates, increase Faradaic efficiency, and support strong long-term durability. Together, these performance gains position MOF–NP composites as promising candidates for green ammonia synthesis, nitrate remediation, and next-generation nitrogen-based energy systems.

Electrocatalysis underlies hydrogen production, fuel cells, and carbon-neutral chemical synthesis, which enables next-generation clean-energy systems rely on fast and selective redox reactions at solid–liquid interfaces, yet their mechanisms have remained difficult to resolve. This is due to the complexity of electrochemical interfaces and trace amounts and transient process of interfacial species, which include intermediates, surface states of electrocatalysts, interfacial water/solvent, and their interactions. Due to these challenges, deeper investigation of interfacial electrocatalytic processes is urgently needed. Traditional electrochemical methods detect only global current–voltage responses at macro scale and cannot resolve molecular bonding, electric-field effects, or interfacial water structure, all of which regulate reaction pathways and mechanisms. Techniques such as XRD, XPS, TEM, IR, and XAS provide valuable information yet lack the surface sensitivity needed to identify individual interfacial species during operation.

A new study introduces a simple molecular-engineering strategy that dramatically improves the reversibility of zinc plating and stripping in aqueous zinc batteries. By using methylurea as a low-cost electrolyte additive, researchers achieved in situ formation of a robust solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) that stabilizes the zinc surface and suppresses parasitic reactions. This engineered SEI enables Coulombic efficiencies approaching 100%, dendrite-free deposition, and unprecedented cycling life across multiple battery configurations. The work demonstrates that a carefully designed interphase can overcome long-standing limitations of aqueous zinc systems and provides a pathway toward practical, cost-effective anode-free zinc batteries with ultrahigh energy efficiency and durability.

From 1990 to 2021, global leukemia prevalence increased, whereas overall DALYs declined, indicating divergent trends between disease occurrence and health burden. Leukemia burden exhibited substantial heterogeneity across age, sex, subtype, and sociodemographic levels, with a pronounced bimodal age pattern and consistently higher burden in males. Chronic lymphocytic leukemia was the most prevalent subtype, while acute myeloid leukemia accounted for the largest share of DALYs; marked burden reductions were observed for ALL and CML. Burden decreased in high-SDI regions but continued to rise in low-SDI settings, highlighting persistent global inequalities in leukemia care. High body mass index, tobacco use, and occupational carcinogen exposure were key modifiable risk factors, and therapeutic advances likely contributed to DALY reductions, though benefits remain unevenly distributed.

In an innovative study, researchers apply cross-modal interaction and selection mechanisms to robotic visual–inertial trajectory localization. This approach not only improves localization accuracy for robots under GNSS-denied conditions but also effectively enhances the robustness of the algorithm in complex environments.