Hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) ceramics possess high thermal conductivity, excellent electrical insulation, and good thermal and chemical stability, showing great potential for high-end electronics and thermal management. Current industrial production relies on hot pressing, which limits product size and yield with high costs. Pressureless sintering is simple, low-cost, and suitable for large or complex shapes. However, due to the extremely low self-diffusion coefficient of h-BN, densification via pressureless sintering is difficult, with relative densities typically below 90%. Therefore, achieving densification of h-BN by pressureless sintering has remained a key challenge for over half a century since its first synthesis.

Hydrogen purification is a critical challenge for clean energy. The Sun and Kang’s group have now developed a novel composite membrane using a "mortar-and-brick" strategy. This membrane combines a metal-organic framework (MOF) as the "bricks" with a hydrogen-bonded organic framework (HOF) as the "mortar," creating an all-nanoporous hierarchical structure. Hetero-MOF facilitates the hetero-nucleation, and the systematic rule of HOF’s crystal growth interfered by hetero-phase is established: suppressing the homo-nucleation, balancing nucleation driving force with molecular attachment rates, and optimizing the nutrients supplement and demand. The optimized membrane shows a 562% increase in hydrogen permeance and 241% improve in hydrogen/methane selectivity compared to a pure HOF membrane, offering a new blueprint for next-generation gas separation materials that combine easy processing with high performance.

Harnessing solar energy to produce usable power is not new, but the technology is constantly evolving and improving. A major development in recent times is the use of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), which are low-weight, highly efficient, flexible solar cells using perovskite (typically a metal-halide material with a specialized structure) crystal structures to absorb light. Though a promising concept, improvements are necessary for PSCs to be able to reach their full potential. Researchers approach these improvements by introducing an additive, 1H-indole-3-carbohydrazide (1H-CBH) to effectively alleviate the main obstacle of PSCs, which are defects leading to loss of energy and efficiency in the cell.

This study develops a novel bismuth layer-structured 0.3Na_0.5Bi_2.5Nb₂O₉-0.7Bi₃Ti_1-x(W_1/3Cr_2/3)_xNbO₉ solid solution via a solid-state reaction method. By B-site (W, Cr) co-doping, the optimized x=0.04 ceramics achieve a remarkable piezoelectric constant (d₃₃=20.3 pC/N) alongside a high Curie temperature (T_C=845.9 ^oC). The synergistic effect of [Nb/Ti]O₆ octahedral distortion and (CrTi'-VO∙∙) defect dipole formation significantly enhances domain stability while effectively suppressing the oxygen vacancy concentration. Consequently, the material exhibits superior high-temperature resistivity (7.3×10⁷ Ω·cm at 500 °C) and excellent thermal stability, retaining 93.1% of its initial d₃₃ after annealing at 600 °C. These findings highlight its exceptional potential for advanced high-temperature piezoelectric sensors.

Harvesting distributed wind energy in complex environments remains a major challenge. Researchers from China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Tsinghua University, and the Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems proposed a vortex-induced vibration-based triboelectric nanogenerator (VIV-TENG). The device can collect wind energy from all directions and operate efficiently under low wind speeds and high humidity. At 3.5 m/s, it delivers an average output power of 49.5 μW, demonstrating its potential for powering small electronic devices and enabling self-powered systems in urban environments.