Next-generation thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) must operate beyond 1200 °C to protect hot-end components in gas turbines and aircraft engines, yet conventional yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) suffers from phase instability and rising thermal conductivity above 900 °C. Researchers at Kunming University of Science and Technology have designed tantalate high-entropy ceramics (HECs) coatings synthesized via air plasma spraying (APS), that withstand thermal shock at 1500 °C for 614 cycles and thermal fatigue at 1150 °C for 12,830 cycles. Two failure mechanisms are identified, advancing the design of high-performance TBCs for extreme-temperature service.

Traditional trial-and-error methods for developing BaTiO₃ (BT)-based high-entropy energy storage ceramics are highly inefficient, and such materials struggle to balance high energy storage density and efficiency. The research team adopted a machine learning acceleration strategy, building a random forest model to screen 660,000 candidate compositions and identify the optimal one. This ceramic achieves an ultrahigh energy storage density of 10.8 J·cm^-3 and an efficiency of 86%, along with excellent temperature and frequency stability and charge-discharge performance. It provides an efficient new approach for designing high-performance energy storage ceramics, boasting significant application potential in the electronic device field.

Dielectric ceramics are essential for high-power energy storage, yet their applications have long been limited by low energy density and efficiency. In a new study, researchers from Guilin University of Technology, China, developed a high-entropy tungsten bronze ceramic with synergistic bandgap engineering, achieving a recoverable energy density of 7.93 J·cm^-3 and an ultrahigh efficiency of 94.25%. The material also delivers ultrafast discharge (1.56 µs) and excellent thermal stability, positioning it as a strong candidate for advanced pulsed power capacitors.

In a paper published in Mycology, a team from Fujian Academy of Agricultural Sciences in China provides the first evidence of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) -dependent growth regulation in Sparassis latifolia, advancing the understanding of fungal epitranscriptomics and offering potential targets for optimizing industrial mushroom cultivation.

Novel and rare fungal species are an important source of new natural products, but much of their chemical diversity remains unexplored. By combining genome sequencing with chemical profiling, researchers assessed the biosynthetic potential of the endemic Australian fungus Aspergillus luteorubrus. Although only ten metabolites were isolated, genome analysis uncovered many biosynthetic genes linked to unknown compounds, showing that this newly recognised species holds considerable untapped potential for future natural product discovery.