Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have uncovered a path to design superionic polymer electrolytes for solid-state batteries and other energy applications that could help ensure a future of abundant and reliable energy for the United States. The scientists demonstrated that by carefully controlling the chemical composition of a lithium salt-based polymer, they could create a material that enables superfast transport of ions in batteries and many other energy storage and conversion technologies.

Researchers have developed a decision-aware forecasting framework for photovoltaic-battery energy storage systems, or PV-BESS, that improves how solar generation is predicted for day-ahead scheduling. Instead of treating forecasting and operational decision-making as two separate steps, the new approach trains the forecasting model to account directly for downstream scheduling objectives such as economic return and output smoothness. The result, according to the study, is a system that not only predicts well, but also helps the storage system operate more profitably and more stably.

Researchers from Wuhan University of Technology have developed a laser-stepwise-induced graphene (LSIG) method that significantly lowers sheet resistance to just 15 Ω sq^-1. By combining focused and defocused laser pulses, this technique reduces structural defects and improves crystallinity in laser-induced graphene, enabling advanced applications in electromagnetic shielding and infrared stealth.

Researchers have developed a magnetic, transferrin-modified liposomal delivery system (HM@MNLs-Tf) to improve the brain-targeted therapy of glioblastoma using harmine, a plant-derived anti-cancer compound. By leveraging transferrin receptor-mediated targeting and an external magnetic field, the system efficiently crosses the blood-brain barrier, selectively delivers harmine to glioma cells, and minimizes neurotoxic side effects. In preclinical studies, HM@MNLs-Tf demonstrated enhanced tumor accumulation, significant inhibition of tumor growth, and reduced central nervous system toxicity, offering a promising strategy for precise and safe glioblastoma treatment.

Malignant cutaneous melanoma is the most invasive and metastatic type of skin cancer. Surgical resection, the conventional treatment for it, is associated with two major issues: incomplete tumor removal, which easily leads to recurrence, and poor healing of large postoperative wounds. Additionally, acral lentiginous melanoma (ALM) is a common subtype of this cancer. The existing bulky dressings used for ALM are prone to falling off during joint movement, significantly compromising the therapeutic effect. To address these problems, we have developed a nanocomposite hydrogel wound patch (M_xNd/yCe@M SAC). By adopting a cascaded sequential therapy strategy, this patch is specifically designed to solve the key challenges of high recurrence rate and poor wound healing after melanoma surgery.

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction (CO₂RR) to formate offers a sustainable pathway for carbon utilization under mild conditions. However, its practical application is hindered by the high energy consumption of the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Replacing OER with the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) enables simultaneous formate production at both electrodes and significantly lowers the overall energy input. Recently, the research group of Professor Junfeng Xie at Shandong Normal University has developed a two-electrode system featuring a crystalline/amorphous Bi-BiNiO_x/NF cathode and a β-Ni(OH)₂ anode for efficient formate synthesis.

A research team from China has developed a tuning strategy to enhance the conventional chiral seeded growth method. By incorporating a pre-incubation step involving seeds and chiral ligands, the team aimed to control the initial symmetry breaking by modulating their interactions. Under optimized incubation conditions, chiral plasmonic nanorods (CPNRs) exhibiting high chiroptical responses were successfully synthesized. These resulting CPNRs were used to explore the enhancement mechanism of silver ions in the plasmon-mediated oxidative coupling reaction of 4-aminothiophenol.