Researchers have developed sustainable biochar‑supported mono‑ and bimetallic catalysts from date palm trunk waste for CO₂ methanation. The optimal catalyst (BCNi‑3.0, 4.6 wt% Ni) achieved 58 % CO₂ conversion and 91 % CH₄ selectivity at 400 °C and 1 bar. Increasing pressure to 30 bar enhanced performance to 76 % conversion and nearly 99 % CH₄ selectivity, with stable operation over 20 h. Bimetallic NiFe catalysts promoted CO formation via the reverse water‑gas shift (RWGS) reaction, while K promotion further favored CO production. The study demonstrates that biochar from date palm trunk provides a viable, low‑cost support for CO₂ methanation with competitive performance at significantly reduced metal loading.

Researchers have developed a controllable hydrothermal synthesis strategy for spherical cerium oxide (CeO₂) abrasives with tunable particle sizes from 32 to 531 nm while maintaining excellent sphericity and dispersity. Mechanistic studies reveal that CeO₂ formation occurs via nitrateinduced oxidation of Ce³⁺, with subsequent precipitation coupled to acetate decomposition thermodynamically driving the reaction forward. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) tests show that 343 nm CeO₂ achieves the highest material removal rate (73.7 nm·min⁻¹) with low surface roughness (Ra = 0.31 nm). The hydrothermally synthesized CeO₂ outperforms commercial abrasives in both short and longterm polishing owing to its uniform morphology.

Researchers have developed a porous composite sponge (ZnCuCCS) by anchoring ZnS, CuS, and Zn₁₋ₓCuₓS nanoparticles onto a cellulose–chitosan matrix via a facile hydrothermal route. The material exhibits a high porosity of 88.37 %, a narrow bandgap of 1.31 eV, and excellent mechanical stability. In simulated solar irradiation, ZnCuCCS achieves a levofloxacin (LEV) removal efficiency of 90.12 %, maintaining a stable degradation rate of 72.9 % after five reuse cycles. The study elucidates the adsorption–photocatalytic degradation mechanism, demonstrating that photogenerated holes (h⁺) and superoxide radicals (O₂⁻) are the dominant active species.

Researchers have developed a bifunctional catalyst system combining ZnZrOₓ (ZZO) with silanol nest‑enriched silicalite‑1 (AS‑1) for CO₂ hydrogenation coupled with toluene alkylation. The moderate acidity of AS‑1 significantly suppresses side reactions, reducing benzene selectivity from 6.04 % (using conventional ZSM‑5) to 0.5 %, while increasing para‑xylene (PX) selectivity from 23.6 % to 33 %. Epitaxial silicalite‑1 shell coating further enhances shape selectivity, boosting PX selectivity to 44.4 %. Optimizing the spatial distribution of ZZO and AS‑1 increases toluene conversion to 16.3 %. The integrated ZZO/AS‑1@S‑1 catalyst achieves a CO₂ conversion of 9.5 %, toluene conversion of 15 %, and PX selectivity of 57.5 % under optimized conditions.

Researchers have developed a multifunctional flame‑retardant strategy for epoxy resin by incorporating polyphosphazene‑decorated hierarchical nickel phyllosilicate (NiPS@PZN) as a reinforcing and wear‑resistant filler, together with 9,10‑dihydro‑9‑oxa‑10‑phosphaphenanthrene‑10‑oxide (DOPO) as a flame‑retardant synergist. At a total loading of 6 % (1:1 mass ratio), the composite achieves a UL‑94 V‑0 rating and a limited oxygen index of 26.6 %, while total heat release, total smoke production, and CO₂ production are reduced by 10.4 %, 23.2 %, and 26.8 %, respectively. The tensile strength increases to 103.5 MPa and the minimum wear rate reaches 1.78 × 10⁻⁵ mm³·N⁻¹·m⁻¹, demonstrating a breakthrough in overcoming the traditional trade‑off between flame retardancy and mechanical/tribological properties.

Existing electrochemical biosensing systems generally rely on external computing units for data analysis. The necessity of analog-to-digital conversion and data transfer leads to high complexity, low working efficiency and concern of privacy. Zhao et al. realize the in-sensor computing in electrochemical biosensing for the first time, which uses a single neuromorphic organic photoelectrochemical transistor to simultaneously perform multi-target biosensing and artificial neural network classification. The strategy permits in-situ training using real-time data, helping solving the issue of device-to device variations. The proof-of-concept application is demonstrated by direct classification of microRNA fingerprints in real biological samples, which provides a new paradigm for simpler, faster and more secure AI-driven electrochemical biosensing.

 Researchers have developed a CoOₓ-modified Pt/Al₂O₃ catalyst that achieves outstanding performance in the dehydrogenation of perhydro-dibenzyltoluene (H₁₈-DBT), a promising liquid organic hydrogen carrier. The optimal catalyst with 1 wt% CoOₓ loading delivers a dehydrogenation degree of 93% and a hydrogen production rate of 20.98 × 10³ mol H₂·mol Pt⁻¹·h⁻¹ at 300 °C, outperforming all previously reported catalysts. However, increasing Co loading to 10 wt% causes a sharp decline in dehydrogenation degree to only 7.2%. The study reveals that amorphous CoO clusters enhance activity by increasing Pt electron density and reducing Pt particle size.