A joint research team led by Dr. Young-Jun Jang and Dr. Jongkuk Kim of the Extreme Materials Research Institute, in collaboration with Dr. Sungmo Moon’s team from the Energy and Environment Materials Research Division at the Korea Institute of Materials Science (KIMS) has successfully developed Korea’s first high corrosion- and wear-resistant carbon coating technology to mitigate the severe corrosion and wear issues associated with ammonia fuel. This technology is expected to serve as a key enabling platform for accelerating the commercialization of eco-friendly ammonia-powered ships.

Bioluminescent plankton are marine organisms capable of emitting visible light through chemical reactions in their bodies. This unique biochemical trait is attributed to a luciferin-luciferase reaction, which produces a striking blue light. This fascinating phenomenon, often referred to as the “blue tears” effect, has become a major attraction for tourist attractions in many countries. Since their discovery, most investigations related to these marine organisms have primarily focused on the fields of biology, ecology, oceanography, and microbiology. However, there has been limited to almost no study of their potential applications in the area of energy or lighting. This paper provides viewpoints on the opportunities for using these marine organisms and their light-emitting characteristics as an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly lighting solution, rather than just as a tourist attraction. Additionally, it addresses the challenges associated with sustaining the growth of bioluminescent plankton collected from the marine environment, the importance of establishing suitable protocols for in-house cultivation, challenges in stimulating the light-production at desired time, constraint imposed by the circadian rhythm, the toxicity of certain bioluminescent plankton, and the capacity of their luminous intensity.

Direct air capture (DAC) is an emerging technology aimed at mitigating global warming. However, conventional DAC technologies and the subsequent utilization processes are complex and energy-intensive. An integrated system of direct air capture and utilization (IDACU) via in-situ catalytic conversion to fuels and chemicals is a promising approach, although it remains in the early stages of development. This review examines the current technical routes of IDACU, including solid-based dual-functional materials (DFMs) through thermo-catalysis, IDACU using liquid sorbents with thermo-catalysis, and non-thermal conversion methods. It covers the basic principles, reaction conditions, main products, material types, and the existing problems and challenges associated with these technical routes. Additionally, it discusses the recent advancements in solid-based DFMs for IDACU, with particular attention to the differences in material characteristics between carbon capture from flue gases (ICCU) and DAC. While IDACU technology holds significant promise, it still faces numerous challenges, especially in the design of advanced materials.

In a recent study published in Science China Earth Sciences, a team of researchers proposed using an orthogonal conditional nonlinear optimal perturbations (O-CNOPs) method to tackle the challenge of forecasting unusual tropical cyclone (TC) tracks. Their findings revealed that this method exhibits exceptional capability in generating ensemble members that accurately predict sharp TC turns. The O-CNOPs method holds potential as a transformative tool for addressing the forecasting challenge, offering a more precise and reliable solution for predicting TC behavior.

Forecasting unusual TC tracks has long been a persistent challenge in TC prediction, with limited progress made over the years. However, this study demonstrated that the O-CNOPs outperformed traditional methods [singular vectors (SVs) and bred vectors (BVs)] by providing more stable and reliable improvements in TC track forecasting skills. Notably, at lead times of one to five days, the O-CNOPs showed superior ability to generate ensemble members that accurately predict sharp TC turns. Thus, the study offers a new ensemble forecasting technology to enhance the accuracy of unusual TC track forecasts, with potential for becoming a valuable approach to address this forecasting challenge.

Utilizing plasmonic effects to assist electrochemical reactions exhibits a huge potential in tuning the reaction activities and product selectivity, which is most appealing especially in chemical reactions with multiple products, such as CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR). However, a comprehensive review of the development and the underlying mechanisms in plasmon-assisted electrocatalytic CO2RR remains few and far between. Herein, the fundamentals of localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) excitation and the properties of typical plasmonic metals (including Au, Ag, and Cu) are retrospected. Subsequently, the potential mechanisms of plasmonic effects (such as hot carrier effects and photothermal effects) on the reaction performance in the field of plasmon-assisted electrocatalytic CO₂RR are summarized, which provides directions for the future development of this field. It is concluded that plasmonic catalysts exhibit potential capabilities in enhancing CO₂RR while more in situ techniques are essential to further clarify the inner mechanisms.

An accurate assessment of the state of health (SOH) is the cornerstone for guaranteeing the long-term stable operation of electrical equipment. However, the noise the data carries during cyclic aging poses a severe challenge to the accuracy of SOH estimation and the generalization ability of the model. To this end, this paper proposed a novel SOH estimation model for lithium-ion batteries that incorporates advanced signal-processing techniques and optimized machine-learning strategies. The model employs a whale optimization algorithm (WOA) to seek the optimal parameter combination (K, α) for the variational modal decomposition (VMD) method to ensure that the signals are accurately decomposed into different modes representing the SOH of batteries. Then, the excellent local feature extraction capability of the convolutional neural network (CNN) was utilized to obtain the critical features of each modal of SOH. Finally, the support vector machine (SVM) was selected as the final SOH estimation regressor based on its generalization ability and efficient performance on small sample datasets. The method proposed was validated on a two-class publicly available aging dataset of lithium-ion batteries containing different temperatures, discharge rates, and discharge depths. The results show that the WOA-VMD-based data processing technique effectively solves the interference problem of cyclic aging data noise on SOH estimation. The CNN-SVM optimized machine learning method significantly improves the accuracy of SOH estimation. Compared with traditional techniques, the fused algorithm achieves significant results in solving the interference of data noise, improving the accuracy of SOH estimation, and enhancing the generalization ability.

Late blight remains one of the most devastating diseases threatening global potato production. 

Protonic ceramic cells (PCCs) are emerging as highly efficient devices for power generation, hydrogen production, and chemical synthesis at intermediate temperatures. However, their advancement depends on a deeper understanding of proton transport, hydration mechanisms, and surface catalytic reactions. This review highlights how diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) provides a powerful, surface-sensitive approach to uncover these mechanisms in real time. By probing hydroxyl formation, carbonate species, reaction intermediates, and proton migration pathways, DRIFTS enables researchers to decode key phenomena that govern PCC performance. The study also outlines major challenges and proposes strategies to expand DRIFTS capabilities for improving materials design and accelerating PCC development.