Article Highlights
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 2-Apr-2026 00:15 ET (2-Apr-2026 04:15 GMT/UTC)
Overcoming viral drug resistance: AI-driven structural and mechanistic approaches for next-generation therapeutics
Higher Education PressThis study systematically elucidates the drug resistance mechanisms of five highly pathogenic viruses, proposes five innovative anti-resistance strategies, and integrates artificial intelligence technology to establish a next-generation antiviral drug research and development framework, thereby providing critical theoretical support and transformative pathways for addressing clinical challenges associated with drug resistance.
- Journal
- Pharmaceutical Science Advances
Triple-functional hydrogel tackles resistant infections
Higher Education PressResearchers have developed an easy-to-apply antibacterial hydrogel by incorporating a biodegradable oligomer into a thermosensitive matrix. This hydrogel kills drug-resistant bacteria through a triple-action mechanism and demonstrates effective wound protection in biological models.
- Journal
- Pharmaceutical Science Advances
New study explores how experienced chinese teachers notice students’ mathematics learning
ECNU Review of EducationEffective teacher noticing supports teacher learning by enabling reflection of what was noticed, or missed, during teaching. A new study examined two primary school mathematics teachers from China to understand their professional noticing in everyday classroom contexts. The researchers investigated what teachers noticed about students' mathematics learning and how this noticing translated into instructional decisions.
- Journal
- ECNU Review of Education
- Funder
- Guangdong Planning Office of Philosophy and Social Science
New review maps how nickel catalysts could unlock cheaper hydrogen fuel cells
KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Hydrogen fuel cells are widely recognized as a clean and high-efficiency alternative to fossil energy, but commercial deployment remains restricted by the cost and scarcity of platinum-group catalysts. The reviewed work presents nickel-based catalysts as a promising non-noble solution for the alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR), summarizing progress in understanding catalytic mechanisms and performance evaluation. It highlights how optimizing hydrogen binding energy, hydroxide adsorption, electronic structures and surface configurations can significantly boost catalytic activity. The authors further classify development paths including alloys, compounds, heterostructures, core–shell systems, doping strategies and supports, offering a roadmap for designing efficient Ni-based HOR catalysts.
- Journal
- eScience
- Funder
- National Natural Science Foundation of China, Innovation and Talent Recruitment Base of New Energy Chemistry and Device
Defect-tuned layered double hydroxides open new path for clean energy catalysts
KeAi Communications Co., Ltd.Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) are emerging as promising electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), a key barrier in clean hydrogen production. However, their catalytic performance has long been restricted by limited active sites, sluggish electron transfer, and structural instability under operational conditions. A new review summarizes how electronic defect engineering, including vacancy creation, heteroatom doping, single-atom incorporation and lattice modulation, which reconfigures electron distribution, enhances active site exposure, accelerates reaction kinetics, and strengthens catalytic durability. The work highlights strategies that effectively lower OER overpotential and improve stability by tuning LDH atomic coordination environments, providing a unified framework for the design of next-generation high-performance water-splitting catalysts.
- Journal
- eScience
- Funder
- National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, Natural Science Foundation Project for Outstanding Youth of Henan Province, Nuclear Material Technology Innovation Fund for National Defense Technology Industry, Science and Technology Department of Henan Province
Catalysis‑induced highly‑stable interface on porous silicon for high‑rate lithium‑ion batteries
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Journal CenterSilicon stands as a key anode material in lithium-ion battery ascribing to its high energy density. Nevertheless, the poor rate performance and limited cycling life remain unresolved through conventional approaches that involve carbon composites or nanostructures, primarily due to the un-controllable effects arising from the substantial formation of a solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) during the cycling. Here, an ultra-thin and homogeneous Ti doping alumina oxide catalytic interface is meticulously applied on the porous Si through a synergistic etching and hydrolysis process. This defect-rich oxide interface promotes a selective adsorption of fluoroethylene carbonate, leading to a catalytic reaction that can be aptly described as “molecular concentration-in situ conversion”. The resultant inorganic-rich SEI layer is electrochemical stable and favors ion-transport, particularly at high-rate cycling and high temperature. The robustly shielded porous Si, with a large surface area, achieves a high initial Coulombic efficiency of 84.7% and delivers exceptional high-rate performance at 25 A g−1 (692 mAh g−1) and a high Coulombic efficiency of 99.7% over 1000 cycles. The robust SEI constructed through a precious catalytic layer promises significant advantages for the fast development of silicon-based anode in fast-charging batteries.
- Journal
- Nano-Micro Letters
Cationic adsorption‑induced microlevelling effect: a pathway to dendrite‑free zinc anodes
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Journal CenterDendrite growth represents one of the most significant challenges that impede the development of aqueous zinc-ion batteries. Herein, Gd3+ ions are introduced into conventional electrolytes as a microlevelling agent to achieve dendrite-free zinc electrodeposition. Simulation and experimental results demonstrate that these Gd3+ ions are preferentially adsorbed onto the zinc surface, which enables dendrite-free zinc anodes by activating the microlevelling effect during electrodeposition. In addition, the Gd3+ additives effectively inhibit side reactions and facilitate the desolvation of [Zn(H2O)6]2+, leading to highly reversible zinc plating/stripping. Due to these improvements, the zinc anode demonstrates a significantly prolonged cycle life of 2100 h and achieves an exceptional average Coulombic efficiency of 99.72% over 1400 cycles. More importantly, the Zn//NH4V4O10 full cell shows a high capacity retention rate of 85.6% after 1000 cycles. This work not only broadens the application of metallic cations in battery electrolytes but also provides fundamental insights into their working mechanisms.
- Journal
- Nano-Micro Letters
Tunable platform capacity of metal–organic frameworks via high‑entropy strategy for ultra‑fast sodium storage
Shanghai Jiao Tong University Journal CenterPrecise regulation of the platform capacity/voltage of electrode materials contributes to the efficient operation of sodium-ion fast-charging devices. However, the design of such electrode materials is still in a blank stage. Herein, based on tunable metal–organic frameworks, we have designed a novel material system—two-dimensional high-entropy metal–organic frameworks (HE-MOFs), which exhibits unique properties in sodium storage and is of vital importance for realizing fast-charging batteries. Furthermore, we have found that the high-entropy effect can regulate the electronic structure, the sodium-ion migration environment, and the sodium-ion storage active sites, thereby meeting the requirements of electrode materials for sodium-ion fast-charging devices. Impressively, the HE-MOFs material still maintains a reversible specific capacity of 89 mAh g−1 at a current density of 20 A g−1. It presents an ideal sodium storage voltage plateau of approximately 0.5 V, and its platform capacity is increased to 122.7 mAh g−1, far superior to that of Mn-MOFs (with no platform capacity). This helps to reduce safety hazards during the fast-charging process and demonstrates its great application value in the fields of fast-charging sodium-ion batteries and capacitors. Our research findings have broken the barriers to the application of non-conductive MOFs as energy storage materials, enhanced the understanding of the regulation of platform capacity and voltage, and paved the way for the realization of high-security sodium-ion fast-charging devices.
- Journal
- Nano-Micro Letters