Lithium–oxygen batteries have great potential as next-generation energy storage devices; however, sluggish oxygen reactions have long hindered their commercial adoption. Researchers from Shibaura Institute of Technology developed a heterostructured lanthanum cobalt oxide-cobalt oxide composite that accelerates these reactions, achieving outstanding bifunctional catalytic performance with a record-low potential gap of just 1.14 V. The platinum-free catalyst could allow longer-range electric vehicles and extended-endurance drones, offering a cost-effective and sustainable path toward next-generation energy storage.

A research team has developed porous sodium-alginate composite gel microspheres capable of capturing uranium(VI) from aqueous solutions with high capacity and selectivity. 

This collection features articles on Surface Treatment published in Smart Materials in Manufacturing. All articles are free to read and download.

This collection features articles on Alloy published in Smart Materials in Manufacturing. All articles are free to read and download.

A research team has found that soil type strongly determines how agricultural microbial communities process added carbon and nitrogen and whether denitrification releases nitrous oxide (N₂O) or converts it to harmless dinitrogen (N₂).

A research team has found that overlapping yak urine and dung patches in an alpine meadow do not simply add together to increase soil nitrous oxide emissions. 

A research team has discovered that bacterial rather than fungal denitrification serves as the primary driver for increased nitrous oxide (N₂O) emissions in paddy soils under warming conditions. 

The Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macau Link’s concrete structures are engineered to achieve a design service life of 120 years, necessitating a robust, science-based framework for long-term durability management. This paper systematically reviews data-driven and physics-informed modeling approaches; establishes a smart, self-cleaning, and self-predictive durability database; integrates validated, application-oriented durability models; develops a life-cycle cost-optimized planning methodology; and proposes performance-aligned maintenance strategies—thereby identifying critical technical and managerial challenges in sustaining structural durability over the whole service life.