Synchrotron radiation sources generate highly brilliant light pulses, ranging from infrared to hard X-rays, which can be used to gain deep insights into complex materials. An international team has now published an overview on synchrotron methods for the further development of quantum materials and technologies in the journal Advanced Functional Materials: Using concrete examples, they show how these unique tools can help to unlock the potential of quantum technologies such as quantum computing, overcome production barriers and pave the way for future breakthroughs.

Electrochemists Rutha Jäger of the University of Tartu and Eneli Härk of the Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin mapped the atomic structure of this iron-nitrogen-carbon catalyst, demonstrating how it might compete with costly precious metals in fuel cell technology. The article “Small-Angle X-ray Scattering Monitoring of Porosity Evolution in Iron–Nitrogen–Carbon Electrocatalysts” was published in ACS Nano, a ranked in the top 5 in the Nanoscience & Nanotechnology and the Multidisciplinary Materials Science.

A team of researchers has built one of the most detailed open maps of emerging technologies yet assembled, allowing governments, companies and investors in the United States and worldwide to see what sits inside big fields like artificial intelligence and quantum computing, how fast each technology is growing and how deeply it is rooted in science.

Deciphering true active sites under identical mass transport conditions is crucial for understanding catalytic mechanisms. By establishing uniform mass transfer and implementing controlled experiments to eliminate interfering factors, the research team identified Cu(100) grain boundaries as the key sites driving efficient C₂₊ production. Advanced characterization and theoretical calculations confirmed these sites facilitate asymmetric C–C coupling between *CHO and *CO intermediates, providing critical insights for rational catalyst design.

Co atoms are uniformly incorporated in NiS nanoparticles to fabricate homogeneous NiCoS cocatalyst on TiO₂ surface by a facile photosynthesis strategy. The optimized NiCoS/TiO₂(1:2) photocatalyst display the highest H₂ production performance, outperforming the NiS/TiO₂ and CoS/TiO₂ samples. The incorporated Co atoms break the electron distribution symmetry in NiS, thus essentially increasing electron density of S atoms to weaken S-H_ad bonds for efficient H_ad adsorption and desorption, endowing the NiCoS cocatalysts with a highly active H₂ evolution process. The integrated homogeneous NiCoS nanoparticles with TiO₂ could rapidly transfer photogenerated electrons and efficiently facilitate the interfacial H₂ evolution process, thus achieving enhanced photocatalytic H₂ generation activity.

The 0.1wt% ultra-low loading 0.1(PtMnFeCoNi)/TiO₂ high-entropy catalyst developed by our team reduces the complete conversion temperature of CO in sintering flue gas to 230℃. It resists interference from H₂O and SO₂, and based on in-situ characterization and theoretical calculations, reveals the multiple action mechanism of "high-entropy effect - support synergy - reaction pathway". It exhibits excellent catalytic performance in CO oxidation reactions and is an industrial catalytic material with broad application prospects.

Chinese chemists boost lignin’s sun protection factor from 5 to 66 and cut colour darkness by one-third through controlled radical grafting and TiO₂ nano-loading, offering a biodegradable alternative to petrochemical filters.

Reporting in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts, researchers show that atom-transfer radical polymerisation couples waste-pulp lignin with the commercial UV absorber MBBT, producing sub-micron spheres that remain stable after three hours of intense ultraviolet irradiation.