Electrocatalytic nitric oxide (NO) reduction reaction (NORR) is a promising and sustainable process that can simultaneously realize green ammonia (NH₃) synthesis and hazardous NO removal. However, current NORR performances are far from practical needs due to the lack of efficient electrocatalysts. Engineering the lattice of metal-based nanomaterials via phase control has emerged as an effective strategy to modulate their intrinsic electrocatalytic properties. Herein, we realize boron (B)-insertion-induced phase regulation of rhodium (Rh) nanocrystals to obtain amorphous Rh₄B nanoparticles (NPs) and hexagonal close-packed (hcp) RhB NPs through a facile wet-chemical method. A high Faradaic efficiency (92.1 ± 1.2%) and NH₃ yield rate (629.5 ± 11.0 µmol h⁻¹ cm⁻²) are achieved over hcp RhB NPs, far superior to those of most reported NORR nanocatalysts. In situ spectro-electrochemical analysis and density functional theory simulations reveal that the excellent electrocatalytic performances of hcp RhB NPs are attributed to the upshift of d-band center, enhanced NO adsorption/activation profile, and greatly reduced energy barrier of the rate-determining step. A demonstrative Zn–NO battery is assembled using hcp RhB NPs as the cathode and delivers a peak power density of 4.33 mW cm⁻², realizing simultaneous NO removal, NH₃ synthesis, and electricity output.

Recently, Professor Jie Kong, Associate Professor Jin Liang, and their research team from Northwestern Polytechnical University have systematically reviewed the design strategies, printing processes, and application progress of magnetically responsive materials in 4D printing. This study thoroughly analyzes the working principles and performance optimization methods of magnetically responsive shape memory materials, and demonstrates their innovative applications in fields such as biomedical tissue engineering, robotics, and intelligent devices. The relevant work was published in Research under the title "4D Printing of Magnetically Responsive Materials and Their Applications" (Research, 2025, DOI: 10.34133/research.0847).

A bold plan to supercharge immune cell ‘spies’ to better seek out and kill cancer cells has received a $17 million funding boost from the Australian Government.

University of Toronto Engineering researchers have discovered a new way of capturing carbon directly from the air — one that could offer significant cost savings over current methods. The team calls their new technique evaporative carbonate crystallization. Because it is powered by passive processes such as capillary action and evaporation, it has the potential to eliminate some of the costliest steps required by existing carbon capture methods.