-  Joint research team led by Professor Kang Taek Lee and Professor EunAe Cho uses a 3D digital twin to reveal localized degradation mechanisms during fast charging

- Study shows how the spatial distribution of binder and pore phase affects fast-charging performance and battery degradation

-  Findings provide a new electrode design strategy for faster-charging, longer-lasting lithium-ion batteries

In a paper published in SCIENCE CHINA Earth Sciences, a team of researchers conducted a series of CESM2 ensemble simulations under SSP2-4.5 to examine the impact of marine cloud brightening (MCB) on terrestrial drought. By injecting sea salt aerosols over certain subtropical ocean regions, they found that MCB could produce about 0.9°C global cooling and mitigate global land drying trend via reduced potential evapotranspiration by 2100 relative to that of SSP2-4.5. However, regional differences in drought response to MCB are evident, indicating the underlying complexity of terrestrial hydrological responses to artificial climate intervention. It sheds new light on the potential and risks of solar geoengineering for drought mitigation.

A Nankai University team designed azaphenanthrene-fused non-fullerene acceptors and tuned their central cores with fluorine, chlorine, or bromine. Increasing halogen size progressively enhanced crystallinity and packing order. The brominated acceptor CHNBr achieved a fill factor of 78.84%, enabling binary organic solar cells to exceed 20% power conversion efficiency.

Researchers compared carbon nitride photocatalysts made from melamine, urea and thiourea for removing acetaminophen, cephalexin and levofloxacin from water. The melamine-derived material achieved the highest production yield and strongest overall performance in laboratory tests. Further research using real wastewater and broader toxicity assessments is needed before large-scale application.

- A joint research team led by Professor Youngsuk Nam of the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Professor Sung Gap Im of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering achieved up to 5.5 times the heat transfer performance of conventional condensation surfaces using ultrathin polymer coatings.

- Nanoscale aggregates previously regarded as ‘defects’ were harnessed to promote water droplet formation.

- The technology could improve energy efficiency and potentially reduce operating costs in power plants, desalination systems, and electronics cooling applications.

Researchers report a programmable mid-infrared photothermoelectric detector based on a suspended nanometer-thick SrTiO₃ membrane. It responds in about 10 microseconds, reaches about 50 volts per watt through dual-gate control, and supports 40 measured response states. A 3-by-3 array further demonstrates programmable infrared image preprocessing and attention-guided thermal target enhancement.

Titanium is widely used in marine engineering and biomedical implants because of its excellent corrosion resistance. Researchers have discovered that marine electroactive bacteria can weaken titanium’s protective oxide layer through flavin-mediated extracellular electron transfer. The findings reveal a previously unknown bioelectrochemical corrosion pathway and provide new insights for designing titanium materials with improved resistance to microbiologically influenced corrosion.