Academic Research Journal•2026•DOI: 10.26599/NR.2026.94908854
Constructing photocatalysts decorated with atomically dispersed metal species (ADMs) represents a pivotal strategy to maximize atom utilization and tailor active sites for efficient carbon dioxide (CO2) reduction. However, conventional synthesis strategies, typically relying on tedious wet-chemistry or prolonged thermal calcination, often suffer from slow kinetics that inevitably drive the thermodynamic aggregation of metastable single atoms or nanoclusters into less active nanoparticles. Herein, we bypassed these limitations by developing a facile flash Joule heating (FJH) strategy to engineer stable Cu ADMs on TiO2 via an ultrafast and millisecond-scale heating-quenching process. This non-equilibrium thermal shock effectively stabilizes the metal species before thermal diffusion can occur, ensuring a robust metal–support interaction, as unambiguously confirmed by aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) analyses. Consequently, the optimized Cu1.0/TiO2 delivers an approximately 10-fold enhancement in CO evolution compared to pristine TiO2 under simulated solar irradiation. Comprehensive in-situ diffuse reflectance Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and photoelectrochemical measurements reveal that these isolated Cu sites function as superior electron-trapping centers, which significantly accelerate interfacial charge transfer kinetics and promote the activation of critical reaction intermediates. This work establishes FJH as a versatile and scalable platform for overcoming the stability-dispersion trade-off in the rational design of high-performance photocatalysts.
Nano-Micro Letters•2026•DOI: 10.1007/s40820-025-01887-x
The growing prevalence of exercise-induced tibial stress fractures demands wearable sensors capable of monitoring dynamic musculoskeletal loads with medical-grade precision. While flexible pressure-sensing insoles show clinical potential, their development has been hindered by the intrinsic trade-off between high sensitivity and full-range linearity (R2 > 0.99 up to 1 MPa) in conventional designs. Inspired by the tactile sensing mechanism of human skin, where dermal stratification enables wide-range pressure adaptation and ion-channel-regulated signaling maintains linear electrical responses, we developed a dual-mechanism flexible iontronic pressure sensor (FIPS). This innovative design synergistically combines two bioinspired components: interdigitated fabric microstructures enabling pressure-proportional contact area expansion (∝ P1/3) and iontronic film facilitating self-adaptive ion concentration modulation (∝ P2/3), which together generate a linear capacitance-pressure response (C ∝ P). The FIPS achieves breakthrough performance: 242 kPa−1 sensitivity with 0.997 linearity across 0–1 MPa, yielding a record linear sensing factor (LSF = 242,000). The design is validated across various substrates and ionic materials, demonstrating its versatility. Finally, the FIPS-driven design enables a smart insole demonstrating 1.8% error in tibial load assessment during gait analysis, outperforming nonlinear counterparts (6.5% error) in early fracture-risk prediction. The biomimetic design framework establishes a universal approach for developing high-performance linear sensors, establishing generalized principles for medical-grade wearable devices.
Nano-Micro Letters•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40820-025-01798-x
Creating strongly coupled heterostructures with favorable catalytic activities is crucial for promoting the performance of catalytic reactions, especially those involve multiple intermediates. Herein, we fabricated a strongly coupled platinum/molybdenum nitrides nanocluster heterostructure on nitrogen-doped reduced graphene oxide (Pt/Mo₂N–NrGO) for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction. The well-defined Pt-containing Anderson-type polyoxometalates promote strong interfacial Pt–N–Mo bonding in Pt/Mo2N–NrGO, which exhibits a remarkably low overpotential, high mass activity, and exceptional long-term durability (> 500 h at 1500 mA cm⁻2) in an anion-exchange membrane water electrolyzer (AEMWE). Operando Raman spectroscopy and density functional theory reveal that pronounced electronic coupling at the Pt/Mo₂N cluster interface facilitates the catalytic decomposition of H2O through synergistic stabilization of intermediates (Pt–H* and Mo-OH*), thereby enhancing the kinetics of the rate-determining Volmer step. Techno-economic analysis indicates a levelized hydrogen production cost of $2.02 kg⁻1, meeting the US DOE targets. Our strategy presents a viable pathway to designing next-generation catalysts for industrial AEMWE for green hydrogen production.
Nano-Micro Letters•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s40820-024-01645-5
The integration of dual-mesoporous structures, the construction of heterojunctions, and the incorporation of highly concentrated oxygen vacancies are pivotal for advancing metal oxide-based gas sensors. Nonetheless, achieving an optimal design that simultaneously combines mesoporous structures, precise heterojunction modulation, and controlled oxygen vacancies through a one-step process remains challenging. This study proposes an innovative method for fabricating zinc stannate semiconductors featuring dual-mesoporous structures and tunable oxygen vacancies via a direct solution precursor plasma spray technique. As a proof of concept, the resulting zinc stannate-based coatings are applied to detect 2-undecanone, a key biomarker for rice aging. Remarkably, the zinc oxide/zinc stannate heterojunctions with a well-defined secondary pore structure exhibit exceptional gas-sensing performance for 2-undecanone at room temperature. Furthermore, practical experiments indicate that the developed sensor effectively identifies adulteration in various rice varieties. These results underscore the potential of this method for designing metal oxides with tailored properties for high-performance gas sensors. The enhanced adsorption capacity and dual-mesoporous features of this semiconductor make it a promising candidate for sensing applications in agricultural food safety inspections.
Journal of Semiconductors (半导体学报 - 中国科学院半导体研究所)•2025•DOI: 10.1088/1674-4926/25040026
In this letter, we demonstrate the effect of γ irradiation on the lateral AlGaN/GaN Schottky barrier diodes (SBDs) with self-terminated recessed anode structure and low work-function metal tungsten (W) as anode. For a comprehensive evaluation of the radiation-resistance performance of the device, the total dose of γ irradiation is up to 100 kGy with irradiation time of 20 h. Attributed to the barrier lowering effect of the W/GaN interface induced by γ irradiation observed in the experiment, the extracted turn-on voltage (VON) defined at anode forward current of 1 mA decreases from 0.47 to 0.43 V. Meanwhile, benefiting from the reinforced Schottky interface treated by post-anode-annealing, a high breakdown voltage (BV) of 1.75 kV is obtained for the γ-irradiated AlGaN/GaN SBD, which shows the promising application for the deep-space radiation environment and promotes the development of radiation-resistance research for GaN SBDs.
Int. Journal of Mining Science and Technology (采矿与安全工程)•2025•DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmst.2025.10.008
Deep mining is imperative, and the consequent coal and gas outburst disasters triggered during coal uncovering are becoming increasingly severe. Therefore, this study investigated the mechanical mechanisms of outburst instability from three dimensions: experiment, numerical simulation, and field application. Based on physical simulation tests with different outburst pore diameter, it was found that the gas pressure relief rate, gas emission volume, and outburst dynamic phenomena increase with outburst pore diameter. The migration patterns of the gas-solid two-phase flow evolved over time approximately into suspension flow, plug flow, dune flow, and stratified flow. The dominant influence of gas-driven tensile failure was amplified by uncovering coal area. The employment of the “fluid-solid-damage” coupling model revealed that coal damage, gas emission volume, deflection angle of outburst hole, roof displacement, maximum horizontal tensile stress, the horizontal tensile stress zone, the peak seepage force, and the damage zone all increased with uncovering coal areas. At the gas pressure of 0.74 MPa, when the uncovering coal areas were 3.189, 4.754 and 6.225 m, the total gas emission volumes were 4.72×10−4, 16.83×10−4, and 17.67 m2/s, deflection angles of outburst hole were 150.79°, 152.89° and 158.66°, the maximum roof displacements were 0.044, 0.046, and 0.325 m, and the peak seepage force were 0.85, 1.27, and 1.46 MPa/m, respectively. The regions of coal failure calculated by tensile failure criterion largely coincided with those calculated by the mixed failure criterion, far greater than those calculated by the shear failure criterion. As the increase of uncovering coal area, tensile weights of 80.72%, 89.78%, and 93.01%, respectively. Comparisons with field outburst cases showed that both gas emission volume and outburst hole deflection angle reflected the tensile failure of coal. The mechanical instability process of outbursts under the influence of uncovering coal area and gas pressure was analyzed, developing the progressive cyclical method of coal uncovering, which provided a novel approach for the achievement of safe coal mining.
Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering•2025•DOI: 10.1186/s10033-025-01281-z
The flexible job shop scheduling problem (FJSP) is commonly encountered in practical manufacturing environments. A product is typically built by assembling multiple jobs during actual manufacturing. AGVs are normally used to transport the jobs from the processing shop to the assembly shop, where they are assembled. Therefore, studying the integrated scheduling problem with its processing, transportation, and assembly stages is extremely beneficial and significant. This research studies the three-stage flexible job shop scheduling problem with assembly and AGV transportation (FJSP-T-A), which includes processing jobs, transporting them via AGVs, and assembling them. A mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model is established to obtain optimal solutions. As the MILP model is challenging for solving large-scale problems, a novel co-evolutionary algorithm (NCEA) with two different decoding methods is proposed. In NCEA, a restart operation is developed to improve the diversity of the population, and a multiple crossover strategy is designed to improve the quality of individuals. The validity of the MILP model is proven by analyzing its complexity. The effectiveness of the restart operator, multiple crossovers, and the proposed algorithm is demonstrated by calculating and analyzing the RPI values of each algorithm's results within the time limit and performing a paired t-test on the average values of each algorithm at the 95% confidence level. This paper studies FJSP-T-A by minimizing the makespan for the first time, and presents a MILP model and an NCEA with two different decoding methods.
Journal of Central South University•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s11771-025-6106-0
Iron removal from zinc leachate in hydrometallurgy produces large volumes of low-grade, impurity-laden iron waste, posing significant environmental challenges. Magnetite precipitation offers a novel method for iron removal and resource recycling in zinc hydrometallurgy. However, the chemical similarity between ferrous and zinc ions, along with high zinc concentrations, causes zinc co-precipitation, challenging its application. To address this issue, this study utilized electron microscopy to observe key intermediate products in magnetite crystallization and employed EXAFS (extended X-ray absorption fine structure) to analyze their evolutionary mechanisms and zinc-binding configurations. The results indicate that the intermediate products during magnetite formation are sequentially green rust, feroxyhyte (δ-FeOOH), and weakly crystalline nanoparticles, and further analysis revealed that their transformation follows the dissolution-recrystallization mechanism. Furthermore, it was found that intermediate products such as green rust exhibit strong binding with zinc (via adsorption and lattice substitution), which was confirmed as a significant reason for the difficulty in separating zinc from magnetite. This study elucidates the transformation process of intermediate products during magnetite formation and, for the first time, reveals the binding configurations of zinc with these key intermediate products. This has significant implications for the development and optimization of new technologies for the efficient separation of iron and zinc during the magnetite precipitation process.
Int. Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials (矿物冶金与材料学报)•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s12613-024-2993-6
Hypoeutectoid steel, a crucial metal structural material, is characterized by the coexisting microstructure of ferrite and pearlite. Driven by multiphase competition and multicomponent characteristics, the intricate interplay among its composition, processing conditions, and microstructure substantially complicates the understanding of austenite decomposition kinetics and elemental diffusion mechanisms during phase transformations. The present study explores the effects of cooling rate, prior austenite grain size, and C content on the component distribution and microstructure evolution during the austenite decomposition of hypoeutectoid steels to address the aforementioned complexities. Results of a multiphase field model reveal that an increase in the cooling rate from 1.0 to 7.0°C/s leads to a reduction in the ferrite proportion and fine pearlite lamellae spacing from 52vol% to 22vol% at 400°C and from 1.01 to 0.67 μm at 660°C, respectively. Concurrently, a decreased prior austenite grain size from 25.23 to 8.92 μm enhances the phase transformation driving force, resulting in small average grain sizes of pearlite clusters and proeutectoid ferrite. Moreover, increasing the C content from 0.22wt% to 0.37wt% decreases the phase transition temperature from 795 to 750°C and enhances the proportion of pearlite phases from 27vol% to 61vol% at 500°C, concurrently refining the spacing of pearlite layers from 1.25 to 0.87 μm at 600°C. Overall, this work aims to elucidate the complex dynamics governing the microstructural transformations of hypoeutectoid steels, thereby facilitating their wide application across different industrial scenes.
Int. Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials (矿物冶金与材料学报)•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s12613-024-3036-z
Growing concerns about greenhouse gas emissions from underground mining have intensified the need for carbon reduction strategies at every stage. Shotcrete used in tunnel support presents a promising opportunity for carbon emission reduction. This study investigates the carbon absorption capacity, mechanical strength, and underlying mechanisms of shotcrete when exposed to varying CO2 concentrations during the mine support process. Findings reveal that higher CO2 concentrations during the initial stages of carbonation curing enhance early strength but may impede long-term strength development. Shotcrete samples exposed to 2vol% CO2 for 14 d exhibited a carbonation degree approximately three times higher than those exposed to 0.03vol% CO2. A carbonation layer formed in the shotcrete, sequestering CO2 as solid carbonates. In practical terms, shotcrete in an underground return-air tunnel absorbed 1.1 kg·m2 of CO2 over 14 d, equivalent to treating 33 m3 of contaminated air. Thus, using shotcrete for CO2 curing in return-air tunnels can significantly reduce carbon emissions, contributing to greener and more sustainable mining practices.
Int. Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials (矿物冶金与材料学报)•2025•DOI: 10.1007/s12613-024-3016-3
Hemimorphite exhibits poor floatability during sulfidization flotation. Cu2+ and Pb2+ addition enhances the reactivity of the hemimorphite surface and subsequently improves its flotation behavior. In this study, the mechanisms of Cu2+ + Pb2+ adsorption onto a hemimorphite surface were investigated. We examined the interaction mechanism of xanthate with the hemimorphite surface and observed the changes in the mineral surface hydrophobicity after the synergistic activation with Cu2+ + Pb2+. Microflotation tests indicated that individual activation with Cu2+ or Pb2+ increased the flotation recovery of hemimorphite, with Pb2+ showing greater effectiveness than Cu2+. Meanwhile, synergistic activation with Cu2+ + Pb2+ considerably boosted the flotation recovery of hemimorphite. Cu2+ and Pb2+ were both adsorbed onto the hemimorphite surface, forming an adsorption layer containing Cu or Pb. Following the synergistic activation with Cu2+ + Pb2+, the activated layer on the hemimorphite surface consisted of Cu and Pb and a larger amount of the active product compared with the surface activated by Cu2+ or Pb2+ alone. In addition, xanthate adsorption on the hemimorphite surface increased noticeably after synergistic activation with Cu2+ + Pb2+, suggesting a vigorous reaction between xanthate and the activated minerals. Therefore, synergistic activation with Cu2+ + Pb2+ effectively increased the content of active products on the hemimorphite surface, thereby enhancing mineral surface reactivity, promoting collector adsorption, and improving surface hydrophobicity.