Tongji University: Chinese Research Output & Key Publications | SinoTechIntel

Nano-Micro Letters•2026

Copper-Based Targeted Nanocatalytic Therapeutics for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Authors: Yongfei Fan, Jiao Chang, Xichun Qin, Meng Li, Yan Li, Leilei Wu, Kun Li, Zhimin Chen, Yani Li, Zhongmin Tang, Dong Xie, Jianlin Shi

Conventional treatments for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) suffer from low remission rates, high drug resistance, and severe adverse effects. To leverage the therapeutic potential of reactive oxygen species (ROS), nanocatalytic medicine utilizes nanomaterials to generate ROS specifically within tumor sites, enabling efficient and targeted cancer treatment. In this study, hyaluronic acid (HA)-modified copper-N,N-dimethyl-N-phenylsulfonylbisamine (DMSA)-assembled nanoparticles (Cu-DMSA-HA NPs) are developed with tumor-targeting capability and efficiently catalyze ROS production via coordination chemistry. Targeted delivery is facilitated by HA surface modification through recognition of overexpressed cluster of differentiation 44 receptors on cancer cells, which enhances nanoparticle uptake. Once internalized, intracellular glutathione is depleted by the NPs, followed by a Fenton-like reaction that sustains ROS production. Both in vitro and in vivo studies demonstrate that this catalytic strategy effectively inhibits DNA replication, prevents cell cycle progression, down-regulates glutathione peroxidase 4 expression, induces ferroptosis, and ultimately suppresses NSCLC progression. Overall, the readily prepared Cu-DMSA-HA NPs exhibit robust catalytic activity and tumor specificity, highlighting their strong potential for clinical translation in nanocatalytic cancer therapy.

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New Carbon Materials (新型炭材料)•2025

Near-infrared carbon dots: pioneering emerging frontiers in biomedical applications

Authors: HE Qian, YANG Yan-li, LI Rui-jiao, MA Dan, ZHANG Li-yun

Carbon dots (CDs) are fluorescent carbon-based nanomaterials with sizes smaller than 10 nm, that are renowned for their exceptional properties, including superior anti-photobleaching, excellent biocompatibility, and minimal toxicity, which have received significant interest. Near-infrared (NIR) light has emerged as an ideal light source in the biological field due to its advantages of minimal scattering and absorption, long wavelength emission, increased tissue penetration, and reduced interference from biological backgrounds. CDs with efficient absorption and/or emission characteristics in the NIR spectrum have shown remarkable promise in biomedical uses. This study provides a comprehensive overview of the preparation methods and wavelength modulation strategies for near-infrared CDs and reviews research progress in their use in the areas of biosensing, bioimaging, and therapy. It also discusses current challenges and clinical prospects, aimed at deepening our understanding of the subject and promoting further advances in this field.

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Int. Journal of Mining Science and Technology (采矿与安全工程)•2025

Slurry infiltration characteristics of coral reef limestone based on infiltration column tests and CT scanning

Authors: Jiahe Bai, Xin Huang

Reef limestone is buried in the continental shelf and marine environment. Understanding the mechanisms governing filter cake formation in coral reef limestone strata is essential for various engineering activities in coastal areas, including slurry pressure balanced (SPB) shield tunneling, which are currently not well understood. This study systematically investigates the slurry infiltration characteristics of different coral reef limestone types with inherent anisotropy, identified by growth line orientations, through a series of micro-infiltration column tests. Multiple slurry concentrations and pressures were used to analyze their effects on slurry infiltration dynamics and filter cake formation. Pre- and post-infiltration CT scanning was conducted to examine skeletal morphology and reconstruct the pore network structure of coral reef limestone samples. The results show that while increased slurry concentrations and pressures generally improve filter cake formation, excessive pressure can compromise filter cake integrity. By employing Dijkstra’s algorithm in a pore network model, the study identified primary seepage pathways, highlighting the significant role of near-vertical throat clusters in the infiltration process. A comprehensive analysis of pore structure and connectivity indices before and after infiltration revealed that the orientation of growth lines in coral reef limestone is the primary factor influencing macroscopic slurry infiltration behavior. These findings offer valuable insights for the design and execution of tunneling projects through coral reef limestone formations, especially in coastal regions.

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Nano-Micro Letters•2025

Metal–Support Interaction Induced Electron Localization in Rationally Designed Metal Sites Anchored MXene Enables Boosted Electromagnetic Wave Attenuation

Authors: Xiao Wang, Gaolei Dong, Fei Pan, Cong Lin, Bin Yuan, Yang Yang, Wei Lu

The electron localization is considered as a promising approach to optimize electromagnetic waves (EMW) dissipation. However, it is still difficult to realize well-controlled electron localization and elucidate the related EMW loss mechanisms for current researches. In this study, a novel two-dimensional MXene (Ti3C2Tx) nanosheet decorated with Ni nanoclusters (Ni-NC) system to construct an effective electron localization model based on electronic orbital structure is explored. Theoretical simulations and experimental results reveal that the metal–support interaction between Ni-NC and MXene disrupts symmetric electronic environments, leading to enhanced electron localization and dipole polarization. Additionally, Ni-NC generate a strong interfacial electric field, strengthening heterointerface interactions and promoting interfacial polarization. As a result, the optimized material achieves an exceptional reflection loss (RLmin) of −54 dB and a broad effective absorption bandwidth of 6.8 GHz. This study offers critical insights into the in-depth relationship between electron localization and EMW dissipation, providing a pathway for electron localization engineering in functional materials such as semiconductors, spintronics, and catalysis.

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Nano-Micro Letters•2025

Molecular Mechanism Behind the Capture of Fluorinated Gases by Metal–Organic Frameworks

Authors: Qian Wang, Yong Hu, Yifan Gu

Fluorinated gases (F-gases) play a vital role in the chemical industry and in the fields of air conditioning, refrigeration, health care, and organic synthesis. However, the direct emission of waste gases containing F-gases into the atmosphere contributes to greenhouse effects and generates toxic substances. Developing porous materials for the energy-efficient capture, separation, and recovery of F-gases is highly desired. Recently, as a highly designable porous adsorbents, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) exhibit excellent selective sorption performance toward F-gases, especially for the recognition and separation of different F-gases with highly similar properties, showing their great potential in F-gases control and recovery. In this review, we discuss the capture and separation of F-gases and their azeotropic, near-azeotropic, and isomeric mixtures in various application scenarios by MOFs, specifically classify and analyze molecular interaction between F-gases and MOFs, and interpret the mechanisms underlying their high performance regarding both adsorption capacity and selectivity, providing a repertoire for future materials design. Challenges faced in the transformation research roadmap of MOFs adsorbent separation technologies toward F-gases are also discussed, and areas for future research endeavors are highlighted.

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Nano-Micro Letters•2025

NH4+-Modulated Cathodic Interfacial Spatial Charge Redistribution for High-Performance Dual-Ion Capacitors

Authors: Yumin Chen, Ziyang Song, Yaokang Lv, Lihua Gan, Mingxian Liu

Compared with Zn2+, the current mainly reported charge carrier for zinc hybrid capacitors, small-hydrated-sized and light-weight NH4+ is expected as a better one to mediate cathodic interfacial electrochemical behaviors, yet has not been unraveled. Here we propose an NH4+-modulated cationic solvation strategy to optimize cathodic spatial charge distribution and achieve dynamic Zn2+/NH4+ co-storage for boosting Zinc hybrid capacitors. Owing to the hierarchical cationic solvated structure in hybrid Zn(CF3SO3)2–NH4CF3SO3 electrolyte, high-reactive Zn2+ and small-hydrate-sized NH4(H2O)4+ induce cathodic interfacial Helmholtz plane reconfiguration, thus effectively enhancing the spatial charge density to activate 20% capacity enhancement. Furthermore, cathodic interfacial adsorbed hydrated NH4+ ions afford high-kinetics and ultrastable C‧‧‧H (NH4+) charge storage process due to a much lower desolvation energy barrier compared with heavy and rigid Zn(H2O)6 2+ (5.81 vs. 14.90 eV). Consequently, physical uptake and multielectron redox of Zn2+/NH4+ in carbon cathode enable the zinc capacitor to deliver high capacity (240 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1), large-current tolerance (130 mAh g−1 at 50 A g−1) and ultralong lifespan (400,000 cycles). This study gives new insights into the design of cathode–electrolyte interfaces toward advanced zinc-based energy storage.

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Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering•2025

Multi-mode Evasion Assistance Control Method for Intelligent Distributed-drive Electric Vehicle Considering Human Driver's Reaction

Authors: Bo Leng, Zhuoren Li, Ming Liu, Ce Yang, Yi Luo, Amir Khajepour, Lu Xiong

Vehicle collision avoidance (CA) has been widely studied to improve road traffic safety. However, most evasion assistance control methods face challenges in effectively coordinating collision avoidance safety and human-machine interaction conflict. This paper introduces a novel multi-mode evasion assistance control (MEAC) method for intelligent distributed-drive electric vehicles. A reference safety area is established considering the vehicle safety and stability requirements, which serves as a guiding principle for evading obstacles. The proposed method includes two control modes: Shared-EAC (S-EAC) and Emergency-EAC (E-EAC). In S-EAC, an integrated human-machine authority allocation mechanism is designed to mitigate conflicts between human drivers and the control system during collision avoidance. The E-EAC mode is tailored for situations where the driver has no collision avoidance behavior and utilizes model predictive control to generate additional yaw moments for collision avoidance. Simulation and experimental results indicate that the proposed method reduces human-machine conflict and assists the driver in safe collision avoidance in the S-EAC mode under various driver conditions. In addition, it enhances the vehicle responsiveness and reduces the extent of emergency steering in the E-EAC mode while improving the safety and stability during the collision avoidance process.

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Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering•2025

Modeling, Analysis and Control on Vehicle Lateral Dynamics with Chassis Heterogeneous Actuators

Authors: Bo Leng, Wei Han, Selim Solmaz, Reiner John, Lu Xiong

Chassis-by-wire technology has gained significant attention, with the scope of chassis domain control expanding from traditional two-dimensional plane motion control to encompass three-dimensional space motion control. Modern chassis-by-wire systems manage an increasing number of heterogeneous chassis execution systems, including distributed drive, all-wheel drive (AWD), brake-by-wire (BBW), steer-by-wire(SBW), rear-wheel steering (RWS), active stabilizer bar (ASB) and active suspension system (ASS), greatly enhancing the controllable degrees of freedom compared to conventional chassis configurations. To advance research in chassis domain control, it is essential to understand how these heterogeneous execution systems influence vehicle dynamics. This paper focuses on the modeling and analysis of the lateral, longitudinal, and vertical chassis control and execution systems, as well as their impact on vehicle lateral motion. Using a vehicle simulation platform, both the vehicle dynamics model and the individual dynamics models of each execution system were developed to analyze the influence of these systems on lateral dynamics. Additionally, a hierarchical control architecture was designed to control the vehicle’s lateral stability. The effectiveness of the proposed control scheme was demonstrated and validated through hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) tests and real-world vehicle testing.

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Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering•2025

Rule-Guidance Reinforcement Learning for Lane Change Decision-making: A Risk Assessment Approach

Authors: Lu Xiong, Zhuoren Li, Danyang Zhong, Puhang Xu, Chen Tang

To solve problems of poor security guarantee and insufficient training efficiency in the conventional reinforcement learning methods for decision-making, this study proposes a hybrid framework to combine deep reinforcement learning with rule-based decision-making methods. A risk assessment model for lane-change maneuvers considering uncertain predictions of surrounding vehicles is established as a safety filter to improve learning efficiency while correcting dangerous actions for safety enhancement. On this basis, a Risk-fused DDQN is constructed utilizing the model-based risk assessment and supervision mechanism. The proposed reinforcement learning algorithm sets up a separate experience buffer for dangerous trials and punishes such actions, which is shown to improve the sampling efficiency and training outcomes. Compared with conventional DDQN methods, the proposed algorithm improves the convergence value of cumulated reward by 7.6% and 2.2% in the two constructed scenarios in the simulation study and reduces the number of training episodes by 52.2% and 66.8% respectively. The success rate of lane change is improved by 57.3% while the time headway is increased at least by 16.5% in real vehicle tests, which confirms the higher training efficiency, scenario adaptability, and security of the proposed Risk-fused DDQN.

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Journal of Central South University•2025

Behaviours of flow and flow-induced noise generated from leading bogie region of high-speed train using flow-through cowcatcher

Authors: CHENG Guan-da, ZHU Jian-yue, ZHU Tai-hang, PANG Jia-bin, FANG Cun-yu

This study introduces a novel flow-through cowcatcher with integrated inlet and outlet channels as an aerodynamic noise mitigation strategy for the nose car of a high-speed train. The wall-adapting local eddy-viscosity large-eddy simulation (WALE-LES) combined with the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) acoustic analogy approach is employed to evaluate its impact on the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic characteristics of the leading bogie region. Compared with the conventional closed cowcatcher, results show that the flow-through structure suppresses the flow separation, promotes more stable vortex evolution within the bogie cavity, and reduces the spatial extent of high-amplitude wall pressure fluctuations up to 40%, mitigating effectively the generation of aerodynamic noise. Semi-anechoic wind tunnel experiments validate the simulation results and demonstrate that the sound pressure levels at the far-field observers decrease by 0.4 −0.6 dB(A) with the flow-through cowcatcher applied underneath the nose car. The dominant sound source around the leading bogie region is shrunk with intensity reduced about 1.0 dB(A). These findings confirm the effectiveness of the flow-through cowcatcher in reducing the aerodynamic noise produced from the leading bogie region, providing both theoretical insight and engineering guidance for structural optimization and low-noise design of the nose car in a high-speed train.

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Journal of Central South University•2025

Aerodynamic noise reduction methods for key components of high-speed train pantographs

Authors: ZHU Jian-yue, JI Jing-wen, GUO Zi-jian, YANG Huan, FANG Cun-yu

The pantograph region constitutes one of the dominant aerodynamic sound sources in high-speed trains. In this study, a 1:3 scaled model of a representative pantograph structure was constructed, explicitly accounting for the geometric configuration of its rod components. To achieve noise mitigation, the pantograph design incorporated aerodynamically optimized cylindrical rods with bio-inspired seal-vibrissa-shaped profiles, perforated geometries, and elliptical cross-sections, etc. The flow dynamics and aeroacoustic characteristics within the pantograph region were systematically investigated through the wall-adapting local eddy-viscosity large-eddy simulation coupled with the Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings (FW-H) acoustic analogy method. Results showed that the structural optimization of the pantograph key components greatly attenuated the vortex shedding intensity in the rod assemblies, inhibiting the initiation and evolution of large-scale Kármán vortex streets, reducing the surface pressure fluctuations, and enhancing the overall aerodynamic performance. In the optimized model of pantograph, the noise level at first tonal peak around 850 Hz is greatly mitigated and the second harmonic peak at 1750 Hz identified in the original model is absent, with overall sound pressure levels reduced by 6.3 dB(A) and 6.6 dB(A) along the streamwise and vertical planes, respectively. These findings validate the efficiency of the noise reduction methods introduced for the optimized pantograph structure.

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Journal of Central South University•2025

New three-dimensional shear strength criterion of discontinuities with different joint wall compressive strengths

Authors: REN Shu-lin, CHEN Xi, HE Man-chao, YIN Qian, YUAN Yong, TAO Zhi-gang

The determination of discontinuity shear strength is an important concern in rock engineering. Previous research mainly focused on the shear behavior of discontinuities with identical joint wall compressive strengths (DIJCS). However, the shear behavior of discontinuities with different joint wall compressive strengths (DDJCS) and 3D surface morphology had been rarely reported. In this study, matched mortar DDJCSs were prepared using 3D printed photosensitive resin molds. Direct shear tests were carried out under three kinds of normal stress (ranging from 0.5 to 3.0 MPa) to analyze the shear strength and contact zones of DDJCS during shearing. The results show that the contact zones of DDJCS during shearing are scattered in the steep zones facing the shear direction. It is verified that Grasselli and Develi’s directional surface roughness characterization method can be used to predict the shear-induced potential contact zones of DDJCS. When the critical apparent dip angle is equal to the peak dilation angle, the predicted contact area agrees well with the actual contact area. A 3D directional roughness parameter with clear physical meaning was introduced to characterize discontinuity surface roughness. A 3D modified joint roughness coefficient-joint wall compressive strength (JRC-JCS) criterion that can both predict the shear strength of DDJCS and DIJCS was proposed based on the newly defined roughness parameter. The proposed criterion was validated by 77 direct shear tests presented by this study and 163 direct shear tests presented by other investigators. The results show that the proposed criterion was generally reliable for the peak shear strength prediction of DDJCS and DIJCS (within 16%). It is also found that the new criterion can capture the anisotropy of the peak shear strength of DDJCS. The anisotropy of DDJCS decreases with increasing normal stress. It should be noted that the anisotropy of the shear strength of DDJCS was not investigated experimentally, and further experiments should be conducted to verify it.

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Journal of Central South University•2025

An innovative N00 mining approach for protecting entries and mining panels

Authors: ZHANG Jun, HE Man-chao, WANG Ya-jun, YANG Gang, HOU Shi-lin, CHEN Yu-wen, KANG Xu-hui, SHI Zhen, FU Qiang, DU Fu-kang

Addressing the issues of significant entry settlement and severe mining pressure manifestations in the conventional 121 approach, an innovative N00 approach is proposed. By comparing the mining process and entry formation process of different approaches, the characteristics of entry roof settlement evolution under different approaches are obtained. The N00 approach, which incorporates roof cutting and NPR cable support, optimizes the mining and entry formation process to reduce the settlement phase of entry roof, decreases the settlement of entry roof, and enhances the steadiness of entry roof. The N00 approach modifies the entry roof structure through roof cutting and establishes a hydraulic support load mechanics model for the mining panel to derive the theoretical load pressure formula for the N00 approach’s hydraulic support. Compared with the conventional 121 approach, the pressure on the N00 approach’s hydraulic support is reduced. Empirical data obtained through field monitoring demonstrate that the N00 approach has reduced the roof settlement of the entry and weakened the mining pressure manifestation at the mining panel, achieving the goal of protecting the entry and mining panel.

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Int. Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials (矿物冶金与材料学报)•2025

Insights into the dissolution kinetics of copper–nickel tailings for CO2 mineral sequestration

Authors: Zhenghong Yang, Haiyun Gu, Sijia Liu, Kai Wu, Linglin Xu, Lijie Guo

Copper–nickel tailings (CNTs), consisting of more than 80wt% magnesium-bearing silicate minerals, show great potential for CO2 mineral sequestration. The dissolution kinetics of CNTs in HCl solution was investigated through a leaching experiment and kinetic modeling, and the effects of reaction time, HCl concentration, solid-to-liquid ratio, and reaction temperature on the leaching rate of magnesium were comprehensively studied. Results show that the suitable leaching conditions for magnesium in CNTs are 2 M HCl, a solid-to-liquid ratio of 50 g·L−1, and 90°C, at which the maximum leaching rate of magnesium is as high as 83.88%. A modified shrinking core model can well describe the leaching kinetics of magnesium. The dissolution of magnesium was dominated by a combination of chemical reaction and product layer diffusion, with a calculated apparent activation energy of 77.51 kJ·mol−1. This study demonstrates the feasibility of using CNTs as a media for CO2 mineral sequestration.

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