The SDG accelerator leverages circular economy solutions to drive efficient and sustainable consumption, emphasizing long-lasting, reusable, and recyclable products to reduce resource strain and waste. By shifting from a linear to a circular model, it aims to eliminate waste, circulate materials, and regenerate nature, fostering economic growth, job creation, and environmental benefits. The approach is central to achieving SDGs-especially responsible consumption and production-by optimizing resource use, supporting innovation, and enabling inclusive, resilient economies through collaboration among businesses, governments, and communities.

Zhengzhou University researchers unveil advanced strategies to overcome the commercialization barriers of lithium metal batteries (LMBs). the study highlights six key approaches—electrolyte optimization, artificial solid-electrolyte interfaces (SEI), separator innovation, solid-state electrolytes (SSEs), 3D electrode frameworks, and anode-free designs—to address challenges like dendrite growth, low Coulombic efficiency, and safety risks. By integrating cutting-edge materials science and multi-dimensional protection systems, this work paves the way for next-generation batteries with ultra-high energy density, extended lifespan, and enhanced safety, offering critical insights for advancing sustainable energy storage technologies.

High-temperature shock (HTS) successfully converts copper foil into a single-atom copper catalyst within just 0.5 seconds, reaching a reaction temperature of 1700 K and achieving a copper content of 0.54 wt%. This provides a novel and effective method to prevent the aggregation of single atoms and maintain their dispersion.

In the design of SACs, multiple variables (such as metal type, coordination configuration, substrate combination, etc.) poses significant challenges for traditional trial-and-error approach. The combination of DFT and ML brings new strategy of rapidly and effectively screening potential SACs. The catalytic mechanism is deeply understood from distinctive insights, which paves the way for more sustainable ammonia production.

Electrochemical CO₂ reduction (CO₂RR) is a promising process for reducing CO₂ emissions and producing high-value chemicals. However, this process remains hindered by diffusion-limited mass transfer, low activity, and high overpotentials. Here, we controllably prepared hierarchically porous nitrogen-doped carbon, carbon nanosheets, and carbon nanotubes confined single-atom Fe catalysts for electrochemical CO₂ reduction. The hierarchically porous Fe-N-C (Fe-HP) exhibited prominent performance with a Faradaic efficiency of CO (FE_CO) up to 80 % and a CO partial current density (j_CO) of -5.2 mA cm⁻² at -0.5 V vs. RHE, far outperforming the single-atom Fe on N-C nanosheets (Fe-NS) and N-C nanotubes (Fe-NT). The detailed characterizations and kinetic analysis revealed that the hierarchically porous structure accelerated the mass transfer and electron transfer processes toward single-atom Fe sites, promoting the desorption of CO and thereby enhancing CO₂ reduction efficiency. This study provides a promising approach to designing efficient single-atom catalysts with porous structures for energy conversion applications.

Using the experimentally known aromatic icosahedral B₁₂H₁₂^2– and B₁₁CH₁₂^– as precursors and based on extensive density functional theory (DFT) calculations, bottom-up approaches are established to form a series of novel superatom-assembled 2D few-layered borophanes and carborophanes and the experimentally known 3D α-B₁₂, γ-B₂₈, and B₄C crystals which are all semiconductors in nature. In particular, the newly predicted trilayer, tetralayer, and pentalayer carborophanes (CB₁₁-CBC)_nH₈ (n=3-5) with the calculated band gaps of E_gap=1.32–1.26 eV appear to be well compatible with traditional silicon semiconductors in band gaps, presenting the viable possibility of a new class of boron-carbon binary 2D semiconducting nanomaterials different from monolayer graphene which features a Dirac cone.

A study published in Forest Ecosystems reveals that bark beetle-induced logging in Central Europe follows a 9 to 12-year cycle tied to solar activity and weather patterns. Researchers analyzed nearly 50 years of forestry and climate data from Austria, Czechia, and Slovakia, linking low solar activity to hotter, drier weather and severe beetle outbreaks, with implications for climate-informed forest management.

Research has shown that ferroptosis can overcome chemotherapy resistance induced by apoptosis, making the combination of chemotherapy and ferroptosis a very promising strategy for cancer treatment. However, the high levels of glutathione in the tumor environment and insufficient intracellular iron content limit the anticancer effects mediated by ferroptosis. Recently, a study published in Nano Research utilized the tumor environment to achieve a "multi-machine integrated" combined strategy, enhancing the therapeutic effects of chemotherapy and ferroptosis. The study was published in Nano Research with the DOI of 10.26599/NR.2025.94907298.

The Ag nanoparticles were deposited on the hBN surface, and the synergistic effect of hexagonal boron nitride nanosheets and silver nanoparticles was utilized to achieve superlubricity with very low coefficient of friction and wear rate.