ABSTRACT: Strengthening the stability of metal-oxygen bonds in catalysts is imperative for the advancement of efficient and durable electrocatalytic water splitting. Herein, using a mild boron-reduction strategy, a self-supported electrode with robust Co-B bonds was constructed. The Co-B@Co(OH)₂–Ru/NF (Co-B@CRN) electrode demonstrates low overpotentials for alkaline hydrogen evolution reaction (HER, 20 mV) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER, 160 mV) at 10 mA cm⁻². Furthermore, long-term stability was achieved for over 400 h at 10 mA cm⁻² and 270 h at 200 mA cm⁻², respectively. For overall water splitting, the assembled electrolyzer exhibited a low voltage of 1.40 V at 10 mA cm⁻², with stable operation maintained for over 240 h. Detailed X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) characterization verified the mixed valence state of Co and the Co-B coordination environment. Further electronic analysis indicated strong hybridization between Co d-orbitals and B p-orbitals. The B bonding induced a downward shift in the d-band center at the Co site, thereby significantly suppressing metal leaching during catalysis and stabilizing electronic structure regulation. This research shows that the boron reduction strategy offers an effective dynamic regulation mechanism for the electronic structures and coordination environments of transition metals, enabling a highly efficient and stable overall water splitting process.

As demands for high-quality wound management, health monitoring, and intelligent interaction rise, e-skin—designed to replicate human skin’s flexibility, self-healing ability, and multimodal sensing functions—has steadily emerged as a prominent new research focus. Here, we present a natural biomass-derived multimodal conductive e-skin patch (CCMP) that fabricated by integrating aminated multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs-NH2) and dopamine (DA) into carboxymethyl starch (CMS)/carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) matrix through supramolecular interactions assembly. The CCMP demonstrated remarkable electrical conductivity (24.1 S/m), efficient photothermal conversion (with a heating time constant τ_s = 66.66 s), strong antioxidant activity (>96.53%), effective antibacterial performance, hydrophobicity, electromagnetic shielding capability, as well as high sensitivity to temperature (TCR = −8.58 %/°C), strain, and electrical signals. Furthermore, the CCMP also demonstrated ultra-high swelling properties. Notably, the CCMP presented easy re-shaping and ultra-high swelling capacity (water sorption reached 1374%), promoting the rapid absorption of tissue exudate. Meanwhile, the CCMP can significantly promote wound healing and reduce pro-inflammatory factor levels, achieving an exceptional 99% healing rate within 14 days. We additionally integrate a portable wireless wearable sensing system that can transmit real-time wound status micro-motion and multimodal physiological signals (temperature, stress-strain, respiration, motion, and bioelectric signals) via Bluetooth to computers or mobile devices, thus achieving integrated skin-interfacing wearable bioelectronics and smart wound healing. Overall, this study pioneers a novel approach for wireless wound monitoring system, advancing human-friendly e-skin patch development from single-functional devices to a human-machine-environment intelligent symbiosis system.

Steric hindrance of long-chain ligands leads to abundant unpassivated dangling bonds on quantum dots (QDs), which significantly impair the efficiency and operational stability of QD light-emitting diodes (QLEDs), especially in ultra-small pixel devices. Professors Fushan Li and Hailong Hu at Fuzhou University have pioneered a "ligand reconstruction" strategy using zirconium acetylacetonate (Zr(acac)₄) to precisely repair the surface defects of QDs. This reconstruction strategy markedly enhances the efficiency and operational stability of QLEDs, and the resultant record-breaking performance metrics lay a solid foundation for the commercialization of high-resolution, high-performance QLED technology.

A highly integrated phased-array wireless integrated circuit developed at Institute of Science Tokyo, Japan, enables 144 Gbps dual-polarized multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) communication in the 150 GHz sub-terahertz band, bringing practical 6G devices a step closer to reality. By developing a highly integrated phased-array transceiver with a significantly smaller circuit footprint, the research paves the way for future applications such as immersive extended reality and remote healthcare services.

This research shows a new way to control light at extremely high speeds using ultra-thin silicon metasurfaces. By carefully designing how light passes through them, the team achieved strong and fast control over a wider range of colours than previously possible. This breakthrough helps overcome a key limitation in current technology and could support faster internet, improved data processing, and future light-based computing systems.

Physicists at the University of Würzburg and the Würzburg-Dresden Cluster of Excellence ctd.qmat have realized the world’s first continuously operating maser based on the semiconductor silicon carbide. This new technology could pave the way for compact microwave sources, low-noise amplifiers, and highly sensitive magnetic field sensors – and may even find future applications in space technology.

An international team of researchers has succeeded in producing atomic quantum gas mixtures with an unprecedented particle flux. In the journal Nature Communications, the scientists report on experiments conducted with the MAIUS-B apparatus, in which Bose-Einstein condensates consisting of two different atomic species – rubidium and potassium – were generated and studied under microgravity conditions in the Einstein Elevator at Leibniz University Hannover, Germany. A key contribution to this achievement came from a technological development at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz: the highly sophisticated and compact optical system used to control the atoms.

The discovery of twisted graphene moiré superlattices has opened new avenues for exploring low-dimensional quantum states of matter. This review summarizes recent experimental and theoretical advances in twisted graphene systems, focusing on electron correlation, unconventional superconductivity, and topological states emerging from moiré flatbands, while highlighting their underlying mechanisms, characterization techniques, key open questions and future research directions.