A surface electrene, BaSiN₂:O, developed by researchers at Science Tokyo enables efficient ammonia synthesis under mild conditions while overcoming the long-standing air instability of electrene materials. Synthesized by doping barium silicon nitride with oxygen, the material forms a stable layer of freely floating electrons on its surface. When combined with ruthenium, it delivers exceptionally high ammonia synthesis activity, paving the way for sustainable ammonia production and practical applications of electrene materials.

In a single experiment, physicists have measured the ‘excess’ emission of high-energy gamma rays from more than a dozen heavy, unstable atomic nuclei. Mapping the gamma-ray emissions of so many isotopes produced in nuclear fission marks an important step towards a better understanding of one of the key phenomena in modern nuclear physics: the fission process itself.

 Researchers have developed a multi‑objective optimization framework (MO‑DIDC) that handles infeasible solutions in complex distillation process optimization through data‑driven identification and adaptive directed correction. By identifying promising infeasible solutions near Pareto‑optimal designs and correcting their most influential variables, the framework reduces unnecessary exploration of infeasible regions. Demonstrated on a side‑stream double‑column extractive distillation system and a four‑column extractive distillation system, MO‑DIDC achieves optimization time reductions of 35.3 % and 20.8 %, respectively, compared to a widely used genetic algorithm, while delivering superior or comparable process designs.

Researchers have developed a controllable hydrothermal synthesis strategy for spherical cerium oxide (CeO₂) abrasives with tunable particle sizes from 32 to 531 nm while maintaining excellent sphericity and dispersity. Mechanistic studies reveal that CeO₂ formation occurs via nitrateinduced oxidation of Ce³⁺, with subsequent precipitation coupled to acetate decomposition thermodynamically driving the reaction forward. Chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) tests show that 343 nm CeO₂ achieves the highest material removal rate (73.7 nm·min⁻¹) with low surface roughness (Ra = 0.31 nm). The hydrothermally synthesized CeO₂ outperforms commercial abrasives in both short and longterm polishing owing to its uniform morphology.

A group of researchers from Beijing Institute of Technology, National Institute of Clean-and-Low-Carbon Energy, Beijing Engineering Research Center of Nano-structured Thin Film Solar Cells and Beijing University of Chemical Technology, has developed a coordination-regulated strategy to stabilize wide-bandgap perovskites for efficient perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells. By introducing bis(2-pyridylmethyl) sulfide (2PyS) to regulate the local Pb²⁺ coordination environment, the researchers suppressed defect formation, reduced halide ion migration, and mitigated photoinduced phase segregation. The optimized wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells achieved an efficiency of 22.21% and retained more than 91% of their initial performance after 2000 hours of continuous operation. When integrated with a CIGS bottom cell, the resulting four-terminal perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cell delivered an overall efficiency of 29.71%. This study provides a promising molecular design route toward stable and efficient tandem photovoltaics.