Interfacial solar steam generators enable sustainable freshwater production via photothermal conversion, yet effective purification of both feed water and distillate remains challenging. Here, a mechanically interlocked MXene/boron-doped mesoporous g-C₃N₄ nanosphere (BMNS) hybrid membrane is engineered through vacuum-assisted self-assembly, synergistically coupling ultraefficient photothermal evaporation with robust photocatalytic degradation. The BMNS nanospheres embedded in loosely stacked MXene nanosheets establish rapid water transport nanochannels while achieving ultralow thermal conductivity (0.43 W m^-1 K^-1). This structure enabled a high solar evaporation rate of 2.10 kg m^-2 h^-1 and achieved a photothermal conversion efficiency of 98.1%. Simultaneously, the generated reactive oxygen species (•OH/•) degraded 95.6% of the organic pollutants (10 ppm Rhodamine B) within 4 h. Furthermore, it maintained a stable evaporation rate of 2.00 kg·m^-2·h^-1 over a long-term operation of 200 h. Field validation using eutrophic lake water demonstrates concurrent clean water production and comprehensive purification: 90.0% total organic carbon removal, 92.0% chemical oxygen demand reduction, 93.1% microbial inactivation, improved optical clarity, and >99% antibacterial efficiency against E. coli and S. aureus. This work provides a scalable blueprint for multifunctional membranes addressing water scarcity and pollution simultaneously.

This study presents a method for fabricating high-resolution, luminescent cerium-doped YAG:Ce³⁺ 3D microstructures using sol–gel synthesis combined with multiphoton laser lithography and controlled annealing. The process yields single-phase crystalline architectures with sub-micrometer features (≈0.48 µm) and isotropic shrinkage while preserving geometry. Structural and optical analysis confirms phase purity and strong emission at 558 nm, with optimal performance at 2 mol% Ce³⁺, enabling applications in photonic and optoelectronic microsystems.

By teaching an AI to use optical tweezers, researchers from the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers University of Technology, have sped up the analysis of life’s smallest components. The AI platform captures particles, takes measurements and loads new samples, all without human intervention.

Precise shaping of three-dimensional vector fields inside enclosed optical cavities has long been a critical unresolved bottleneck in modern photonics, essential for super-resolution imaging, nanolasers and advanced quantum photonic technologies. To address this, scientists in China invented a novel full-space adjoint-enabled freeform meta-optics framework, realizing 5-fold imaging fidelity enhancement while retaining λ/5 optical super-resolution. This technique opens new avenues for cutting-edge nanophotonics, topological photonics and quantum optics applications.