New review shows that guiding pollutant motion with electric fields and 3D-printed hierarchical pores can slash fan energy and double removal rates, offering a practical blueprint for next-generation, low-resistance air purifiers.

Plants rely on efficient internal transport systems to distribute essential mineral nutrients, yet how this distribution is spatially organized within complex plant structures remains poorly understood. 

Structural variations (SVs)—large-scale changes in DNA sequence—play a crucial role in shaping traits such as yield, quality, and environmental adaptation in crops. 

 A methodology to enhance the energy density of supercapacitors based on a V₄C₃T_Z MXene has been developed via enhancement of the operating electrochemical window using a 17.5 molal LiBr/H₂O highly concentrated electrolyte.

A team of Chinese researchers has developed an AI-based modeling approach that revolutionizes the prediction of complex nonlinear dynamics in Kerr resonators. By leveraging recurrent neural networks (RNNs)—specifically gated recurrent units (GRUs)—and a hybrid convolutional neural network (CNN)-GRU model for complex scenarios, the team achieved nearly 20x faster simulations than traditional methods, while maintaining high accuracy. The work paves the way for faster design of next-generation optical systems, from optical memories to all-optical computers.

Pressure sensors are essential for a wide range of applications, including health monitoring, industrial diagnostics, etc. However, achieving both high sensitivity and mechanical ability to withstand high pressure in a single material remains a significant challenge. This study introduces a high-performance cellulose hydrogel inspired by the biomimetic layered porous structure of human skin. The hydrogel features a novel design composed of a soft layer with large macropores and a hard layer with small micropores, each of which contribute uniquely to its pressure-sensing capabilities. The macropores in the soft part facilitate significant deformation and charge accumulation, providing exceptional sensitivity to low pressures. In contrast, the microporous structure in the hard part enhances pressure range, ensuring support under high pressures and preventing structural failure. The performance of hydrogel is further optimized through ion introduction, which improves its conductivity, and as well the sensitivity. The sensor demonstrated a high sensitivity of 1622 kPa⁻¹, a detection range up to 160 kPa, excellent conductivity of 4.01 S m⁻¹, rapid response time of 33 ms, and a low detection limit of 1.6 Pa, outperforming most existing cellulose-based sensors. This innovative hierarchically porous architecture not only enhances the pressure-sensing performance but also offers a simple and effective approach for utilizing natural polymers in sensing technologies. The cellulose hydrogel demonstrates significant potential in both health monitoring and industrial applications, providing a sensitive, durable, and versatile solution for pressure sensing.

Sequential processing (SqP) of the active layer offers independent optimization of the donor and acceptor with more targeted solvent design, which is considered the most promising strategy for achieving efficient organic solar cells (OSCs). In the SqP method, the favorable interpenetrating network seriously depends on the fine control of the bottom layer swelling. However, the choice of solvent(s) for both the donor and acceptor have been mostly based on a trial-and-error manner. A single solvent often cannot achieve sufficient yet not excessive swelling, which has long been a difficulty in the high efficient SqP OSCs. Herein, two new isomeric molecules are introduced to fine-tune the nucleation and crystallization dynamics that allows judicious control over the swelling of the bottom layer. The strong non-covalent interaction between the isomeric molecule and active materials provides an excellent driving force for optimize the swelling-process. Among them, the molecule with high dipole moment promotes earlier nucleation of the PM6 and provides extended time for crystallization during SqP, improving bulk morphology and vertical phase segregation. As a result, champion efficiencies of 17.38% and 20.00% (certified 19.70%) are achieved based on PM6/PYF-T-o (all-polymer) and PM6/BTP-eC9 devices casted by toluene solvent.