Mapping light fields and local density of optical states (LDOS) around nanostructured materials with very high spatial resolution is instrumental for advancing nano-optics, nanomaterial science, and quantum technologies, yet has remained a longstanding challenge. Recently, scientists from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, in China, demonstrated an imaging modality, called scanning-exciton optical nanoscopy (SEON), to simultaneously and robustly map the light fields and LDOS around plasmonic nanostructures and photonic-crystal nanocavities with few-nanometer resolution.

Polyolefin upcycling is advancing through two key hydrogen‑based routes—hydrocracking and hydrogenolysis—which differ fundamentally in mechanism and product profiles. Despite promising lab results, scale‑up faces hurdles including catalyst deactivation, mass-/heat‑transfer limits, and analytical gaps. Researchers outline five priorities to enable real‑world, scalable plastic‑to‑alkane conversion.

Host–guest doping is widely used in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). In principle, non-doped OLEDs that use a single material for charge transport and emission could simplify device fabrication. Here, excited-state energy levels were engineered to strengthen a hot-exciton pathway, enabling rapid utilization of triplet excitons to suppress quenching. With a fast reverse intersystem crossing rate on the order of 10⁸ s⁻¹, the non-doped device achieved a maximum external quantum efficiency of 20.3%. This work offers a new strategy for efficient blue OLEDs.

Recently, the team led by Professor Xin Xu from the School of Atmospheric Sciences, Nanjing University published a short communication in Science Bulletin entitled “Complex Terrain Causes Global Model Prediction Biases of 21.7 Zhengzhou Extreme Precipitation”. The study reveals that the orographic gravity wave drag triggered by complex terrain can cause significant location and intensity biases of the “21.7” Zhengzhou extreme precipitation in global numerical weather prediction (NWP) models.

Nanofluidic devices are attracting more and more attention due to their unique features: ions as carriers, which makes them highly biocompatible. However, it is still unclear how the ion transport influences the devices’ performance and how the multimodal nanofluidic devices are fabricated within the same architecture. Here, an innovative approach by a team from Southern University of Science and Technology has demonstrated that it is the comparison between the interionic distance and the Bjerrum length which governs the ionic states and thus the electrical responses. These findings pave the way towards more complex nanofluidic devices and circuits.

ROS serve as crucial mediators of redox homeostasis, playing decisive roles in diverse pathological processes. While inorganic sonosensitizers for SDT represent significant advances in ROS-based therapeutics, developing US-responsive sonosensitizers with optimal biocompatibility, and initiating innovative treatment strategies remains a substantial translational challenge. In this work, researchers demonstrate that FeOOH nanorods function as exceptional tribocatalysts capable of efficiently converting vibrational mechanical energy into therapeutic effects through sono-tribocatalytic activation.

Achieving precise, light-triggered control over solid-state materials remains a longstanding challenge. This study reports a pair of structurally analogous copper-based nanoclusters whose composition enables controllable photo-conversion efficiency, but also allows precise spatiotemporal regulation of material composition at the micron scale. The study reveals the photo-conversion mechanism at the atomic level, offering a new pathway for developing solid-state photo-responsive materials