Chemical Engineering Journal最新文献

{"title":"Bioprinting of miRNA-Induced Spheroids for Vascularized, Heterocellular Bone Regeneration.","authors":"Nazmiye Celik, Amar Yeware, Vaibhav Pal, Miji Yeo, Myoung Hwan Kim, Logan Haugh, Ibrahim T Ozbolat, Daniel J Hayes","doi":"10.1016/j.cej.2026.178521","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cej.2026.178521","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Successful bone regeneration requires coupled osteogenic and vascular development; however, achieving simultaneous multicellular differentiation within engineered tissues remains challenging. Here, we developed a microRNA (miR)-guided spheroid platform to induce dual osteogenic and endothelial differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells (hASCs) for vascularized bone regeneration. hASCs were transfected with miR-148b or miR-210 to promote osteogenic and vascular-associated phenotypes, respectively, and assembled into spheroids that were bioprinted within an nHA-containing GelMA microgel environment using aspiration-assisted bioprinting (AAB). The integrated platform combined miR-guided osteogenic and endothelial differentiation, spatially organized AAB-based spheroid assembly, and an nHA-containing GelMA microgel environment to support vascularized bone tissue regeneration. The engineered constructs maintained high cell viability (> 90%) and supported active cell spreading and migration within the microgel matrix, together with increased osteogenic and endothelial gene expression. To further verify their <i>in vivo</i> regenerative potential, the constructs were implanted into mouse critical-size calvarial defects, where those containing miR-transfected hASCs improved bone regeneration, achieving ~91% of defect closure, and promoted the formation of vessel-like CD31-positive structures compared to controls. Together, these findings demonstrate that combining miR-mediated dual-lineage differentiation with spatially organized spheroid assembly and a supportive microgel environment provides a promising strategy for vascularized bone tissue engineering.</p>","PeriodicalId":270,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal","volume":"544 ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":12.5,"publicationDate":"2026-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13441407/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148676595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"High-throughput prediction of the lowest triplet excitation energies in organic photovoltaic acceptors using physics-guided excess-factor-corrected fragment descriptors","authors":"Lei Cheng, Rui-Cheng Qin, Peng Xie, Ming-Yang Li, Yue Ren, Guang-Yan Sun","doi":"10.1016/j.cej.2026.181560","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.181560","url":null,"abstract":"Accurate prediction of the lowest triplet excitation energy (<ce:italic>E</ce:italic><ce:inf loc=\"post\">T1</ce:inf>) is critical for controlling excited-state losses and stability in organic optoelectronic materials, yet TDDFT remains too costly for high-throughput screening. Here we develop a physics-guided, fragment-based machine-learning framework to predict <ce:italic>E</ce:italic><ce:inf loc=\"post\">T1</ce:inf> in organic photovoltaic nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs). A curated dataset of 169 NFAs is deconstructed into 41 terminal acceptor (A) fragments and 59 donor core (D) fragments. By quantifying D/A contributions and incorporating an excess-factor correction (<ce:italic>σ</ce:italic><ce:inf loc=\"post\">exc</ce:inf>) for nonadditive inter-fragment effects, the CatBoost model achieves accurate <ce:italic>E</ce:italic><ce:inf loc=\"post\">T1</ce:inf> prediction on the held-out test set (<ce:italic>R</ce:italic><ce:sup loc=\"post\">2</ce:sup> = 0.9375, MAE = 0.0143 eV, and RMSE = 0.0173 eV) while retaining interpretable structure-property relationships: the D fragment defines the main <ce:italic>E</ce:italic><ce:inf loc=\"post\">T1</ce:inf> distribution range, whereas terminal-group and side-chain engineering further modulate <ce:italic>E</ce:italic><ce:inf loc=\"post\">T1</ce:inf> through orbital interactions, conformational effects, and charge-transfer admixture. This coupling-aware fragment framework not only enables rapid virtual screening across large fragment-assembly spaces but also offers a practical strategy for high-throughput design of fragment-assembled organic optoelectronic materials.","PeriodicalId":270,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal","volume":"6 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148884383","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Electrode size regulates hydrogen bubble dynamics and voltage instability on Pt microelectrodes","authors":"Yue Wang, Tao Wu, Lei Dong, Fang Yuan, Qiang Yang, Bo Liu","doi":"10.1016/j.cej.2026.181527","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.181527","url":null,"abstract":"Gas bubble evolution during water electrolysis governs bubble-mediated interfacial transport, active-site availability, and voltage stability in gas-evolving electrochemical systems. Although microelectrodes are widely used as model platforms for probing electrochemical bubble dynamics, how electrode geometry regulates bubble evolution and the resulting electrochemical instability remains insufficiently understood. Here, platinum microelectrodes with diameters of 100, 200, and 500 μm are employed as well-defined model electrodes to investigate hydrogen bubble dynamics during the hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) in acidic electrolyte under galvanostatic conditions. By combining electrochemical measurements with high-speed imaging, we show that individual bubble growth follows an apparent Faradaic gas-production-limited scaling, <mml:math altimg=\"si5.svg\" display=\"inline\"><mml:msub><mml:mi>d</mml:mi><mml:mi>b</mml:mi></mml:msub><mml:mfenced close=\")\" open=\"(\"><mml:mi>t</mml:mi></mml:mfenced><mml:mo>=</mml:mo><mml:mi>β</mml:mi><mml:msup><mml:mi>t</mml:mi><mml:mrow><mml:mn>1</mml:mn><mml:mo>/</mml:mo><mml:mn>3</mml:mn></mml:mrow></mml:msup></mml:math>, within the experimentally resolved growth window across all electrode sizes. In contrast, the bubble growth coefficient β, bubble lifetime, detachment diameter, coalescence behavior, and potential response exhibit strong geometry dependence. Larger electrodes provide broader active areas with more nucleation sites and frequent bubble coalescence, leading to higher apparent β values, shorter bubble lifetimes, smaller detachment diameters, and delayed onset of periodic voltage oscillations at a given current. Conversely, smaller electrodes confine gas generation into single-bubble-dominated regimes, resulting in larger detachment sizes and earlier periodic bubble-induced voltage oscillations. Notably, the critical current density required to trigger periodic oscillations increases systematically with electrode size, while the dominant detaching bubble becomes comparable in size to the electrode at the transition. These findings provide a quantitative basis for selecting electrode feature size and operating current-density windows to mitigate bubble-induced voltage instability in water electrolysis systems.","PeriodicalId":270,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal","volume":"25 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148884385","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Low-dose arsenate promotes high-efficiency anammox: From granular properties to synergistic metabolism","authors":"Que Wang, Xiao-Wei Xu, Zhang-Yi Wang, Hong-Yuan Liu, Lei Wang, Hui-Ming Fu, Ya-Min Liu, Peng Yan, Ling-Ling Wang, You-Peng Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.cej.2026.181525","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.181525","url":null,"abstract":"Arsenic is frequently detected in high-ammonium wastewaters, threatening microbial metabolism. Anaerobic ammonium oxidation (anammox) is energy-efficient, yet how arsenic affects anammox bacteria and shapes microbial interactions remains unclear. Here we present the potential promotion mechanisms of arsenic on anammox system, spanning from granule characteristics and arsenic speciation distribution to microbial synergistic metabolism. The results highlight that anammox granules can withstand up to 15 mg/L As(V), and notably, 5 mg/L As(V) significantly enriched the anammox bacteria (44.7%). Meanwhile, the diffusion capacity of nutrients throughout the granules was improved. Furthermore, the ability of the microbial community to limit arsenic uptake increased, which was associated with high expression of arsenic resistance genes. In addition, the expression of key genes involved in nitrogen metabolism, energy metabolism, cofactor synthesis, and cross-feeding was significantly upregulated. This is attributed to the systematic adaptation and metabolic regulation of key syntrophic members (Ca. Kuenenia stuttgartiensis_A, <ce:italic>Villigracilis</ce:italic> sp., and <ce:italic>Desulfobacillus denitrificans</ce:italic>) under arsenate exposure, thereby enhancing the overall resistance of the consortium to arsenic and nitrogen removal efficiency. This study provides multi-dimensional insights into the promotional mechanisms of low-dose arsenate on anammox systems and offers promising technical strategies for the treatment of arsenic-containing wastewater.","PeriodicalId":270,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal","volume":"43 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148884386","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"All-biomass lignin multifunctional nanocarriers for smart pesticide delivery with potent antibacterial activity","authors":"Fenying Wang, Bo Wang, Xi Jiang, Zhipeng Lu, Jiao Wang, Jingsu Xue, Yi-Xin Ren, Hao Wang, Fei-Xian Luo","doi":"10.1016/j.cej.2026.181509","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.181509","url":null,"abstract":"Lignin-based micro/nanoparticles have emerged as promising platforms for intelligent controlled-release pesticides in sustainable agriculture. However, most existing systems incorporate exogenous toxic components or rely on composite carriers, hindering the development of a pure lignin-based delivery platform that simultaneously achieves high efficacy and environmental compatibility. To address this challenge, a fully lignin-based pesticide delivery system was developed utilizing natural lignin from <ce:italic>Phyllostachys edulis</ce:italic> (ML) and industrial by-product sodium lignosulfonate (SL) as raw materials. The nanoparticles (AVM@QML-ASL) were fabricated via self-assembly driven by hydrophobic and electrostatic interactions between quaternized ML (QML) and alkylated SL (ASL). Under optimized conditions (THF as solvent, drug-to-carrier ratio of 1:2), the system exhibited a high drug loading capacity (29.9%) and encapsulation efficiency (88.6%) for abamectin (AVM), along with excellent foliar retention and UV-shielding properties. Notably, compared with technical AVM, the half-life of AVM under UV irradiation was extended by 11.5-fold. Meanwhile, the system displayed dual-responsive release behavior modulated by pH and laccase, and showed remarkable and long-lasting control efficacy against the target pest <ce:italic>Plutella xylostella</ce:italic>. Moreover, this nano-formulation significantly mitigated the phytotoxicity of AVM on crop seed germination, reduced its aquatic toxicity by increasing the LC₅₀ in zebrafish by 2.6 times, and improved biosafety toward HaCaT cells. The system also displayed inherent antibacterial activity against <ce:italic>Staphylococcus aureus</ce:italic>. This work presents a low-cost, multifunctional, and fully lignin-based platform for the development of green and intelligent pesticide delivery systems, offering a sustainable strategy for crop protection.","PeriodicalId":270,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal","volume":"10 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148884387","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"In situ polymerization-prepared water-stable CsPbX3/PMMA composites for water-stimulated anti-counterfeiting and bioimaging","authors":"Rong Huang, Xiaoman Xiang, Danxia Zheng, Geyu Feng, Xinyu Ge, Rongze Zhu, Peng Chen, Xueling Chang, Xiao-Chun Hang, Xiaoyang Qi, Longfei Ruan","doi":"10.1016/j.cej.2026.181508","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.181508","url":null,"abstract":"Halide perovskite nanocrystals (HPNCs) exhibit exceptional optoelectronic properties but suffer from poor stability in polar environments and potential toxicity, limiting their practical applications in information anti-counterfeiting, data encryption, and biological fields. Combining HPNCs with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) can provide a strategy to construct CsPbBr<ce:inf loc=\"post\">3</ce:inf>/PMMA composites that exhibit enhanced structural stability and tunable emission. This work reports an improved facile room-temperature ligand-assisted re-precipitation strategy for the in situ synthesis of CsPbBr<ce:inf loc=\"post\">3</ce:inf>/PMMA composites with a silane-mediated protective shell, which significantly enhances the optical performance with a high PLQY of up to 86.0%, tunable emission wavelength ranging from 463 nm to 619 nm and photoluminescence average lifetimes spanning from 70.5 ns to 155.9 ns. PMMA bridges CsPbBr<ce:inf loc=\"post\">3</ce:inf> and the silane agent by forming Pb<ce:glyph name=\"sbnd\"></ce:glyph>O coordination bonds with Pb<ce:sup loc=\"post\">2+</ce:sup> on the crystal surface and Si-O-C covalent bonds with the silane's Si<ce:glyph name=\"sbnd\"></ce:glyph>O groups, thereby generating a dual-layer inert protective shell of PMMA and SiO<ce:inf loc=\"post\">2</ce:inf> around the crystal that passivates surface defects and enhances structural stability of the composite. In addition, the CsPbBr<ce:inf loc=\"post\">3</ce:inf>/PMMA composites exhibit excellent stability in water, ethanol, phosphate buffer saline (PBS), and Dulbecco's Modified Eagle's Medium (DMEM), particularly retaining over 90.0% of initial emission after 30 days in water, which enables a water-stimulated anti-counterfeiting application, displaying a “VICTORY” signal. Furthermore, the CsPbBr<ce:inf loc=\"post\">3</ce:inf>/PMMA composites demonstrate high cell viability (&gt;90.0% at 1000 μg/mL) and effective fluorescence imaging after 24 h in osteosarcoma cells. This work can be extended to other HPNCs, realizing stable optoelectronic devices for applications in advanced anti-counterfeiting and biological fields.","PeriodicalId":270,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal","volume":"491 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148884421","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Capillary-driven microfluidics: Interfacial physics, materials, manufacturing strategies, passive flow-control, and emerging applications","authors":"Li Jiang, Fangming Sheng, Weihong Ma, Zhijuan Su, Zhuoqing Yang, Guifu Ding, Faheng Zang","doi":"10.1016/j.cej.2026.181488","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.181488","url":null,"abstract":"Capillary-driven microfluidics is an emerging pump-free microfluidic technology that exploits surface tension, contact angle, wettability, and capillary pressure at liquid-solid interfaces to achieve spontaneous fluid transport. This technology shows broad application prospects in point-of-care testing, biosensing, chemical analysis, environmental monitoring, and on-chip reaction systems owing to its simple architecture, external-power-free operation, low reagent consumption, portability, and compatibility with disposable analytical chips. In order to harness the capillary-driven microfluidics' power-free operation potentials, it is critical to achieve comprehensive control of stationary capillary components as well as passive valve functions. Therefore, a full package of technologies including material selection, microfluidic design, surface modification, and microfabrication strategy needs to be tailored toward the successful implementation of capillary-driven microfluidics. This review focuses on functional units, interfacial physics, passive flow-control structures, material selection, and fabrication strategies of a capillary-driven microfluidic system, aiming at a comprehensive overview of recent advances in this new field of microfluidics. The core of the review assesses representative components, from passive flow-control elements to programmable capillaric systems, highlighting their operating mechanisms, design principles, and integration strategies. We further summarize recent applications in biomedical diagnostics, chemical and environmental analysis, food safety monitoring, and autonomous lab-on-a-chip platforms. Finally, current challenges and future opportunities toward programmable, intelligent, multimaterial, and portable capillary microfluidic systems are discussed.","PeriodicalId":270,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal","volume":"51 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148884422","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Intelligent biointerfaces for hemostasis and wound repair: The evolution from passive coverage to closed-loop intervention","authors":"Jing Li, Yue Hu, Yanbo Jin, Shaolong Ji, Zijun Lu, Xiaojie Cheng, Chao Feng, Xiguang Chen","doi":"10.1016/j.cej.2026.181468","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.181468","url":null,"abstract":"Managing acute trauma, from fatal non-compressible hemorrhage to massive soft tissue defects, remains a major clinical challenge. Conventional interventions frequently fail under complex hemodynamics and struggle to counteract the trauma-induced lethal triad. To address these limitations, clinical strategies are shifting from static, passive mechanical occlusion toward data-driven, closed-loop biointerfaces. This review critically evaluates the advanced materials engineering driving this transition. We systematically trace the progression from structurally engineered scaffolds that leverage biomimetic wet adhesion to intelligent platforms capable of dynamically balancing immunothrombosis, ensuring coagulation is strictly confined to the wound bed. Because acute hemostasis and prolonged tissue repair operate on fundamentally different time scales, this evolution integrates intelligence accordingly. Upstream artificial intelligence is utilized for the inverse design of rapid hemostatic polymers, while downstream flexible bioelectronics are incorporated for the continuous and semi-autonomous monitoring of the wound environment. Finally, the review assesses practical translational barriers, including sterilization decay, algorithmic bias, and regulatory compliance. By bridging macromolecular design with clinical realities, this work outlines a definitive trajectory from reactive coverage to precision hemostasis and repair.","PeriodicalId":270,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal","volume":"8 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148884423","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Cohesion and interface dual-effect driven molecular lock adhesive by multiple dynamic covalent bonds","authors":"Jiajun Zhu, Qin Lu, Rimei Chen, Li Wang, Lingli Tian, Zhiping Chen, Yu Meng, Ziheng Zhang, Hui He","doi":"10.1016/j.cej.2026.181547","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.181547","url":null,"abstract":"Strategically coupling internal and interfacial dynamic covalent bonds establishes an innovative molecular lock adhesive paradigm, providing key support for overcoming the core bottleneck of strong adhesion yet controllable detachment in bio-based adhesives. Here, a cellulose molecular lock adhesive was constructed with multiple dynamic covalent bonds of internal disulfide bonds and interfacial imine bonds. The improved adhesion performance of the adhesive originates from two structural features: an internal dynamic covalent locking network formed via dynamic disulfide exchange between disulfide-grafted cellulose nanofibers and flexible polythioctic acid, as well as dynamic interfacial imine bonds generated between abundant aldehyde groups on the adhesive and amino-rich target interfaces. Notably, the adhesive achieves an adhesion strength of 4.77 MPa on aminated surfaces, representing a 17.52% improvement compared with the pure hydrogen bonding system. In addition, the adhesive demonstrates excellent substrate universality, forming stable and efficient bonds with diverse materials, including iron, glass, polymethyl methacrylate, and polyvinyl chloride. After 24 h of water immersion, the adhesive retains 52.3% of its initial bonding strength. Importantly, benefiting from two kinds of dynamic covalent bonds constructed within the system, the adhesive realizes controllable detachment through cohesive failure or interfacial debonding upon four external treatments: chemical reduction, mechanical forces acid treatment and thermal stimulation, with debonding efficiencies exceeding 40%. Overall, this study presents a molecular lock adhesive that can simultaneously achieve excellent adhesion performance and controllable detachment, advancing the theoretical framework of dynamic bonding design and expanding the application potential of sustainable bio-based adhesives in engineering domains.","PeriodicalId":270,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal","volume":"96 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148884384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Validated distribution of relaxation times peak-to-component assignment enables accurate degradation diagnosis and state-of-health estimation in direct methanol fuel cells","authors":"Yihan Zhang, Lei Shi, Yanyi Liu, Sibo Ji, Jialiang Mi, Honglei Ling, Jia He","doi":"10.1016/j.cej.2026.181561","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cej.2026.181561","url":null,"abstract":"Deciphering coupled degradation in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) under dynamic operation remains a formidable challenge. We propose a diagnostic framework integrating multi-potential distribution of relaxation times (DRT), cross-scale validation, and physics-data dual-driven machine learning (ML). Three accelerated stress tests effectively decouple dominant aging modes. Scenario 1 selectively triggers gas diffusion layer (GDL) mass transfer failure, evidenced by a 125% long-timescale DRT impedance rise (relaxation time shifting from 1.5 to 3.1 s) and a 16% anode contact-angle reduction. Scenario 2 induces synergistic catalyst agglomeration/ripening and membrane degradation; multi-potential DRT isolates a mid-timescale kinetic peak shift (4.10 to 6.59 ms) and a 50% short-timescale ohmic peak rise, corroborated by approximately 46% catalyst coarsening and a 37% proton-conductivity decline. Scenario 3 reveals irreversible shutdown poisoning, characterized by DRT peak surges at mid- and long-timescales of 84% and 46%, respectively. Crucially, under complex mixed conditions (Scenario X), embedding DRT features as physical anchors reduces state-of-health (SOH) prediction uncertainty by 45% and achieves a degradation-mode attribution confidence of 0.88. By circumventing prior-dependency errors inherent in equivalent circuit fitting, this cross-scale paradigm provides a physically interpretable quantitative methodology fundamentally extendable to the durability assessment and life prediction of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) and broader electrochemical systems.","PeriodicalId":270,"journal":{"name":"Chemical Engineering Journal","volume":"49 1","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":15.1,"publicationDate":"2026-09-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148884382","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"工程技术","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}