{"title":"Recent progress in polysaccharide-based materials design toward stable Zn anodes","authors":"Yanbo Zhu, Yuyang Yan, Haodong Zhang, Jinping Zhou","doi":"10.1007/s11426-025-3350-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11426-025-3350-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Aqueous zinc batteries are emerging as one of the powerful candidates for large-scale energy storage due to their inherent safety, high theoretical capacity (820 mA h g<sup>−1</sup>), and low cost. However, challenges such as Zn dendrite growth, parasitic side reactions, and sluggish Zn<sup>2+</sup> transport impede their commercialization. In recent years, polysaccharide-based materials have attracted increasing attention as sustainable and versatile platforms for addressing these issues, due to their tunable architectures, rich surface chemistry, and eco-friendliness. This review systematically outlines the fundamental origins of poor reversibility in Zn anodes, focusing on dendrite formation and side reactions. We then introduce representative natural polysaccharides, such as cellulose, chitin, and chitosan, and highlight their key structural characteristics, including functional groups, chain conformations, and hierarchical assemblies. Subsequently, recent progress in stabilizing Zn anodes using polysaccharide-based materials is comprehensively discussed, covering artificial interfacial layers, functional separators, hydrogel electrolytes, and electrolyte additives, with special attention to their underlying working mechanisms. Finally, we present an outlook on the remaining challenges and prospects of polysaccharide-based materials in Zn anode stabilization, aiming to inspire further research and accelerate their practical applications.</p><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":772,"journal":{"name":"Science China Chemistry","volume":"69 8","pages":"4223 - 4242"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148695485","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Doping for organic solar cells","authors":"Yuting Guo, Henan Li, Qingqing Bai, Zhongxia Wang, Yu Bao, Huiliang Sun","doi":"10.1007/s11426-026-3346-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11426-026-3346-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Crucial for mitigating energy scarcity and environmental degradation, the development of novel energy technologies positions organic solar cells (OSCs) as a leading photovoltaic candidate due to their intrinsic advantages of flexibility, light weight, and solution processability. Concurrent advancements in materials and processing have enabled certified power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) to surpass the 20% threshold. However, inherent material limitations, specifically low dielectric constant, sluggish carrier mobility, and a large exciton binding energy, severely impede further performance enhancement. Doping techniques provide an effective strategy for precisely tailoring the electrical characteristics of organic semiconductors, thereby circumventing these limitations and serving as a crucial driver for progress across the broader field of organic electronics. This review systematically examines recent advancements (over the last five years) in applying doping techniques to OSCs. We primarily focus on active layer doping methodologies, including co-doping, sequential doping, layer-by-layer doping, and solid additive-assisted doping, while also discussing the optimization of interfacial engineering for charge transport layers. Finally, we outline the three critical challenges facing the integration of doping technology into future development of OSCs, providing potential directions for future research in the field.</p><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":772,"journal":{"name":"Science China Chemistry","volume":"69 10","pages":"5529 - 5538"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149176808","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Bowen Zhang, Yuhang Zhang, Shuaibing Yang, Shuai Yue, Minna Cao, Rong Cao
{"title":"Synergistic effects of W-doping in self-supporting RuO2/Ru for highly efficient acidic oxygen evolution","authors":"Bowen Zhang, Yuhang Zhang, Shuaibing Yang, Shuai Yue, Minna Cao, Rong Cao","doi":"10.1007/s11426-026-3370-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11426-026-3370-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Proton exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) is a key technology for sustainable hydrogen production using renewable electricity. Nevertheless, the lack of highly active and durable electrocatalysts for the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER) remains a critical bottleneck for industrial implementation. Herein, we report a novel self-supported Ru@W-RuO<sub>2</sub> electrode fabricated via a precisely controlled electrodeposition strategy of W-doped RuO<sub>2</sub> on a metallic Ru substrate. This unique architecture eliminates binder issues and enhances charge transport, crucial for practical applications. This advanced electrode exhibits outstanding OER activity, achieving an ultra-low overpotential of 178 mV at 10 mA cm<sup>−2</sup> in 0.5 M H<sub>2</sub>SO<sub>4</sub>, coupled with exceptional long-term stability (>110 h at 10 mA cm<sup>−2</sup>). Remarkably, it surpasses state-of-the-art commercial RuO<sub>2</sub>, demonstrating 5.8-fold higher turnover frequency (TOF) and 6.6-fold higher mass activity. Comprehensive theoretical and experimental investigations reveal that the precisely incorporated W dopants fundamentally optimize the electronic structure by inducing a synergistic interface with the Ru substrate, shifting the Ru d-band center, and promoting oxygen vacancy formation. This effect synergistically accelerates OER kinetics and significantly boosts the intrinsic activity of RuO<sub>2</sub>. This work presents a generalizable strategy for designing highly efficient and durable OER electrocatalysts, paving the way for advanced PEMWE systems.</p><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":772,"journal":{"name":"Science China Chemistry","volume":"69 9","pages":"5074 - 5081"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11426-026-3370-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148985344","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Shengbing Dong, Liming Yang, Tao Yang, Jianhe Liu, Ruixue Gong, Kang Wang, Rui Guo, Enhui Wang, Xinmei Hou
{"title":"Acidic CO2 electroreduction to formic acid: catalyst-driven electrode reaction optimization and reactor-driven mass transport intensification","authors":"Shengbing Dong, Liming Yang, Tao Yang, Jianhe Liu, Ruixue Gong, Kang Wang, Rui Guo, Enhui Wang, Xinmei Hou","doi":"10.1007/s11426-026-3388-3","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11426-026-3388-3","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The electrocatalytic CO<sub>2</sub> reduction reaction (eCO<sub>2</sub>RR) to formic acid (FA, HCOOH) in acidic media represents a crucial technological pathway for achieving carbon neutrality. Compared to traditional neutral or alkaline systems, acidic environments can fundamentally prevent carbonate formation from a thermodynamic perspective, significantly enhance the single-pass carbon efficiency (SPCE), and directly produce high-purity FA, thereby simplifying downstream separation processes. However, the high proton concentration in the acidic environment severely restricts the selectivity and activity for FA, as well as the long-term stability of the catalysts. This review systematically summarizes recent advances in acidic eCO<sub>2</sub>RR to FA from two key perspectives: catalyst-driven optimization of electrode reactions and reactor-driven intensification of mass transport. It focuses on catalyst performance modulation strategies that enhance the selectivity, activity, and stability of FA production under acidic conditions, while also detailing the structural advantages and research progress of acidic reactors in avoiding carbonate formation and enabling direct production of high-purity FA. Future research directions are outlined from the standpoint of microscopic reaction mechanisms and industrial applications. The review emphasizes that the synergistic design and integrated optimization of catalysts and reactors are crucial to advancing this technology from the laboratory toward industrial implementation.</p><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":772,"journal":{"name":"Science China Chemistry","volume":"69 10","pages":"5539 - 5553"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149176809","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"“Bottom-up” construction of metal nanoparticle-encapsulated porous organic polymers","authors":"Ke Chen, Wei Zhang, Weibin Qiu, Zhenlan Zou, Ling Zhu, San-Yuan Ding, Yong Zhang","doi":"10.1007/s11426-025-3382-8","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11426-025-3382-8","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Metal nanoparticles (MNPs) encapsulated in porous supports constitute an important class of heterogeneous catalysts. However, achieving synergistic stabilization of ultrafine MNPs while preserving the porous architecture of the support remains a significant challenge in material design. In this study, we developed a “bottom-up” strategy using cage-stabilized MNPs as functional building blocks to fabricate MNP-encapsulated porous organic polymers (POPs). Initially, ultrasmall MNPs (Pd, Ru, or Rh) were confined within the internal cavity of organic cages. Subsequent hypercrosslinking polymerization of the organic cage’s external sites successfully yielded a porous polymer framework. The as-prepared MNP@POP composite catalysts exhibited high surface areas and showed excellent catalytic activity in the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction and reduction of 4-nitrophenol. Significantly, these materials demonstrate high stability and recyclability while maintaining their catalytic activity without degradation. This “bottom-up” strategy will pioneer new methodologies to design and prepare MNP@POP composites for heterogeneous catalytic applications.</p><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":772,"journal":{"name":"Science China Chemistry","volume":"69 8","pages":"4590 - 4597"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148695484","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Ionic liquids in aqueous zinc metal batteries using mild electrolytes: from electrolyte engineering to interfacial chemistry","authors":"Huifang Fei, Fuhua Yang, Junnan Hao","doi":"10.1007/s11426-025-3309-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11426-025-3309-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Aqueous zinc metal batteries (AZMBs) are considered as promising candidates for grid-scale energy storage systems because of the abundance of zinc reserves, high theoretical capacity of zinc anode, and intrinsic safety of the aqueous electrolytes. However, zinc anodes in aqueous electrolytes suffer from severe issues, such as H<sub>2</sub> evolution, dendrite growth, and spontaneous corrosion, resulting in poor reversibility and lifespan. Introducing ionic liquids (ILs) with tunable structures and superior physicochemical properties offers a viable solution. This strategy modulates both the bulk electrolyte and the interfacial environment, thereby addressing these challenges. This review outlines the recent progress in ILs for AZMBs employing mild electrolytes, emphasizing electrolyte design strategies and interfacial chemistry. We begin by introducing the fundamental properties of ILs relevant to AZMBs. Subsequently, we elucidate their specific roles and functions within the electrolyte, followed by an analysis of the modified interfacial chemistry at the anode. Finally, the remaining challenges associated with IL utilization are examined, and a potential future direction for the practical development of IL-based electrolytes in AZMBs is proposed.</p><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":772,"journal":{"name":"Science China Chemistry","volume":"69 9","pages":"4949 - 4967"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s11426-025-3309-6.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148985345","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recent advances in organic synthesis with CO2","authors":"Si-Shun Yan, Chaorong Qi, Yong-Yuan Gui, Hong-Ru Li, Yanwei Wang, Wei Zhang, Lei Song, Wenfang Xiong, Jian-Heng Ye, Youai Qiu, Wenzhen Zhang, Huanfeng Jiang, Xiao-Bing Lu, Liang-Nian He, Da-Gang Yu","doi":"10.1007/s11426-026-3468-7","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11426-026-3468-7","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>As an abundant and renewable C1 source, CO<sub>2</sub>-involved organic synthesis stands for green and sustainable chemical transformations, which have been well developed in the past decades. Diverse reactions are realized via C–X (X=C, N, O) bond formation, providing various organic compounds with high selectivity and efficiency. In recent years, a variety of novel organic transformations with CO<sub>2</sub> have emerged under different reaction systems, especially with the renaissance of photochemistry and electrochemistry. This review will summarize the advances in CO<sub>2</sub>-involved organic synthesis in the past five years. The content is organized based on the chemical bond formation in the organic transformation with CO<sub>2</sub>, mainly including C–C bond, C–N bond, and C–O bond formation.</p><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":772,"journal":{"name":"Science China Chemistry","volume":"69 8","pages":"4151 - 4222"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148695486","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Weilong Che, Wei Liu, Liangjing Tu, Yi Chen, Mengmeng Han, Jinfeng Wang, Yujun Xie, Dongge Ma, Zhen Li
{"title":"How alkyl substituents in thermally activated delayed fluorescence luminogens affect the performance of the corresponding organic light-emitting diode","authors":"Weilong Che, Wei Liu, Liangjing Tu, Yi Chen, Mengmeng Han, Jinfeng Wang, Yujun Xie, Dongge Ma, Zhen Li","doi":"10.1007/s11426-026-3357-0","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11426-026-3357-0","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) materials are a promising route to highly efficient, wide color gamut organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays. Unlike strategies that modify <i>π</i>-conjugated configurations, alkyl chains engineering subtly tunes solid-state packing without altering the excited-state electronic structures. Employing this strategy, five TADF emitters (TDBA-A1–A5) were synthesized by extending the alkyl chains on the acridine donor from methyl to pentyl. All the emitters show identical solution emission at 461 nm in toluene and high luminescent efficiency (82%–87%) in polymethyl methacrylate films. Crystallographic and computational analyses reveal that elongation of alkyl chains promotes tighter π-π overlap and stronger intermolecular interactions. OLEDs based on TDBA-A2–A5 achieve maximum external quantum efficiencies of 20.2%, 23.8%, 24.1%, and 23.5%, respectively, representing 1.22- to 1.45-fold enhancements over the TDBA-A1-based device (16.6%). This work validates that fine-tuning alkyl chain length is an effective strategy to boost TADF-OLED performance through controlled molecular packing.</p><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":772,"journal":{"name":"Science China Chemistry","volume":"69 9","pages":"5171 - 5177"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148985328","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Unlocking the near-infrared electroluminescence of the molecular ruby","authors":"Qing-Jun Pan, Zhong-Qiu Li, Dian-Xue Ma, Zhong-Liang Gong, Chuang Zhang, Stefan Bernhard, Jiannian Yao, Yu-Wu Zhong","doi":"10.1007/s11426-025-3344-6","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11426-025-3344-6","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>The invention of the Cr(III) complex [Cr(ddpd)<sub>2</sub>]<sup>3+</sup> (ddpd is <i>N,N′</i>-dimethyl-<i>N,N′</i>-dipyrid-2-ylpyridine-2,6-diamine), referred to as the “molecular ruby”, has prompted a notable surge in the investigation of photofunctional non-precious metal complexes. To date, most efforts focus on the photoluminescence properties of these complexes, including [Cr(ddpd)<sub>2</sub>]<sup>3+</sup> and related Cr(III) complexes. This work demonstrates the efficient electroluminescence of [Cr(ddpd)<sub>2</sub>]<sup>3+</sup> achieved by doping it into an Ir(III) complex host in a light-emitting electrochemical cell. Narrowband near-infrared electroluminescence peaking at 778 nm (full width at half maximum, FWHM = 25 nm) with a maximum external quantum efficiency of 0.78% has been realized. Efficient host-guest energy transfer and the suppression of the potential triplet-triplet annihilation process among guest molecules are crucial for the generation of the near-infrared electroluminescence.</p><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":772,"journal":{"name":"Science China Chemistry","volume":"69 8","pages":"4521 - 4526"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148695689","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Eutectogel based on biomimetic heterophase liquid-locking design enables ultra-stable human-machine interaction interfaces","authors":"Baijie Cheng, Ruixue Wang, Peipei Xu, Xueying Wu, Zhenhao Xia, Yexi Jin, Hongyao Xu, Shanyi Guang","doi":"10.1007/s11426-025-3365-1","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s11426-025-3365-1","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Conductive gel-based flexible wearable devices have emerged as transformative platforms for emerging applications in human-machine interaction. However, environmental humidity fluctuations can impair material performance through mechanisms such as water uptake-induced swelling/dehydration-induced embrittlement, as well as signal baseline drift. In this study, inspired by the strong hydration mechanism of natural moisturizing factors (NMF) and the sebum barrier in the skin, a biomimetic heterophase liquid-locking (BHL) design is proposed. This design precisely recapitulates the dual protective characteristics of skin. An internal hydrophilic phase, formed by zwitterionic polymers, achieves NMF-like high moisturization via hydrogen bonding/ion-dipole interactions. Meanwhile, a stable hydrophobic phase, mimicking the sebum barrier, is constructed on the surface through the covalent grafting of nanoscale hydrophobic polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS). The resulting gel exhibits ultra-stable mechanical and sensing performance over an ultra-wide humidity range (RH = 10%–90%), with less than 5% variation over 108 days. Furthermore, the eutectogel possesses softness, self-healing capability, high transparency, a wide temperature operating window, and ionic conductivity. By integrating gel-based electrode arrays and devices, human-machine collaboration and virtual reality (VR)-based human-machine interaction are realized. Moreover, an intelligent human-machine interaction system developed by further incorporating deep learning technology achieves a recognition rate of up to 99.68% for various gesture signals.</p><div><figure><div><div><picture><source><img></source></picture></div></div></figure></div></div>","PeriodicalId":772,"journal":{"name":"Science China Chemistry","volume":"69 8","pages":"4607 - 4617"},"PeriodicalIF":9.8,"publicationDate":"2026-06-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148695340","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"化学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}