摘要 : Solar evaporation using biomass-derived evaporators is a highly efficient eco-friendly, promising method with natural sunlight for stable steam generation. However, developing cost-effective and scalable solar evaporators with excellent salt resistance to achieve stable seawater desalination remains challenging. Herein, inspired by the structure of reeds, a novel low-cost evaporator (CDs@AZLA-0.3) was developed. Alkalized zizania latifolia (AZLA) was used as the substrate for the solar evaporator, and carbon dusts (CDs) was introduced into starch skeleton as a photothermal conversion layer in a cost-effective fashion. This bionic reed leaf enhanced the roughness of the porous interface, thereby increasing light absorption capacity and achieving 90.67 % light absorption. Meanwhile, this bionic structure possessed a hierarchical porous characteristic, which promoted continuous capillary water transport and facilitated rapid vapor diffusion. The CDs@AZLA-0.3 evaporator exhibited an average evaporation rate of 1.46 kg m −2 h −1 and a photothermal conversion efficiency of 93 % in 3.5 wt% seawater under one sun irradiation. In addition, the evaporator demonstrated stable evaporation rates and effective purification in both acidic and alkaline environments (1.59 and 1.43 kg m −2 h −1, respectively), with the pH of the distillate water remaining around 7. The freshwater production cost was stably maintained at a highly cost-effective level (0.48 $ ton −1 ). This study provides a new strategy for designing biomass-derived bionic evaporators to achieve efficient steam generation and related applications.

摘要 : Hydrogen now transcends its conventional energy carrier role, serving as a critical alert medium for lithium-battery thermal runaway alerts. This new application imposes stringent requirements on hydrogen sensors, primarily involving the precise quantification at trace concentrations and the rapid response upon exposing to high-concentration hydrogen. To address these emerging detection demands, we engineer a WO 3 -based sensor via powder aerosol deposition method. This approach exploits synergistic hammer-etching effects during impact consolidation, yielding amorphous matrix encapsulated nanocrystalline WO 3 . Optimized devices exhibit exceptional performance: broad detection range (100 ppb-20, 000 ppm), record sensitivity (>7 ×10 5 @ 2 vol% H 2 ), ultrafast response (≤ 0.4 s), and long-term stability. These advances demonstrate significant potential for battery safety monitoring and validate aerosol deposition for next-generation gas sensor fabrication.

摘要 : Designing functionalized molecular structures to modulate intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) characteristics plays a pivotal role in significantly enhancing the optical nonlinearity of pyrene-based chalcone derivatives. Building upon this foundation, we designed three molecular systems ( X4, X2, and X1 ) featuring diethylaminophenyl groups via one-dimensional and two-dimensional (1D and 2D) extension of the chalcone backbone, simultaneously regulating pyrenyl charge density and π-π transition intensity. Experimental assessment of 1D and 2D extended structures revealed distinct variations in optical nonlinearity. Broadband femtosecond Z-scan measurements (532-900 nm) and non-degenerate phase-object pump-probe (POPP) experiments demonstrated significantly enhanced nonlinear optical responses in X4 and X2 relative to X1, while key parameters including two-photon absorption cross-sections, excited-state absorption coefficients, and nonlinear refractive indices exhibited remarkable proximity between X4 and X2 . From a charge transfer perspective, these observations can be rationalized by the saturation behavior of charge density on the central pyrene core with increasing numbers of electron-donating arms. This phenomenon is analogous to the finite volume of a container, wherein the saturated pyrene unit suppresses charge transfer, thereby limiting further enhancement of optical nonlinearity. These findings establish that while the 2D extended molecule system ( X4 ) achieves greater absolute nonlinear enhancement, the 1D extended molecule system ( X2 ) delivers a superior enhancement ratio per structural unit. This validates 1D extension as a highly efficient design strategy, providing valuable principles for optimizing pyrene-chalcone derivatives and related nonlinear optical materials.

摘要 : Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are widely employed in laser protection applications owing to their excellent nonlinear optical absorption (NLA) properties. Nevertheless, the underlying enhancement mechanisms governing their NLA performance, particularly concerning structure-property relationships, remain ambiguous. To study the influence of π-bridges on nonlinear optical absorption (NLA) performance and excited-state dynamics, we designed and synthesized three two-branched anthracene derivatives (ZN1, ZN2, and ZN3) in this work. By introducing different π-bridges, we modulate the dihedral angle θ between the anthracene core and side chains in these two-branched molecules from 90° to 0°, thereby governing their electron transition characteristics. Through an integrated computational-experimental framework, we elucidate the distinct excitation pathways in these systems—including intramolecular charge transfer (ICT) and local excitation (LE)—by employing hole-electron analysis and transient absorption spectroscopy. Reducing the dihedral angle θ facilitates orbital overlap between the conjugated core and side chains, which extends the π-conjugated system and significantly augments the molecule's reverse saturable absorption (RSA) performance. Based on the above molecular optimization strategy, we have successfully improved the ultrafast broadband optical limiting (OL) performance of these compounds (515–650 nm), with an OL threshold as low as 9.11 mJ/cm 2 .

摘要 : Alcoholysis is considered as a promising chemical method to obtain gas fuel hydrogen by alcoholysis of lignin. However, the reaction mechanism of hydrogen production by alcoholysis of lignin remains unclear. Therefore, the hydrogen-producing reaction mechanism of lignin alcoholysis was explained in this study from the microscopic level using density functional theory (DFT) simulation. Results showed that the methoxyl group and hydroxyl group had less influence on the energy barrier of hydrogen producing process of lignin model compounds alcoholysis, while the ethyl group had more effects. The energy barrier of alcoholysis reaction of model compounds containing ethyl lignin was lower than that of model compounds without ethyl lignin. Meanwhile, the introduction of calcium metal acting on the transition state could promote the reaction progress, resulting in an approximately 16 % reduction in the energy barrier. In addition, during the hydrogen producing process of lignin alcoholysis, the reaction rate was increased and the dominant branching ratio of the alcoholysis process was altered by elevated temperatures. The mechanism channels and kinetic parameters obtained in this study can offer theoretical guidance for hydrogen production of lignin alcoholysis.

摘要 : Pyrolysis is acknowledged as an effective methods for treating waste hydrofluorocarbons, yet it is often challenged by high degradation difficulty and the production of low-value outputs. The introduction of waste soapstock with a high hydrogen-to-carbon ratio as a hydrogen source during the pyrolysis of hydrofluorocarbons represented a viable and promising strategy to achieve efficient degradation while generating valuable products. In this study, the co-pyrolysis mechanism of 1, 1, 1, 2-tetrafluoroethane and soapstock was investigated using ReaxFF reactive molecular dynamics simulations and density functional theory calculations. The results indicated that hydrogen atoms derived from soapstock actively promoted the defluorination of 1, 1, 1, 2-tetrafluoroethane, generating short-chain hydrocarbons and hydrogen fluoride. 88 % of the fluorine atoms in 1, 1, 1, 2-tetrafluoroethane were converted into hydrogen fluoride, achieving a defluorination efficiency superior to that of pure 1, 1, 1, 2-tetrafluoroethane pyrolysis. The product distribution shifted from primarily hydrogen fluoride and low-value fluorine-containing products in 1, 1, 1, 2-tetrafluoroethane pyrolysis to a suite of valuable chemicals and fuels, including hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen, hydrocarbon products, and carbon monoxide, in the co-pyrolysis of 1, 1, 1, 2-tetrafluoroethane and soapstock. First-order kinetic analysis revealed significantly lower apparent activation energies for 1, 1, 1, 2-tetrafluoroethane degradation in the co-pyrolysis systems, confirming that the addition of soapstock markedly reduced the degradation difficulty. Furthermore, the electronic properties and reactivity of 1, 1, 1, 2-tetrafluoroethane were explored. This study provides a potential route for converting waste hydrofluorocarbons into valuable chemicals and fuels.

摘要 : Two-dimensional (2D) -family monolayers (MLs) have emerged as promising semiconductors due to their element tunability and rich electronic and optoelectronic properties. In this work, using first-principles calculations, we investigate the electronic, mechanical, transport, and optoelectronic properties of ML with a small indirect bandgap. Various nanodevices based on ML are studied, including pn-junction diodes, pin-junction field-effect transistors (FETs), and phototransistors. The present results reveal that the ML exhibits high rigidity, thermal stability, and remarkable light absorption. These nanodevices demonstrate excellent performance: (1) the pn-junction diode shows a high rectification ratio and a near-Shockley-limit ideality factor, (2) the pin-junction FET exhibits significant gate voltage modulation capability with subthreshold swing as low as 71 mV/dec (close to the theoretical limit calculated based on the Boltzmann distribution), and (3) the phototransistor displays strong optoelectronic responses in the visible and ultraviolet regions. These findings establish ML as a versatile platform for developing high-performance, multifunctional nanoelectronic and optoelectronic devices, significantly expanding the application potential of -family materials.

摘要 : Nonlinear optical materials with high optical limiting (OL) response have raised much attention due to their potential application in laser protection. Meanwhile, for most optical limiting materials, it is difficult to combine both strong nonlinear absorption and high linear transmittance. Here, the nonlinear properties, especially OL performance in a series of functionalized twistacene derivatives are systematically investigated, indicating that both the as-prepared compounds, 10, 15-di-tert-butyl-8-phenyldibenzo[hi, mn]indeno[1, 2, 3-de]tetracene (S2) and 4, 18-di-tert-butyl-15-methyl-16-phenyl-15H-pyreno[4′, 5′:3, 4]fluoreno[1, 9-ab]carbazole (S3) present significant OL response with extremely high transmittance and low thresholds. Furthermore, S3 bearing a maximum extended π-conjugation, exhibits giant OL performance that can respond to femtosecond, picosecond and nanosecond laser pulses simultaneously. The research may demonstrate the potential application of these compounds in laser protection towards ultrashort pulses.

摘要 : Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have garnered significant interest due to their solution processability and potential low cost, yet the development of efficient, sustainable, and economically viable additives remains a challenge. In this work, we introduce aztreonam (AZT), a widely abundant antibiotic with persistent environmental presence and low recycling value, as a passivator for high-performance PSCs. Unlike conventional synthetic additives, AZT requires no dedicated synthesis, and its repurposing offers a promising route to mitigate ecological contamination caused by antibiotic overuse. By incorporating AZT into the lead iodide (PbI 2 ) precursor, we achieve controlled crystal growth along (100) and (111) orientations and effective defect passivation. The optimized devices attain a PCE of 24.76 %, surpassing the control (23.54 %), and demonstrate exceptional stability, retaining 90 % of initial efficiency after 1400 h under continuous illumination. This study provides a sustainable strategy to simultaneously enhance device performance and address environmental challenges associated with pharmaceutical waste.

摘要 : A polymerisable perylene-tetra(carboxylate-hexene) liquid crystal was synthesized to study their mesomorphic behavior and transition temperatures using polarized optical microscopy (POM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and small/wide angle X-ray scattering (S/WAXS). The optimized 3D geometry model using TD-DFT Gaussian theoretical calculation was presented to build the relationship between mesophases and molecular configuration. The UV-Vis absorption and fluorescent emission have also been measured to evaluate their potentials for use as promising liquid crystalline organic semiconductors. The results demonstrate a favorable room-temperature liquid crystal with wide range of mesophase and good luminescent properties.