This review summarizes advanced analytical techniques for environmental polymer analysis, with a focus on microplastics (MPs), nanoplastics (NPs), and water-soluble polymers (WSPs). It details the strengths and limitations of mass spectrometry (MS), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and fluorescence spectroscopy for chemical characterization and identification. Ultimately, this review aims to promote integrated analytical platforms to enhance our understanding and routine assessment of global environmental plastics, including biodegradable ones, and related environmental concerns, bridging the gap between current research and practical environmental monitoring needs. (80 words).

The demand for energy has increased since the industrial revolution, leading to more carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions, which worsen environmental issues. This article reviews the use of single-atom catalysts (SACs) for this purpose. The authors discuss various methods to create SACs. They also explore how SACs can be improved by changing their structure or adding other elements. The review highlights that SACs can make CO₂ conversion more efficient and selective, but challenges remain, such as preventing metal atoms from clumping together. While SACs show promise, more research is needed to improve their performance and make them viable for industrial use.

Artificial chaperones have been extensively developed as cost-effective, highly customizable, and stable alternatives to natural chaperones. This review firstly summarizes the conventional design of artificial chaperones in terms of compositional complexity from small-molecular chemical chaperones, large-molecular polymeric systems, to nanostructured assemblies. We further reviewed current advances in smart chaperone systems that can regulate chaperone functions in response to outer stimuli such as pH, temperature, and light. These progresses highlight the trending transition from material-based stabilization to programmable regulatory platforms with enhanced precision and expanded potential in complex biological, biomedical, and industrial applications.

Direct microwave oxidation of naturally abundant MoS₂ ore enables gram-scale, phase-pure α-MoO₃ in minutes. Volumetric microwave heating converts MoS₂ to layered α-MoO₃ via SO₂ evolution while preserving a belt-like morphology and yielding millimeter-long crystals. The simple process is highly scalable (1 g h⁻¹), energy- and carbon-efficient versus state-of-the-art routes, and the resulting high-quality crystals serve as the active layer in low-voltage MIOS memristors driven by oxygen-vacancy migration.

Superatomic molecules, constructed by the fusion or combination of spherical metal nanoclusters (superatoms), offer a novel framework for understanding the stability of anisotropic metal nanoclusters. This review highlights recent advances, with a focus on the relationship between molecular geometry and electronic structure, particularly the formation of superatomic molecular orbitals through the linear combination of superatomic orbitals. Unique stabilization features distinct from conventional molecules are introduced, along with emerging prospects for photofuntional applications.

In this study, we aimed to enhance sustainability in the biomanufacturing field by utilizing the photosynthetic pathway, nitrogen fixation pathway, and lithotrophic pathway of the purple non-sulfur photosynthetic bacterium, Rhodovulum sulfidophilum, by using CO₂ gas, N₂ gas, and reduced inorganic sulfur compounds as carbon, nitrogen, and electron sources, respectively. Under these culture conditions, the expression of recombinant proteins was investigated, focusing on the production of artificial spider silk proteins.

The phase diagram of 5% Hg-doped CeRhIn₅ reveals two distinct antiferromagnetic ground states without superconductivity, contrasting sharply with electron- and dilute hole-doped systems. This behavior highlights a fundamental asymmetry in local electronic structure: electron substitution induces homogeneous effects, whereas hole doping nucleates localized magnetic droplets. In the heavy hole-doping limit, these droplets grow to stabilize a new magnetic order and create a spatially heterogeneous electronic state. Consequently, the high impurity density locally freezes magnetic fluctuations, suppressing the canonical quantum critical signatures and preventing the formation of superconductivity near the quantum critical point.

In this study, we demonstrate a novel and scalable route to CoPi, where cobalt oxide (CoO_x) is first grown by aerosol-assisted chemical vapour deposition (AACVD) and then surface modified through a dark electrochemical treatment (ET) process. CoPi was grown onto bismuth vanadate (BiVO₄) photoanodes, also synthesised by AACVD. CoPi-decorated BiVO₄ demonstrated high charge separation efficiency (84%), stability over four hours of chronoamperometry (~90% of initial performance retained), and photoelectrochemical performance, achieving a half-cell solar-to-hydrogen (HC-STH) efficiency of 1.16% at 1.23 V vs RHE. Overall, our study demonstrates the viability of the AACVD technique to produce scalable photoanodes for solar water splitting applications.

Inspired by natural evolutionary processes, a smart catalytic system can be rationally designed through artificial intelligence, while also accounting for the influence of practical environmental conditions to meet the demands of future industrial applications.