📄 chemistry

Mild activation strategy for porous carbon materials: using Sodium bicarbonate and Potassium bicarbonate as activators for high-performance supercapacitors

This study presents a green, scalable strategy for synthesizing hierarchical porous carbons from waste badminton feathers using NaHCO₃ and KHCO₃ as co-activators, resulting in a heteroatom-doped material with a high specific surface area that delivers superior performance as an electrode in high-energy-density supercapacitors.

Zixuan Zhang, Yunzhuo Luzhang, Zhentao Bian, Yu Jia, Dandan Shen, Xusheng Xie, Na Zhang2026-08-07
📄 chemistry

Unlocking Catalytic Activity via Tuning Fe 3d Spin State in Fe Dual-Atom Nanozymes with Atomically Dispersed Fe2-N6 Configurations for Reprogramming Immuno-Redox Microenvironment in Rheumatoid Arthritis

This study presents a high-spin Fe dual-atom nanozyme with an atomically dispersed Fe₂-N₆ configuration that, when encapsulated in a pH-responsive hydrogel, effectively treats rheumatoid arthritis by tuning the Fe 3d spin state to enhance ROS-scavenging catalytic activity, thereby reprogramming the immuno-redox microenvironment and inhibiting chondrocyte pyroptosis.

Yuntao Liao, Lan Lin, Hong Chen, Jiayu Li, Xiaofeng Liu, Jiexin Huang, Hongyan Li, Hongxiang Wei, Penghui Wei, Hongjia Z (…)2026-08-07
📄 chemistry

Thermodynamic gating reconciles molecular and device rankings in solid- state dye-sensitized solar cells: a DFT-informed multiscale study

This study demonstrates that thermodynamic feasibility, specifically the ability of polymeric hole conductors to regenerate photo-oxidized dyes, acts as a critical gating mechanism that reconciles discrepancies between molecular-level predictions and device-level performance rankings in solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells, necessitating a design approach where regeneration constraints filter the search space rather than merely contributing to multi-criteria scoring.

Esin Mutlu, Gülbin Kurtay2026-08-07
📄 chemistry

Microstructural Evolution and Optical Properties of Hydrothermally Synthesized CuO/ZrO2 Nanocomposites

This study demonstrates that hydrothermally synthesized CuO/ZrO₂ nanocomposites exhibit modified microstructural properties, including partial tetragonal phase stabilization and reduced lattice strain, alongside significantly altered optical band gaps and defect-assisted luminescence, suggesting their enhanced potential for photocatalytic, sensing, and optoelectronic applications.

Pullarao Teneti, P. Naresh, G. Sreedevi, G. Nagaraju2026-08-07
📄 chemistry

NN-Dx: Chemically adaptive dispersion physics for density-functional theory

The paper introduces NN-Dx, a chemically adaptive dispersion correction that integrates equivariant machine learning into a D4-inspired analytical framework to dynamically adjust atomic properties and interaction terms, thereby significantly reducing errors across various density functionals while preserving physical asymptotic behavior and enabling stable molecular dynamics.

Giuseppe Barca, Yufan Xia, Adrian Pearce2026-08-07
📄 chemistry

How precise control of entanglement network formation can produce lighter-weight polyethylene with higher tenacity

This study demonstrates that precisely controlling the deformation of the physical entanglement network in polyethylene, rather than simply maximizing draw ratios, enables the production of lighter-weight materials with higher tenacity by promoting uniform rubber-like deformation over unstable necking.

Ceshi, Zefan Wang, Biying Li, Yongfeng Men, Alejandro J. Müller2026-08-07
📄 chemistry

Influence of Electrolyte Concentration on the Morphology and Airborne Particulate Matter Removal Efficiency of Electrodeposited Copper Films

This study demonstrates that electrodeposited copper films with a nodular microstructure, particularly those prepared at a 0.075 M electrolyte concentration, achieve optimal surface roughness and thickness to significantly enhance airborne particulate matter removal efficiency compared to stainless steel rods.

R. S. Sidharaddi, A. A. Mane, P. S. Maldar, S. P. Desai, M. H. Nadaf, A. B. Farakte, A. S. Selmokar, S. A. Nikam, V. S. (…)2026-08-06