Molecule-based electronic devices, using the intrinsic electronic structure of molecules as device units and constructing electronic devices at the molecular scale, serve as an ideal experimental platform for studying molecular charge transfer mechanisms. They also provide a novel strategy for achieving new functional electronic devices at the micro-nano scale. The realization of a micro-nano electrode gap and a reliable electrode-molecule connection are key factors in developing highly reproducible molecular devices. Carbon materials have been widely applied in the construction of molecular devices due to their remarkable chemical stability and abundant surface chemistry. This review summarizes the research status of using carbon as electrodes in molecular device construction, showcasing the prominent advantages of carbon materials, such as high stability, low cost, and scalability, as well as their applications and research progress in large-area molecular devices and single-molecule devices. The review presents a wealth of achievements in the construction of functional molecular devices, such as molecular switches and rectifiers, using carbon electrodes, as well as the study of the structure-performance relationship in molecular-electron transport. Lastly, this work analyzes the challenges currently faced in carbon-based molecular device research and provides prospects for the chemical connection of carbon electrode-molecular interface and functionalization of carbon-based molecular devices, as well as the integration of future molecular devices.

In recent years, nanozymes, as a new generation of artificial enzymes, have gradually entered the medical field due to their multi-enzyme activity, high stability and targeting ability, which are superior to natural enzymes. Moreover, nanozymes have been applied to the treatment of a variety of diseases and cancer because of their regulatory effect on reactive oxygen species. Brain diseases, as one of the highest mortality diseases, are prone to produce complex inflammatory responses due to excessive reactive oxygen species in the pathological environment. Therefore, the application of nanozymes in the brain environment may become an effective means of monitoring and treatment of brain diseases. This article reviews the principles of nanozymes in the treatment of brain diseases and the current research status in this field in recent years, including nanozymes inducing cancer cell death by regulating the level of reactive oxygen species, nanozymes assisting traditional anticancer therapy, nanozymes using membrane proteins to monitor brain cancer, and their applications in traumatic brain injury, stroke, brain degenerative diseases, cerebral malaria and epilepsy. At the end of this text, the problems of its application in clinical treatment are discussed.

In recent years, with the improvement of the air quality in China, traditional pollutants such as NO_x and SO₂ have been effectively controlled. The emission control of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has gradually become a key to further alleviating the regional composite air pollution so far. Catalytic oxidation is one of the most promising VOCs emission reduction technologies due to its high treatment efficiency, low energy consumption, and wide applicability. The development of high-performance catalysts is crucial for this technology. The design and structural regulation of catalysts associated with mechanism study is currently a research hotspot. This paper first outlines the catalytic oxidation mechanism of VOCs. Secondly, the research progress on the structural regulation of non-noble metal catalysts is reviewed from the perspectives of single transition metal oxides, mixed metal oxides, composite metal oxides, and interface structure regulation. Based on the dispersion state, the size effect and support effect of noble metal nanoparticles/clusters in noble metal catalysts are summarized. The regulation strategies based on the metal-support interaction for the emerging single-atom catalysts are also discussed. Finally, this paper provides a summary and prospects for future research trends. We believe that based on deeply clarifying the structure-activity relationship, developing simple and refined structure regulation methods of catalysts and adapting to actual operating conditions and industrial scale-up is the focus of future research.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), as a new type of organic porous materials, are highly crystalline and orderly porous, exhibiting functional modifiability, structural tunability and high stability. The regular pore channels of COFs can accommodate a variety of proton carriers and proton donors to build continuous and stable proton transport channels, playing a great role in both aqueous and anhydrous proton conduction. The application of COFs to the field of proton exchange membranes is of great research significance and value. In this paper, the characteristics of different types of proton exchange membranes, such as COFs solid electrolyte membranes, polymer matrix-COFs composite membranes, COFs self-supporting membranes and the modification methods to improve the performance of COFs proton exchange membranes are summarized from the aspects of COFs as proton exchange membranes for low temperature fuel cells and high temperature fuel cells, respectively. The relevant representative research of COFs in the field of fuel cell proton exchange membranes in recent years is reviewed. Finally, the application prospects of COFs proton exchange membranes are discussed and prospected.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as a new class of crystalline porous materials are assembled by appropriate building blocks through covalent bonds. COFs have been utilized in many fields such as storage and separation of gases, catalysis, proton conduction, energy storage, optoelectronics, sensing and biomedicine due to their regular channels, high thermal stability, high crystallinity and adjustable structure. In recent years, tetraphenylethylene-based covalent organic frameworks (TPE-based COFs) have attracted much attention due to their obvious aggregation induced luminescence effect, simple synthesis and easy functionalization. In this paper, the construction units, topological structures, synthesis strategies and application progress of TPE-based COFs in different fields are briefly reviewed. Finally, the development prospects and possible challenges of TPE-based COFs are pointed out.

The emission of a significant amount of VOCs has resulted in severe impacts on both human health and the environment. Currently, the most effective method for treating VOCs is their total oxidation to carbon dioxide and water through metal oxide catalysis. To enhance the catalytic performance of metal oxides, various synthetic strategies have been developed, including morphology, defect, and doping engineering. However, these processes are cumbersome and require further improvements to enhance the catalytic performance. On the other hand, metal-organic frameworks (MOFs)-derived metal oxides have been extensively used to catalyze the complete oxidation of VOCs. This is because of their tunable morphology, large specific surface area, high defect concentration, and excellent doping dispersion. However, there is a lack of a comprehensive summary of the application of MOFs-derived metal oxides in the total oxidation of VOCs. Therefore, this paper reviews the synthesis conditions, doping methods, and pyrolysis conditions of MOFs from the control strategy of derived metal oxides. It also summarizes the regulation methods and the relationship between the physicochemical properties of derived metal oxides and the total oxidation performance of VOCs. Additionally, this paper discusses the future development and challenges of MOFs-derived metal oxides.

With the widespread use of antibiotics, the problem of water pollution caused by antibiotics is becoming increasingly serious. Currently, technologies for removing antibiotic pollutants from water include physical adsorption, flocculation, and chemical oxidation. However, these processes often leave a large amount of chemical reagents and difficult-to-dispose sediment in water, making post-treatment more difficult. Photocatalytic technology uses photocatalytic materials to decompose antibiotics under light, ultimately forming non-toxic CO₂ and H₂O. Photocatalytic degradation of antibiotics has the advantages of low cost, high efficiency and free secondary pollution. In this paper, the research progress of several commonly used photocatalytic materials for degrading antibiotics is reviewed, and their future researches and applications are also prospected．

Phenylboronic acid, a kind of synthetic molecule that can covalently bind with saccharide, has attracted wide attention in the field of saccharide detection. It has the characteristics of good stability, strong recognition ability and easy coupling with various detection systems. In this paper, the mechanism of phenylboronic acid binding to saccharide and its specific applications in detection was first introduced. What’s more, the strategies for structural modification, in the manner of introducing electron-withdrawing group or electron-donating group into ortho, meta and para position of the boric acid group on the benzene ring, were mainly discussed, and the progress made in reducing pK_a and improving the selectivity according to these strategies were summarized. At the same time, the saccharide sensors based on these new phenylboronic acid derivatives in recent years were also summarized, including electrochemical sensors, fluorescence sensors, gels/microgels and photonic crystals, and their detection principles were discussed. The main analytes are monosaccharides with similar structures, such as glucose and fructose. Finally, the research of these sensors based on phenylboronic acid derivatives was compared, and their advantages and disadvantages were analyzed. Meanwhile, the applications of saccharide sensors based on phenylboronic acid derivatives in the future are prospected from two aspects including the integration of diagnosis and treatment and the identification of saccharide in complex chemical environment.

Food safety is closely related to people’s quality of life. The establishment of simple, sensitive and intelligent detection methods for food contaminants is an important guarantee for food safety and health management. Nevertheless, traditional analysis methods have certain limitations such as time-consuming detection process, high cost, and complicated operation. Optical fiber biosensors, which rely on the interaction between light and fluids, have the characteristics of good signal sensitivity, rapid detection and real-time response. They have recently emerged as advanced optical sensing methods with diverse functions and high sensitivity, and can realize rapid and accurate detection of various pollutants in food. In this review, we summarized the basic principles, classification and research status of various novel optical fiber biosensors. The applications in the detection of various pollutants such as mycotoxins, heavy metal ions, antibiotics, and pesticide residues in food samples were introduced. Furthermore, the development trend of this novel sensing strategy was also briefly discussed.

Achieving fast charging of lithium-ion batteries is an effective way to promote the popularity of electric vehicles and solve environmental and energy problems. However, the slow kinetics and increased safety risks of conventional lithium-ion battery systems under fast charging conditions severely hinder the practical application of this technology. This paper reviews the latest research progress in the structural regulation and design of electrode materials and electrolytes for fast-charging lithium-ion batteries. First, we systematically introduce the research progress made in recent years within the scope of improving the diffusion rate of Li-ion in electrode materials by structural modulation of electrode materials. The review focused on optimizing the ion/electron conductivity of the materials and shortening the Li-ion transfer path. Then, we systematically introduce the methods to improve the fast charging performance through the regulation and design of electrolytes, in terms of improving the ion conductivity of electrolytes and regulating Li-ion solvation structure and then highlight the acceleration of Li-ion de-solvation process by regulating the lithium salt concentration and Li-ion solvent interactions with the goal of achieving promotion of Li-ion transfer at the phase interface. Finally, the key scientific issues facing fast-charging Li-ion batteries is summarized as well as the future research directions.

The research of high-performance electromagnetic wave-absorbing materials (WAM) is of great significance to enhance the stealth performance of weapons and equipment and solve the electromagnetic pollution problem. Silicon carbide (SiC) materials have good resistance to high temperature, corrosion and chemical stability, and show good application prospects in the field of electromagnetic wave absorption. However, the intrinsic properties of SiC materials are weak, and how to improve their wave-absorbing properties is an important research topic. Based on the electromagnetic wave-absorbing mechanism of SiC materials, firstly, the research status of SiC-based WAM with different morphologies (core-shell structure, aerogel structure, fibrous structure, hollow structure, MOFs structure, etc.) is analyzed and summarized. In addition, the research progress of composites of SiC with silicon carbide fibres, carbon materials and magnetic substances in the field of wave absorption is introduced in detail. The development status of special types of SiC-based WAM (SiC-based high-temperature WAM, SiC-based wave absorbing metamaterials, and SiC-based multifunctional WAM) is also reviewed. Finally, the future development direction of SiC-based WAM is prospected.