Adapted from the novel "Xiao Dou Kou" and set in the eleventh year of Chengkang, it tells the story of Jiang Xu, the prince of Dingbei who has been guarding the border for eight years, returning to th...

In the eleventh year of Chengkang, Prince Jiang Xu of Dingbei, who had guarded the border for eight years, returned to the Daxian Dynasty to investigate...

Industrial oily wastewater discharges and marine oil spills pose a serious threat to ecosystems. A new strategy for efficient and controllable oil–water separation is provided by smart-responsive wettability materials, owing to their ability to dynamically switch surface wettability in response to external stimuli. Under this premise, we reviewed the research progress and applications of such materials. First, we described the theoretical basis of wettability and the mechanism of oil–water separation. Subsequently, we comparatively analyzed the structural characteristics and separation properties of four types of special wettable materials. We focused on eight categories of smart response wetting materials: temperature, pH, light, electricity, gas, ion, solvent, and multi-response. For each type, we analyzed the response mechanisms, advantages, and limitations in oil–water separation. In addition, we compared the advantages and disadvantages of key preparation techniques such as layer-by-layer self-assembly, electrostatic spinning, and surface-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization. Finally, we summarized the current research status and challenges in the field of smart-responsive wetting materials and looked forward to future development directions.

arXiv abstract link

arXiv abstract link

arXiv abstract link

arXiv abstract link

arXiv abstract link

Theoretical physicists Dr. Chengkang Zhou and Professor Zi Yang Meng from The University of Hong Kong, along with experimentalists Zhenyuan Zeng and Professor Shiliang Li from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, have discovered a novel quantum state known as a "Dirac Spin Liquid". This state is characterized by the emergence of quasiparticles, known as Dirac spinons, which have unique characteristics similar to Dirac particles in high-energy physics. The team's research focused on a material known as YCu3-Br, which exhibits a quantum spin liquid state. The findings could potentially advance our understanding of condensed matter physics and open doors for further exploration into high-temperature superconductivity and quantum information.