North China Electric Power University

Energy-saving buildings (ESBs) are an emerging green technology that can significantly reduce building-associated cooling and heating energy consumption, catering to the desire for carbon neutrality and sustainable development of society. Smart photovoltaic windows (SPWs) offer a promising platform for designing ESBs because they present the capability to regulate and harness solar energy. With frequent outbreaks of extreme weather all over the world, the achievement of exceptional energy-saving effect under different weather conditions is an inevitable trend for the development of ESBs but is hardly achieved via existing SPWs. Here, we substantially reduce the driving voltage of polymer-dispersed liquid crystals (PDLCs) by 28.1 % via molecular engineering while maintaining their high solar transmittance ( Tsol  = 83.8 %, transparent state) and solar modulating ability (Δ Tsol  = 80.5 %). By the assembly of perovskite solar cell and a broadband thermal-managing unit encompassing the electrical-responsive PDLCs, transparent high-emissivity SiO 2 passive radiation-cooling, and Ag low-emissivity layers possesses, we present a tri-band regulation and split-type SPW possessing superb energy-saving effect in all-season. The perovskite solar cell can produce the electric power to stimulate the electrical-responsive behavior of the PDLCs, endowing the SPWs zero-energy input solar energy regulating characteristic, and compensate the daily energy consumption needed for ESBs. Moreover, the scalable manufacturing technology holds a great potential for the real-world applications.

Graphitic carbon nitride prepared through supramolecular prepolymerization and molten-salt strategies has shown strong potential in photocatalytic hydrogen evolution and pollutant degradation. In this work, we integrate these two approaches to construct single-atom-anchored carbon nitride (NaK-CN) and demonstrate that precise calcination temperature control enables divergent photocatalytic functionalities. Aberration-corrected high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM) and X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) analyses were employed to elucidate the structural features of the materials. The results reveal that temperature-dependent tuning of defect concentration, coordination environment, and crystallinity effectively regulates charge separation behavior and reaction pathways. Consequently, NaK-CN-500 achieves a high hydrogen evolution rate of 12.81 mmol h^-1 g^-1_catalyst, while NaK-CN-550 delivers a markedly enhanced apparent rate constant of 0.431 min^-1 for enoxacin degradation. This study supplements a versatile synthesis platform for tailoring carbon nitride frameworks and provides mechanistic insight for designing CN-based photocatalysts optimized for energy conversion and environmental remediation.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), synthetic organofluorine compounds containing at least one fully fluorinated carbon unit (-CF₂- or -CF₃-), encompass both legacy PFASs and their structurally related substitutes. As emerging PFASs, their alternatives have been garnering significant attention; however, a systematic analysis of the potential risks they may pose, particularly to green algae photosynthesis in aquatic environments, remains lacking. This study selected 57 emerging and eight traditional PFASs molecules and nine characteristic proteins/enzymes related to green algae photosynthesis to construct a graded evaluation index of the interference effect of PFASs exposure on green algae photosynthesis. Through molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations, the characterization values of interference effects were calculated, and five key pathways of the interference effect system were identified. Among all molecules, nine PFASs reached the special risk level, and 21 PFASs were identified at the key risk level. Extreme Gradient Boosting combined with Shapley Additive Explanations (XGBoost-SHAP) further identified that the chain length, electron-withdrawing ability, and oxidizability of PFASs were the dominant molecular features interfering with green algae photosynthesis. A priority control list of PFASs with interference effects was then developed and validated. This study systematically reveals the molecular interference mechanism and risk grading characteristics of emerging PFASs on green algae photosynthesis, elucidating their potential impact on aquatic ecosystem functions through the disruption of key photosynthetic processes. These findings provide theoretical support for the risk identification and management of emerging PFASs.