Solar-driven distillation and desalination are promising technologies for large-scale water purification. Internal micro-channels are critical for the performance of a steam generation device in consideration of thermal management and water transportation. Here, we designed novel porous three-dimensional carbon foams (CFs) with unique interconnected channels and rough surfaces via alkali activation of naturally abundant wood. Promoted by the rough surface, the CFs can harvest more than 97% of the energy of the solar spectrum. The hydrophilic interconnected micro-channels of the CFs enhance water transportation and heat localization. Benefiting from these advantages, the highest steam generation efficiency of the CFs reaches 80.1% under 1 kW m⁻². In addition, the CFs also show high stability under harsh conditions and high activity in desalination of seawater. With the unique interconnected micro-channels, this porous carbon device offers a scalable, cost-effective and efficient choice for solar steam generation.

The formation of secondary sulfate in the atmosphere remains controversial, and it is an urgent need to seek a new method to quantify different sulfate formation pathways. Thus, SO₂ and PM_2.5 samples were collected from 4 to 22 December 2019 in the Nanjing region. Sulfur and oxygen isotopic compositions were synchronously measured to study the contribution of SO₂ homogeneous and heterogeneous oxidation to sulfate. Meanwhile, the correlation of δ¹⁸O values between H₂O and sulfate from SO₂ oxidation by H₂O₂ and Fe³⁺ $/$ O₂ was simulatively investigated in the laboratory. Based on isotope mass equilibrium equations, the ratios of different SO₂ oxidation pathways were quantified. The results showed that secondary sulfate constituted higher than 80 % of total sulfate in PM_2.5 during the sampling period. Laboratory simulation experiments indicated that the δ¹⁸O value of sulfate was linearly dependent on the δ¹⁸O value of water, and the slopes of linear curves for SO₂ oxidation by H₂O₂ and Fe³⁺ $/$ O₂ were 0.43 and 0.65, respectively. The secondary sulfate in PM_2.5 was mainly ascribed to SO₂ homogeneous oxidation by OH radicals and heterogeneous oxidation by H₂O₂ and Fe³⁺ $/$ O₂. SO₂ heterogeneous oxidation was generally dominant during sulfate formation, and SO₂ oxidation by H₂O₂ predominated in SO₂ heterogeneous oxidation reactions, with an average ratio around 54.6 %. This study provided an insight into precisely evaluating sulfate formation by combining stable sulfur and oxygen isotopes.

M -Bi ₂ O ₄ shows remarkably higher piezocatalytic performance compared with traditional piezocatalysts BaTiO ₃ and BiOCl.

In recent years, ozone (O₃) pollution has become a prominent air quality concern in the Sichuan Basin (SCB). Based on surface O₃ measurements from 22 cities between 2015 and 2024, this study investigates the evolution of extreme O₃ pollution events and their underlying causes. While the average O₃ concentration, the number of affected cities, and the total O₃ pollution hours have all increased during the past decade, extreme O₃ concentrations have shown a significant decline since 2020. These trends suggest that O₃ pollution in the SCB has become more spatially extensive and less intense. Decomposition analysis attributed ~75% of the post-2020 decline in extreme O₃ concentrations to precursor emission reductions, with meteorological variability explaining the remaining ~25%. Satellite observations of formaldehyde (HCHO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) column densities indicate a regional shift in O₃ formation regimes across the SCB, with many areas transitioning from VOC (volatile organic compound)-limited to transitional or NO_x (nitrogen oxide)-limited conditions. This shift likely contributed to the broader spatial extent and longer duration of O₃ pollution in recent years. Model sensitivity simulations and Integrated Reaction Rate (IRR) analysis demonstrate that reductions in precursor emissions, particularly NO_x, directly weakened daytime photochemical O₃ production and disrupted NO_x-driven radical propagation under transition and NO_x-limited conditions, collectively driving the observed decline in extreme O₃ concentrations.