Compared with currently prevailing Li-ion technologies, sodium-ion energy storage devices play a supremely important role in grid-scale storage due to the advantages of rich abundance and low cost of sodium resources. As one of the crucial components of the sodium-ion battery and sodium-ion capacitor, electrode materials based on biomass-derived carbons have attracted enormous attention in the past few years owing to their excellent performance, inherent structural advantages, cost-effectiveness, renewability, etc. Here, a systematic summary of recent progress on various biomass-derived carbons used for sodium-ion energy storage (e.g., sodium-ion storage principle, the classification of bio-microstructure) is presented. Current research on the design principles of the structure and composition of biomass-derived carbons for improving sodium-ion storage will be highlighted. The prospects and challenges related to this will also be discussed. This review attempts to present a comprehensive account of the recent progress and design principle of biomass-derived carbons as sodium-ion storage materials and provide guidance in future rational tailoring of biomass-derived carbons.

The assembly of low dimensional g-C₃N₄ structures in a geometrically well-defined fashion and the complexation of g-C₃N₄ with other materials are the main approaches to construct fancy structures for special functions. While high temperature was often indispensable for the preparation process, the realization of room temperature assembly of the low dimensional g-C₃N₄ and the preparation of g-C₃N₄-based semiconductor composites will provide many additional advantages for new functional materials and applications. Herein, the unique cuprous oxide (Cu₂O)–graphitic carbon nitrides (g-C₃N₄) core–shell nanowires with highly hierarchical sharp edges on the surface have been prepared by a spontaneous reduction and assembly approach based on oxygen-functional g-C₃N₄ (O-functional g-C₃N₄) at room temperature. Combined with the hybrid effect of Cu₂O with g-C₃N₄, such hierarchical Cu₂O–g-C₃N₄ core–shell nanowires possess sensitivity to humidity and photocurrent response.

Filtering capacitors with wide operating voltage range are essential for smoothing ripples in line-powered system, which are still unsatisfactory due to low energy density and limited working voltage scopes. Herein, we report an aqueous hybrid electrochemical capacitor with areal specific energy density of 1.29 mF V² cm⁻² at 120 Hz, greater than common aqueous ones. Interestingly, it can be easily integrated at scale to show excellent flexibility, controllable and stable filtering performance, in which an integrated device (e.g., seven units in series) exhibits fluctuation of 96 mV, 10 times smaller than an aluminum electrolytic capacitor with similar capacitance. A record-high 1,000 V can also be achieved after integrating 670 units, exceeding those reported so far, and about 1.5 times of commercial bulk aluminum electrolytic capacitors (~700 V). This work opens up a new insight for promising applications in multiple electricity transmission systems that requiring high smoothness under harsh voltage.

Straw return is an important practice for replenishing soil organic matter (SOM) and recycling agricultural residues. This review synthesizes straw decomposition characteristics, drivers, and agroecological effects across China’s four major grain-producing regions. The relevant literature was retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection, Scopus, and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and manually selected based on their relevance to straw decomposition and associated agroecological responses. In Northeast China, low temperature and a short effective decomposition period limit straw breakdown. In the Huang-Huai-Hai region, intensive winter wheat–summer maize rotation, seasonal straw inputs, and fluvo-aquic soil properties regulate decomposition. In the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, favorable hydrothermal conditions support decomposition, while paddy–upland alternation and flooding modify decomposition pathways. In Southwest China, warm, humid conditions favor decomposition, but erosion and nutrient losses on sloping croplands can weaken long-term fertility benefits. Straw return can improve SOM accumulation, nutrient availability, soil structure, and crop productivity; however, these benefits depend on climate, soil properties, cropping systems, and management. Responses of CO₂, CH₄, and N₂O emissions also vary, particularly with soil moisture and nitrogen management. Future studies should integrate long-term field experiments, microbial ecology, carbon–nitrogen cycling, and life cycle assessment to develop region-specific straw return strategies that balance agronomic benefits and environmental risks.

Ordered mesoporous carbon materials (OMCMs) are widely used as high-performance electrode materials due to their uniform pore structure, excellent electrical conductivity, and good stability. In this paper, three OMCMs with controllable N content were prepared by a nanocasting method using Fe₃O₄ nanocrystals as the template and organic ligands as the carbon source. By adopting a ligand exchange strategy, oleic acid, oleic amine, and octyl amine were successfully capped onto the Fe₃O₄ nanocrystals, respectively, which allowed the rational control of the elemental composition of OMCMs at the molecular level. Further characterizations revealed that the nitrogen content of the resulting OMCMs increased as the proportion of nitrogen atoms in the ligand increased, while the order of the porous structure decreased as the hydrocarbon chain length decreased. This study demonstrates that both the N-doping content and the order of the OMCMs are influenced by the N-containing ligand. This finding will provide a fundamental aspect for their further applications as high-performance electrode and catalytic materials in the field of electrochemistry.