Accounts of materials research最新文献

Hydrogen medicine materials are defined as a new concept of biomedical materials specifically engineered to overcome critical challenges in hydrogen medicine, including exploration of biological effects and mechanisms of H₂ by in vivo monitoring of H₂ transportation, metabolism and transformation, enhancement of H₂ therapeutic efficacy against various oxidative stress-related diseases by high-efficiency and site-specific delivery and controlled release of H₂, etc. As the smallest and weakly reductive molecule, H₂ exhibits some unique biological characteristics, including high tissue permeability, antioxidative stress (OS), anti-inflammation, antiapoptosis, antisenescence, pro-regeneration/pro-self-repairing, anticancer, antibiofilm, high biocompatibility, and biosafety, holding a high value of biomedical applications. However, the related biological mechanisms are not very clear. Typically, multifaceted biological behaviors of H₂ in varied pathological microenvironments, such as inflammation, cancer, and injured tissue, have not been well elucidated. Moreover, as a therapeutic agent, the pharmacokinetics of H₂, involving absorption, biodistribution, metabolism, and excretion, has to be clarified before clinical application, which needs the development of hydrogen bioprobes to resolve. Based on high biosafety and therapeutic validity of H₂, both hydrogen gas inhalator and hydrogen-rich water generator have been clinically approved for adjuvant therapy of some respiratory and digestive system diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), hyperuricemia, hyperlipemia, gastrelcosis and coprostasis, but they hardly realize effective delivery toward remote diseased focuses. Therefore, efficient, site-specific and controlled/sustained H₂-delivering materials with high biosafety urgently need to be developed for improving the outcome of hydrogen therapy. Based on these unique advantages and unsolved key issues in hydrogen medicine, hydrogen medicine materials as an emerging interdisciplinary field have attracted increasing attention in recent years.

In this Account, we present a brief overview of the recent advances of hydrogen medicine materials including hydrogen bioprobes and hydrogen-delivering materials (hydrogen carriers, hydrolytic hydrogen-generating materials, and catalytic hydrogen-generating materials), as well as their typical biomedical applications including targeted inflammation therapy, targeted tumor therapy, and local tissue repair/regeneration. Finally, a forward-looking perspective on hydrogen medicine materials is demonstrated, which attempts to address the current clinical challenges in the field of hydrogen medicine. Especially, the development of small molecular bioprobes for in vivo H₂ detection, the understanding of H₂ pharmacokinetics and potential bioeffects,

Industrial emissions, agricultural runoff, and waste discharge have introduced numerous hazardous pollutants into ecosystems, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs), toxic gases (e.g., SO₂, NO_x, and O₃), heavy metal ions, and organic contaminants (e.g., dyes, antibiotics). These pollutants pose significant risks to environmental sustainability and human health, contributing to respiratory illnesses, waterborne diseases, and environmental harm. To address these challenges, there is an urgent need for advanced materials that can efficiently and selectively capture and degrade pollutants. Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs), with their modular nature, precise architectures, and tunable functionalities, have attracted considerable attention for environmental remediation. Their structural diversity enables the incorporation of active sites such as open metal sites, functionalized ligands, and hierarchical pores, facilitating targeted interactions with a broad range of pollutants. Despite these advantages, the practical application of MOFs remains limited by their chemical instability under harsh environmental conditions (e.g., extreme pH, oxidative or reductive atmospheres). Most MOFs are prone to degrade via ligand displacement or framework collapse, posing a significant barrier to their use in environmental remediation.

This Account provides a comprehensive overview of our recent advances in the rational design and synthesis of chemically robust MOFs for the efficient capture, degradation, and detection of air and water pollution. First, we outline a combined strategy that integrates thermodynamic stabilization through strong metal–ligand coordination and kinetic enhancement via framework interpenetration and high connectivity, ensuring structural integrity under environmental conditions. Crystal engineering enables the incorporation of versatile binding sites, such as open metal sites and low-coordination nodes, while ligand design enhances electronic properties and luminescence response for selective detection. Additionally, precise control of the pore microenvironment improves molecular transport and pollutant binding efficiency. These synergistic approaches have been successfully demonstrated across a wide range of applications, including VOC adsorption and photocatalytic degradation, the removal of reactive, toxic gases (e.g., O₃, SO₂, NH₃), and the detection and remediation of organic contaminants, heavy metal ions, and radioactive species in water. Finally, we also discuss ongoing challenges and future directions essential for the practical application of stable MOFs in environmental remediation. This work aims to provide design principles and valuable insights that will advance the development of next-generation MOFs as sustainable platforms for comprehensive environmental pollution control.