Artiles
Open Access
Communication
29 June 2026Machine Learning Enabled Smart Structural Materials Using Additive Manufacturing
This research study describes a machine learning (ML)-driven model for producing smart structural materials via additive manufacturing (AM) by extrusion. A 3D concrete printing system was used to make cementitious composites that were reinforced with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs). Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machine (SVM), and Artificial Neural Network (ANN) models were used to undergo supervised learning on an experimental dataset consisting of 320 specimens to predict compressive strength, electrical conductivity, and print quality as dependent on process parameters and material composition. The highest R2 of compressive strength prediction of SVM was 0.946, whereas RF had the highest R2 of 0.987, which was used to predict electrical conductivity. Optimization of parameters guided by ML had a 61.8% enhancement of compressive strength and 30.5 times increase in electrical conductivity in comparison to non-optimized baselines. Nanomaterial networks were also found to be conductive, allowing individual networks to detect their strain levels through changes in current at a strain of 0.1%, which facilitates real-time structural health sensing. The artificial system showed a 31% decrease in CO2 emissions and a 58.8% decrease in material wastage compared with the usual way of building, proving to be a valid route towards intelligent and sustainable infrastructure.
Open Access
Article
29 June 2026Sustainable Lignin-Epoxy Compatibilizer Enables Synergistic Strengthening and Toughening in PBAT/PLA Blends
Poly(butylene adipate-co-terephthalate) (PBAT) is a promising biodegradable polyester, but its low strength limits broader application. In principle, blending PBAT with polylactide (PLA) can combine toughness and stiffness, yet severe immiscibility usually leads to poor interfacial adhesion and unsatisfactory overall performance. Here, a bio-based lignin-epoxy composite compatibilizer (E-FL) was developed by premixing ethanol-fractionated lignin (FL) with a protocatechuic-acid-derived epoxy compound and introducing it into PBAT/PLA blends through reactive melt processing. Fractionation enriched lignin fractions with lower molecular weight and higher hydroxyl content, thereby improving reactivity and dispersibility. During melt blending, E-FL promoted interfacial reactions with PBAT and PLA end groups, increased melt torque and molecular weight, refined the dispersed PLA domains, and reduced the Tg gap between the two phases. At an E-FL loading of 3 wt%, the blend exhibited the best balance of performance, with a tensile strength of 36.1 MPa, an elongation at break of 1035%, and a fracture toughness of 238.3 MJ/m3. This work provides a sustainable strategy for converting lignin into a high-efficiency reactive compatibilizer and offers a practical route to high-performance PBAT-based biodegradable blends.
Open Access
Review
29 June 2026Advances in Gastrodin Production: From Native to Engineered Biosynthesis
Gastrodin is a phenolic glycoside and the principal bioactive compound of Gastrodia elata. Owing to its potent neuroprotective, antioxidant, and therapeutic properties, gastrodin has attracted increasing attention and is now widely applied in the pharmaceutical, healthcare, and food industries. Traditional extraction of gastrodin is constrained by limited raw material availability and low yield, making it insufficient to meet the growing market demand. In recent years, microbial biosynthesis has become a preferred route for gastrodin production due to its sustainability, economic feasibility, and high safety. Therefore, developing metabolically engineered strains with enhanced genetic stability, high productivity, and efficient substrate utilization has become an urgent priority for achieving gastrodin biosynthesis. This review introduces the discovery and biosynthetic routes of gastrodin, summarizes its production methods, and discusses recent advances across various microbial chassis systems. It further highlights recent advances in pathway reconstruction and metabolic optimization, with an emphasis on strategies to enhance precursor flux, optimize UDP-glucose biosynthesis and regeneration, and improve glycosyltransferase catalytic activity through protein engineering. Overall, this review provides insights and future directions for developing efficient, genetically stable, and industrially scalable microbial cell factories for sustainable gastrodin production.
Open Access
Review
29 June 2026Development of Novel 20Cr Ferritic Stainless Steels via Nanoscale G-Phase Dispersion Strengthening: A Brief Review
Extensive investigations have revealed the precipitation of nanometer-scale silicides, identified as G-phase, within the ferritic matrix of duplex stainless steels during prolonged thermal aging. These silicides typically exhibit a well-defined coherent orientation relationship with the ferrite matrix, specifically (100G//100F, 110G//110F, 111G//111F). Consequently, the authors and their research team proposed a novel concept in 2015: utilizing the G-phase as a primary strengthening phase. It was proposed that through strategic alloy design, these silicides—ordinarily considered deleterious in duplex stainless steels—could be used to develop a new generation of dispersion-strengthened ferritic stainless steels. This approach aims to significantly enhance the yield strength of the alloy while maintaining excellent tensile ductility. Over the past decade, the authors and their research team have focused on nanoscale G-phase dispersion-strengthened ferritic stainless steels. By combining first-principles calculations with thermodynamic database-driven alloy design, a series of new ferritic stainless steel systems based on G-phase strengthening has been developed. These efforts have yielded extensive fundamental results regarding the compositional control, microstructural design, and mechanical properties of silicide-strengthened 20Cr ferritic stainless steels. Based on a comprehensive review of the existing literature, this paper further summarizes the compositional design criteria and microstructural control strategies for G-phase strengthened steels. It is hoped that this work will encourage further fundamental research and industrial applications in this field.
Open Access
Communication
29 June 2026Post-COVID SARS-CoV-2 Antigen Persistence: A Critical Review of Mass Spectrometry Methodology and the Confound of Vaccine-Derived Antigens
Persistent SARS-CoV-2 antigen has been proposed as a driver of post-COVID condition (PCC), with targeted mass spectrometry multiple reaction monitorin/selected reaction monitoring (MRM/SRM) increasingly invoked as quantitative evidence. We appraise the targeted-MS literature on SARS-CoV-2 antigen in genuine human clinical specimens and re-analyse a focal study, which reported spike and nucleocapsid “protein” concentrations in ng/µL from two proteotypic peptides per target with 13C/15N internal standards. These values are either physically impossible as intact protein or, more likely, raw peptide concentrations reported without the required ≈122-fold molecular-weight correction. Only 15 of 65 patients (26%) had cellular pellet spike above the authors’ own limit of quantification; nucleocapsid was essentially undetectable; and in those 15, the nucleocapsid: spike molar ratio was strongly inverted relative to intact virions, incompatible with a viral source. Critically, no targeted-MS method has ever quantified spike in human blood—the prior literature is nucleocapsid detection in respiratory specimens and spike quantification in vaccine or recombinant material—so the reported blood-spike values lack any validated precedent and exceed the most sensitive validated platform (single-molecule arrays) by several orders of magnitude, with no enrichment step. Finally, 77% of the cohort was vaccinated, and a measurable spike was concentrated among vaccinated individuals. The source’s own supplement inconsistently reports vaccination status. Their 2024 predecessor publication withheld it entirely. The MRM/SRM data, therefore, do not support persistent viral antigen as a general driver of PCC. Minimum standards are proposed: molar reporting, strict limit-of-quantification (LOQ) compliance, qualifier-ion confirmation, vaccine-discrimination peptides, stoichiometric cross-validation, and vaccination-status disclosure. We suggest that the cellular blood component, routinely discarded, warrants direct investigation in the context of spike persistence and PCC symptoms.
Open Access
Review
26 June 2026Micropropagation by Axillary Budding of Ornamental Camellia Species: A Case Study of Camellia japonica and Camellia reticulata
Biotechnological methods, particularly in vitro and tissue culture techniques, represent valuable tools for the large-scale multiplication, genetic improvement, and conservation of numerous plant species. Among these, axillary shoot proliferation based on culture of meristems is the most commonly applied micropropagation strategy, as it generally ensures high genetic stability in the regenerated plants. Here, we review the implementation of this micropropagation technique in two important ornamental species of the genus Camellia: C. japonica cv ‘Alba Plena’ and C. reticulata cv ‘Captain Rawes’, both of notable horticultural interest due to the aesthetic and commercial value of their flowers. Through this micropropagation technique, vigorous and healthy plantlets were obtained, acclimatized, and subsequently transferred to ex vitro conditions, demonstrating the feasibility of this propagation system for the production, maintenance, and potential enhancement of elite Camellia germplasm. In vitro cultures of both species were successfully maintained under cold storage conditions for at least 18 months, preserving their viability and regenerative capacity. Importantly, the protocols described here were established using adult camellia material, a plant material often considered more challenging for in vitro propagation due to reduced morphogenic competence.
Open Access
Review
26 June 2026Will Cognitively Challenging Headstarted Amphibians with Ecologically Appropriate Stimuli Lead to Greater Repatriation Success?
The frequent failure of headstarting programs suggests we are overlooking important factors in amphibian reintroduction science. Since many repatriation efforts are in vain, such programs can become difficult to justify from a cost-benefit perspective (chronic failure also takes its toll on staff morale), ultimately working against the goals of conservation programs. The question of how to properly prepare amphibian larvae or juveniles for reintroduction and persistence in the landscape is of utmost importance. Here, we offer a previously unconsidered perspective that is predicated on the idea that amphibians, being vertebrates, have forebrain-based cognitive capabilities aligned along the nucleus accumbens-based reward system and the amygdaloid nuclei-based fear system. Experiences uploaded by the ventromedial pallium as memories are thought to be tagged as accumbens-based ‘good’ or amygdala-based ‘bad’, and stored as (relatively) long-term memories; as such, amphibians are said to be salient creatures. The necessarily nurturing nature of zoo husbandry protocols naturally works against young amphibians acquiring ecologically realistic life lessons, especially when these forebrain reward and fear circuits are developing. For example, in zoos, food provisioning eliminates the reward associated with searching for and then finding food, and the emphasis on survival in captivity means headstarted animals released into the wild have no opportunity to experience fear. Such under-stimulated reward/fear circuits poorly prepare headstarted animals for life in the wild. It follows that kindling this circuitry as it develops with ecologically relevant stimuli will better prepare animals for life following release into the wild. To the extent that realistic headstarting protocols call for sacrificing a few animals to enhance the experiences of the remaining many, they will no doubt be resisted by institutions. But we have two choices here: keep doing things the way we have been doing and expect different outcomes, or experiment with new ideas based on a broader understanding of these animals—ideas such as these we are now proposing—to improve the success of repatriation efforts.
Open Access
Review
25 June 2026Comprehensive Effects of Flashing/Pulsed Light on Microalgae: Molecular Mechanisms and Biotechnological Applications
Microalgae serve as a cell factory for sustainable biomass and high-value compound production, yet their industrial-scale cultivation is often constrained by light energy utilization. The continuous illumination often limits photosynthetic efficiency and biomass and high-value compound productivity due to a kinetic mismatch between rapid photochemical reactions (picosecond-to-millisecond scale) and slower downstream biochemical processes (like Calvin-Benson cycle). Flashing/pulsed light strategies mitigate these by delivering intermittent photons, exploiting the biological effects to enhance quantum yield, biomass productivity, and targeted metabolites accumulation. This mini review emphasizes historical development of core concepts, molecular mechanisms, Photosystem II (PSII) dynamics, plastoquinone buffering, temporal decoupling, parameter optimization, the applications in autotrophic and mixotrophic modes, and photobioreactor innovations. An updated timeline to date highlights the emerging AI-driven adaptive lighting systems that promise real-time optimization of flashing regimes. This review summarizes current understanding, critical knowledge gaps and future directions, particularly in intelligent control for scalable, energy-efficient cultivation of microalgae by the rational design of advanced photobioreactors and cultivation strategies.
Open Access
Article
25 June 2026Balance Among Biodegradability, Thermal and Mechanical Properties of CO2-Derived Polymers
Research into biodegradable polymers, driven by environmental imperatives, has progressed significantly. The copolymerization of CO2 and epoxides produces poly(propylene carbonate) (PPC), which exhibits favorable biodegradability but suffers from poor thermomechanical properties. To address this, recent studies have incorporated rigid monomers or crystalline segments into such copolymerizations, generating a diverse range of CO2-derived copolymers with enhanced thermal and mechanical performance. However, their degradation profiles remain insufficiently characterized. In this study, we selected several representative CO2-derived copolymers, recently synthesized by our group, to systematically investigate the structure-property relationship. We evaluated their biodegradability through a series of tests, including biodegradation rate analysis, compost disintegration, and seed germination assays. These polymers, developed by our research team, offer advantages such as low cost, tunable properties, broad applicability, and environmental compatibility. They are thus promising candidates for introducing new materials into the biodegradable plastics market.
Open Access
Article
25 June 2026Optimization of Anaerobic Digestion Systems for Biomethane Recovery from Septic Tank Sludge
This study presents a process design, simulation, and optimization framework for converting septic sludge into biomethane using Aspen Plus®. The sludge was characterized, revealing carbon, hydrogen, and volatile matter contents of 33.80, 5.86, and 34.86 wt.%, respectively. The developed Aspen Plus® model was validated against three literature datasets, achieving percentage errors below unity. Optimization using Response Surface Methodology-Central Composite Design (RSM-CCD) showed that the maximum biomethane yield was 58.227 vol% under optimal conditions: 25 °C hydrolysis temperature, 60 °C digester temperature, 35 days hydraulic retention time (HRT), and an organic loading rate (OLR) of kg·VS·m−3·day−1, with a desirability score of 1.0. A techno-economic evaluation using the Aspen Process Economic Analyser (APEA) demonstrated the system’s economic feasibility, with a total capital investment of USD 3.19 million, an annual operating cost of USD 1.29 million, and a payback period of approximately 3.8 years. The optimized system achieved a net energy gain of 82.6%, IRR of 16.6%, and NPV of $4.64 M, confirming strong economic viability. Sensitivity analysis further revealed that CAPEX, OPEX, feedstock cost, and upgrading energy demand significantly influence system profitability, emphasizing the importance of process optimization and energy-efficient upgrading strategies. Environmental assessment showed that the optimized system improved methane recovery efficiency to 98.7% and achieved a CO2 emission reduction potential of 0.49 kg CO2-eq/kg CH4, demonstrating strong greenhouse gas mitigation potential. Overall, the findings establish anaerobic digestion of septic sludge as a sustainable and cost-effective waste-to-energy pathway suitable for decentralized urban wastewater management, supporting circular economy and clean energy objectives in developing regions.
