Chinese Journal of Nature

Chang’e-6 samples unveil the evolutionary history of the Moon’s farside

YANG Wei

2026, 48(4): 247-256. doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.04.001

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The Chang’e-6 mission has successfully returned samples from the farside of the Moon for the first time, marking a significant milestone in the realm of human lunar exploration. The Chang’e-6 mission successfully landed in the South Pole-Aitken (SPA) basin, one of the Moon’s three major geological terranes. Analysis of the lunar soil samples collected by Chang’e-6 provides valuable insights into the evolutionary history of the Moon’s farside. A new type of rock, designated as impact melt rock, was discovered in the Chang’e-6 soil. Chronological studies on the impact melt rock indicate that the SPA impact may have occurred 4.25 billion years ago, providing a key anchor point for the early impact history of the inner Solar System. The Chang’e-6 soil also contains various types of basalt, including high-alumina basalt erupted 4.2 billion years ago, very-low-titanium basalt erupted 2.9 billion years ago, and low-titanium basalt erupted 2.8 billion years ago. These findings indicate that volcanic activity on the farside lasted for at least 1.4 billion years. The geochemical compositions of the low-titanium basalts indicate that the lunar mantle underlying the SPA basin exhibits characteristics of “ultra-depleted”, “drier”, “more reduced” and “heavier potassium isotope”, which differ significantly from those observed on the nearside mantle. This finding suggests that the mantle beneath the SPA basin has undergone processes of melt extraction and degassing, likely induced by the SPA impact. Paleomagnetic studies have indicated that the palaeointensities of the Moon rebounded approximately 2.8 billion years ago. When considered as a whole, these findings provide the first insights into the evolutionary history of the Moon’s farside and further support the significant contribution of the SPA impact to the formation of the Moon’s asymmetry.

Extraordinary resilience and space experiments of tardigrades

WANG Jingdi, LIU Cong, ZHANG Jing, ZHANG Xingliang

2026, 48(4): 257-266. doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.04.011

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Water bears are microscopic animals renowned for their extraordinary tolerance to extreme environments, belonging to the phylum Tardigrada within the broader Panarthropoda. They are capable of surviving under desiccation, extreme cold, high temperatures, and intense radiation. The mechanism underlying this resilience is their ability to enter a state of anhydrobiosis, a dehydrated cryptobiotic strategy in which metabolism nearly ceases, allowing them to withstand diverse environmental stresses. At the molecular level, tardigrades produce protective substances such as heat shock proteins, tardigrade-specific intrinsically disordered proteins, and trehalose, which help stabilize cellular structures and biomolecules. When confronted with environmental challenges, they also activate efficient antioxidant systems and DNA repair mechanisms, together forming the basis of their remarkable stress resistance. Because of their extraordinary vitality, tardigrades have been launched into space on multiple occasions. Experimental results show that a considerable number of individuals can survive exposure to the vacuum of space, microgravity, and cosmic radiation, further demonstrating their value as exceptional model organisms for deep-space exploration.

Molecular mechanisms of neurodegenerative diseases induced by micro- and nanoplastics exposure

FENG Yifan, GAN Yan, LIN Xinrong, HU Qian, XUAN Qize, CHEN Chao, LI Hui

2026, 48(4): 267-278. doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.04.003

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micro- and nanoplastic, neurodegenerative disease, amyloid protein, neurotoxicity

Research progress and prospect of waste resource recycling in integrated circuit industry

WANG Yuewen, QIU Ruonan, ZHANG Enguang, ZHANG Yue, LIU Qiang

2026, 48(4): 279-289. doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.04.004

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Against the backdrop of rapid expansion of domestic integrated circuit (IC) fabrication, massive volumes of hazardous wastes are continuously produced throughout chip manufacturing workflows, encompassing fluorine-laden residues, heavy metalbearingliquid-solid mixed wastes, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurries, spent mineral acids/alkalis, and waste organic solvents. Traditional end-of-pipe disposal strategies are plagued by exorbitant operational expenditures, irreversible dissipation of valuable mineral resources, and substantial risks of secondary environmental contamination, rendering them incompatible with the industry’s pursuit of low-carbon, sustainable manufacturing paradigms. This work systematically characterizes the generation profilesand in herent recyclable potentials of representative IC waste streams, comprehensively evaluates the engineering compatibility and industrial deployment status of state-of-the-art resource recovery techniques, and further identifies critical technical and institutional constraints, such as the intractable separation of multicomponent impurity matrices, substandard purity of recycled intermediates, excessive energy footprints, and the absence of unified industrial specifications. Our analysis demonstrates a distinct tiered maturity gradient across prevailing recycling technologies: routine recovery workflows have attained full commercialization, whereas advanced routes for deep fluorine purification, rare earth extraction, and refinement of spent organic solvents are confined to laboratory bench and pilot demonstration stages. Noticeable research deficits persist concerning synergistic valorization of mixed waste fractions and cross-sector high-value reuse of recycled materials. To address these bottlenecks, forward-looking research avenues are delineated across four core dimensions: developing high-precision selective separation methodologies, establishing integrated coupled recovery workflows, formulating standardized industrial regulatory frameworks, and deploying intelligent full-process monitoring and control systems. This review delivers theoretical and engineering insights to advance waste minimization and closed-loop high-value resource cycling within the IC manufacturing sector.

Current status and future perspectives of metal oxide-based passive NO_x adsorbers for mobile sources

MEI Yi, GAO Ziyi, CHEN Aling, ZHANG Dengsong

2026, 48(4): 290-300. doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.04.005

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Nitrogen oxide (NO_x) emissions are a critical contributor to mobile‑source pollution, which is particularly severe during the cold‑start phase of diesel vehicles, posing substantial threats to the environment and human health. Passive NO_x adsorber (PNA) technology represents an effective strategy to achieve low‑NO_x emissions from diesel vehicles. This review systematically summarizes the latest advances in the synthesis design and mechanistic investigation of metal‑based PNA materials. Particular emphasis is placed on the structure‑activity relationships and modification strategies of cerium‑based metal oxides, while other non‑noble metal systems including cobalt‑based, manganese‑based, and composite metal oxides are also covered. Two core mechanisms are elaborated in detail: the adsorption–oxidation–desorption mechanism wherein NO_x is stored and decomposed in the forms of nitrites/nitrates, and the adsorption–complexation–desorption mechanism involving NOx storage and release via metal‑ion complex formation. Furthermore, the effects of other components in exhaust (H₂O, CO, and hydrocarbons), hydrothermal aging, and chemical poisoning induced by sulfur and phosphorus on the NOx adsorption–desorption behaviors of PNA materials are discussed. Finally, the major challenges and future research directions for metal‑based PNA materials are proposed.

Empowerment and breakthrough: Progress and challenges of artificial intelligence in the perception, prediction, source apportionment and regulation of air pollution

TAN Jiani, LI Li

2026, 48(4): 301-314. doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.04.006

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Air pollution poses a major threat to human health. Against the backdrop of climate change, China’s atmospheric pollution governance entered a new stage featuring the collaborative prevention and control of complex air pollution, with the pollution management paradigm undergoing a profound shift from total emission control and ambient quality control to health-oriented risk prevention. Following field observation, numerical simulation and laboratory research, the artificial intelligence (AI) has gradually evolved into the fourth pivotal research approach centered on the data-driven paradigm. To systematically clarify the research progress and application prospects in this field, this study combines bibliometric analysis with systematic review based on core databases including Web of Science and China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), to sort out relevant research achievements, evolutionary characteristics and research hotspots. The results reveal that publications concerning AI applications in atmospheric
pollution have experienced explosive growth in recent years. Research models have undergone iterative upgrades from traditional machine learning and deep learning to hybrid ensemble models. Intelligent perception, predictive forecasting, mechanism exploration, precise source apportionment and dynamic regulation empowered by AI have emerged as dominant research hotspots. Although AI can effectively address the limitations of conventional technologies, prominent bottlenecks still remain, including the lack of standardized datasets, poor physical interpretability, insufficient model generalization capacity, and low adaptability to extremely complex pollution scenarios. Accordingly, this paper proposes key future research directions for the deep integration of AI and air pollution prevention and control, aiming to provide theoretical and technical references for establishing a precise data-intelligencedriven air pollution prevention and control system.

Self-healing gel electrolytes for flexible supercapacitors: application and perspectives

LUO Yuxuan, WANG Zi, LV Liping

2026, 48(4): 315-328. doi:10.3969/j.issn.0253-9608.2026.04.007

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Flexible supercapacitors can work stably under extreme deformation and recover their performance after damage, greatly enhancing the durability and reliability of devices, and possess broad application prospects in smart wearable electronics, flexible energy storage, human-machine interaction and other fields. However, it remains a huge challenge to simultaneously achieve excellent flexibility and efficient self-healing performance without sacrificing their electrochemical properties. Constructed via dynamically reversible covalent or non-covalent crosslinking networks, self-healing gel electrolytes contain ion transport channels and exhibit mechanical self-repair capability through reversible reconstruction after damage, which provides crucial support for the fabrication of flexible supercapacitors. This paper systematically reviews the research progress of self-healing gel electrolytes for flexible supercapacitors. It mainly summarizes the applications of gel electrolytes based on two categories of self-healing mechanisms (dynamic covalent bonds and non-covalent bonds), deeply analyzes the structure-performance relationship, and introduces the
design and practical application status of typical systems. Meanwhile, this work points out existing bottlenecks such as inadequate performance synergy, poor environmental stability and difficulties in large-scale manufacturing, and briefly prospects the research directions including mechanism innovation, performance optimization and device integration.

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