Renxi Jin

Hybrid bonding is emerging as a key enabler for ultrahigh-density three-dimensional semiconductor integration driven by high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. By enabling direct metal–metal and dielectric–dielectric bonding to achieve coplanar electrical and mechanical interconnections, it provides a viable pathway beyond the limits of conventional transistor scaling. Achieving high bonding quality critically depends on precise control of dielectric interfaces, where specific surface and subsurface chemical reactions govern bond formation. Nitrogen-doped silicon carbide (SiCN) has recently attracted significant attention as an alternative to conventional SiO₂ dielectric due to its tunable chemical configurations, strong resistance to Cu diffusion, and reduced interfacial void formation. Recent advances have clarified how the interfacial structure of SiCN influences interfacial water consumption, gap closure, and the formation of robust chemical bonds during bonding, establishing a mechanistic link between material chemistry and bonding performance. This review systematically examines the latest developments in SiCN interfacial engineering, including film fabrication, bonding mechanisms, and structure–property relationships that govern bonding performance. It also highlights outstanding challenges and emerging opportunities, including low-temperature deposition techniques, activation mechanism investigations, analysis of interfacial water consumption dynamics, co-optimization of SiCN and Cu bonding processes, management of interfacial thermal resistance and stress, and AI-accelerated materials discovery, offering a forward-looking perspective on future research directions in this advancing field.

The synergistic effect of the sulfonic acid group and aromatic ring in benzenesulfonic acid modified g-C₃N₄ induces charge redistribution for melon units, leading to efficient photocatalytic performance.

This work describes a new operando surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) platform that we developed for use with polymeric membranes that includes (1) a method for preparing SERS-active polymer membranes and (2) a permeation cell with optical access for SERS characterization of membranes under realistic operating conditions. This technique enables the direct correlation of membrane structure to its performance under realistic operating conditions by combining in situ SERS characterization of the molecular structure of polymer membranes and simultaneous measurement of solute permeation rates on the same sample. Using the new operando SERS technique, this work aims to clarify the unknown mechanisms by which reactive amines facilitate CO₂ transport across polyvinylamine (PVAm), a prototypical facilitated transport membrane for CO₂ separations. We show that a small amount of plasmonic silver particles added to the PVAm solution prior to knife-casting selectively enhances the sensitivity to detection of chemical intermediates (e.g., carbamate) formed in the PVAm film due to the surface-enhanced Raman scattering effect with only minimal effect on the CO₂ permeance and selectivity of the membrane. Operando SERS characterization of PVAm during exposure to humidified CO₂/CH₄ biogas mixtures at room temperature shows that CO₂ permeates across PVAm primarily as carbamate species. This work clarifies the previously unknown mechanism of CO₂ facilitated transport across PVAm and establishes a new operando SERS platform that can be used with a wide range of polymer membrane systems. This technique can be used to elucidate fundamental transport mechanisms in polymer membranes, to establish reliable structure-performance relationships, and for real-time diagnostics of membrane fouling, among other applications.

Cu-based catalysts are highly active and selective for several CO₂ conversion reactions; however, traditional monometallic Cu-based catalysts suffer poor thermal stability due to the aggregation of copper particles at high temperatures. In this work, we demonstrate a crystal engineering strategy to controllably prepare copper/silica (CuO_x/SiO₂) catalysts for the reverse water gas shift reaction (RWGS) at high temperatures. We show that CuO_x/SiO₂ catalysts derived from the in situ reduction of pure copper silicate nanotubes in a CO₂ and H₂ atmosphere exhibit superior catalytic activity with enhanced stability compared to traditional monometallic Cu-based catalysts for the RWGS at high temperatures. Detailed structural characterization reveals that there is a strong interaction between Cu and SiO₂ in CuO_x/SiO₂ catalysts, which produces more Cu⁺ sites and smaller CuO_x nanoparticles. Moreover, CuO_x/SiO₂ catalysts possess a unique dot core/rod shell structure, which could prevent the aggregation of Cu particles. This structural confinement effect, enhanced CO₂ adsorption by Cu⁺, and small CuO_x nanoparticles presumably caused the catalyst’s extraordinary activity with enhanced stability at high temperatures.

A volcano-shape propylene production rate trend as Ru loading on CrO _x catalysts increases for CO ₂ -assisted C ₃ H ₈ dehydrogenation reaction.

Directly selective oxidation of light alkanes, such as ethane, into value-added chemical products under mild reaction conditions re-mains a challenge in both industry and academia. Herein, the iridi-um cluster and atomically dispersed iridium catalysts have been successfully fabricated using nanodiamond as support. The ob-tained iridium cluster catalyst shows remarkable performance for selective oxidation of ethane under oxygen at 100oC, with an initial activity as high as 7567 mmol/molmetal/h and a selectivity to acetic acid higher than 70% after five in-situ recycles. The presence of CO in the reaction feed is pivotal for the excellent reaction performance. Based upon XPS analysis, the critical role of CO was revealed, which is to maintain the metallic state of reactive Ir species during the oxidation cycles.

Highly active and stable copper catalysts were successfully achieved by in situ self-reduction treatment of hierarchical double-shell copper silicate hollow nanofibers. The coexistence of Cu⁰ and Cu⁺ species in the as-prepared catalysts demonstrated the strong metal–support interactions and endowed them with outstanding catalytic performance for the RWGS reaction.