Constructing multifunctional aerogels that simultaneously integrate electromagnetic microwave (EMW) absorption, flame retardancy, acoustic damping, and thermal protection remains a formidable challenge due to inherent trade-offs in structural design and compositional synergy. Herein, we propose a hierarchical assembly and controlled carbonization strategy to fabricate MXene-reinforced MOF-on-MOF derived carbon aerogels (Z@F_xN_y-M/CA), wherein the Fe³⁺/Ni²⁺ molar ratio is precisely tuned to tailor the microstructure, defect chemistry, and interfacial characteristics. This design enables a unique synergistic interplay between a conductive MXene network, defect-rich carbon frameworks, and Fe/Co/Ni-derived magnetic components, collectively realizing efficient EMW attenuation via coupled conduction loss, polarization relaxation, and magnetic resonance. Remarkably, the optimized aerogel achieves an outstanding minimum reflection loss (RL_min) of -60.36 dB and a broad effective absorption bandwidth (EAB) of 5.06 GHz, outperforming most state-of-the-art absorbers. Beyond EMW absorption, the aerogel exhibits exceptional fire safety, with over 50% reduction in peak heat release rate (pHRR) and total heat release (THR), along with suppressed smoke emission and the formation of a dense graphitized char layer. Furthermore, it delivers superior acoustic damping with a noise reduction coefficient (NRC) of 0.66 and efficient thermal management capability. Such integrated multifunctionality is intrinsically linked to the finely engineered pore architecture, abundant heterogeneous interfaces, and compositionally modulated Fe/Co/Ni-derived phases. This work presents a paradigm-shifting MOF-on-MOF strategy for designing next-generation lightweight aerogels that harmoniously integrate EMW absorption, flame retardancy, thermal insulation, and acoustic protection, offering new insights into structure–property relationships in multimetal-derived multifunctional materials.

China, as the world‘s largest producer and exporter of metallic magnesium, there are plenty of manufactures in the western provinces using the silicothermic method known as the Pidgeon process. The raw material used is usually dolomite containing about 20 wt.% element Mg. Liaoning province in the northeast China has up to 87 % of the national magnesite reserves, which contains 2–4 times more element Mg than dolomite does. How to economically produce metallic magnesium using magnesite is thus of significance for not only the local industry but also the flexible production of metal magnesium. This study proposed a process to produce magnesium using low-grade magnesite and further validated the proposal through experiments. Models of life cycle analysis are in turn formulated to evaluate the energy consumption and economic performance of the entire process proposed by taking the required source data from the Chinese Life Cycle Database (CLCD). The data comprehensively consider a variety of process equipment, energy supply pathways and geographical environments. In comparison with the Pidgeon process, the proposed pathway exhibited the best economic performance through its utilizing low-grade magnesite as the raw ore containing Mg and coke oven gas from steelworks as the fuel.

Homogeneous noble metal catalysts used in alkene hydrosilylation reactions to manufacture organosilicon compounds commercially often suffer from difficulties in catalyst recovering and recycling, undesired disproportionation reactions, and energy-intensive purification of products. Herein, we report a heterogeneous 0.5Ru^δ+/ZrO₂ catalyst with partially charged single-atom Ru (0.5 wt.% Ru) supported on commercial ZrO₂ nanocrystals synthesized by the simple impregnation method followed by H₂ reduction. When used in the ethylene hydrosilylation with triethoxysilane to produce the desired ethyltriethoxysilane, 0.5Ru^δ+/ZrO₂ showed excellent catalytic performance with the maximum Ru atom utilization and good recyclability, even superior to homogeneous catalyst (RuCl₃·H₂O). Structural characterizations and density functional theory calculations reveal the atomic dispersion of the active Ru species and their unique electronic properties distinct from the homogeneous catalyst. The reaction route over this catalyst is supposed to follow the typical Chalk–Harrod mechanism. This highly efficient and supported single-atom Ru catalyst has the potential to replace the current homogeneous catalyst for a greener hydrosilylation industry.