Three research projects, led by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) Members ZHANG Tao, WANG Enge and JIANG Fengyi, won first prizes in the 2025 State Natural Science Award, one of China's five major national science and technology awards, for researches that challenged established understanding and suggested new directions.

The awards, announced in July, recognized 51 projects, including three first prizes and 48 second prizes.

The three first-prize projects address different scientific questions spanning semiconductor materials, catalysis and quantum physics. Yet they share a common approach: starting from fundamental questions, the researchers developed original approaches to uncover previously unrecognized mechanisms and translate scientific discoveries into new technological possibilities.

Catalysis at the Atomic Scale

For ZHANG, a professor at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics of CAS, the challenge was to make better use of the precious metals widely used in industrial catalysts. Traditional catalysts use metals such as platinum and palladium in nanoparticles or clusters, leaving up to 95 percent of the metal atoms buried and inaccessible to reactants.

After decades of research, ZHANG and his team proposed the concept of single-atom catalysis in 2011, isolating individual metal atoms on a support so that each atom serves as an independent active center. The approach can increase atomic utilization from just a few percent to nearly 100 percent. First demonstrated with platinum-group metals, the concept was later extended to more than 40 elements across the periodic table.

"The defining feature of single-atom catalysis is its ability to advance our understanding of catalytic active sites — where reactants are transformed into products — from the conventional micro- and nanoscale to the atomic scale," said ZHANG.

The research has since been taken up by thousands of research groups in nearly 100 countries and regions, with more than 20,000 papers published on the subject. The resulting mechanistic insights have also created opportunities for industrial applications ranging from pharmaceutical manufacturing to the production of fine chemicals, ZHANG said.

Revealing the Quantum Nature of Water

More than two decades ago, physicist WANG began exploring the quantum behavior of one of Earth’s most familiar substances— water. While water appears simple in everyday life, its behavior at the atomic level is shaped by quantum effects involving its extremely light hydrogen atoms.

To investigate these processes, WANG and his team developed advanced experimental equipment and theoretical models to observe the subtle quantum motions involved. Using these approaches, the team reported the first precise measurement of the strength of an individual hydrogen bond.

They also revealed how hydrogen atoms can coordinate with one another to cross energy barriers simultaneously — a phenomenon known as concerted proton tunneling. These findings identified previously unobserved quantum states in water systems and helped explain how clusters of water and dissolved ions move and diffuse.

"Over the years, many colleagues have asked me: what is there left to study about water? We drink it, swim in it, and skate on it every day," WANG said. "Everything about it seems obvious."

The research shows that even a familiar substance can hold fundamental scientific questions. WANG noted that controlling these quantum effects could pave the way for revolutionary quantum materials and ultraefficient energy technologies, while also advancing chemistry, life sciences and environmental science.

Although the three projects explore different materials, systems and scales — from semiconductor defects and individual catalytic atoms to quantum effects in water — they share a common starting point: researchers questioned established assumptions and pursued original approaches.

For WANG, that kind of work demands patience above all.

"When it comes to physics research, there is no need to rush. Persistence is what matters," WANG said. "As long as your work is original, it will leave its mark in history."

Turning Defects into Functional Structures

For JIANG's team at Nanchang University, the breakthrough came from a new understanding of the role of defects in semiconductor materials.

The project, "V-defect 3D PN Junction and Its Applications," focuses on silicon-based GaN LEDs. The team discovered that large-size 3D V-defect structures induced by dislocations in the quantum well region can enhance hole injection into quantum wells and improve quantum well quality. This challenged the long-held view that reducing the number and size of dislocation defects necessarily improves device performance.

Building on the discovery, the team developed a theoretical framework for the V-defect 3D PN junction, evolving the PN junction interfaces from 2D to 3D. This shifts hole injection from the polar facet with a high potential barrier to the semi-polar facet with a low potential barrier, transforming V-defects from performance-limiting features into functional structures.

The approach improved the luminous efficiency of yellow LEDs and GaN-based red LEDs, as well as the electrical injection efficiency of blue and green LEDs. The project also pioneered a phosphor-free, monolithic chip LED lighting technology pathway, with products deployed at scale in road and bridge lighting and ambient lighting.