Revealing the Mechanism of Ni Vacancies on Ion Storage, Diffusion Kinetics, and Electrochromic Performance of Nickel Oxide Electrodes.

Solar radiation can be dynamically regulated by the electrochromic smart window, showing great potential in reducing building energy consumption. As one of the most paramount inorganic electrochromic materials, NiO remains the elusive intricacies of the electrochromic process, particularly regarding the functional mechanisms of defects. Here, the mechanism of Ni vacancies (V) on the ionic storage, diffusion kinetics, and electrochromic performance are systematically investigated.

Compositionally-graded ferroelectric thin films by solution epitaxy produce excellent dielectric stability.

The composition in ferroelectric oxide films is decisive for optimizing properties and device performances. Controlling a composition distribution in these films by a facile approach is thus highly desired. In this work, we report a solution epitaxy of PbZrTiO films with a continuous gradient of Zr concentration, realized by a competitive growth at ~220 °C.

Organic-inorganic hybrid cathode enabled by in-situ interface polymerization engineering boosts Zn desolvation in aqueous zinc-ion batteries.

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (RAZIBs) have attracted considerable attention for application in large-scale energy storage systems. However, the progress of RAZIBs has been hindered by the sluggish reaction kinetics and poor structural stability, which are closely associated with the desolvation process of hydrated Zn. To overcome these issues, an in situ interfacial polymerization strategy is proposed to uniformly germinate a polyaniline (PANI) layer on α-MnO and form an organic-inorganic hybrid cathode (MnO@PANI).

Hydrolysis and condensation of monobutyltin chloride: reaction process analysis with DFT.

As the initial process of preparing transparent conductive oxide materials from monobutyltin chloride (MBTC) to tin oxide, the hydrolysis and condensation of MBTC to form a dimer Sn play a critical role. However, the specific mechanism of this process is still unclear. Here we develop a step-by-step searching method based on density functional theory calculation and empirical chemical criteria to determine possible reaction pathways and reveal the most likely reaction mechanism.

Lattice-Gradient Perovskite KTaO Films for an Ultrastable and Low-Dose X-Ray Detector.

Conventional indirect X-ray detectors employ scintillating phosphors to convert X-ray photons into photodiode-detectable visible photons, leading to low conversion efficiencies, low spatial resolutions, and optical crosstalk. Consequently, X-ray detectors that directly convert photons into electric signals have long been desired for high-performance medical imaging and industrial inspection. Although emerging hybrid inorganic-organic halide perovskites, such as CH NH PbI and CH NH PbBr , exhibit high sensitivity, they have salient drawbacks including structural instability, ion motion, and the use of toxic Pb.

An Alternative Thinking in Tumor Therapeutics: Living Yeast Armored with Silicate.

A hybrid platform, constructed via the surface "armoring" of living yeasts by a manganese silicate compound (MS@Yeast), is investigated for combinational cancer treatment. The intrinsic characteristics of living yeasts, in both acidophilic and anaerobic conditions, empower the hybrid platform with activated selected colonization in tumors. While silicate particles are delivered in a targeting manner, yeast fermentation occurs at the cancerous region, inducing both alcohol and CO.

PMMA-Based Composite Gel Polymer Electrolyte with Plastic Crystal Adopted for High-Performance Solid ECDs.

A PMMA-based gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) modified by a plastic crystal succinonitrile (SN) was synthesized using a facile solvent-casting method. The effects of SN additives upon lithium-ion dissociation and ionic conductivity were investigated primarily using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, accompanied by other structural characterization methods. The results show that SN is distributed uniformly in the PMMA matrix with a high content and produces vast dipoles that benefit the dissociation of lithium salt.

An Inter-Cooperative Biohybrid Platform to Enable Tumor Ablation and Immune Activation.

A biohybrid therapeutic system, consisting of responsive materials and living microorganisms with inter-cooperative effects, is designed and investigated for tumor treatment. In this biohybrid system, S O -intercalated CoFe layered double hydroxides (LDH) are integrated at the surface of Baker's yeasts. Under the tumor microenvironment, functional interactions between yeast and LDH are effectively triggered, resulting in S O release, H S production, and in-situ generation of highly catalytic agents.

Synthesis and Self-Assembly of Ultrathin Holey Graphdiyne Nanosheets for Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

Graphdiyne (GDY) is a fascinating graphene-like 2D carbon allotrope comprising sp and sp hybridized carbon atoms. However, GDY materials synthesized by solution-phase methods normally come as thick and porous films or amorphous powders with severely disordered stacking modes that obstruct macroscopic applications. Here, a facile and scalable synthesis of ultrathin holey graphdiyne (HGDY) nanosheets is reported via palladium/copper co-catalyzed homocoupling of 1,3,5-triethynylbenzene.

Solution epitaxy of polarization-gradient ferroelectric oxide films with colossal photovoltaic current.

Solution growth of single-crystal ferroelectric oxide films has long been pursued for the low-cost development of high-performance electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, the established principles of vapor-phase epitaxy cannot be directly applied to solution epitaxy, as the interactions between the substrates and the grown materials in solution are quite different. Here, we report the successful epitaxy of single-domain ferroelectric oxide films on Nb-doped SrTiO single-crystal substrates by solution reaction at a low temperature of ~200 C.

Surface Oxygen Vacancies Confined by Ferroelectric Polarization for Tunable CO Oxidation Kinetics.

Surface oxygen vacancies have been widely discussed to be crucial for tailoring the activity of various chemical reactions from CO, NO, to water oxidation by using oxide-supported catalysts. However, the real role and potential function of surface oxygen vacancies in the reaction remains unclear because of their very short lifetime. Here, it is reported that surface oxygen vacancies can be well confined electrostatically for a polarization screening near the perimeter interface between Pt {111} nanocrystals and the negative polar surface (001) of ferroelectric PbTiO Strikingly, such a catalyst demonstrates a tunable catalytic CO oxidation kinetics from 200 °C to near room temperature by increasing the O gas pressure, accompanied by the conversion curve from a hysteresis-free loop to one with hysteresis.

Platinum-copper alloy nanoparticles armored with chloride ion transporter to promote electro-driven tumor inhibition.

The induction of oxidative species, driven by oscillating electric field (E), has recently emerged as an effective approach for tumor inhibition, so-called electrodynamic therapy (EDT). While it offers a series of advantages attracting considerable attention, the fundamental mechanism and improvement strategies for EDT approach are being endeavored extensively with the aid of new material explorations. An interesting phenomenon observed in early studies is that the on-site concentration of chloride ion is highly favored for the induction of oxidative species and the efficacy of tumor inhibition.

KCl-CaCO nanoclusters armoured with Pt nanocrystals for enhanced electro-driven tumor inhibition.

Electrodynamic therapy (EDT) has recently emerged as an alternative approach for tumor therapy the generation of ROS by platinum (Pt) nanoparticles under electric field. An interesting phenomenon observed during EDT is that the increased on-site concentration of chloride ions is highly beneficial for ROS generation and inhibition efficacy. Here, in this study, nanoclusters (KCC), consisting of potassium chloride (KCl) nanocrystals and amorphous calcium carbonate (CaCO), were synthesized and integrated with platinum nanoparticles (KCCP).

α-FeO@Pt heterostructure particles to enable sonodynamic therapy with self-supplied O and imaging-guidance.

Sonodynamic therapy (SDT), presenting spatial and temporal control of ROS generation triggered by ultrasound field, has attracted considerable attention in tumor treatment. However, its therapeutic efficacy is severely hindered by the intrinsic hypoxia of solid tumor and the lack of smart design in material band structure. Here in study, fine α-FeO nanoparticles armored with Pt nanocrystals (α-FeO@Pt) was investigated as an alternative SDT agent with ingenious bandgap and structural design.

Hierarchical nanoclusters with programmed disassembly for mitochondria-targeted tumor therapy with MR imaging.

Mitochondria are crucial metabolic organelles involved in tumorigenesis and tumor progression, and the induction of abnormal mitochondria metabolism is recognized as a strategy with strong potential for the exploration of advanced tumor therapeutics. Herein, hierarchical manganese silicate nanoclusters modified with triphenylphosphonium (MSNAs-TPP) were designed and synthesized for mitochondria-targeted tumor theranostics. The as-prepared MSNAs-TPP retains considerable dimensional and structural stability in the neutral physiological environment, favoring its accumulation at the tumor site.

Catalytic core-shell nanoparticles with self-supplied calcium and HO to enable combinational tumor inhibition.

Nanoparticles, presenting catalytic activity to induce intracellular oxidative species, have been extensively explored for tumor treatment, but suffer daunting challenges in the limited intracellular HO and thus suppressed therapeutic efficacy. Here in this study, a type of composite nanoparticles, consisting CaO core and Co-ferrocene shell, is designed and synthesized for combinational tumor treatment. The findings indicate that CaO core can be hydrolyzed to produce large amounts of HO and calcium ions at the acidic tumor sites.

FeO@Pt nanoparticles to enable combinational electrodynamic/chemodynamic therapy.

Electrodynamic therapy (EDT) has recently emerged as a potential external field responsive approach for tumor treatment. While it presents a number of clear superiorities, EDT inherits the intrinsic challenges of current reactive oxygen species (ROS) based therapeutic treatments owing to the complex tumor microenvironment, including glutathione (GSH) overexpression, acidity and others. Herein for the first time, iron oxide nanoparticles are decorated using platinum nanocrystals (FeO@Pt NPs) to integrate the current EDT with chemodynamic phenomenon and GSH depletion.

Pattern-Potential-Guided Growth of Textured Macromolecular Films on Graphene/High-Index Copper.

Macromolecular films are crucial functional materials widely used in the fields of mechanics, electronics, optoelectronics, and biology, due to their superior properties of chemical stability, small density, high flexibility, and solution-processing ability. Their electronic and mechanical properties, however, are typically much lower than those of crystalline materials, as the macromolecular films have no long-range structural ordering. The state-of-the-art for producing highly ordered macromolecular films is still facing a great challenge due to the complex interactions between adjacent macromolecules.

Cu-Ferrocene-Functionalized CaO Nanoparticles to Enable Tumor-Specific Synergistic Therapy with GSH Depletion and Calcium Overload.

The conversion of endogenous H O into toxic hydroxyl radical ( OH) via catalytic nanoparticles is explored for tumor therapy and received considerable success. The intrinsic characteristics of microenvironment in tumor cells, such as limited H O and overexpressed glutathione (GSH), hinder the intracellular OH accumulation and thus weaken therapeutic efficacy considerably. In this study, fine CaO nanoparticles with Cu-ferrocene molecules at the surface (CaO /Cu-ferrocene) are successfully designed and synthesized.

Hollow nanocapsules of NiFe hydroxides to enable doxorubicin delivery and combinational tumour therapy.

In this study, fine hollow nanocapsules, consisting of NiFe hydroxides (denoted as H-NiFe(OH)), are designed and synthesized for the delivery of an anticancer drug (Doxorubicin, DOX) and tumour depletion. Owing to its fascinating characteristics of "Fe preservation and regeneration", H-NiFe(OH) presents considerable Fenton activity for hydroxyl radical (˙OH) induction. Efficient delivery of DOX is ensured due to its hollow microstructure, and a typical pH-responsive drug release is enabled.

A modified random network model for PO-NaO-AlO-SiO glass studied by molecular dynamics simulations.

We investigated the short- and medium-range structural features of sodium aluminosilicate glasses with various PO (0-7 mol%) content and Al/Na ratios ranging from 0.667 to 2.000 by using molecular dynamics simulations.

Reversible magnetism transition at ferroelectric oxide heterointerface.

Oxide heterointerface is a platform to create unprecedented two-dimensional electron gas, superconductivity and ferromagnetism, arising from a polar discontinuity at the interface. In particular, the ability to tune these intriguing effects paves a way to elucidate their fundamental physics and to develop novel electronic/magnetic devices. In this work, we report for the first time that a ferroelectric polarization screening at SrTiO/PbTiO interface is able to drive an electronic construction of Ti atom, giving rise to room-temperature ferromagnetism.

Pomegranate-like silicon-based anodes self-assembled by hollow-structured Si/void@C nanoparticles for Li-ion batteries with high performances.

Silicon is considered as one of the most promising alternatives to the graphite anode for lithium-ion batteries due to its high theoretical capacity (4200 mAh g). However, its fragile solid electrolyte interphase cannot tolerate the large volume changes of bare silicon induced by the lithium insertion and extraction, resulting in low Coulombic efficiency. In previous reports, a yolk-shell design, such as Si@void@C, in which the well-defined space allows the silicon particles to expand freely without breaking the outer carbon shells, can effectively improve the Columbic efficiency.

Silver ion-doped CdTe quantum dots as fluorescent probe for Hg detection.

Mercury(ii), which is a well-known toxic species, exists in the industrial waste water in many cases. In the present work, CdTe quantum dots (QDs) are studied as a fluorescence probe for Hg detection. Ag ions are induced to QDs to enlarge their detection concentration range.