Chemical modulation and defect engineering in high-performance GeTe-based thermoelectrics.

Thermoelectric technology plays an important role in developing sustainable clean energy and reducing carbon emissions, offering new opportunities to alleviate current energy and environmental crises. Nowadays, GeTe has emerged as a highly promising thermoelectric candidate for mid-temperature applications, due to its remarkable thermoelectric figure of merit () of 2.7.

High piezoelectric property with exceptional stability in self-poled ferroelectric films.

Ferroelectric films are highly sought-after in micro-electro-mechanical systems, particularly with the trend towards miniaturization. However, their tendency to depolarize and degradation in piezoelectric properties when exposed to packaging procedures at temperatures exceeding 260 °C remains a significant challenge. Here, we reveal the prerequisites for self-poling and leverage these insights to achieve unprecedented macroscopic performance through a two-step approach involving texture construction and hierarchical heterogeneity engineering.

Bioactive peptides and proteins for tissue repair: microenvironment modulation, rational delivery, and clinical potential.

Bioactive peptides and proteins (BAPPs) are promising therapeutic agents for tissue repair with considerable advantages, including multifunctionality, specificity, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. However, the high complexity of tissue microenvironments and their inherent deficiencies such as short half-live and susceptibility to enzymatic degradation, adversely affect their therapeutic efficacy and clinical applications. Investigating the fundamental mechanisms by which BAPPs modulate the microenvironment and developing rational delivery strategies are essential for optimizing their administration in distinct tissue repairs and facilitating clinical translation.

Strong and efficient bismuth telluride-based thermoelectrics for Peltier microcoolers.

Thermoelectric Peltier coolers (PCs) are being increasingly used as temperature stabilizers for optoelectronic devices. Increasing integration drives PC miniaturization, requiring thermoelectric materials with good strength. We demonstrate a simultaneous gain of thermoelectric and mechanical performance in (Bi, Sb)Te, and successfully fabricate micro PCs (2 × 2 mm cross-section) that show excellent maximum cooling temperature difference of 89.

Partitioning polar-slush strategy in relaxors leads to large energy-storage capability.

Relaxor ferroelectric (RFE) films are promising energy-storage candidates for miniaturizing high-power electronic systems, which is credited to their high energy density () and efficiency. However, advancing their beyond 200 joules per cubic centimeter is challenging, limiting their potential for next-generation energy-storage devices. We implemented a partitioning polar-slush strategy in RFEs to push the boundary of .

Thermoelectric Performance Enhancement in SnS Polycrystals Owing to Hole Doping Combined with Textured Microstructures.

Recently, the earth-abundant tin sulfide (SnS) has emerged as a promising thermoelectric material due to its phonon and electron structure similar to that of tin selenide (SnSe). However, compared with SnSe, limited progress has been achieved in the thermoelectric property enhancement of SnS. Textured SnS polycrystals with an enhanced thermoelectric performance have been developed in this work.

Artificial Domain Patterning in Ultrathin Ferroelectric Films via Modifying the Surface Electrostatic Boundary Conditions.

Nanoscale spatially controlled modulation of the properties of ferroelectrics via artificial domain pattering is crucial to their emerging optoelectronics applications. New patterning strategies to achieve high precision and efficiency and to link the resultant domain structures with device functionalities are being sought. Here, we present an epitaxial heterostructure of SrRuO/PbTiO/SrRuO, wherein the domain configuration is delicately determined by the charge screening conditions in the SrRuO layer and the substrate strains.

Synergistic Combination of SbSiTe Additives for Enhanced Average ZT and Single-Leg Device Efficiency of BiSbTe-based Composites.

Thermoelectric materials are highly promising for waste heat harvesting. Although thermoelectric materials research has expanded over the years, bismuth telluride-based alloys are still the best for near-room-temperature applications. In this work, a ≈38% enhancement of the average ZT (300-473 K) to 1.

Giant electric field-induced second harmonic generation in polar skyrmions.

Electric field-induced second harmonic generation allows electrically controlling nonlinear light-matter interactions crucial for emerging integrated photonics applications. Despite its wide presence in materials, the figures-of-merit of electric field-induced second harmonic generation are yet to be elevated to enable novel device functionalities. Here, we show that the polar skyrmions, a topological phase spontaneously formed in PbTiO/SrTiO ferroelectric superlattices, exhibit a high comprehensive electric field-induced second harmonic generation performance.

Textured Asymmetric Membrane Electrode Assemblies of Piezoelectric Phosphorene and TiCT MXene Heterostructures for Enhanced Electrochemical Stability and Kinetics in LIBs.

Black phosphorus with a superior theoretical capacity (2596 mAh g) and high conductivity is regarded as one of the powerful candidates for lithium-ion battery (LIB) anode materials, whereas the severe volume expansion and sluggish kinetics still impede its applications in LIBs. By contrast, the exfoliated two-dimensional phosphorene owns negligible volume variation, and its intrinsic piezoelectricity is considered to be beneficial to the Li-ion transfer kinetics, while its positive influence has not been discussed yet. Herein, a phosphorene/MXene heterostructure-textured nanopiezocomposite is proposed with even phosphorene distribution and enhanced piezo-electrochemical coupling as an applicable free-standing asymmetric membrane electrode beyond the skin effect for enhanced Li-ion storage.

Wide-temperature-range thermoelectric n-type Mg(Sb,Bi) with high average and peak zT values.

Mg(Sb,Bi) is a promising thermoelectric material suited for electronic cooling, but there is still room to optimize its low-temperature performance. This work realizes >200% enhancement in room-temperature zT by incorporating metallic inclusions (Nb or Ta) into the Mg(Sb,Bi)-based matrix. The electrical conductivity is boosted in the range of 300-450 K, whereas the corresponding Seebeck coefficients remain unchanged, leading to an exceptionally high room-temperature power factor >30 μW cm K; such an unusual effect originates mainly from the modified interfacial barriers.

Persistent ER stress causes GPI anchor deficit to convert a GPI-anchored prion protein into pro-PrP via the ATF6-miR449c-5p-PIGV axis.

Endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and unfolded protein response are cells' survival strategies to thwart disruption of proteostasis. Tumor cells are continuously being challenged by ER stress. The prion protein, PrP, normally a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein exists as a pro-PrP retaining its GPI-peptide signal sequence in human pancreatic ductal cell adenocarcinoma (PDAC).

Robust Thermal Neutron Detection by LiInP Se Bulk Single Crystals.

Direct neutron detection based on semiconductor crystals holds promise to transform current neutron detector technologies and further boosts their widespread applications. It is, however, long impeded by the dearth of suitable materials in the form of sizeable bulk crystals. Here, high-quality centimeter-sized LiInP Se single crystals are developed using the Bridgman method and their structure and property characteristics are systematically investigated.

Heterovalent-doping-enabled atom-displacement fluctuation leads to ultrahigh energy-storage density in AgNbO-based multilayer capacitors.

Dielectric capacitors with high energy storage performance are highly desired for next-generation advanced high/pulsed power capacitors that demand miniaturization and integration. However, the poor energy-storage density that results from the low breakdown strength, has been the major challenge for practical applications of dielectric capacitors. Herein, we propose a heterovalent-doping-enabled atom-displacement fluctuation strategy for the design of low-atom-displacements regions in the antiferroelectric matrix to achieve the increase in breakdown strength and enhancement of the energy-storage density for AgNbO-based multilayer capacitors.

Discordant Distortion in Cubic GeMnTe and High Thermoelectric Properties of GeMnTe-%SbTe.

GeMnTe adopts a cubic rock salt structure and is a promising mid-temperature thermoelectric material. The pair distribution function analysis of neutron total scattering data, however, indicates that GeMnTe is locally distorted from the ideal rock salt structure with Ge cations being discordant and displaced ∼0.3 Å off the octahedron center.

Pro-prion, as a membrane adaptor protein for E3 ligase c-Cbl, facilitates the ubiquitination of IGF-1R, promoting melanoma metastasis.

Aberrant activation of receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) is usually a result of mutation and plays important roles in tumorigenesis. How RTK without mutation affects tumorigenesis remains incompletely understood. Here we show that in human melanomas pro-prion (pro-PrP) is an adaptor protein for an E3 ligase c-Cbl, enabling it to polyubiquitinate activated insulin-like growth factor-1 receptor (IGF-1R), leading to enhanced melanoma metastasis.

Identifying the Interfacial Polarization in Non-stoichiometric Lead-Free Perovskites by Defect Engineering.

Recent advances in perovskite ferroelectrics have fostered a host of exciting sensors and actuators. Defect engineering provides critical control of the performance of ferroelectric materials, especially lead-free ones. However, it remains a challenge to quantitatively study the concentration of defects due to the complexity of measurement techniques.

GPI-anchored ligand-BioID2-tagging system identifies Galectin-1 mediating Zika virus entry.

Identification of host factors facilitating pathogen entry is critical for preventing infectious diseases. Here, we report a tagging system consisting of a viral receptor-binding protein (RBP) linked to BioID2, which is expressed on the cell surface via a GPI anchor. Using VSV or Zika virus (ZIKV) RBP, the system (BioID2- RBP(V)-GPI; BioID2-RBP(Z)-GPI) faithfully identifies LDLR and AXL, the receptors of VSV and ZIKV, respectively.