Unprecedented short-circuit current density and efficiency of vacuum-deposited organic solar cells based on 8H-thieno[2',3':4,5]thieno[3,2-b] thieno[2,3-d]pyrrole.

Despite the many advantages for industrial mass production, vacuum-deposited organic solar cells (OSCs) suffer from low efficiency, primarily due to the limited molecular library of small-molecule donor and acceptor materials, which remains a significant challenge. Herein, two donor-acceptor-acceptor (D-A-A)-configured small-molecule donors, named TTBTDC and TTBTDC-F were synthesized, using 8H-thieno[2',3':4,5]thieno[3,2-b]thieno[2,3-d]pyrrole (TTP) as a new fused-ring donor unit. Benefiting from the strong electron-donating ability of the TTP moiety and the adoption of the D-A-A molecular configuration, these molecules exhibited strong visible and near-infrared absorption as well as deep-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels.

Self-oscillating polymeric refrigerator with high energy efficiency.

Electrocaloric and electrostrictive effects concurrently exist in dielectric materials. Combining these two effects could achieve the lightweight, compact localized thermal management that is promised by electrocaloric refrigeration. Despite a handful of numerical models and schematic presentations, current electrocaloric refrigerators still rely on external accessories to drive the working bodies and hence result in a low device-level cooling power density and coefficient of performance (COP).

Low-k nano-dielectrics facilitate electric-field induced phase transition in high-k ferroelectric polymers for sustainable electrocaloric refrigeration.

Ferroelectric polymer-based electrocaloric effect may lead to sustainable heat pumps and refrigeration owing to the large electrocaloric-induced entropy changes, flexible, lightweight and zero-global warming potential. Herein, low-k nanodiamonds are served as extrinsic dielectric fillers to fabricate polymeric nanocomposites for electrocaloric refrigeration. As low-k nanofillers are naturally polar-inactive, hence they have been widely applied for consolidate electrical stability in dielectrics.

Colossal electrocaloric effect in an interface-augmented ferroelectric polymer.

The electrocaloric effect demands the maximized degree of freedom (DOF) of polar domains and the lowest energy barrier to facilitate the transition of polarization. However, optimization of the DOF and energy barrier-including domain size, crystallinity, multiconformation coexistence, polar correlation, and other factors in bulk ferroelectrics-has reached a limit. We used organic crystal dimethylhexynediol (DMHD) as a three-dimensional sacrificial master to assemble polar conformations at the heterogeneous interface in poly(vinylidene fluoride)-based terpolymer.

Two Metastable Endohedral Metallofullerenes ScC@(39656)-C and ScC@(51383)-C: Direct-C-Insertion Products from Their Most Stable Precursors.

Endohedral metallofullerenes (EMFs) are sub-nano carbon materials with diverse applications, yet their formation mechanism, particularly for metastable isomers, remains ambiguous. The current theoretical methods focus mainly on the most stable isomers, leading to limited predictability of metastable ones due to their low stabilities and yields. Herein, we report the successful isolation and characterization of two metastable EMFs, ScC@(39656)-C and ScC@(51383)-C, which violate the isolated pentagon rule (IPR).

High-entropy polymer produces a giant electrocaloric effect at low fields.

More than a decade of research on the electrocaloric (EC) effect has resulted in EC materials and EC multilayer chips that satisfy a minimum EC temperature change of 5 K required for caloric heat pumps. However, these EC temperature changes are generated through the application of high electric fields (close to their dielectric breakdown strengths), which result in rapid degradation and fatigue of EC performance. Here we report a class of EC polymer that exhibits an EC entropy change of 37.

lncRNA MALAT1 participates in metformin inhibiting the proliferation of breast cancer cell.

In recent years, the repurposing of conventional and chemotherapeutic drugs is recognized as an alternative strategy for health care. The main purpose of this study is to strengthen the application of non-oncological drug metformin on breast cancer treatment in the perspective of epigenetics. In the present study, metformin was found to inhibit cell proliferation, promote apoptosis and induce cell cycle arrest in breast cancer cells at a dose-dependent manner.