Enhancing Resistive Switching in AlN-Based Memristors Through Oxidative AlO Layer Formation: A Study on Preparation Techniques and Performance Impact.

Aluminum nitride (AlN) with a wide band gap (approximately 6.2 eV) has attractive characteristics, including high thermal conductivity, a high dielectric constant, and good insulating properties, which are suitable for the field of resistive random access memory. AlN thin films were deposited on ITO substrate using the radio-frequency magnetron sputtering technique.

Processing and properties of graphene-reinforced polylactic acid nanocomposites for bioelectronic and tissue regenerative functions.

An in-situ polymer-solution-processing approach enables the efficient production of uniform graphene-reinforced polylactic acid (G-PLA) nanocomposites with notable physical and biomedical properties. The approach effectively enhances the interfacial bonding between graphene and PLA by creating graphene dangling bonds and defects during exfoliation. As a result, an 182 % increase in Young's modulus and an 85 % increase in tensile strength can be achieved in G-PLA.

Electric Field-Dependent Evolution Dynamics of Conductive Filaments in 2D Material-Based Planar Memristors.

2D materials have emerged as potential building blocks for electrochemical metallization (ECM) memristors with excellent performance. The evolution dynamics of conductive filaments (CFs) directly determine the resistance switching performance of the 2D material-based ECM memristors. However, achieving controllable CFs under the operation conditions remains challenging.

Stabilizing ultra-close Pt clusters on all-in-one CeO/AlO fibril-in-tubes against sintering.

Metal sintering poses significant challenges for developing reliable catalytic systems toward high-temperature reactions, particularly those based on metal clusters with sizes below 3 nm. In this work, electrospun dual-oxide fibril-in-tubes consisting of CeO and AlO are rationally designed in an all-in-one manner, to stabilize 2.3 nm Pt clusters with a Tammann temperature (sintering onset temperature) lower than 250 °C.

Engineering Asymmetric Strain within C-Shaped CeO Nanofibers for Stabilizing Sub-3 nm Pt Clusters against Sintering.

Ultrafine noble metals have emerged as advanced nanocatalysts in modern society but still suffer from unavoidable sintering at temperatures above 250 °C (e.g., Pt).

Room-Temperature Growth of Square-Millimeter Single-Crystalline Two-Dimensional Metal Halides on Silicon.

Silicon is the cornerstone of electronics and photonics. In this context, almost all integrated devices derived from two-dimensional (2D) materials stay rooted in silicon technology. However, as the growth substrate, silicon has long been thought to be a hindrance for growing 2D materials through bottom-up methods that require high growth temperatures, and thus, indirect routes are usually considered instead.

Integration of photothermal water evaporation with photocatalytic microplastics upcycling via nanofluidic thermal management.

Photothermal heating and photocatalytic treatment are two solar-driven water processing approaches by harnessing NIR and UV-vis light, respectively, which can fully utilize solar energy if integrated. However, it remains a challenge to achieve high performance in both approaches when integrated in a material due to uncontrollable heat diffusion. Here, we report a demonstration of heat confinement on photothermal sites and fluid cooling on photocatalysis sites at the nanoscale, within a well-designed heat and fluid confinement nanofiber reactor.

In Situ Polymer-Solution-Processed Graphene-PDMS Nanocomposites for Application in Intracranial Pressure Sensors.

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) has emerged as a promising candidate for the dielectric layer in implantable sensors due to its exceptional biocompatibility, stability, and flexibility. This study introduces an innovative approach to produce graphene-reinforced PDMS (Gr-PDMS), where graphite powders are exfoliated into mono- and few-layer graphene sheets within the polymer solution, concurrently forming cross-linkages with PDMS. This method yields a uniformly distributed graphene within the polymer matrix with improved interfaces between graphene and PDMS, significantly reducing the percolation threshold of graphene dispersed in PDMS from 10% to 5%.

Highly stable and antifungal properties on the oilseed rape of Cu(MoO)(OH) nanoflakes prepared by simple aqueous precipitation.

In the last few decades, nanoparticles have been a prominent topic in various fields, particularly in agriculture, due to their unique physicochemical properties. Herein, molybdenum copper lindgrenite Cu(MoO)(OH) (CM) nanoflakes (NFs) are synthesized by a one-step reaction involving α-MoO and CuCO⋅Cu(OH)⋅xHO solution at low temperature for large scale industrial production and developed as an effective antifungal agent for the oilseed rape. This synthetic method demonstrates great potential for industrial applications.

Microelectromechanical system for quantitative testing of tension-compression asymmetry in nanostructures.

Tension-compression asymmetry is a topic of current interest in nanostructures, especially in strain engineering. Herein, we report a novel on-chip microelectromechanical system (MEMS) that can realize quantitative mechanical testing of nanostructures under tension-compression functions. The mechanical properties of three kinds of nanostructures fabricated by focused ion beam (FIB) techniques were systematically investigated with the presented on-chip testing system.

Simulating Synaptic Behaviors through Frequency Modulation in a Capacitor-Memristor Circuit.

Memristors, known for their adjustable and non-volatile resistance, offer a promising avenue for emulating synapses. However, achieving pulse frequency-dependent synaptic plasticity in memristors or memristive systems necessitates further exploration. In this study, we present a novel approach to modulate the conductance of a memristor in a capacitor-memristor circuit by finely tuning the frequency of input pulses.

In Situ Transmission Electron Microscopy Investigation on Oriented Attachment of Nanodiamonds.

Oriented attachment (OA) plays an important role in the assembly of nanoparticles and the regulation of their size and morphology, which is expected to be an effective means to modulate the properties of nanodiamonds (NDs). However, there remains a dearth of comprehensive investigation into the OA mechanism of NDs. Using in situ transmission electron microscopy, we conducted atomic-resolution investigation on the OA events of ND pairs under electron beam irradiation.

Superb microplastics separation performance of graphene oxide tuned by laser bombardment.

Microplastics have been identified as a significant environmental threat to aquatic ecosystems and human health. Consequently, there is an urgent need for efficient separation methods for small-sized MPs. In this study, a super-hydrophilic graphene oxide (GO) membrane is successfully prepared by facilely depositing GO on a microfiltration substrate, without introducing any surface modification materials, especially nanoparticles, which may cause secondary pollution.

Research Progress on Metal-Organic Frameworks by Advanced Transmission Electron Microscopy.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), composed of metal nodes and inorganic linkers, are promising for a wide range of applications due to their unique periodic frameworks. Understanding structure-activity relationships can facilitate the development of new MOFs. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) is a powerful technique to characterize the microstructures of MOFs at the atomic scale.

Heterostructured Interface Enables Uniform Zinc Deposition for High-Performance Zinc-Ion Batteries.

Zinc metal has considerable potential as a high-energy anode material for aqueous batteries due to its high theoretical capacity and environmental friendliness. However, dendrite growth and parasitic reactions at the electrode/electrolyte interface remain two serious problems for the Zn metal anode. Here, the heterostructured interface of ZnO rod array and CuZn layer is fabricated on the Zn substrate (ZnCu@Zn) to address these two issues.

Hierarchical triphase diffusion photoelectrodes for photoelectrochemical gas/liquid flow conversion.

Photoelectrochemical device is a versatile platform for achieving various chemical transformations with solar energy. However, a grand challenge, originating from mass and electron transfer of triphase-reagents/products in gas phase, water/electrolyte/products in liquid phase and catalyst/photoelectrode in solid phase, largely limits its practical application. Here, we report the simulation-guided development of hierarchical triphase diffusion photoelectrodes, to improve mass transfer and ensure electron transfer for photoelectrochemical gas/liquid flow conversion.

Thermodynamically and Kinetically Stabilized Pt Clusters Against Sintering on CeO Nanofibers Through Enclosing CeO Nanocubes.

Sintering is a major concern for the deactivation of supported metals catalysts, which is driven by the force of decreasing the total surface energy of the entire catalytic system. In this work, a double-confinement strategy is demonstrated to stabilize 2.6 nm-Pt clusters against sintering on electrospun CeO nanofibers decorated by CeO nanocubes (m-CeO ).

Flexible-in-rigid polycrystalline titanium nanofibers: a toughening strategy from a macro-scale to a molecular-scale.

TiO nanomaterials, especially one-dimensional TiO nanofibers fabricated by electrospinning, have received considerable attention in the past two decades, for a variety of basic applications. However, their safe use and easy recycling are still hampered by the inherently subpar mechanical performance. Here, we toughened polycrystalline TiO nanofibers by introducing Al-species at the very beginning of electrospinning.

Nucleation and growth of stacking-dependent nanopores in bilayer -BN.

The nucleation and growth of well-defined nanopores are presented under electron irradiation in -BN bilayers with various stacking angles. The pores are initiated by the formation of boron vacancies in each basal layer, and then evolve into either triangular or hexagonal pores, which is dependent on the relative rotation between BN layers. The result may shed light on the rational design and fabrication of nanopores.

crafting of a 3D N-doped carbon/defect-rich VO·HO nanosheet composite for high performance fibrous flexible Zn-ion batteries.

Aqueous fibrous batteries with tiny volume, light weight and stretchability have furthered wearable smart textile systems like biocompatible electronics for a more efficient use of electricity. Challenges still faced by fibrous batteries include not only the deficient actual capacity but the cyclability on the cathode side. Herein, an anodic oxidation strategy is reported to prepare 3D N-doped/defect-rich VO·HO nanosheets (DVOH@NC) as fibrous cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs).

Porous gold with three-level structural hierarchy.

Facilitating the mass transfer and enlarging the active surface area are two mutually exclusive demands in porous materials, while structural hierarchy could settle this issue by constructing continuous channels with different length scales. However, it is a great challenge to fabricate porous metallic materials with three or more geometrically similar hierarchy levels. Herein, a novel strategy combining vapor phase dealloying with electrochemical dealloying is proposed to achieve nanoporous gold (NPG) with three-level nested hierarchy (NPG), in which the length scale covers micron (5866.

Revealing the promoting effect of multiple Mn valences on the catalytic activity of CeO nanorods toward soot oxidation.

Mn-modified CeO nanomaterials have attracted extensive attention as efficient and promising catalysts for soot combustion due to their low cost and high catalytic activity. However, a detailed mechanism of how Mn promotes soot oxidation over CeO is still not clearly elucidated, which is crucial to further optimize the catalyst for achieving its practical applications. We here report a Mn-doped CeO catalyst with tunable surface Mn chemical valence states to study the Mn-promoting mechanism for improving CeO catalyst activity in soot oxidation.

Hierarchically Structured Black Gold Film with Ultrahigh Porosity for Solar Steam Generation.

Plasmonic metals demonstrate significant potential for solar steam generation (SSG) because of their localized surface plasmon resonance effect. However, the inherently narrow absorption spectra of plasmonic metals significantly limit their applications. The fabrication of nanostructures is essential to achieve broadband solar absorption for high-efficiency vapor generation.

Wearable multimode sensor with a seamless integrated structure for recognition of different joint motion states with the assistance of a deep learning algorithm.

Accurate motion feature extraction and recognition provide critical information for many scientific problems. Herein, a new paradigm for a wearable seamless multimode sensor with the ability to decouple pressure and strain stimuli and recognize the different joint motion states is reported. This wearable sensor is integrated into a unique seamless structure consisting of two main parts (a resistive component and a capacitive component) to decouple the different stimuli by an independent resistance-capacitance sensing mechanism.

Advanced Multifunctional Aqueous Rechargeable Batteries Design: From Materials and Devices to Systems.

Multifunctional aqueous rechargeable batteries (MARBs) are regarded as safe, cost-effective, and scalable electrochemical energy storage devices, which offer additional functionalities that conventional batteries cannot achieve, which ideally leads to unprecedented applications. Although MARBs are among the most exciting and rapidly growing topics in scientific research and industrial development nowadays, a systematic summary of the evolution and advances in the field of MARBs is still not available. Therefore, the review presented comprehensively and systematically summarizes the design principles and the recent advances of MARBs by categories of smart ARBs and integrated systems, together with an analysis of their device design and configuration, electrochemical performance, and diverse smart functions.