Oleylamine Aging of PtNi Nanoparticles Giving Enhanced Functionality for the Oxygen Reduction Reaction.

We report a rapid solution-phase strategy to synthesize alloyed PtNi nanoparticles which demonstrate outstanding functionality for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). This one-pot coreduction colloidal synthesis results in a monodisperse population of single-crystal nanoparticles of rhombic dodecahedral morphology with Pt-enriched edges and compositions close to PtNi. We use nanoscale 3D compositional analysis to reveal for the first time that oleylamine (OAm)-aging of the rhombic dodecahedral PtNi particles results in Ni leaching from surface facets, producing aged particles with concave faceting, an exceptionally high surface area, and a composition of PtNi.

Flexophotovoltaic Effect in Potassium Sodium Niobate/Poly(Vinylidene Fluoride-Trifluoroethylene) Nanocomposite.

Flexoelectricity is an electromechanical coupling effect in which electric polarization is generated by a strain gradient. In this investigation, a potassium sodium niobite/poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) (KNN/PVDF-TrFE)-based nanocomposite is fabricated, and the flexoelectric effect is used to enhance the photovoltaic current ( ) in the nanocomposite. It is found that both a pyroelectric current and photovoltaic current can be generated simultaneously in a light illumination process.

Comparison of applied torque and energy conversion efficiency between rotational triboelectric nanogenerator and electromagnetic generator.

Triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) is regarded as an equally important mechanical energy harvesting technology as electromagnetic generator (EMG). Here, the input mechanical torques and energy conversion efficiencies of the rotating EMG and TENG are systematically measured, respectively. At constant rotation rates, the input mechanical torque of EMG is balanced by the friction resisting torque and electromagnetic resisting torque, which increases with the increasing rotation rate due to Ampere force.

Enhanced Heat Dissipation in Gallium Nitride-Based Light-Emitting Diodes by Piezo-phototronic Effect.

As a new generation of light sources, GaN-based light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have wide applications in lighting and display. Heat dissipation in LEDs is a fundamental issue that leads to a decrease in light output, a shortened lifespan, and the risk of catastrophic failure. Here, the temperature spatial distribution of the LEDs is revealed by using high-resolution infrared thermography, and the piezo-phototronic effect is proved to restrain efficaciously the temperature increment for the first time.

Textile Triboelectric Nanogenerators Simultaneously Harvesting Multiple "High-Entropy" Kinetic Energies.

Distributed renewable kinetic energies are ubiquitous but with irregular amplitudes and frequencies, which, as one category of "high-entropy" energies, are crucial for next-generation self-powered electronics. Herein, we present a flexible waterproof dual-mode textile triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG), which can simultaneously scavenge multiple "high-entropy" kinetic energies, including human motions, raindrops, and winds. A freestanding-mode textile TENG (F-TENG) and a contact-separation-mode textile TENG (CS-TENG) are integrated together.

Giant Ferroelectric Resistance Switching Controlled by a Modulatory Terminal for Low-Power Neuromorphic In-Memory Computing.

Ferroelectrics have been demonstrated as excellent building blocks for high-performance nonvolatile memories, including memristors, which play critical roles in the hardware implementation of artificial synapses and in-memory computing. Here, it is reported that the emerging van der Waals ferroelectric α-In Se can be used to successfully implement heterosynaptic plasticity (a fundamental but rarely emulated synaptic form) and achieve a resistance-switching ratio of heterosynaptic memristors above 10 , which is two orders of magnitude larger than that in other similar devices. The polarization change of ferroelectric α-In Se channel is responsible for the resistance switching at various paired terminals.

Boosting the Power and Lowering the Impedance of Triboelectric Nanogenerators through Manipulating the Permittivity for Wearable Energy Harvesting.

Triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), which hold great promise for sustainably powering wearable electronics by harvesting distributed mechanical energy, are still severely limited by their unsatisfactory power density, small capacitance, and high internal impedance. Herein, a materials optimization strategy is proposed to achieve a high performance of TENGs and to lower the matching impedance simultaneously. A permittivity-tunable electret composite film, .

Wearable Antifreezing Fiber-Shaped Zn/PANI Batteries with Suppressed Zn Dendrites and Operation in Sweat Electrolytes.

Fiber-shaped Zn batteries are promising candidates for wearable electronics owing to their high energy and low cost, but further studies are still required to address the issues related to detrimental Zn dendrite growth and limited low-temperature performances. Here, we report an antifreeze, long-life, and dendrite-free fiber-shaped Zn battery using both nanoporous Zn and polyaniline (PANI) electrodeposited on carbon nanofibers (CFs) as the cathode and anode, respectively. The fiber-shaped Zn anode achieves stable plating/stripping for 1000 mAh cm accumulative capacity with low polarization (30 mV) at a current density of 2 mA cm.

Novel Inorganic Nanomaterial-Based Therapy for Bone Tissue Regeneration.

Extensive bone defect repair remains a clinical challenge, since ideal implantable scaffolds require the integration of excellent biocompatibility, sufficient mechanical strength and high biological activity to support bone regeneration. The inorganic nanomaterial-based therapy is of great significance due to their excellent mechanical properties, adjustable biological interface and diversified functions. Calcium-phosphorus compounds, silica and metal-based materials are the most common categories of inorganic nanomaterials for bone defect repairing.

A Stretchable, Self-Healable Triboelectric Nanogenerator as Electronic Skin for Energy Harvesting and Tactile Sensing.

Electronic skin that is deformable, self-healable, and self-powered has high competitiveness for next-generation energy/sense/robotic applications. Herein, we fabricated a stretchable, self-healable triboelectric nanogenerator (SH-TENG) as electronic skin for energy harvesting and tactile sensing. The elongation of SH-TENG can achieve 800% (uniaxial strain) and the SH-TENG can self-heal within 2.

Polarization-Sensitive Light Sensors Based on a Bulk Perovskite MAPbBr Single Crystal.

Organic-inorganic halide perovskites have attracted much attention thanks to their excellent optoelectronic performances. Here, a bulk CHNHPbBr (MAPbBr) single crystal (SC) was fabricated, whose temperature and light polarization dependence was investigated by measuring photoluminescence. The presence of obvious band tail states was unveiled when the applied temperature was reduced from room temperature to 78 K.

Smart Wearable Sensors Based on Triboelectric Nanogenerator for Personal Healthcare Monitoring.

Accurate monitoring of motion and sleep states is critical for human health assessment, especially for a healthy life, early diagnosis of diseases, and medical care. In this work, a smart wearable sensor (SWS) based on a dual-channel triboelectric nanogenerator was presented for a real-time health monitoring system. The SWS can be worn on wrists, ankles, shoes, or other parts of the body and cloth, converting mechanical triggers into electrical output.

Enhanced Electrical Performance of Monolayer MoS with Rare Earth Element Sm Doping.

Rare earth (RE) element-doped two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) with applications in luminescence and magnetics have received considerable attention in recent years. To date, the effect of RE element doping on the electronic properties of monolayer 2D-TMDCs remains unanswered due to challenges including the difficulty of achieving valid monolayer doping and introducing RE elements with distinct valence and atomic configurations. Herein, we report a unique strategy to grow the Sm-doped monolayer MoS film by using an atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition method with the substrate face down on top of the growth source.

Triboelectric Rotary Motion Sensor for Industrial-Grade Speed and Angle Monitoring.

Mechanical motion sensing and monitoring is an important component in the field of industrial automation. Rotary motion is one of the most basic forms of mechanical motion, so it is of great significance for the development of the entire industry to realize rotary motion state monitoring. In this paper, a triboelectric rotary motion sensor (TRMS) with variable amplitude differential hybrid electrodes is proposed, and an integrated monitoring system (IMS) is designed to realize real-time monitoring of industrial-grade rotary motion state.

A Polymeric Bilayer Multi-Legged Soft Millirobot with Dual Actuation and Humidity Sensing.

There are numerous works that report wirelessly controlling the locomotion of soft robots through a single actuation method of light or magnetism. However, coupling multiple driving modes to improve the mobility of robots is still in its infancy. Here, we present a soft multi-legged millirobot that can move, climb a slope, swim and detect a signal by near-infrared irradiation (NIR) light or magnetic field dual actuation.

Recent Advances in Self-Powered Electrochemical Systems.

Electrochemistry, one of the most important research and production technology, has been widely applicated in various fields. However, the requirement of external power source is a major challenge to its development. To solve this issue, developing self-powered electrochemical system (SPES) that can work by collecting energy from the environment is highly desired.

The Triboelectric Nanogenerator as an Innovative Technology toward Intelligent Sports.

In the new era of the Internet-of-Things, athletic big data collection and analysis based on widely distributed sensing networks are particularly important in the development of intelligent sports. Conventional sensors usually require an external power supply, with limitations such as limited lifetime and high maintenance cost. As a newly developed mechanical energy harvesting and self-powered sensing technology, the triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) shows great potential to overcome these limitations.

Self-Powered Room-Temperature Ethanol Sensor Based on Brush-Shaped Triboelectric Nanogenerator.

Highly sensitive ethanol sensors have been widely utilized in environmental protection, industrial monitoring, and drink-driving tests. In this work, a fully self-powered ethanol detector operating at room temperature has been developed based on a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). The gas-sensitive oxide semiconductor is selected as the sensory component for the ethanol detection, while the resistance change of the oxide semiconductor can well match the "linear" region of the load characteristic curve of TENG.

Understanding contact electrification at liquid-solid interfaces from surface electronic structure.

The charge transfer phenomenon of contact electrification even exists in the liquid-solid interface by a tiny droplet on the solid surface. In this work, we have investigated the contact electrification mechanism at the liquid-solid interface from the electronic structures at the atomic level. The electronic structures display stronger modulations by the outmost shell charge transfer via surface electrostatic charge perturbation than the inter-bonding-orbital charge transfer at the liquid-solid interface, supporting more factors being involved in charge transfer via contact electrification.

Real-Time Monitoring System of Automobile Driver Status and Intelligent Fatigue Warning Based on Triboelectric Nanogenerator.

To improve automobile safety, identifying driver fatigue is considerably crucial because it is one of the main causes of traffic accidents. In this research, smart systems based on a triboelectric nanogenerator are designed, which can provide driver status monitoring and fatigue warning in real time. The smart system consists of a self-powered steering-wheel angle sensor (SSAS) and a signal processing unit.

Bioinspired mechano-photonic artificial synapse based on graphene/MoS heterostructure.

Developing multifunctional and diversified artificial neural systems to integrate multimodal plasticity, memory, and supervised learning functions is an important task toward the emulation of neuromorphic computation. Here, we present a bioinspired mechano-photonic artificial synapse with synergistic mechanical and optical plasticity. The artificial synapse is composed of an optoelectronic transistor based on graphene/MoS heterostructure and an integrated triboelectric nanogenerator.

Triboelectric Nanogenerator Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry for In-Depth Lipid Annotation.

Lipids play a critical role in cell membrane integrity, signaling, and energy storage. However, in-depth structural characterization of lipids is still challenging and not routinely possible in lipidomics experiments. Techniques such as collision-induced dissociation (CID) tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS), ion mobility (IM) spectrometry, and ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography are not yet capable of fully characterizing double-bond and -chain position of lipids in a high-throughput manner.

Triboelectric nanogenerators for human-health care.

Since the world's first triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) was proposed in 2012, numerous TENG-based devices and equipment have sprung up in various fields. In particular, TENG has great potential in the field of human-health care due to its small size, self-powered and low cost. With the continuous deepening of TENG research, its structure, function and technical concept are becoming more and more abundant.

Biopolymer Nanofibers for Nanogenerator Development.

The development of nanogenerators (NGs) with optimal performances and functionalities requires more novel materials. Over the past decade, biopolymer nanofibers (BPNFs) have become critical sustainable building blocks in energy-related fields because they have distinctive nanostructures and properties and can be obtained from abundant and renewable resources. This review summarizes recent advances in the use of BPNFs for NG development.

Contact-electrification-activated artificial afferents at femtojoule energy.

Low power electronics endowed with artificial intelligence and biological afferent characters are beneficial to neuromorphic sensory network. Highly distributed synaptic sensory neurons are more readily driven by portable, distributed, and ubiquitous power sources. Here, we report a contact-electrification-activated artificial afferent at femtojoule energy.