Achieving Ultralow Lattice Thermal Conductivity and High Thermoelectric Performance in BiTeSe Alloys via Introducing Organic & Inorganic Nanoparticles.

N-type BiTeSe(BTS) is a state-of-the-art thermoelectric material owing to its excellent thermoelectric properties near room temperatures for commercial applications. However, its performance is restricted by its comparatively low figure of merit ZT. Here, it is shown that a 14% increase in power factor (PF) (at 300 K) can be reached through incorporation of inorganic GaAs nanoparticles due to enhanced thermopower originating from the energy-dependent carrier scattering.

Centimeter-Sized CsPbBr Single-Crystal Films for Energy-Resolved Radiation Detection.

Metal halide perovskites (MHPs) are promising materials for radiation detection. Compared with polycrystalline films, single crystals (SCs) have lower defect density, higher carrier mobility, and lifetime. However, the direct synthesis of MHP SCs for large-area flat panel imaging detectors remains challenging.

Preparation of Silicon Nanopillar Arrays Using Reactive Ion Etching with a Faraday Cage.

Faraday cages are extensively utilized in plasma-based etching and deposition processes to regulate ion behavior due to their shielding effect on electromagnetic fields. Herein, vertical silicon nanopillar arrays are fabricated through SF and O reactive ion etching. By incorporation of a Faraday cage in the plasma equipment, the impact of the Faraday cage on the morphology of the silicon nanopillars is analyzed; the Faraday cage blocks out the sputtered particles and eradicates the formation of silicon nanograss.

Injectable body temperature responsive hydrogel for encephalitis treatment via sustained release of nano-anti-inflammatory agents.

Skull defects are common in the clinical practice of neurosurgery, and they are easily complicated by encephalitis, which seriously threatens the life and health safety of patients. The treatment of encephalitis is not only to save the patient but also to benefit the society. Based on the advantages of injectable hydrogels such as minimally invasive surgery, self-adaptation to irregularly shaped defects, and easy loading and delivery of nanomedicines, an injectable hydrogel that can be crosslinked in situ at the ambient temperature of the brain for the treatment of encephalitis caused by cranial defects is developed.

Fully Flexible Humidity Sensor with Fast Response and High Responsivity Based on rGO/MoS for Human Respiration Monitoring and Nontouch Switches.

Humidity sensors have been widely used to monitor humidity in daily life, agriculture fields, and so on. However, conventional sensors are not suitable for wearable devices because of their large dimensions and rigid substrates. Hence, we report a fast response, highly sensitive, and fully flexible humidity sensor on a PI substrate based on the composite material of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/MoS, with a response time of 0.

Robust Distributed Observers for Simultaneous State and Fault Estimation over Sensor Networks.

This paper focuses on simultaneous estimation of states and faults for a linear time-invariant (LTI) system observed by sensor networks. Each sensor node is equipped with an observer, which uses only local measurements and local interaction with neighbors for monitoring. The observability of said observer is analyzed where non-local observability of a sensor node is required in terms of the system state and faults.

Improved Efficiency and Stability in Pure-Red CdSe Nanoplatelet LEDs Enabled by Gradient Alloyed CdSeS/CdZnS Crown/Shell.

Anisotropic nanoplatelets (NPLs) possess strong in-plane transition dipole moments and out-of-plane emission, which enable a maximum photon out-coupling efficiency of 40% and a high gain coefficient, making them ideal candidates for light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and lasers. However, the unbalanced surface energy between the side and top facets of NPLs results in poor thermal stability and high susceptibility to ripening at elevated temperatures, which complicates the growth of the shell. To address this issue, a gradient crown (CdSeS) around the CdSe NPLs is designed to stabilize the high energy side facets.

Multi-layer ear-scalp distillation framework for ear-EEG classification enhancement.

Background: Ear-electroencephalography (ear-EEG) holds significant promise as a practical tool in brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) due to its enhanced unobtrusiveness, comfort, and mobility compared to traditional steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP)-based BCI systems. However, achieving accurate SSVEP classification with ear-EEG remains a major challenge due to the significant attenuation and distortion of the signal amplitude.

Objective: Our aim is to enhance the classification performance of SSVEP using ear-EEG and to increase its practical application value.

Strong low-energy rattling modes enabled liquid-like ultralow thermal conductivity in a well-ordered solid.

Crystalline solids exhibiting inherently low lattice thermal conductivity ( ) are of great importance in applications such as thermoelectrics and thermal barrier coatings. However, cannot be arbitrarily low and is limited by the minimum thermal conductivity related to phonon dispersions. In this work, we report the liquid-like thermal transport in a well-ordered crystalline CsAgTe, which exhibits an extremely low value of ∼0.

Theoretical guiding with molecular docking for the screening of high-sensitive AIE probes for specific protein detection.

The detection of proteins is crucial in the fields of disease diagnosis and drug development. Detection of proteins by aggregation-induced emission (AIE) probes is a quick and convenient method. However, the current AIE probes for the specific protein detection mainly depended on experimental test, lacking a guiding strategy.

A Single-Crystal Antimony Trioxide Dielectric for 2D Field-Effect Transistors.

The remarkable potential of two-dimensional (2D) materials in sustaining Moore's law has sparked a research frenzy. Extensive efforts have been made in the research of utilizing 2D semiconductors as channel materials in field-effect transistors. However, the next generation of integrated devices requires the integration of gate dielectrics with wider bandgaps and higher dielectric constants.

Four ribbons of double-layer graphene suspending masses for NEMS applications.

Graphene ribbons with a suspended proof mass for nanomechanical systems have been rarely studied. Here, we report three types of nanomechanical devices consisting of graphene ribbons (two ribbons, four ribbons-cross and four ribbons-parallel) with suspended Si proof masses and studied their mechanical properties. The resonance frequencies and built-in stresses of three types of devices ranged from tens of kHz to hundreds of kHz, and from 82.

High-efficiency and thermally stable FACsPbI perovskite photovoltaics.

α-FACsPbI is a promising absorbent material for efficient and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the most efficient α-FACsPbI PSCs require the inclusion of the additive methylammonium chloride, which generates volatile organic residues (methylammonium) that limit device stability at elevated temperatures. Previously, the highest certified power-conversion efficiency of α-FACsPbI PSCs without methylammonium chloride was only approximately 24% (refs.

Modified Epoxy Resin on the Burning Behavior and Mechanical Properties of Aramid Fiber Composite.

Aramid fiber/epoxy resin (AF/EP) composite has been heavily used as an impact protection material due to its excellent mechanical properties and lightweight merits. Meanwhile, it is also necessary to concern the flammability of matrix resin and the wick effect of aramid fiber, which would constitute a fire risk in harsh environments. In this work, a multifunctional flame-retardant modifier (EAD) was incorporated into the AF/EP system to improve the flame retardation.

Designing turbulence with entangled vortices.

Matter entanglement is a common chaotic structure found in both quantum and classical systems. For classical turbulence, viscous vortices are like sinews in fluid flows, storing and dissipating energy and accommodating strain and stress throughout a complex vortex network. However, to explain how the statistical properties of turbulence arise from elemental vortical structures remains challenging.

Nuclei engineering for even halide distribution in stable perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells.

Wide-bandgap (WBG) absorbers in tandem configurations suffer from poor crystallinity and weak texture, which leads to severe mixed halide-cation ion migration and phase segregation during practical operation. We control WBG film growth insensitive to compositions by nucleating the 3C phase before any formation of bromine-rich aggregates and 2H phases. The resultant WBG absorbers show improved crystallinity and strong texture with suppressed nonradiative recombination and enhanced resistance to various aging stresses.

Nanoscale Visualization of Symmetry-Breaking Electronic Orders and Magnetic Anisotropy in a Kagome Magnet YMnSn.

A kagome lattice hosts a plethora of quantum states arising from the interplay between nontrivial topology and electron correlations. The recently discovered kagome magnet RMnSn (R represents a rare-earth element) is believed to showcase a kagome band closely resembling textbook characteristics. Here, we report the characterization of local electronic states and their magnetization response in YMnSn via scanning tunneling microscopy measurements under vector magnetic fields.

Heritability of functional gradients in the human subcortico-cortical connectivity.

The human subcortex plays a pivotal role in cognition and is widely implicated in the pathophysiology of many psychiatric disorders. However, the heritability of functional gradients based on subcortico-cortical functional connectivity remains elusive. Here, leveraging twin functional MRI (fMRI) data from both the Human Connectome Project (n = 1023) and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (n = 936) datasets, we construct large-scale subcortical functional gradients and delineate an increased principal functional gradient pattern from unimodal sensory/motor networks to transmodal association networks.