KHgGeSe: A Quaternary Hg-Based Selenide with Nonlinear Optical Properties.

A new quaternary Hg-based selenide KHgGeSe was successfully synthesized and characterized as an engaging infrared (IR) nonlinear optical (NLO) material, which crystallizes in the 2 space group of the noncentrosymmetric monoclinic crystal system. The crystal structure of KHgGeSe is characterized by the stacking of countless layers with K cations filling the interlayers. The UV-vis-NIR diffuse reflectance spectrum shows that KHgGeSe possesses an indirect band gap of 2.

An Fe-Cu bimetallic organic framework as a microwave sensitizer for treating tumors using combined microwave thermotherapy and chemodynamic therapy.

Microwave thermotherapy (MWTT), as a treatment for tumors, lacks specificity and requires sensitizers. Most reported microwave sensitizers are single metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), which must be loaded with ionic liquids to enhance the performance in MWTT. Meanwhile, MWTT is rarely combined with other treatment modalities.

Use of optical absorption and scattering properties to monitor the change of chemical characteristics, particle structure and viscoelasticity during apple puree processing.

This work explored the optical absorption (μ) and reduced scattering (μ') properties at 400-1050 nm (Vis-NIR) and 900-1650 nm (SWIR) of apple puree at different heating times to evaluate their changes in composition and structure. The optical absorption and scattering coefficients of μ and μ' decreased with increasing heating time. The specific μ' coefficients at 432 nm, 455 nm, 1183 nm and 1304 nm were related to particle structural changes.

Eco-friendly and highly efficient PM air filter made from nonwoven basalt fiber and electrospun nanocellulose fiber.

This study addresses the need for high-performance and sustainable air filters by developing a bio-based, high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter. Current HEPA filters often rely on non-biodegradable materials, creating environmental burdens. In this paper, we presented a HEPA filter fabricated from natural basalt fiber (BF) and nanocellulose fiber.

Surface Doping and Dual Nature of the Band Gap in Excitonic Insulator TaNiSe.

Excitons in semiconductors and molecules are widely utilized in photovoltaics and optoelectronics, and high-temperature coherent quantum states of excitons can be realized in artificial electron-hole bilayers and an exotic material of an excitonic insulator (EI). Here, we investigate the band gap evolution of a putative high-temperature EI TaNiSe upon surface doing by alkali adsorbates with angle-resolved photoemission and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The conduction band of TaNiSe is filled by the charge transfer from alkali adsorbates, and the band gap decreases drastically upon the increase of metallic electron density.

Achieving Super-Metallophobicity on Silicon-based Ceramics at High Temperature.

As a critical concept in physical chemistry, superwettability is widely concerned in both fundamental science and practical engineering in past few decades. Despite this, investigation on high temperature superwettability is still a void, which is significant both in scientific and industrial fields. Herein, a ceramic with specific high temperature non-wetting property, SiNO is proposed.

A physical derivation of high-flux ion transport in biological channel via quantum ion coherence.

Biological ion channels usually conduct the high-flux transport of 10 ~ 10 ions·s; however, the underlying mechanism is still lacking. Here, by applying the KcsA potassium channel as a typical example, and performing multitimescale molecular dynamics simulations, we demonstrate that there is coherence of the K ions confined in biological channels, which determines transport. The coherent oscillation state of confined K ions with a nanosecond-level lifetime in the channel dominates each transport event, serving as the physical basis for the high flux of ~10 ions∙s.

Multi-responsive sodium hyaluronate/tannic acid hydrogels with ROS scavenging ability promote the healing of diabetic wounds.

Oxidative stress caused by excessive reactive oxygen species (ROS) accumulation significantly hinders wound healing in patients with diabetes. Scavenging ROS and reducing inflammation are crucial for rapid healing. In this work, a multi-responsive sodium hyaluronate (HA)/tannic acid (TA) hydrogel was developed based on boronate ester bonds.

LiNaCaBOFCl and LiNaBO: A Case of Cation-Induced Birefringence Enhancement via Dimensional Changes of Highly Polymerized [BO] Motifs.

Borates, due to their structural chemistry diversity and exceptional performance, are premier material systems for investigating UV optical crystals. The B-O anionic groups with high polymerization (B ≥ 6) are much less in the borate-based system, which is worthy of further research. Herein, cations with different radii and proportions are introduced to borate system, and two new highly polymerized borates, LiNaCaBOFCl (LNCBFC) and LiNaBO (LNBO) were designed and synthesized successfully.

Heterogeneous Organohydrogel Toward Automated and Interference-Free Gradient Feeding of Drugs in Cell Screening.

Cell-based microarrays are widely used in the fields of drug discovery and toxicology. Precise gradient generation and automated drug feeding are essential for high-throughput screening of live cells in tiny droplets. However, most existing technologies either require sophisticated robotic equipment or cause mechanical/physiological interference with cells.

Mixed anion control of enhanced negative thermal expansion in the oxysulfide of PbTiO.

The rare physical property of negative thermal expansion (NTE) is intriguing because materials with a large NTE over a wide temperature range can serve as high-performance thermal expansion compensators. However, the applications of NTE are hindered by the fact that most of the available NTE materials show small magnitudes of NTE, and/or NTE occurs only in a narrow temperature range. Herein, for the first time, we investigated the effect of anion substitution instead of general Pb/Ti-site substitutions on the thermal expansion properties of a typical ferroelectric NTE material, PbTiO.

Strain-Amplified Exciton Chirality in Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Materials.

Chiral organic-inorganic hybrids combining chirality of organic molecules and semiconducting properties of inorganic frameworks generate chiral excitons without external spin injection, creating the potential for chiroptoelectronics. However, the relationship between molecular chirality and exciton chirality is still unclear. Here we show the strain-amplified exciton chirality in one-dimensional chiral metal halides.

Quantum-Confined Lifshitz Transition on Weyl Semimetal -MoTe.

Adsorption of alkali atoms onto material surfaces is widely utilized for controlling electronic properties and is particularly effective for two-dimensional materials. While tuning the chemical potential and band gap and creating quantum-confined states are well established for alkali adsorption on semiconductors, the effects on semimetallic systems remain largely elusive. Here, utilizing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy measurements and density functional theory calculations, we disclose the creation of two-dimensional electron gas and the quantum-confined Lifshitz transition at the surface of a Weyl semimetal -MoTe by potassium adsorption.

Synthesis of benzothiazole compounds based on 2D graphene oxide membrane nanoreactors.

The nanoconfinement effect plays an important role in chemical reactions. Inspired by enzymes, this work presents a new way to conduct the rapid flow synthesis of benzothiazoles in the two-dimensional (2D) nanoconfined space created by a graphene oxide membrane. The conversion reaches 96.

Sulfate Derivatives with Heteroleptic Tetrahedra: New Deep-Ultraviolet Birefringent Materials in which Weak Interactions Modulate Functional Module Ordering.

Deep-ultraviolet (UV) birefringent materials are urgently needed to facilitate light polarization in deep-UV lithography. Maximizing anisotropy by regulating the alignment of functional modules is essential for improving the linear optical performance of birefringent materials. In this work, we proposed a strategy to design deep-UV birefringent materials that achieve functional module ordering via weak interactions.

Superassembled Mesoporous Carbon-FeO Heterochannels for Photothermal-Enhanced Hyaluronidase Sensing.

Developing an activity detection platform for hyaluronidase (HAase) is crucial for diagnosing and treating cancer. However, traditional detection of HAase is based on changes in the flow rate caused by viscosity or requires complex modifications and processing, which limits the detection accuracy and sensitivity. Herein, hyaluronic acid (HA)-modified mesoporous-based heterochannels (mesoporous carbon-doped γ-FeO nanoparticles/anodized aluminum oxide, MC-γ-FeO/AAO) featuring ordered 3D transport frameworks and a photothermal property were developed for high performance HAase detection.

A smart roof that transforms raindrops into agricultural spraying.

We present a smart roof that makes fragmented droplets from the impact of raindrops on superhydrophobic meshes and utilizes the droplets for agricultural spraying. This facile method transforms raindrops or waterdrops into uniform microdroplets, which can both reduce crop lodging induced by heavy rainfall, and realize uniform spraying of pesticides.

Rapid and inexpensive synthesis of liter-scale SiC aerogels.

Ceramic aerogels are promising materials for thermal insulation and protection under harsh environments. Yet current synthesis methods fail to provide an energy-, time-, and cost-effective route for high-throughput production and large-scale applications, especially for non-oxide ceramic aerogels. Here we reported a way to synthesize SiC aerogels within seconds and over liter scale, with a demonstrated throughput of ~16 L min in a typical lab experiment.

A Feasible Strategy for High-Performance Aqueous Zinc-Ion Batteries: Introducing Conducting Polymer.

Aqueous zinc ion batteries (AZIBs) offer great potential for large-scale energy storage because of their high safety, low cost and acceptable energy density. However, the cycle life of AZIBs is inevitably affected by parasitic reactions and dendritic growth caused by multiple factors such as electrode, electrolyte and separator, which pose significant obstacles to the practical application of AZIBs. To address these challenges, conducting polymer (CP) based materials have gained widespread attention in the realm of rechargeable batteries due to the adjustable band gap, controllable morphology, and excellent flexibility of CPs.

Bubble-Guidance Breaking Gas Shield for Highly Efficient Overall Water Splitting.

Overall water splitting is a promising technology for sustainable hydrogen production, but the primary challenge is removing bubbles from the electrode surface quickly to increase hydrogen production. Inspired by the directional fluid transport properties of natural biological surfaces like Nepenthes peristome and Morpho butterfly's wings, here a strategy is demonstrated to achieve highly efficient overall water splitting by a bubble-guidance electrode, that is, an anisotropic groove-micro/nanostructured porous electrode (GMPE). Gradient groove micro/nanostructures on the GMPE serve as high-speed bubble transmission channels and exhibit superior bubble-guidance capabilities.

Photoelectrochemical Ni-catalyzed cross-coupling of aryl bromides with amine at ultra-low potential.

Photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell is an ideal platform for organic transformation because of its green benefits and minimal energy consumption. As an emerging methodology, the reaction types of photoelectrocatalytic organic synthesis (PECOS) are limited to simple oxidation and C-H activation at current stage. Metal catalysis for the construction of C(sp)-N bonds has not been touched yet in PECOS.

Second-Harmonic-Generation Switching via Pressure-Suppressed Dynamical Disorder.

Second-harmonic-generation (SHG) switching is an emerging phenomenon with potential applications in bistable storage and optical switches while also serving as a sensitive probe for inversion-symmetry. Temperature-induced disorder-order phase transition has been proven to be a rational design strategy for achieving SHG bi-state switching; however, pressure-sensitive SHG switching via a disorder-order structural transition mechanism is rarely reported and lacks sensitivity and cyclicity as practical switching materials. Herein, we demonstrate the pressure-induced "dynamical disorder-order" phase transition as an effective strategy for triggering SHG and SHG switching in NHCl.

Ultrasound Image Temperature Monitoring Based on a Temporal-Informed Neural Network.

Real-time and accurate temperature monitoring during microwave hyperthermia (MH) remains a critical challenge for ensuring treatment efficacy and patient safety. This study presents a novel approach to simulate real MH and precisely determine the temperature of the target region within biological tissues using a temporal-informed neural network. We conducted MH experiments on 30 sets of phantoms and 10 sets of ex vivo pork tissues.