An n-Doping Cross-Linkable Quinoidal Compound as an Electron Transport Material for Fully Stretchable Inverted Organic Solar Cells.

The photocatalytic activity and inherent brittleness of ZnO, which is commonly used as an electron transport layer (ETL) in inverted organic solar cells (OSCs), have impeded advancements in device stability and the development of fully stretchable OSCs. In this study, an intrinsically stretchable ETL for inverted OSCs through a side-chain cross-linking strategy has been developed. Specifically, cross-linking between bromine atoms on the side chains of a quinoidal compound and the amino groups in polyethylenimine resulted in a film, designated QBr-PEI-50, with high electrical conductivity (0.

A hierarchical porous hard carbon@Si@soft carbon material for advanced lithium-ion batteries.

Silicon (Si) is considered as one of the most potential commercial materials for the next-generation lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) owing to its high theoretical capacity and low voltage platform. However, the severe volume expansion and poor electric conductivity of Si anodes limit the practical application. Herein, a hierarchical porous hard carbon@Si@soft carbon (PHC@Si@SC) material was prepared by a chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and following calcination process.

Single-molecule force spectroscopy reveals intra- and intermolecular interactions of HMP-1 during mechanotransduction.

The HMP-2/HMP-1 complex, akin to the mammalian [Formula: see text]-catenin-[Formula: see text]-catenin complex, serves as a critical mechanosensor at cell-cell adherens junctions, transducing tension between HMR-1 (also known as cadherin in mammals) and the actin cytoskeleton. Essential for embryonic development and tissue integrity in , this complex experiences tension from both internal actomyosin contractility and external mechanical microenvironmental perturbations. While offering a valuable evolutionary comparison to its mammalian counterpart, the impact of tension on the mechanical stability of HMP-1 and HMP-2/HMP-1 interactions remains unexplored.

Ketazine-Linked Crystalline Porous Covalent Organic Frameworks.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) are a class of crystalline porous materials with well-defined π arrays and ordered channels, which can be predesigned with a topology diagram and prepared via a polycondensation reaction. Over the past decade, various types of π building units with different functional groups have been developed. Among them, aldehyde is one of the most widely used monomers that form COFs with azine, hydrazine, imine, squaranine, and C═C linkages.

Design of Ultra-Narrow Bandgap Polymer Acceptors for High-Sensitivity Flexible All-Polymer Short-Wavelength Infrared Photodetectors.

All-polymer photodetectors possess unique mechanical flexibility and are ideally suitable for the application in next-generation flexible, wearable short-wavelength infrared (SWIR, 1000-2700 nm) photodetectors. However, all-polymer photodetectors commonly suffer from low sensitivity, high noise, and low photoresponse speed in the SWIR region, which significantly diminish their application potential in wearable electronics. Herein, two polymer acceptors with absorption beyond 1000 nm, namely P4TOC-DCBT and P4TOC-DCBSe, were designed and synthesized.

Diatomic Iron with a Pseudo-Phthalocyanine Coordination Environment for Highly Efficient Oxygen Reduction over 150,000 Cycles.

Atomically dispersed Fe-N-C catalysts emerged as promising alternatives to commercial Pt/C for the oxygen reduction reaction. However, the majority of Fe-N-C catalysts showed unsatisfactory activity and durability due to their inferior O-O bond-breaking capability and rapid Fe demetallization. Herein, we create a pseudo-phthalocyanine environment coordinated diatomic iron (Fe-pPc) catalyst by grafting the core domain of iron phthalocyanine (Fe-N-C-N) onto defective carbon.

The Synthesis and Properties of Spirophenanthrene.

Motivated by the success of 9,9'-spirobifluorene () in optoelectronic materials, we synthesized a novel spiro compound, spirophenanthrene (). Incorporating a phenanthrene unit as the core, we aimed to leverage the π-conjugation of to surpass the limitations of . Experimental and theoretical studies revealed significant advantages over , including red-shifted wavelengths, tunable LUMO energy levels, and enhanced thermal stability.

Enhancing vertically stacked skin display compactness via discrete layer preparation.

The discrete preparation of functional layers followed by lamination for all-organic active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes enables an ultrahigh aperture ratio and reliable conformability, promising significant potential for next-generation skin-like displays.

Accelerating Discovery of Water Stable Metal-Organic Frameworks by Machine Learning.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) provide an extensive design landscape for nanoporous materials that drive innovation across energy and environmental fields. However, their practical applications are often hindered by water stability challenges. In this study, a machine learning (ML) approach is proposed to accelerate the discovery of water stable MOFs and validated through experimental test.

MolPackL: Quantification and Interpretation of Intermolecular Interactions Driven by Molecular Packing.

In organic optoelectronic devices, the properties of the aggregated organic materials depend not only on individual molecules or monomers but also significantly on their packing modes. Different from their inorganic counterparts linked by explicit covalent bonds, organic solids exhibit intricate and numerous intermolecular interactions (IMIs). Due to the intrinsic complexity and disorder of IMIs, identifying and understanding them is a formidable challenge in experimental, theoretical, and data-driven approaches.

Bifunctional Oxygen-Defect Bismuth Catalyst toward Concerted Production of HO with over 150% Cell Faradaic Efficiency in Continuously Flowing Paired-Electrosynthesis System.

The electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide (HO) from O or HO via the two-electron (2e) oxygen reduction (2e ORR) or water oxidation (2e WOR) reaction provides a green and sustainable alternative to the traditional anthraquinone process. Herein, a paired-electrosynthesis tactic is reported for concerted HO production at a high rate by coupling the 2e ORR and 2e WOR, in which the bifunctional oxygen-vacancy-enriched BiO nanorods (O-BiO-EO), obtained through electrochemically oxidative reconstruction of Bi-based metal-organic framework (Bi-MOF) nanorod precursor, are used as both efficient anodic and cathodic electrocatalysts, achieving concurrent HO production at both electrodes with high Faradaic efficiencies. Specifically, the coupled 2e ORR//2e WOR electrolysis system based on such distinctive oxygen-defect Bi catalyst displays excellent performance for the paired-electrosynthesis of HO, delivering a remarkable cell Faradaic efficiency of 154.

Unveiling the Role of Electric Double-Layer in Sulfur Catalysis for Batteries.

The metal-catalyzed sulfur reaction in lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries usually suffers from the strong binding of sulfur species to the catalyst surface, which destroys the electric double layer (EDL) region there. This causes rapid catalyst deactivation because it prevents the desorption of sulfur species and mass transport through the EDL is hindered. This work introduces a competitive adsorption factor (f) as a new indicator to quantify the competitive adsorption of sulfur species in the EDL and proposes an alloying method to change it by strengthening the p-d hybridization of alloying metals with electrolyte solvents.

Towards mixed physical node reservoir computing: light-emitting synaptic reservoir system with dual photoelectric output.

Memristor-based physical reservoir computing holds significant potential for efficiently processing complex spatiotemporal data, which is crucial for advancing artificial intelligence. However, owing to the single physical node mapping characteristic of traditional memristor reservoir computing, it inevitably induces high repeatability of eigenvalues to a certain extent and significantly limits the efficiency and performance of memristor-based reservoir computing for complex tasks. Hence, this work firstly reports an artificial light-emitting synaptic (LES) device with dual photoelectric output for reservoir computing, and a reservoir system with mixed physical nodes is proposed.

Amorphous AlPO Layer Coating Vacuum Thermal Reduced SiO with Fine Silicon Grains to Enhance the Anode Stability.

Micrometer-sized silicon monoxide (SiO) is regarded as a high-capacity anode material with great potential for lithium ion batteries (LIBs). However, the problems of low initial Coulombic efficiency (ICE), poor electrical conductivity, and large volume change of SiO inevitably impede further application. Herein, the vacuum thermal reduced SiO with amorphous AlPO and carbon double-coating layers is used as the ideal anode material in LIBs.

Realization of Two-Dimensional Intrinsic Polar Metal in a Buckled Honeycomb Binary Lattice.

Structural topology and symmetry of a two-dimensional (2D) network play pivotal roles in defining its electrical properties and functionalities. Here, a binary buckled honeycomb lattice with C symmetry, which naturally hosts topological Dirac fermions and out-of-plane polarity, is proposed. It is successfully achieved in a group IV-V compound, namely monolayer SiP epitaxially grown on Ag(111) surface.

Azatriangulenetrione as the Anode Material for Sodium-Ion Batteries: Reversible Redox Chemistry Mediated by Lone Pair Electrons.

Redox-active organic molecules have potential as electrode materials, but their cycling stability is often limited by the irreversible formation of σ-bonds from the radical intermediates. Herein, we present an effective approach to achieve high reversibility by using lone pair electrons to mediate intramolecular radical-radical coupling. Azatriangulenetrione () was examined as the anode in sodium-ion batteries, which displayed a reversible four-step, one-electron redox chemistry.

Light-Activated Nanocatalyst for Precise In-Situ Antimicrobial Synthesis via Photoredox-Catalytic Click Reaction.

The excessive and prolonged use of antibiotics contributes to the emergence of drug-resistant S. aureus strains and potential dysbacteriosis-related diseases, necessitating the exploration of alternative therapeutic approaches. Herein, we present a light-activated nanocatalyst for synthesizing in situ antimicrobials through photoredox-catalytic click reaction, achieving precise, site-directed elimination of S.

Far-Red Aggregation-Induced Emission Hydrogel-Reinforced Tissue Clearing for 3D Vasculature Imaging of Whole Lung and Whole Tumor.

Understanding the vascular formation and distribution in metastatic lung tumors is a significant challenge due to autofluorescence, antibody/dye diffusion in dense tumor, and fluorophore stability when exposed to solvent-based clearing agents. Here, an approach is presented that redefines 3D vasculature imaging within metastatic tumor, peritumoral lung tissue, and normal lung. Specifically, a far-red aggregation-induced emission nanoparticle with surface amino groups (termed as TSCN nanoparticle, TSCNNP) is designed for in situ formation of hydrogel (TSCNNP@Gel) inside vasculatures to provide structural support and enhance the fluorescence in solvent-based tissue clearing method.