High-rate Decoupled Water Electrolysis System Integrated with α-MoO3 as a Redox Mediator with Fast Anhydrous Proton Kinetics

Hydrogen is a promising alternative to fossil fuels that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Decoupled water electrolysis system using a reversible proton storage redox mediator, where the oxygen evolution reaction and hydrogen evolution reaction are separated in time and space, is an effective approach to producing hydrogen gas with high purity, high flexibility, and low cost. To realize fast hydrogen production in such a system, a redox mediator capable of releasing protons rapidly is required. Herein, α-MoO₃, with an ultrafast proton transfer property that can be explained by a dense hydrogen bond network in the lattice oxygen arrays of HxMoO₃, is examined as a high-rate redox mediator for fast hydrogen production in acidic electrolytes. The α-MoO₃ redox mediator shows both a large capacity of 204 mAh g⁻¹ and fast hydrogen production at a current rate of 10 A cm⁻²(≈153 A g⁻¹), outperforming most of the previously reported solid-state redox mediators.     

2D MoN1.2-rGO Stacked Heterostructures Enabled Water State Modification for Highly Efficient Interfacial Solar Evaporation

Improving interfacial solar evaporation performance is crucial for the practical application of this technology in solar-driven seawater desalination. Lowering evaporation enthalpy is one of the most promising and effective strategies to significantly improve solar evaporation rate. In this study, a new pathway to lower vaporization enthalpy by introducing heterogeneous interactions between hydrophilic hybrid materials and water molecules is developed. 2D MoN_1.2 nanosheets are synthesized and integrated with rGO nanosheets to form stacked MoN_1.2-rGO heterostructures with massive junction interfaces for interfacial solar evaporation. Molecular dynamics simulation confirms that atomic thick 2D MoN_1.2 and rGO in the MoN_1.2-rGO heterostructures simultaneously interact with water molecules, while the interactions are remarkably different. These heterogeneous interactions cause an imbalanced water state, which easily breaks the hydrogen bonds between water molecules, leading to dramatically lowered vaporization enthalpy and improved solar evaporation rate (2.6 kg m⁻² h⁻¹). This study provides a promising strategy for designing 2D-2D heterostructures to regulate evaporation enthalpy to improve solar evaporate rate for clean water production.     

Inorganic Filler Enhanced Formation of Stable Inorganic-Rich Solid Electrolyte Interphase for High Performance Lithium Metal Batteries

Lithium metal (LM) is a promising anode material for next generation lithium ion based electrochemical energy storage devices. Critical issues of unstable solid electrolyte interphases (SEIs) and dendrite growth however still impede its practical applications. Herein, a composite gel polymer electrolyte (GPE), formed through in situ polymerization of pentaerythritol tetraacrylate with fumed silica fillers, is developed to achieve high performance lithium metal batteries (LMBs). As evidenced theoretically and experimentally, the presence of SiO₂ not only accelerates Li⁺ transport but also regulates Li⁺ solvation sheath structures, thus facilitating fast kinetics and formation of stable LiF-rich interphase and achieving uniform Li depositions to suppress Li dendrite growth. The composite GPE-based Li||Cu half-cells and Li||Li symmetrical cells display high Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 90.3% after 450 cycles and maintain stability over 960 h at 3 mA cm⁻² and 3 mAh cm⁻², respectively. In addition, Li||LiFePO₄ full-cells with a LM anode of limited Li supply of 4 mAh cm⁻² achieve capacity retention of 68.5% after 700 cycles at 0.5 C (1 C = 170 mA g⁻¹). Especially, when further applied in anode-free LMBs, the carbon cloth||LiFePO₄ full-cell exhibits excellent cycling stability with an average CE of 99.94% and capacity retention of 90.3% at the 160th cycle at 0.5 C.     

Ultra-Stable and Sensitive Ultraviolet Photodetectors Based on Monocrystalline Perovskite Thin Films

The detection of ultraviolet (UV) radiation with effective performance and robust stability is essential to practical applications. Metal halide single-crystal perovskites (ABX₃) are promising next-generation materials for UV detection. The device performance of all-inorganic CsPbCl₃ photodetectors (PDs) is still limited by inner imperfection of crystals grown in solution. Here wafer-scale single-crystal CsPbCl₃ thin films are successfully grown by vapor-phase epitaxy method, and the as-constructed PDs under UV light illumination exhibit an ultralow dark current of 7.18 pA, ultrahigh ON/OFF ratio of ≈5.22 × 10⁵, competitive responsivity of 32.8 A W⁻¹, external quantum efficiency of 10867% and specific detectivity of 4.22 × 10¹² Jones. More importantly, they feature superb long-term stability toward moisture and oxygen within twenty-one months, good temperature tolerances at low and high temperatures. The ability of the photodetector arrays for excellent UV light imaging is further demonstrated.     

A Stable Polymer-based Solid-State Lithium Metal Battery and its Interfacial Characteristics Revealed by Cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy

Solid-state lithium metal batteries (SSLMBs) are a promising candidate for next-generation energy storage systems due to their intrinsic safety and high energy density. However, they still suffer from poor interfacial stability, which can incur high interfacial resistance and insufficient cycle lifespan. Herein, a novel poly(vinylidene fluoride‑hexafuoropropylene)-based polymer electrolyte (PPE) with LiBF₄ and propylene carbonate plasticizer is developed, which has a high room-temperature ionic conductivity up to 1.15 × 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹ and excellent interfacial stability. Benefitting from the stable interphase, the PPE-based symmetric cell can operate for over 1000 h. By virtue of cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (Cryo-TEM) characterization, the high interfacial compatibility between Li metal anode and PPE is revealed. The solid electrolyte interphase is made up of an amorphous outer layer that can keep intimate contact with PPE and an inner Li₂O-dominated layer that can protect Li from continuous side reactions during battery cycling. A LiF-rich transition layer is also discovered in the region of PPE close to Li metal anode. The feasibility of investigating interphases in polymer-based solid-state batteries via Cryo-TEM techniques is demonstrated, which can be widely employed in future to rationalize the correlation between solid-state electrolytes and battery performance from ultrafine interfacial structures.     

High-Efficiency Organic Solar Cells Enabled by Chalcogen Containing Branched Chain Engineering: Balancing Short-Circuit Current and Open-Circuit Voltage,Enhancing Fill Factor

The elaborate balance between the open-circuit voltage (V_OC) and the short-circuit current density (J_SC) is critical to ensure efficient organic solar cells (OSCs). Herein, the chalcogen containing branched chain engineering is employed to address this dilemma. Three novel nonfullerene acceptors (NFAs), named BTP-2O , BTP-O-S , and BTP-2S , featuring different peripheral chalcogen containing branched chains are synthesized. Compared with symmetric BTP-2O and BTP-2S grafting two alkoxy or alkylthio branched chains, the asymmetric BTP-O-S grafting one alkoxy and one alkylthio branched chains shows mediate absorption range, applicable miscibility, and favorable crystallinity. Benefiting from the enhanced π–π stacking and charge transport, an optimal power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 17.3% is obtained for the PM6: BTP-O-S -based devices, with a good balance between V_OC (0.912 V) and J_SC (24.5 mA cm⁻²), and a high fill factor (FF) of 0.775, which is much higher than those of BTP-2O (16.1%) and BTP-2S -based (16.4%) devices. Such a result represents one of the highest efficiencies among the binary OSCs with V_OC surpassing 0.9 V. Moreover, the BTP-O-S -based devices fabricated by using green solvent yield a satisfactory PCE of 17.1%. This work highlights the synergistic effect of alkoxy and alkylthio branched chains for high-performance OSCs by alleviating voltage loss and enhancing FF.     

Surface Oxygen Coordination of Hydrogen Bond Chemistry for Aqueous Ammonium Ion Hybrid Supercapacitor

Aqueous ammonium ion hybrid supercapacitor (A-HSC) combines the charge storage mechanisms of surface adsorption and bulk intercalation, making it a low-cost, safe, and sustainable energy storage candidate. However, its development is hindered by the low capacity and unclear charge storage fundamentals. Here, the strategy of phosphate ion-assisted surface functionalization is used to increase the ammonium ion storage capacity of an α-MoO₃ electrode. Moreover, the understanding of charge storage mechanisms via structural characterization, electrochemical analysis, and theoretical calculation is advanced. It is shown that NH₄⁺ intercalation into layered α-MoO₃ is not dominant in the A-HSC system; rather, the charge storage mainly depends on the adsorption energy of surface “O” to NH₄⁺. It is further revealed that the hydrogen bond chemistry of the coordination between “O” of surface phosphate ion and NH₄⁺ is the reason for the capacity increase of MoO₃. This study not only advances the basic understanding of rechargeable aqueous A-HSC but also demonstrates the promising future of surface engineering strategies for energy storage devices.     

MXene Functionalized,Highly Breathable and Sensitive Pressure Sensors with Multi-Layered Porous Structure

Breathable, flexible, and highly sensitive pressure sensors have drawn increasing attention due to their potential in wearable electronics for body-motion monitoring, human-machine interfaces, etc. However, current pressure sensors are usually assembled with polymer substrates or encapsulation layers, thus causing discomfort during wearing (i.e., low air/vapor permeability, mechanical mismatch) and restricting their applications. A breathable and flexible pressure sensor is reported with nonwoven fabrics as both the electrode (printed with MXene interdigitated electrode) and sensing (coated with MXene/silver nanowires) layers via a scalable screen-printing approach. Benefiting from the multi-layered porous structure, the sensor demonstrates good air permeability with high sensitivity (770.86–1434.89 kPa⁻¹), a wide sensing range (0–100 kPa), fast response/recovery time (70/81 ms), and low detection limit (≈1 Pa). Particularly, this sensor can detect full-scale human motion (i.e., small-scale pulse beating and large-scale walking/running) with high sensitivity, excellent cycling stability, and puncture resistance. Additionally, the sensing layer of the pressure sensor also displays superior sensitivity to humidity changes, which is verified by successfully monitoring human breathing and spoken words while wearing a sensor-embedded mask. Given the outstanding features, this breathable sensor shows promise in the wearable electronic field for body health monitoring, sports activity detection, and disease diagnosis.     

Simulation of Cortical and Cancellous Bone to Accelerate Tissue Regeneration

Different tissues have complex anisotropic structures to support biological functions. Mimicking these complex structures in vitro remains a challenge in biomaterials designs. Here, inspired by different types of silk nanofibers, a composite materials strategy is pursued toward this challenge. A combination of fabrication methods is utilized to achieve separate control of amorphous and beta-sheet rich silk nanofibers in the same solution. Aqueous solutions containing two types of silk nanofibers are simultaneously treated with an electric field and with ethylene glycol diglycidyl ether (EGDE). Under these conditions, the beta-sheet rich silk nanofibers in the mixture responded to the electric field while the amorphous nanofibers are active in the crosslinking process with the EGDE. As a result, cryogels with anisotropic structures are prepared, including mimics for cortical- and cancellous-like bone biomaterials as a complex osteoinductive niche. In vitro studies revealed that mechanical cues of the cryogels induced osteodifferentiation of stem cells while the anisotropy inside the cryogels influenced immune reactions of macrophages. These bioactive cryogels also stimulated improved bone regeneration in vivo through modulation of inflammation, angiogenesis and osteogenesis responses, suggesting an effective strategy to develop bioactive matrices with complex anisotropic structures beneficial to tissue regeneration.     

A Hybrid Strategy-Based Ultra-Narrow Stretchable Microelectrodes with Cell-Level Resolution

Stretchable ultra-narrow (e.g., 10 µm in width) microelectrodes are crucial for the electrophysiological monitoring of single cells providing the fundamental understanding to the working mechanism of neuro network or other electrically functional cells. Current fabrication strategies either focus on the preparation of normal stretchable electrodes with hundreds of micrometers or millimeters in width by using inorganic conductive materials or develop conductive organic polymer gel for ultra-narrow electrodes which suffer from low stretchability and instability for long-term implantation, therefore, it is still highly desirable to explore bio-interfacial ultra-narrow stretchable inorganic electrodes. Herein, a hybrid strategy is reported to prepare ultra-narrow multi-channel stretchable microelectrodes without using photolithography or laser-assisting etching. A 10 µm × 10 µm monitoring window is fabricated with enhanced interfacial impedance by the special rough surface. The stretchability achieves to 120% for this 10 µm-width stretchable electrode. Supported by these superior properties, it is demonstrated that the stretchable microelectrodes can detect electrophysiological signals of single cells in vitro and collect electrophysiological signals more precisely in vivo. The reported strategy will open up the accessible preparation of the fine-size stretchable microelectrode. It will significantly improve the resolution of monitoring and stimulation of inorganic stretchable electrodes.