A Robust Ion‐Conductive Biopolymer as a Binder for Si Anodes of Lithium‐Ion Batteries

Binders have been reported to play a key role in improving the cycle performance of Si anode materials of lithium‐ion batteries. In this study, the biopolymer guar gum (GG) is applied as the binder for a silicon nano­particle (SiNP) anode of a lithium‐ion battery for the first time. Due to the large number of polar hydroxyl groups in the GG molecule, a robust interaction between the GG binder and the SiNPs is achieved, resulting in a stable Si anode during cycling. More specifically, the GG binder can effectively transfer lithium ions to the Si surface, similarly to polyethylene oxide solid electrolytes. When GG is used as a binder, the SiNP anode can deliver an initial discharge capacity as high as 3364 mAh g^?1, with a Coulombic efficiency of 88.3% at the current density of 2100 mA g^?1, and maintain a capacity of 1561 mAh g^?1 after 300 cycles. The study shows that the electrochemical performance of the SiNP anode with GG binder is significantly improved compared to that of a SiNP anode with a sodium alginate binder, and it demonstrates that GG is a promising binder for Si anodes of lithium‐ion batteries.     

Unraveling the Reasons for Efficiency Loss in Perovskite Solar Cells

The effect of the presence of unreacted PbI₂ on the perovskite solar cells efficiency is reported. N,N‐Dimethylformamide vapor treatment is introduced to study the influence of complete conversion to a power conversion efficiency of the device. It is discovered that the optimized morphology of the PbI₂ under layer is essential to form a dense perovskite layer preventing recombination by direct contact between TiO₂ and a hole transporting layer, and to increase the charge collection efficiency. The present findings provide an insight into the morphology and growth mechanism of perovskite layer, the correlation between the device performance, and the film deposition process.     

Large‐Scale Growth of Two‐Dimensional SnS2 Crystals Driven by Screw Dislocations and Application to Photodetectors

2D SnS₂ crystals are attracting increasing attention owning to the huge potential for electronic and optoelectronic applications. However, batch production of 2D SnS₂ crystals via a simple vapor process remains challenging by far. Moreover, the growth mechanism for vapor growth of 2D SnS₂ is not well documented as well. Herein, a simple approach is presented for preparation of large‐scale 2D SnS₂ crystals on mica sheets and it is demonstrated that these 2D crystals follow a screw‐dislocation‐driven (SDD) spiral growth process. The synthesized 2D crystals show hexagonal and truncated triangular shapes with the lateral size ranging from a few micrometers to dozens of micrometers. Observations of key features for screw dislocations, such as helical fringes, dislocation hillocks, and herringbone contours, solidly confirm the SDD spiral growth behavior of the SnS₂. Possible mechanism is proposed in this work to show the generation and propagation of screw dislocations. Furthermore, in order to explore the optoelectronic property of the SnS₂, photodetectors based on 2D SnS₂ crystals are fabricated. The resulting device shows excellent operating characteristics, including good photo‐stability and reproducibility as well as a fast photoresponse time (≈42 ms), which enable the SnS₂ a promising candidate for photodetectors.     

Optimizing the Size of Micellar Nanoparticles for Efficient siRNA Delivery

Delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) by nanocarriers has shown promising therapeutic potential in cancer therapy. However, poor understanding of the correlation between the physicochemical properties of nanocarriers and their interactions with biological systems has significantly hindered its anticancer efficacy. Herein, in order to identify the optimal size of nanocarriers for siRNA delivery, different sized cationic micellar nanoparticles (MNPs) (40, 90, 130, and 180 nm) are developed that exhibit similar siRNA binding efficacies, shapes, surface charges, and surface chemistries (PEGylation) to ensure size is the only variable. Size‐dependent biological effects are carefully and comprehensively evaluated through both in vitro and in vivo experiments. Among these nanocarriers, the 90 nm MNPs show the optimal balance of prolonged circulation and cellular uptake by tumor cells, which result in the highest retention in tumor cells. In contrast, larger MNPs are rapidly cleared from the circulation and smaller MNPs are inefficiently taken up by tumor cells. Accordingly, 90 nm MNPs carrying polo‐like kinase 1 (Plk1)‐specific siRNA (siPlk1) show superior antitumor efficacy, indicating that 90 nm could either be the optimal size for systemic delivery of siRNA or close to it. Our findings provide valuable information for rationally designing nanocarriers for siRNA‐based cancer therapy in the future.     

Miniaturized Flexible Electronic Systems with Wireless Power and Near‐Field Communication Capabilities

A class of thin, lightweight, flexible, near‐field communication (NFC) devices with ultraminiaturized format is introduced, and systematic investigations of the mechanics, radio frequency characteristics, and materials aspects associated with their optimized construction are presented. These systems allow advantages in mechanical strength, placement versatility, and minimized interfacial stresses compared to other NFC technologies and wearable electronics. Detailed experimental studies and theoretical modeling of the mechanical and electromagnetic properties of these systems establish understanding of the key design considerations. These concepts can apply to many other types of wireless communication systems including biosensors and electronic implants.     

Probing Molecular and Crystalline Orientation in Solution‐Processed Perovskite Solar Cells

The microstructure of solution‐processed organometallic lead halide perovskite thin films prepared by the “gas‐assisted” method is investigated with synchrotron‐based techniques. Using a combination of GIWAXS and NEXAFS spectroscopy the orientational alignment of CH₃NH₃PbI₃ crystallites and CH₃NH₃⁺ cations are separately probed. The GIWAXS results reveal a lack of preferential orientation of CH₃NH₃PbI₃ crystallites in 200–250 nm thick films prepared on both planar TiO₂ and mesoporous TiO₂. Relatively high efficiencies are observed for device based on such films, with 14.3% achieved for planar devices and 12% for mesoporous devices suggesting that highly oriented crystallites are not crucial for good cell performance. Oriented crystallites however are observed in thinner films (≈60 nm) deposited on planar TiO₂ (but not on mesoporous TiO₂) indicating that the formation of oriented crystallites is sensitive to the kinetics of solvent evaporation and the underlying TiO₂ morphology. NEXAFS measurements on all samples found that CH₃NH₃⁺ cations exhibit a random molecular orientation with respect to the substrate. The lack of any NEXAFS dichroism for the thin CH₃NH₃PbI₃ layer deposited on planar TiO₂ in particular indicates the absence of any preferential orientation of CH₃NH₃⁺ cations within the CH₃NH₃PbI₃ unit cell for as‐prepared layers, that is, without any electrical poling.     

In Situ Scanning Electron Microscopy Observation of Growth Kinetics and Catalyst Splitting in Vapor–Liquid–Solid Growth of Nanowires

In situ observations during vapor–liquid–solid (VLS) growth of semiconductor nanowires in the chamber of an environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) are reported. For nanowire growth, a powder mixture of CdS and ZnS is used as a source material and silver nanoparticles as a metal catalyst. Through tracing growth kinetics of nanowires, it is found that nanowires with a relatively bigger catalyst droplet on the tip grow faster. Intriguingly, it is also found that the growth of nanowires can involve catalyst splitting: while the majority of catalyst remains at the nanowire tip and continues facilitating the growth, a portion of it is removed from the tip due to the splitting. It remains attached to the nanowire at the position where the splitting occurred and subsequently induces the growth of a nanowire branch. As far as it is known, this is the first time that catalyst splitting is revealed experimentally in situ. It is proposed that the instability of catalyst droplet caused by the volume increase is the main reason for the splitting. It is believed that in situ growth inside the ESEM can largely enrich our understanding on the metal‐catalyzed VLS growth kinetics, which may open up more opportunities for morphology‐controlled synthesis of 1D semiconductor nanowires in future study.     

PbS/CdS/ZnS Quantum Dots: A Multifunctional Platform for In Vivo Near‐Infrared Low‐Dose Fluorescence Imaging

Over the past decade, near‐infrared (NIR)‐emitting nanoparticles have increasingly been investigated in biomedical research for use as fluorescent imaging probes. Here, high‐quality water‐dispersible core/shell/shell PbS/CdS/ZnS quantum dots (hereafter QDs) as NIR imaging probes fabricated through a rapid, cost‐effective microwave‐assisted cation exchange procedure are reported. These QDs have proven to be water dispersible, stable, and are expected to be nontoxic, resulting from the growth of an outer ZnS shell and the simultaneous surface functionalization with mercaptopropionic acid ligands. Care is taken to design the emission wavelength of the QDs probe lying within the second biological window (1000–1350 nm), which leads to higher penetration depths because of the low extinction coefficient of biological tissues in this spectral range. Furthermore, their intense fluorescence emission enables to follow the real‐time evolution of QD biodistribution among different organs of living mice, after low‐dose intravenous administration. In this paper, QD platform has proven to be capable (ex vivo and in vitro) of high‐resolution thermal sensing in the physiological temperature range. The investigation, together with the lack of noticeable toxicity from these PbS/CdS/ZnS QDs after preliminary studies, paves the way for their use as outstanding multifunctional probes both for in vitro and in vivo applications in biomedicine.     

Avalanche‐Discharge‐Induced Electrical Forming in Tantalum Oxide‐Based Metal–Insulator–Metal Structures

Oxide‐based metal–insulator–metal structures are of special interest for future resistive random‐access memories. In such cells, redox processes on the nanoscale occur during resistive switching, which are initiated by the reversible movement of native donors, such as oxygen vacancies. The formation of these filaments is mainly attributed to an enhanced oxygen diffusion due to Joule heating in an electric field or due to electrical breakdown. Here, the development of a dendrite‐like structure, which is induced by an avalanche discharge between the top electrode and the Ta₂O_5‐x layer, is presented, which occurs instead of a local breakdown between top and bottom electrode. The dendrite‐like structure evolves primarily at structures with a pronounced interface adsorbate layer. Furthermore, local conductive atomic force microscopy reveals that the entire dendrite region becomes conductive. Via spectromicroscopy it is demonstrated that the subsequent switching is caused by a valence change between Ta⁴⁺ and Ta⁵⁺, which takes place over the entire former Pt/Ta₂O_5‐x interface of the dendrite‐like structure.     

Liquid Crystal Enabled Early Stage Detection of Beta Amyloid Formation on Lipid Monolayers

Liquid crystals (LCs) can serve as sensitive reporters of interfacial events, and this property has been used for sensing of synthetic or biological toxins. Here it is demonstrated that LCs can distinguish distinct molecular motifs and exhibit a specific response to beta‐sheet structures. That property is used to detect the formation of highly toxic protofibrils involved in neurodegenerative diseases, where it is crucial to develop methods that probe the early‐stage aggregation of amyloidogenic peptides in the vicinity of biological membranes. In the proposed method, the amyloid fibrils formed at the lipid–decorated LC interface can change the orientation of LCs and form elongated and branched structures that are amplified by the mesogenic medium; however, nonamyloidogenic peptides form ellipsoidal domains of tilted LCs. Moreover, a theoretical and computational analysis is used to reveal the underlying structure of the LC, thereby providing a detailed molecular‐level view of the interactions and mechanisms responsible for such motifs. The corresponding signatures can be detected at nanomolar concentrations of peptide by polarized light microscopy and much earlier than the ones that can be identified by fluorescence‐based techniques. As such, it offers the potential for early diagnoses of neurodegenerative diseases and for facile testing of inhibitors of amyloid formation.