Treefrog Toe Pad‐Inspired Micropatterning for High‐Power Triboelectric Nanogenerator

Inspired by treefrog's toe pads that show superior frictional properties, herein, an industrially compatible approach is reported to make an efficient dielectric tribosurface design using customizable nonclose‐packed microbead arrays, mimicking the friction pads of treefrogs, in order to significantly enhance electrification performance and reliability of triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG). The approach involves using an engineering polymer to prepare a highly ordered large‐area concave film, and subsequently the molding of a convex patterned triboreplica in which the concave film is exploited as a reusable master mold. A nature‐inspired TENG based on the patterned polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) paired with flat aluminum (Al) can generate a relatively high power density of 8.1 W m^?2 even if a very small force of ≈6.5 N is applied. Moreover, the convex patterned PDMS‐based TENG possesses exceptional durability and reliability over 25 000 cycles of contact–separation. Considering the significant improvements in power generation of TENG; particularly at very small force, together with cost‐effectiveness and possibility of mass production, the present methodology may pave the way for large‐scale blue energy harvesting and commercialization of TENGs for many practical applications.     

Organic Semiconductor Cocrystal for Highly Conductive Lithium Host Electrode

In this work, a highly conductive organic cocrystal is investigated as an anode material for conducting agent‐free lithium‐ion battery (LIB) electrodes. A unique morphology of semiconducting fullerene (C₆₀) and contorted hexabenzocoronene (cHBC) is developed as a cocrystal that efficiently enhances the electron transfer during discharge and charge processes due to the formation of a well‐defined junction between C₆₀ and cHBC. In particular, the present study reveals the exact cocrystal phase of orthorhombic Pnnm using grazing incidence X‐ray diffraction characterization and computational methods. The detailed cocrystal structure analysis indicates that the columnar structure of C₆₀/cHBC cocrystal facilitates the reliable vacant sites for Li⁺ storage, which ultimately enhances the reversible capacity to 330 mAh g^–1 at 0.1 A g^–1 with long cyclability of 600 cycles in the absence of a conducting agent. Furthermore, the rate performance of the C₆₀/cHBC cocrystal anode is improved compared to that of the graphite anode, indicating that the cocrystal formation between C₆₀ and cHBC enhances the charge transport at a high current density. It demonstrates that the approach of this study can be a promising strategy for preparing conducting agent‐free organic cocrystal anodes, which also provides a viable design rule for high‐performance LIBs electrodes.     

Self‐Assembly of Nanoparticle‐Spiked Pillar Arrays for Plasmonic Biosensing

Plasmonic biosensors have demonstrated superior performance in detecting various biomolecules with high sensitivity through simple assays. Scaled‐up, reproducible chip production with a high density of hotspots in a large area has been technically challenging, limiting the commercialization and clinical translation of these biosensors. A new fabrication method for 3D plasmonic nanostructures with a high density, large volume of hotspots and therefore inherently improved detection capabilities is developed. Specifically, Au nanoparticle‐spiked Au nanopillar arrays are prepared by utilizing enhanced surface diffusion of adsorbed Au atoms on a slippery Au nanopillar arrays through a simple vacuum process. This process enables the direct formation of a high density of spherical Au nanoparticles on the 1 nm‐thick dielectric coated Au nanopillar arrays without high‐temperature annealing, which results in multiple plasmonic coupling, and thereby large effective volume of hotspots in 3D spaces. The plasmonic nanostructures show signal enhancements over 8.3 × 10⁸‐fold for surface‐enhanced Raman spectroscopy and over 2.7 × 10²‐fold for plasmon‐enhanced fluorescence. The 3D plasmonic chip is used to detect avian influenza‐associated antibodies at 100 times higher sensitivity compared with unstructured Au substrates for plasmon‐enhanced fluorescence detection. Such a simple and scalable fabrication of highly sensitive 3D plasmonic nanostructures provides new opportunities to broaden plasmon‐enhanced sensing applications.     

Perovskite‐Induced Ultrasensitive and Highly Stable Humidity Sensor Systems Prepared by Aerosol Deposition at Room Temperature

A new capacitive‐type humidity sensor is proposed using novel materials and fabrication process for practical applications in sensitive environments and cost‐effective functional devices that require ultrasensing performances. Metal halide perovskites (CsPbBr₃ and CsPb₂Br₅) combined with diverse ceramics (Al₂O₃, TiO₂, and BaTiO₃) are selected as sensing materials for the first time, and nanocomposite powders are deposited by aerosol deposition (AD) process. A state‐of‐the‐art CsPb₂Br₅/BaTiO₃ nanocomposite humidity sensor prepared by AD process exhibits a significant increase in humidity sensing compared with CsPbBr₃/Al₂O₃ and CsPbBr₃/TiO₂ sensors. An outstanding humidity sensitivity (21426 pF RH%^?1) with superior linearity (0.991), fast response/recovery time (5 s), low hysteresis of 1.7%, and excellent stability in a wide range of relative humidity is obtained owing to a highly porous structure, effective charge separation, and water‐resistant characteristics of CsPb₂Br₅. Notably, this unprecedented result is obtained via a simple one‐step AD process within a few minutes at room temperature without any auxiliary treatment. The synergetic combination of AD technique and perovskite‐based nanocomposite can be potentially applied toward the development of multifunctional sensing devices.     

Chiral Stereoisomer Engineering of Electron Transporting Materials for Efficient and Stable Perovskite Solar Cells

A series of chiral stereoisomers of electron transporting materials with two chiral substituents is rationally designed and synthesized, and the influence of stereoisomerism on their physical and electronic properties is investigated to demonstrate highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Compared to mesomeric naphthalene diimide (NDI) derivatives, which have heterochiral side groups with centrosymmetric molecular packing of symmetric‐shaped conformers in the crystalline state, enantiomeric NDI derivatives have homochiral side groups that exhibit non‐centrosymmetric molecular packing of asymmetric‐shaped conformers in the crystalline state and exhibit better solution processability based on one order of magnitude higher solubility. A similar trend is observed in different rylene diimide stereoisomers based on larger semiconducting core perylene diimide. The PSCs based on NDI enantiomers with good film‐forming ability and a very high lowest phase transition temperature (T_lowest) of 321 °C exhibit a high and uniform average power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.067 ± 0.654%. These PSCs also have a high temporal device stability, with less than 10% degradation of the PCE at 100 °C for 1000 h without encapsulation. Therefore, chiral stereoisomer engineering of charge transporting materials is a potential approach to achieve high solution processability, excellent performance, and significant temporal stability in organic electronic devices.     

Functionality of Dual‐Phase Lithium Storage in a Porous Carbon Host for Lithium‐Metal Anode

Lithium (Li) metal is regarded as the most attractive anode material for high‐energy Li batteries, but it faces unavoidable challenges—uncontrollable dendritic growth of Li and severe volume changes during Li plating and stripping. Herein, a porous carbon framework (PCF) derived from a metal–organic framework (MOF) is proposed as a dual‐phase Li storage material that enables efficient and reversible Li storage via lithiation and metallization processes. Li is electrochemically stored in the PCF upon charging to 0 V versus Li/Li⁺ (lithiation), making the PCF surface more lithiophilic, and then the formation of metallic Li phase can be induced spontaneously in the internal nanopores during further charging below 0 V versus Li/Li⁺ (metallization). Based on thermodynamic calculations and experimental studies, it is shown that atomically dispersed zinc plays an important role in facilitating Li plating and that the reversibility of Li storage is significantly improved by controlled nanostructural engineering of 3D porous nanoarchitectures to promote the uniform formation of Li. Moreover, the MOF‐derived PCF does not suffer from macroscopic volume changes during cycling. This work demonstrates that the nanostructural engineering of porous carbon structures combined with lithiophilic element coordination would be an effective approach for realizing high‐capacity, reversible Li‐metal anodes.     

A Multi‐Functional Highly Efficient Upconversion Luminescent Film with an Array of Dielectric Microbeads Decorated with Metal Nanoparticles

Upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) have been integrated with photonic platforms to overcome the intrinsically low quantum efficiency limit of upconversion luminescence (UCL). However, platforms based on thin films lack transferability and flexibility, which hinders their broader and more practical application. A plasmonic structure is developed that works as a multi‐functional platform for flexible, transparent, and washable near‐infrared (NIR)‐to‐visible UCL films with ultra‐strong UCL intensity. The platform consists of dielectric microbeads decorated with plasmonic metal nanoparticles on an insulator/metal substrate. Distinct improvements in NIR confinement, visible light extraction, and boosted plasmonic effects for upconversion are observed. With weak NIR excitation, the UCL intensity is higher by three orders of magnitude relative to the reference platform. When the microbeads are organized in a square lattice array, the functionality of the platform can be expanded to wearable and washable UCL films. The platform can be transferred to transparent, flexible, and foldable films and still emit strong UCL with a wide viewing angle.     

Mechanochemical‐Assisted Synthesis of High‐Entropy Metal Nitride via a Soft Urea Strategy

Crystalline high‐entropy ceramics (CHC), a new class of solids that contain five or more elemental species, have attracted increasing interest because of their unique structure and potential applications. Up to now, only a couple of CHCs (e.g., high‐entropy metal oxides and diborides) have been successfully synthesized. Here, a new strategy for preparing high‐entropy metal nitride (HEMN‐1) is proposed via a soft urea method assisted by mechanochemical synthesis. The as‐prepared HEMN‐1 possesses five highly dispersed metal components, including V, Cr, Nb, Mo, Zr, and simultaneously exhibits an interesting cubic crystal structure of metal nitrides. By taking advantage of these unique features, HEMN‐1 can function as a promising candidate for supercapacitor applications. A specific capacitance of 78 F g^?1 is achieved at a scan rate of 100 mV s^?1 in 1 m KOH. In addition, such a facile synthetic strategy can be further extended to the fabrication of other types of HEMNs, paving the way for the synthesis of HEMNs with attractive properties for task‐specific applications.