Engineering High‐Performance MoO2‐Based Nanomaterials with Supercapacity and Superhydrophobicity by Tuning the Raw Materials Source

Herein, a simple self‐assembly method is proposed for the fabrication of MoO₂‐based superhydrophobic material with record high contact angles (contact angle up to about 173°) for conductive metal oxides on hard/soft substrates. The spin‐coated surface demonstrates excellent oil–water separation efficiency (>98%) after 50 cycles and robust corrosion resistance after immersion into different pH solutions for 20 d. These water‐resistant coatings retain excellent superhydrophobicity after oil immersion, knife‐scratch, and long‐cycle sandpaper abrasion, which is not observed on most artificial surfaces. Meanwhile, the functionality switching from superhydrophobicity to supercapacity, which have an inverse relationship in aqueous solutions because of poor electrode wettability, is achieved simply by editing the raw materials source. Tuning of the raw materials leads to the same product MoO₂/graphitic carbon with different morphologies and functionalities. Different from superhydrophobic MoO₂/carbon ball flowers, MoO₂ nanotubes with carbon exhibit excellent supercapacity with a large gravimetric capacitance and great cycling stability.     

Fabrication of Micropatterned Dipeptide Hydrogels by Acoustic Trapping of Stimulus‐Responsive Coacervate Droplets

Acoustic standing waves offer an excellent opportunity to trap and spatially manipulate colloidal objects. This noncontact technique is used for the in situ formation and patterning in aqueous solution of 1D or 2D arrays of pH‐responsive coacervate microdroplets comprising poly(diallyldimethylammonium) chloride and the dipeptide N‐fluorenyl‐9‐methoxy‐carbonyl‐D‐alanine‐D‐alanine. Decreasing the pH of the preformed droplet arrays results in dipeptide nanofilament self‐assembly and subsequent formation of a micropatterned supramolecular hydrogel that can be removed as a self‐supporting monolith. Guest molecules such as molecular dyes, proteins, and oligonucleotides are sequestered specifically within the coacervate droplets during acoustic processing to produce micropatterned hydrogels containing spatially organized functional components. Using this strategy, the site‐specific isolation of multiple enzymes to drive a catalytic cascade within the micropatterned hydrogel films is exploited.     

Synthesis of Branched DNA Scaffolded Super‐Nanoclusters with Enhanced Antibacterial Performance

Metal nanoclusters (NCs) possess unique optical properties, and exhibit a wide variety of potential applications. DNA with robust molecular programmability is demonstrated as an ideal scaffold to regulate the formation of NCs, offering a rational approach to precisely tune the spatial structures of NCs. Herein, the first use of branched DNA as scaffold to regulate the formation of silver nanoclusters (super‐AgNC) is reported, in which the spatial structures are precisely designed and constructed. Super‐AgNC with tunable shapes and arm‐lengths including Y‐, X‐, and (Y–X)‐ shaped super‐AgNC is achieved. The molecular structures and optical properties of super‐AgNCs are systemically studied. As a proof of application, remarkably, super‐AgNCs exhibit superior antibacterial performance. In addition, super‐AgNCs show excellent biocompatibility with three types of tissue cells including 293T (human embryonic kidney cells), SMCs (vascular smooth muscle cells), and GLC‐82 (lung adenocarcinoma cells). These performances enable the super‐AgNCs adaptable in a variety of applications such as biosensing, bioimaging, and antibacterial agents.     

UV Photodetectors Based on BiOCl Nanosheet Arrays: The Effects of Morphologies and Electrode Configurations

A facile chemical bath method is adopted to grow bismuth oxychloride (BiOCl) nanosheet arrays on a piece of Cu foil (denoted as BiOCl‐Cu) and isolated BiOCl nanosheets are collected by ultrasonication. A self‐supporting BiOCl film is obtained by the removal of Cu foil. Photodetectors (PDs) based on these BiOCl materials are assembled and the effects of morphologies and electrode configurations on the photoelectric performance of these PDs are examined. The BiOCl nanosheet PD achieves high responsivities in the spectral range from 250 to 350 nm, while it presents quite a small photocurrent and slow response speed. The BiOCl film PD yields low photocurrents and near‐unity on–off ratios, demonstrating poor photoelectric performance. The photocurrent of the BiOCl‐Cu PD with both electrodes on the BiOCl film is much higher than those of these above‐mentioned PDs, and the response times are fast. Meanwhile, the BiOCl‐Cu PD with separate electrodes on the BiOCl film and Cu foil achieves even higher photocurrents and presents a self‐powering characteristic, depicting the improved photodetecting performances induced by the specific morphology and distinct electrode configuration. These results would promote the applications of BiOCl nanostructures in the photoelectric devices.