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Although Zn‐ion batteries have gained extensive attention, it persistently suffers from uncontrolled dendrite growth and severe side reactions on zinc (Zn) anodes. Here, a spirally grown 3D ZnCo overlayer is designed on one side of commercial zinc foil by means of constant‐current electrodeposition to address these challenges. In contrast to Zn crystal planes, the ZnCo crystal planes mainly exposed to the side of the 3D spiral structure exhibit superior zincophilicity, promoting the bottom‐up layer‐by‐layer Zn growth. During plating, the surface of Zn metal with ZnCo overlayer (ZnCo) gradually becomes flat by constraining the diffusion behavior of Zn2+ ions. The resulting ZnCo–ZnCo cells demonstrate stable operation for over 620 h at a large current density of 5 mA cm−2. Furthermore, the ZnCo‐NH4V4O10 pouch cell delivers an initial capacity of 190 mA h g−1 and maintains a high capacity retention of 81% after 400 cycles. This alloying strategy of electro‐deposition offers new insights into the design of highly reversible Zn anodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low‐cost and highly safe zinc‐manganese batteries are expected for practical energy storage and grid‐scale application. The electrolyte adjustment is further combined to boost their performance output; however, the mechanism behind the electrochemical contrast caused by electrolyte composition remains unclear, which has held back the development of these systems. Hence, new insight into the electrochemical activation of manganese‐based cathodes, which is induced by the aqueous zinc‐ion electrolyte, is provided. The relationship between the desolvation of Zn2+ from [Zn(OH2)6]2+‐solvation shell and the electrolyte/electrode interfacial reaction to form Zn4SO4(OH)6·4H2O phase or its analogues is established, which is the key for the electrochemical activation. Further electrolyte optimization promotes the cycling stability of Zn/LiMn2O4 battery with a long life span over 2000 cycles. This work illuminates the confused direction in exploring electrolyte for zinc‐manganese batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CRISPR/Cas13a is a powerful genome editing system for RNA knockdown that holds enormous potential for cancer treatment by targeting currently undruggable oncogenes or immune checkpoints. However, the precise intratumoral activation of CRISPR/Cas13a to maximize the therapeutic efficiency while guaranteeing biosafety remains a daunting challenge. Here, a cascade self‐uncloaking nanoassembly (SRC) based on a dual‐prodrug comprising SN38 and Cas13a/RNP is developed, and the external encapsulation is performed by coating with a ROS‐responsive probe, which is stimulated by the tumor microenvironment to achieve the efficient NIR‐II imaging by CH10055 due to disaggregation into single molecules, while the second release of prodrug in the hypoxic environment enables targeted controlled release. SN38 not only induces immunogenic cell death (ICD), but significantly combats the immunosuppressive microenvironment of colorectal cancer in combination with the RNA editing targeting the novel immune checkpoint TIM3 to regulate the cGAS‐STING pathways, resulting in synergistic activation of both innate and adaptive immunity. The treatment of SRC exhibits a tenfold increase in tumor regression of α‐PD‐L1 in PD‐L1‐resistant orthotopic and xenograft models by inducing effective tumor immune infiltration. These results demonstrate the feasibility of using CRISPR/Cas13a in cancer treatment, and SRC holds immense promise as a neoadjuvant strategy for enhancing CRC immunotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undersea optical communication (UOC) has been considered as the most potential next‐generation underwater wireless communication technology for ocean exploration. Photodetector is the essential component in UOC system, however, the harsh undersea environment like light attenuation and seawater corrosivity restricts the applications of conventional photodetectors. Herein, a novel natural‐electrolyte self‐powered photoelectrochemical (PEC) photodetector based on core‐shell structured Cu@GaN nanowires (NWs) network is demonstrated and direct utilization of seawater. High quality GaN shell is encapsulated on the Cu NWs network through Ga‐coating and high temperature nitridation processes. A Schottky junction along radial direction has formed at the Cu/GaN interface due to the outward diffusion of Cu into the GaN layer. Such a structure provides narrowed band detection on blue light as well as efficient carrier separation. A self‐powered undersea PEC photodetector is designed with a mini‐pipes connected device chamber, which allows direct indrawing of seawater and blue channel light communication (458 nm). This photodetector works stably for UOC in both shallow and deep‐sea conditions in Pacific Ocean area. It shows a high responsivity up to 5.04 mA W−1 and rapid response time of 0.68 ms. This photodetector can be easily integrated to marine equipment without waterproof packaging for the future energy‐saving UOC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layer‐structured metal vanadates have attracted extensive attention as cathode materials due to multi‐electron redox reactions and versatile cations storage capability. Nevertheless, their actual promotion is still hindered by the sluggish reaction kinetics and inferior phase transition upon repeated cations (de)intercalation. Here, large‐sized NH4+ is introduced into the K‐site of K0.43(NH4)0.12V2O5–δ to enable more kinetically favorable oxygen vacancies. The reinforced structure ensures complete solid‐solution phase transition and buffers the dramatic structural change upon potassium storage. The stable presence of NH4+ as pillars during cycling is also confirmed. Meanwhile, the oxygen vacancies induced by alkali‐site substitution can facilitate ion diffusion and enhance the electronic conductivity, as further demonstrated by theoretical calculations. Therefore, it exhibits a high capacity of 117.8 mA g−1 at 20 mA g−1 with smooth profiles and superior capacity retention of 92.5% after 800 cycles at 1000 mA g−1. Such an effective synergetic strategy also promotes its zinc storage capability, which performs negligible self‐discharge behavior and retains a reversible capacity of 216.8 mAh g−1 after 3000 cycles at 10 A g−1. This synergetic strategy may provide novel perspectives to develop layer‐structured cathode and facilitate its practical application in energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Zinc metal is considered as one of the best anode choices for rechargeable aqueous Zn‐based batteries due to its high specific capacity, abundance, and safety. However, dendrite and corrosion issues remain a challenge for this system. Herein, sieve‐element function (selective channel of Zn2+) and uniform‐pore distribution (≈3.0 nm) of a kaolin‐coated Zn anode (KL‐Zn) is proposed to alleviate these problems. Based on the artificial Zn metal/electrolyte interface, the KL‐Zn anode not only ensures dendrite‐free deposition and long‐time stability (800 h at 1.1 mA h cm−2), but also retards side reactions. As a consequence, KL‐Zn/MnO2 batteries can deliver high specific capacity and good capacity retention as well as a reasonably well‐preserved morphology (KL‐Zn) after 600 cycles at 0.5 A g−1. This work provides a deep step toward high‐performance rechargeable Zn‐based battery system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-Responsivity Natural-Electrolyte Undersea Photoelectrochemical Photodetector with Self-Powered Cu@GaN Nanowires Network (Adv. Funct. Keywords: copper nanowires; photodetectors; self-powered devices; underwater optical communication EN copper nanowires photodetectors self-powered devices underwater optical communication 1 1 1 07/21/23 20230718 NES 230718 B Underwater Optical Communication b In article 2302872, Duanjun Cai, Shengli Huang, and co-workers propose a novel type electrolyte-free and self-powered photoelectrochemical photodetector with Cu@GaN nanowires network for undersea optical communication. Copper nanowires, photodetectors, self-powered devices, underwater optical communication. [Extracted from the article]