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Molecule-based selective contacts have become a crucial component to ensure high-efficiency inverted perovskite solar cells1–5. These molecules always consist of a conjugated core with heteroatom substitution to render the desirable carrier-transport capability6–9. So far, the design of successful conjugation cores has been limited to two N-substituted π-conjugated structures, carbazole and triphenylamine, with molecular optimization evolving around their derivatives2,5,10–12. However, further improvement of the device longevity has been hampered by the concomitant limitations of the molecular stability induced by such heteroatom-substituted structures13,14. A more robust molecular contact without sacrificing the electronic properties is in urgent demand, but remains a challenge. Here we report a peri-fused polyaromatic core structure without heteroatom substitution that yields superior carrier transport and selectivity over conventional heteroatom-substituted core structures. This core structure produced a relatively chemically inert and structurally rigid molecular contact, which considerably improved the performance of perovskite solar cells in terms of both efficiency and durability. The champion device showed an efficiency up to 26.1% with greatly improved longevity under different accelerated-ageing tests.

Big-data applications often involve a vast number of observations and features, creating new challenges for variable selection and parameter estimation. This paper presents a novel technique called “slow kill,” which utilizes nonconvex constrained optimization, adaptive $\ell _{2}$ -shrinkage, and increasing learning rates. The fact that the problem size can decrease during the slow kill iterations makes it particularly effective for large-scale variable screening. The interaction between statistics and optimization provides valuable insights into controlling quantiles, stepsize, and shrinkage parameters in order to relax the regularity conditions required to achieve the desired level of statistical accuracy. Experimental results on real and synthetic data show that slow kill outperforms state-of-the-art algorithms in various situations while being computationally efficient for large-scale data.

Driving metal-cluster-catalyzed high-temperature chemical reactions by sunlight holds promise for the development of negative-carbon-footprint industrial catalysis, which has yet often been hindered by the poor ability of metal clusters to harvest and utilize the full spectrum of solar energy. Here, we report the preparation of Mo2TiC2MXene-supported Ru clusters (Ru/Mo2TiC2) with pronounced broadband sunlight absorption ability and high sintering resistance. Under illumination of focused sunlight, Ru/Mo2TiC2can catalyze the reverse water–gas shift (RWGS) reaction to produce carbon monoxide from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide and renewable hydrogen with enhanced activity, selectivity, and stability compared to their nanoparticle counterparts. Notably, the CO production rate of MXene-supported Ru clusters reached 4.0 mol·gRu–1·h–1, which is among the best reported so far for photothermal RWGS catalysts. Detailed studies suggest that the production of methane is kinetically inhibited by the rapid desorption of CO from the surface of the Ru clusters.

This article studies the secure estimation problem for cyber-physical systems where the control input is falsified by false data injection attack. First, novel optimization objectives are constructed and attack estimation is performed from real and expected measurement outputs, where the estimator gains are jointly derived through solving quadratic problems recursively. Subsequently, the exponential stability of the proposed estimator is derived if the nonlinear observability rank condition is satisfied, and an introduced factor is given properly. Moreover, to enhance estimation performance, the distributed fusion criterion is designed and the weighting matrices are obtained without any statistical information. Finally, an intelligent localization system monitored by multiple sensors is given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.

The exploitation of hierarchical carbon nanocages with superior light-to-heat conversion efficiency, together with their distinct structural, morphological, and electronic properties, in photothermal applications could provide effective solutions to long-standing challenges in diverse areas. Here, we demonstrate the discovery of pristine and nitrogen-doped hierarchical carbon nanocages as superior supports for highly loaded, small-sized Ru particles toward enhanced photothermal CO2catalysis. A record CO production rate of 3.1 mol·gRu–1·h–1with above 90% selectivity in flow reactors was reached for hierarchical nitrogen-doped carbon-nanocage-supported Ru clusters under 2.4 W·cm–2illumination without external heating. Detailed studies reveal that the enhanced performance originates from the strong broadband sunlight absorption and efficient light-to-heat conversion of nanocage supports as well as the excellent intrinsic catalytic reactivity of sub-2 nm Ru particles. Our study reveals the great potential of hierarchical carbon nanocages in photothermal catalysis to reduce the fossil fuel consumption of various industrial chemical processes and stimulates interest in their exploitation for other demanding photothermal applications.

With the rapid development of electronic technology and the wide application of 5G networks, flexible electronic devices with a single function can't meet the needs of daily life or military fields. Inspired by the structure of coral reefs, a high-performance polyurethane composite elastomer was designed for multifunctional applications, which was enhanced by multi-dimensional coral reef-like hierarchical heterostructures consisting of MXene, carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and Fe3O4viaa solvothermal method. The composite elastomer reached a minimum reflection loss (RLmin) of −54.81 dB and worked effectively from −20 to 100 °C, which could meet the needs of year-round electromagnetic protection. Also, it showed a good sensitivity with a high GFvalue of 608, which could be widely used in flexible sensing and human motion monitoring. More importantly, its thermal diffusion capability was 155.9 % higher than that of pure polyurethane, and it remained stable at 200 °C and was not easy to decompose, showing outstanding thermal transmission and thermal stability. Such a novel functional composite material will provide an effective guidance solution for electromagnetic protection, flexible sensing, and thermal management under complex working conditions.

Osteoclast precursors (OCPs) are thought to commit to osteoclast differentiation, which is accelerated by aging-related chronic inflammation, thereby leading to osteoporosis. However, whether the fate of OCPs can be reshaped to transition into other cell lineages is unknown. Here, we showed that M2 macrophage-derived extracellular vesicles (M2-EVs) could reprogram OCPs to downregulate osteoclast-specific gene expression and convert OCPs to M2 macrophage-like lineage cells, which reshaped the fate of OCPs by delivering the molecular metabolite glutamate. Upon delivery of glutamate, glutamine metabolism in OCPs was markedly enhanced, resulting in the increased production of α-ketoglutarate (αKG), which participates in Jmjd3-dependent epigenetic reprogramming, causing M2-like macrophage differentiation. Thus, we revealed a novel transformation of OCPs into M2-like macrophages via M2-EVs-initiated metabolic reprogramming and epigenetic modification. Our findings suggest that M2-EVs can reestablish the balance between osteoclasts and M2 macrophages, alleviate the symptoms of bone loss, and constitute a new approach for bone-targeted therapy to treat osteoporosis.

With the rapid development of electronic technology, wearable electronic devices have been widely used in the lives of people. However, integrating multiple functions, such as flexible sensing and electromagnetic protection, into a single device remains challenging. Herein, silver nanowires and cobalt-nickel@carbon were assembled into a conductive and magnetic composite aerogel enhanced by aramid nanofibers and cellulose nanofibrils by freeze-drying. It exhibited an excellent electromagnetic wave absorption ability with an optimal minimum reflection loss of −51.6 dB. Then, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was introduced in the subsequent vacuum-assisted impregnation process to obtain a compressible aerogel elastomer with excellent mechanical and electrical properties. It was not only used as a piezoresistive sensor for different application scenes (e.g., human behavior monitoring, pressure array identification, and parking location recognition) but also as a triboelectric nanogenerator for high-performance energy harvesting. Such a unique and multifunctional composite aerogel elastomer will open up new potential applications for electromagnetic protection, blue energy harvesting, and piezoresistive sensing.

The conversion of CO2into fuels and feedstock chemicals viaphotothermal catalysis holds promise for efficient solar energy utilization to tackle the global energy shortage and climate change. Despite recent advances, it is of emerging interest to explore promising materials with excellent photothermal properties to boost the performance of photothermal CO2catalysis. Here, we report the discovery of MXene materials as superior photothermal supports for metal nanoparticles. As a proof-of-concept study, we demonstrate that Nb2C and Ti3C2, two typical MXene materials, can enhance the photothermal effect and thus boost the photothermal catalytic activity of Ni nanoparticles. A record CO2conversion rate of 8.50 mol·gNi–1·h–1is achieved for Nb2C-nanosheet-supported Ni nanoparticles under intense illumination. Our study bridges the gap between photothermal MXene materials and photothermal CO2catalysis toward more efficient solar-to-chemical energy conversions and stimulates the interest in MXene-supported metal nanoparticles for other heterogeneous catalytic reactions, particularly driven by sunlight.

The crosstalk between the nerve and stomatognathic systems plays a more important role in organismal health than previously appreciated with the presence of emerging concept of the “brain-oral axis”. A deeper understanding of the intricate interaction between the nervous system and the stomatognathic system is warranted, considering their significant developmental homology and anatomical proximity, and the more complex innervation of the jawbone compared to other skeletons. In this review, we provide an in-depth look at studies concerning neurodevelopment, craniofacial development, and congenital anomalies that occur when the two systems develop abnormally. It summarizes the cross-regulation between nerves and jawbones and the effects of various states of the jawbone on intrabony nerve distribution. Diseases closely related to both the nervous system and the stomatognathic system are divided into craniofacial diseases caused by neurological illnesses, and neurological diseases caused by an aberrant stomatognathic system. The two-way relationships between common diseases, such as periodontitis and neurodegenerative disorders, and depression and oral diseases were also discussed. This review provides valuable insights into novel strategies for neuro-skeletal tissue engineering and early prevention and treatment of orofacial and neurological diseases.

Photochemical catalytic processes can reduce the activation energy so that reactions can occur under milder conditions. However, it is still unknown whether photochemical effects are present in photothermal catalysis over conventional transition metal materials. Herein, the representative photothermal CO2hydrogenation catalyst, Ni@p-SiO2, is employed as a model system to quantitatively probe the contribution of photochemical effect. Through a series of catalytic and photophysical characterizations, it is found that negligible photochemical effect in the ultraviolet-visible region can be observed for the traditional Ni-based catalyst. The results of photoelectrochemistry (PEC) test further confirm that no apparent photochemical effect is present for the Ni@p-SiO2catalyst in the aqueous-phase environment. It has been further evidenced that the photochemical contributions can be significantly amplified by introducing plasmonic metals, such as Au, into the system. This work provides a guideline for the design and construction of efficient synergetic photothermal-photochemical catalytic systems.