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Accurately distinguishing tumor cells from normal cells is a key issue in tumor diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment. Fluorescence-based immunohistochemistry as the standard method faces the inherent challenges of the heterogeneity of tumor cells and the lack of big data analysis of probing images. Here, we have demonstrated a machine learning-driven imaging method for rapid pathological diagnosis of five types of cancers (breast, colon, liver, lung, and stomach) using a perovskite nanocrystal probe. After conducting the bioanalysis of survivin expression in five different cancers, high-efficiency perovskite nanocrystal probes modified with the survivin antibody can recognize the cancer tissue section at the single cell level. The tumor to normal (T/N) ratio is 10.3-fold higher than that of a conventional fluorescent probe, which can successfully differentiate between tumors and adjacent normal tissues within 10 min. The features of the fluorescence intensity and pathological texture morphology have been extracted and analyzed from 1000 fluorescence images by machine learning. The final integrated decision model makes the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (area under the curve) value of machine learning classification of breast, colon, liver, lung, and stomach above 90% while predicting the tumor organ of 92% of positive patients. This method demonstrates a high T/N ratio probe in the precise diagnosis of multiple cancers, which will be good for improving the accuracy of surgical resection and reducing cancer mortality.

Organoid biochips can replicate the micro-environment and functional traits of human organs in vitro, reflecting the physiological and pathological features of the human body. It provides a new platform for disease modeling and drug screening. However, the manual process of organoid cultivation and biochip construction using decellularized extracellular matrix-based gel is typically complex, expensive, and time-consuming (at least one month), which significantly hinders practical application. Here, we introduce a micro-needle-based pneumatic printing strategy for residual-free and high-throughput construction of patient-derived organoid biochips. By developing printable and biomimetic hydrogels, biopsy samples of cancer tissues can be effectively processed into discrete cells. Patient-derived colorectal cancer (CRC) cells in carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) and sodium alginate modified by adhesion sites exhibit high viability at 92%. Through a microneedle, the cell-ink utilization exceeds 90%. Especially, the organoid biochips can effectively be fabricated, and single cells in biochips can proliferate and differentiate into organoids with typical morphology. Finally, the patient-derived CRC organoids are used as the biochips for drug testing, which give the personalized drug screening information in a week. Overall, through the microprinting strategy and biomimetic hydrogels, the utilization rate of cells and the construction efficiency of organoid chips can be improved. This work provides a new approach for high-throughput printing patient-derived organoid biochips in precision medicine.

The submarine-confined bubble swarm is considered an important constraining environment for the early evolution of living matter due to the abundant gas/water interfaces it provides. Similarly, the spatiotemporal characteristics of the confinement effect in this particular scenario may also impact the origin, transfer, and amplification of chirality in organisms. Here, we explore the confinement effect on the chiral hierarchical assembly of the amphiphiles in the confined bubble array stabilized by the micropillar templates. Compared with the other confinement conditions, the assembly in the bubble scenario yields a fractal morphology and exhibits a unique level of the chiral degree, ordering, and orientation consistency, which can be attributed to the characteristic interfacial effects of the rapidly formed gas/water interfaces. Thus, molecules with a balanced amphiphilicity can be more favorable for the promotion. Not limited to the pure enantiomers, chiral amplification of the enantiomer-mixed assembly is observed only in the bubble scenario. Beyond the interfacial mechanism, the fast formation kinetics of the confined liquid bridges in the bubble scenario endows the assembly with the tunable hierarchical morphology when regulating the amphiphilicity, aggregates, and confined spaces. Furthermore, the chiral-induced spin selectivity (CISS) effect of the fractal hierarchical assembly was systematically investigated, and a strategy based on photoisomerization was developed to efficiently modulate the CISS effect. This work provides insights into the robustness of confined bubble swarms in promoting a chiral hierarchical assembly and the potential applications of the resulting chiral hierarchical patterns in solid-state spintronic and optical devices.

Metamaterials exhibit unprecedented flexibility in controlling electromagnetic waves and support a richer range of resonance modes, which offer superior sensitivity, ease of miniaturization, and integration for developing high-performance biosensing chips. Recently, Dionne et al. report a rapid and label-free genetic screening platform based on high-quality (high-Q) factor silicon metasurface functionalized with nucleic acid probes. High-Qfactors of 2200 guide-mode resonators support femtomolar sensing response free of time-consuming amplification, which harmonizes high sensitivity and convenience for ultra-sensitivity biological diagnosis.

Two-dimensional (2D) Dion–Jacobson (DJ) perovskites have been extensively investigated in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) owing to their superior stability and structural diversity. However, the efficiency is still limited by dielectric confinement and carrier localization in the transport process. Here, we introduced a new spacer cation, namely, 2,2′-oxybis(ethylamine) hydroiodide (OBEAI), which clearly clarified the fundamental physical properties of constructing 2D DJ perovskites to optimize charge transfer properties for high-performance 2D DJ PSCs. The strong electronegativity of OBEA enhanced the overlap of charge density in the spacing through its interaction with inorganic [PbI6]4–layers, promoting charge migration across confinement layers. In addition, the aggregation of strong electronegativity of OBEA and metal cations in precursor solutions enlarged the particle size, which reduced random nucleation sites, thereby inhibiting the production of low n-value perovskites (n≤ 2). Thanks to these merits, the electrons’ transport of (OBEA)MA4Pb5I16(MA: methylamine) was greatly promoted, which supported efficient charge extraction at the device level. The resultant (OBEA)MA4Pb5I16solar cells delivered a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 14.33% and further improved to 18.81% based on (OBEA)FA4Pb5I16(FA: formamidine) with exceptional stability of T90(preserve 90% of the initial PCE) after 2000 h.

In the realm of modern cryptography and anti-counterfeiting, innovative approaches are crucial to encode sensitive information securely. Tailored responsive structural colors have garnered significant interest due to their feature-rich spectra and high sensitivity to external stimuli. However, high costs and complex processing involved in integrating the various delicate microstructures have impeded their widespread development. In this study, we present a straightforward multilevel chromatic encryption scheme utilizing direct-writing gradient-crosslinked microdomes. The solvent-responsive structural color of each microdome, arising from the synergistic effect of total internal reflections and interference, is adjusted independently across the entire visible region. Each microdome functions as a signal recording unit, enabling multilevel color variations through a solvent-dependent development step. This approach facilitates the encoding of enhanced information into a single pixel. To demonstrate the efficacy of our method for advanced applications, we have prepared a collection of solvent-dependent multilevel codes for algorithm cryptography, showcasing its potential for high-level anti-counterfeiting and high-density optical data storage.

Perovskite single crystals have emerged as attractive structures for integrated devices. However, due to uncontrolled crystallization, the versatile and scalable fabrication of arrays of perovskite single crystals with controllable morphology and location remains a great challenge. Here, we report a facile printing strategy to controllably fabricate perovskite single-crystal arrays with well-defined morphology and location. Through modulating perovskite precursor ion aggregation in microdroplets by controlling the temperature of substrates, perovskite single-crystal arrays with controlled morphologies are fabricated, which can be selectively integrated on silicon for high-performance-type tailored laser arrays. More importantly, integrated perovskite single-crystal microstructures are printed, showing an efficiently coupling property with well-maintained intrinsic characters of the original signals. This strategy enables fully inkjet-printed morphology-controllable perovskite single-crystal arrays and functional coupling-structure arrays, which offers new opportunities for integrated photonic and optoelectronic devices.

All-inorganic cesium lead triiodide (CsPbI3) perovskite has received increasing attention due to its intrinsic thermal stability and suitable band gap for photovoltaic applications. However, it is difficult to deposit high-quality pure-phase CsPbI3films using CsI and PbI2as precursors due to the rapid nucleation and crystal growth by the solution coating method. Here, a simple cation-exchange approach is employed to fabricate all-inorganic 3D CsPbI3perovskite, where 1D ethylammonium lead (EAPbI3) perovskite is first solution-deposited and then transformed to 3D CsPbI3via ion exchange between EA+and Cs+during thermal annealing. The large space between the PbI3–skeletons in 1D EAPbI3favors the cation interdiffusion and exchange for the formation of pure-phase 3D CsPbI3with full compactness and high crystallinity and orientation. The resulting CsPbI3film exhibits a low trap density of state and high charge mobility, and the perovskite solar cell shows a power-conversion efficiency of 18.2% with enhanced stability. This strategy provides an alternative and promising fabrication route for the fabrication of high-quality all-inorganic perovskite devices.

Humans rely increasingly on sensors to address grand challenges and to improve quality of life in the era of digitalization and big data. For ubiquitous sensing, flexible sensors are developed to overcome the limitations of conventional rigid counterparts. Despite rapid advancement in bench-side research over the last decade, the market adoption of flexible sensors remains limited. To ease and to expedite their deployment, here, we identify bottlenecks hindering the maturation of flexible sensors and propose promising solutions. We first analyze challenges in achieving satisfactory sensing performance for real-world applications and then summarize issues in compatible sensor-biology interfaces, followed by brief discussions on powering and connecting sensor networks. Issues en route to commercialization and for sustainable growth of the sector are also analyzed, highlighting environmental concerns and emphasizing nontechnical issues such as business, regulatory, and ethical considerations. Additionally, we look at future intelligent flexible sensors. In proposing a comprehensive roadmap, we hope to steer research efforts towards common goals and to guide coordinated development strategies from disparate communities. Through such collaborative efforts, scientific breakthroughs can be made sooner and capitalized for the betterment of humanity.

Constructing precisely oriented assemblies and exploring their orientation-dependent properties remain a challenge for Janus nanoparticles (JNPs) due to their asymmetric characteristics. Herein, we propose a bubble-driven instant quasi-1D interfacial strategy for the oriented assembly of JNP chains in a highly controllable manner. It is found that the rapid formation of templated bubbles can promote the interfacial orientation of JNPs kinetically, while the confined quasi-1D interface in the curved liquid bridge can constrain the disordered rotation of the particles, yielding well-oriented JNP chains in a long range. During the evaporation process, the interfacial orientation of the JNPs can be transferred to the assembled chains. By regulating the amphiphilicity of the JNPs, both heteraxial and coaxial JNP assemblies are obtained, which show different polarization dependences on light scattering, and the related colorimetric logic behaviors are demonstrated. This work demonstrates the great potential of patterned interfacial assembly with a manageable orientation and shows the broad prospect of asymmetric JNP assembly in constructing novel optoelectronic devices.

Traditional synthesis strategy of nanomaterials with complicated process and high cost limits their applications. Here, we propose a facile process for the synchronous synthesis and patterning of silver nanoparticles(Ag NPs) through the self-driven microchannel reactor with the capillary effect inspired by transpiration. The evaporation contributes to capillary and accumulation effects in the microchannels. The silver reactant-containing droplets can be spontaneously divided and distributed in multiple microchannels during the whole fabrication process by the capillary effect. The newly formed Ag NPs at the gas-liquid interface can be assembled on both sides of the microchannels by the accumulation effect. The capillary effect decreases the disturbances, which ensures the uniformity of the patterning. By the combination of microchannels with different widths, various Ag NPs-assembled patterns with stable electrical properties are achieved. This efficient strategy with a simple fabrication procedure is towards the technological engineering of nanoscale architected materials.

Organic electronics aims to simplify the construction of high-performance basic logic circuits for various applications. Ambipolar organic semiconductors, particularly ambipolar conjugated polymers, offer distinct advantages of easy solution-printing-based fabrication and low-cost development of large-area organic circuits. However, the narrow bandgaps of intrinsic ambipolar polymers result in the low current on/off ratio (generally 102–103), impeding the generation of output signals with high accuracy and immunity, which are critical requirements for potential logic circuit applications. The quasi-unipolar transport properties for pristine well-balanced ambipolar polymers were obtained using a controllable-doping process, which resulted in a significant increase in current on/off ratios (105–107) for both p-channel and n-channel thin-film transistors. Furthermore, large-area organic logic circuits such as NOT, NOR, and NAND gates were constructed using a direct writing technique based on the same ambipolar conjugated polymer films with superior p- and n-conducting channels by the controllable-doping process, demonstrating excellent overall performance with a high gain value of ∼150, signal noise margins of 68% and fast response to input voltages. This study provides valuable guidelines for improving the on/off ratio of ambipolar materials by implementing the doping strategy, further promoting the possibility of practical applications in solution-printed integrated organic circuits.

Hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) through water decomposition are feasible methods to produce green and clean energy. Herein, we report a facile two-step strategy for the preparation of non-noble metal defect-rich nanosheets by an electrochemical process at room temperature. First-principle calculations are used to study the bifunctional catalytic reaction mechanism of defect engineering in transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs); from the first-principle calculations, we predicted that the rich S vacancies on the nanosheet promoted electron transfer and reduced the energy barrier of electrocatalysis. As a substantiation, we conducted HER/OER electrochemical characterizations and found that the defect-rich atomic-thick tantalum sulfide is a kind of dual-function electrocatalyst with enhanced comprehensive properties of Tafel slope (39 mV/dec for HER, 38 mV/dec for OER) and low overpotential (0.099 V for HER, 0.153 V for OER) in acidic and alkaline environments, respectively. Likewise, the defect-rich catalysts exhibit high stability in acidic and alkaline solutions, which have potential applications as electrocatalysts for the large-scale production of hydrogen and oxygen.

Precise diagnosis of the boundary and grade of tumors is especially important for surgical dissection. Recently, visible and near-infrared (Vis–NIR) absorption differences of tumors are demonstrated for a precise tumor diagnosis. Here, a template-assisted sequential printing strategy is investigated to construct lateral heterostructured Vis–NIR photodetectors, relying on the up-conversion nanoparticles (UCNPs)/perovskite arrays. Under the sequential printing process, the synergistic effect and co-confinement are demonstrated to induce the UCNPs to cover both sides of the perovskite microwire. The side-wrapped lateral heterogeneous UCNPs/perovskite structure exhibits more satisfactory responsiveness to Vis–NIR light than the common fully wrapped structure, due to sufficient visible-light-harvesting ability. The Vis–NIR photodetectors with Rreaching 150 mA W–1at 980 nm and 1084 A W–1at 450 nm are employed for the rapid classification of glioma. The detection accuracy rate of 99.3% is achieved through a multimodal analysis covering the Vis–NIR light, which provides a reliable basis for glioma grade diagnosis. This work provides a concrete example for the application of photodetectors in tumor detection and surgical diagnosis.

Directly accurate detection of nanoscale objects remains a great challenge to many fields, including self-assembly, nanoparticle engineering, nanomaterial characterization, and biological diagnosis. Here, we report a general method for visualizable detection and measurement of many nanoscale objects by using one-dimensional (1D) nanostructures, including nanoparticles, defects, and pathogens. The large-scale 1D nanostructures are robustly prepared through the template-assisted self-assembly of colloidal nanoparticles, which exhibit wide spectral tunability in the visible region. In addition to the scalability, they can significantly amplify the weak optical signals from nanoscale objects, pushing the detection sensitivity down to the single-particle level. Then, we achieve the rapid and ultrasensitive testing of different clinical virus samples by using a simple optical microscope or a portable cell phone. This work demonstrates a label-free, simple, and high-efficiency optical detection platform at the nanoscale, which has a broad range of applications from material synthesis to in vitrodiagnosis.

Droplet manipulation is crucial for diverse applications ranging from bioassay to medical diagnosis. Current magnetic-field-driven manipulation strategies are mainly based on fixed or partially tunable structures, which limits their flexibility and versatility. Here, a reconfigurable magnetic liquid metal robot (MLMR) is proposed to address these challenges. Diverse droplet manipulation behaviors including steady transport, oscillatory transport, and release can be achieved by the MLMR, and their underlying physical mechanisms are revealed. Moreover, benefiting from the magnetic-field-induced active deformability and temperature-induced phase transition characteristics, its droplet-loading capacity and shape-locking/unlocking switching can be flexibly adjusted. Because of the fluidity-based adaptive deformability, MLMR can manipulate droplets in challenging confined environments. Significantly, MLMR can accomplish cooperative manipulation of multiple droplets efficiently through on-demand self-splitting and merging. The high-performance droplet manipulation using the reconfigurable and multifunctional MLMR unfolds new potential in microfluidics, biochemistry, and other interdisciplinary fields.

Photoresponsive soft actuators with the unique merits of flexibility, contactless operation, and remote control have huge potential in technological applications of bionic robotics and biomedical devices. Herein, a facile strategy was proposed to prepare an intrinsically-photoresponsive elastomer by chemically grafting carbon nanotubes (CNTs) into a thermally-sensitive liquid-crystalline elastomer (LCE) network. Highly effective dispersion and nematic orientation of CNTs in the intrinsic LCE matrix were observed to yield anchoring energies ranging from 1.65 × 10−5J m−2to 5.49 × 10−7J m−2, which significantly enhanced the mechanical and photothermal properties of the photoresponsive elastomer. When embedding an ultralow loading of CNTs (0.1 wt%), the tensile strength of the LCE increased by 420% to 13.89 MPa () and 530% to 3.94 MPa () and exhibited a stable response to repeated alternating cooling and heating cycles, as well as repeated UV and infrared irradiation. Furthermore, the shape transformation, locomotion, and photo-actuation capabilities allow the CNT/LCE actuator to be applied in high-definition biomechanical applications, such as phototactic flowers, serpentine robots and artificial muscles. This design strategy may provide a promising method to manufacture high-precision, remote-control smart devices.

Determining the expression level of biomarkers is crucial for disease diagnosis. However, the low abundance of biomarkers in the early stage makes the detection extremely difficult by traditional aggregation-induced emission (AIE)-based fluorescent probes. Here, by tuning the intermolecular interaction, a two steps-based MP/NPs-SLIPS sensing system is designed for ultrasensitive detection of the tumor marker matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2). During the sensing process, aggregation of AIE residual could be intensified through the electrostatic absorption by negatively charged nanoparticles (NPs), as well as the confined space formed by the self-assembly of NPs to photonic crystals (PCs) on slippery lubricant-infused porous substrates (SLIPS). The fluorescent signals obviously increased with a strengthened aggregation degree, which contributes to improved sensitivity. Thus, the limit of detection is decreased to 3.7 ng/mL for MP/NPs-SLIPS sensing system, which could be used for detecting the MMP-2 secreted by tumor cells directly. This strategy also demonstrated its potential applications as high-throughput detection devices and will be of significance for the ultrasensitive analysis of biomarkers.

When dealing with reactions of a liquid reactant and a solid catalyst, macroreactors with vigorous stirring equipment may be dangerous and cause wastage of energy. Reducing the diffusion distance and promoting reactants to reach the catalyst surface for efficient reaction remain the key challenges. Here, inspired by capillary-driven water motion in plants, we propose to implement a self-driven multiplex reaction (SMR) in nanocatalyst-loaded microchannels. Unlike the classical capillary rise, the droplet in SMR has variable pressure difference, leading to tunable flow velocity for controlling the reaction rate without any auxiliary equipment. The SMR in microchannels contributes to an increase in the reaction rate by more than 2 orders of magnitude compared to that in macroreactors. Specifically, this strategy reduces the reaction volume by 170 times, the catalyst usage by about 12 times, and the energy consumption by 50 times. This apparatus with a small volume and less catalyst content promises to provide an efficient strategy for the precise manipulation of chemical reactions.

Dramatic development in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) and the widespread application of wearable electronics have attracted extensive research in the area of large-scale flexible solar power sources based on PSCs. Manufacturing of flexible PSCs by printing is considered to be one of the most potential methods. However, it is still a great challenge to print large-area uniform hole transport layers (HTLs) on a rough and soft plastic substrate to achieve flexible PSCs with high efficiency and good stability. Herein, we synthesized a viscous poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):graphene oxide (PEDOT:GO) gel and then blade-coated the gel by high-speed shearing to achieve high-quality HTLs with scalable size. The glued HTLs exhibit high viscosity, electrical conductivity, and mechanical flexibility, which enhance the adhesive ability and protect the brittle ITO electrode and perovskite crystals. Due to the gelatinous HTLs, we achieved an optimal efficiency of the flexible PSCs (1.01 cm2) of 19.7%, while that of the large-area flexible perovskite module (25 cm2) exceeded 10%. This is the highest efficiency for reported flexible MAPbI3PSCs (1.01 cm2). Furthermore, the efficiency retention of the PSCs remains over 85% after 5000 bending cycles, which is of great significance for the practical application of PSCs in portable and wearable electronics.

With the development of flexible electronics, researchers have endeavored to improve the characteristics of the commonly used indium tin oxide such as brittleness, poor mechanical or chemical stability, and scarcity. Currently, many alternative materials have been considered such as conductive polymers, graphene, carbon nanotubes, metallic nanoparticles (NPs), nanowires (NWs), or nanofibers. Among them, silver (Ag) mesh/grid NPs or NWs have been considered as an excellent substitute due to the good transmittance, excellent electrical conductivity, outstanding mechanical robustness, and cost competitiveness. So far, much effort has been devoted to the fabrication of Ag mesh/grid, and many methods such as printing technology, self-assembly, electrospun, hot-pressing, and atomic layer deposition have been reported. Here printing technologies include jet printing, gravure printing, screen printing, nanoimprint lithography, microcontact printing, and flexographic printing. The solution-based self-assembly usually combines with coating, template, or mask assistance. This review summarizes the characteristics of these fabrication methods for the Ag mesh/grid with its related applications in electronics. Then the prospect and challenges of the fabrication methods are discussed, and the new preparation approaches and applications of the Ag mesh/grid are highlighted, which will be of significance for the applications in electronics such as transparent conducting electrodes, organic light-emitting diode, energy harvester, strain sensor, cells, etc.

Liquid manipulation on solid surfaces has attracted a lot of attention for liquid collection and droplet-based microfluidics. However, manipulation strategies mainly depend on chemical modification and artificial structures. Here, we demonstrate a feasible and general strategy based on the self-shrinkage of the droplet induced via specific vapors to efficiently collect liquids and flexibly carry out droplet-based reactions. The vapor-induced self-shrinkage is driven by Marangoni flow originating from molecular adsorption and diffusion. Under a specific vapor environment, the self-shrinking droplet exhibits unique features including reversible responsiveness, high mobility, and autocoalescence. Accordingly, by building a specific vapor environment, the thin liquid films and random liquid films on superlyophilic substrates can be recovered with a collection rate of more than 95%. Moreover, the vapor system can be used to construct a high-efficiency chemical reaction device. The findings and profound understandings are significant for the development of the liquid collection and droplet-based microfluidics.

Artificial synaptic devices and systems have become hot topics due to parallel computing, high plasticity, integration of storage, and processing to meet the challenges of the traditional Von Neumann computers. Currently, two-terminal memristors and three-terminal transistors have been mainly developed for high-density storage with high switching speed and high reliability because of the adjustable resistivity, controllable ion migration, and abundant choices of functional materials and fabrication processes. To achieve the low-cost, large-scale, and easy-process fabrication, solution-processed techniques have been extensively employed to develop synaptic electronics towards flexible and highly integrated three-dimensional (3D) neural networks. Herein, we have summarized and discussed solution-processed techniques in the fabrication of two-terminal memristors and three-terminal transistors for the application of artificial synaptic electronics mainly reported in the recent five years from the view of fabrication processes, functional materials, electronic operating mechanisms, and system applications. Furthermore, the challenges and prospects were discussed in depth to promote solution-processed techniques in the future development of artificial synapse with high performance and high integration.

ABSTRACTTriple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is the most aggressive type of breast cancer and still lacks available targeted therapy options. Thioridazine hydrochloride (Thi-hyd), a common phenothiazine antipsychotic drug, has shown great tumor-suppressive potential in several types of cancer cells. In this study, we explored the anti-tumor effects of Thi-hyd on TNBC. Thi-hyd significantly inhibited the viability and migration of TNBC cells in vitro. PI3K/AKT signaling pathway was verified to be related to Thi-hyd-induced tumor inhibition. G0/G1 cell cycle arrest and apoptosis were observed after treatment with Thi-hyd. The cell cycle arrest was accompanied by down-regulation of CDK4/cyclin D1 and up-regulation of p21 and p27. The apoptosis was accompanied by mitochondrial dysfunction. In vivo, Thi-hyd significantly suppressed the growth of tumors showing a 63.73% inhibition rate in tumor weight. Spontaneous lung metastasis was also efficiently prevented by Thi-hyd treatment, with a 72.58% inhibition rate. Immunohistological analysis showed increased Ki67 expression and reduced cleaved caspase-3 expression in Thi-hyd-treated mice. No apparent side effects were observed according to blood test and H&E staining results. Collectively, our results show that Thi-hyd can be used as a potential drug for TNBC treatment and set the basis for its clinical evaluation and investigation.AbbreviationsCCK8: Cell Counting Kit-8; CDK: cyclin-dependent kinase; DRD2: dopamine D2 receptor; ERK1/2: extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2; GAPDH: glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase; H&E: hematoxylin and eosin; MMP: membrane potential; NAC: N-acetyl-L-cysteine; PI: Propidium iodide; Rh123: rhodamine-123; ROS: reactive oxygen species; TBST: tris-buffered saline containing 0.1% Tween 20 TNBC: Triple-negative breast cancer; Thi-hyd: Thioridazine hydrochloride.

Inkjet printing method is one of the most effective ways for fabricating large-area perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, because ink crystallizes rapidly during printing, the printed perovskite film is discontinuous with increasing defects. It severely restricts the application of the inkjet printing technology to the fabrication of perovskite photovoltaic devices. Here, we designed a new mixed-cation perovskite ink system that can controllably retard the crystallization rate of perovskite. In this new ink system, the printing solvent is composed of n-methyl pyrrolidone (NMP) and dimethyl formamide (DMF), and PbX2is replaced by PbX2-DMSO (X = Br, I) complex as a printing precursor to create a high-quality perovskite layer. Accordingly, the printed Cs0.05MA0.14FA0.81PbI2.55Br0.45perovskite film exhibited high homogeneity with a large grain size (over 500 nm). Besides, the printed perovskite film possessed lower defects with improved carrier lifetime compared to the control sample. Combining these advantages, the printed PSC delivers decent power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 19.6% (0.04 cm2) and 17.9% (1.01 cm2). The large-area device can still retain its original efficiency of 89% when stored in air with humidity less than 20% for 1000 h.

The enhancement of triplet–triplet annihilation upconversion (TTA-UC) processes is of profound significance to address key bottleneck problem associated with the practical applications of TTA-UC. In this work, optimized multibandgaps photonic crystal (PC) structures were introduced to dramatically amplify the upconversion signal. Two effects of PCs were proven to lead the enhancement. First, the reflective mirror function can enhance both the irradiance on the TTA-UC materials and the directional emission of the TTA-UC system; second, the inhibition of the TTA-UC sensitizer’s phosphorescence by matched bandgap of PCs could be beneficial for the triplet–triplet energy transfer process between the triplet sensitizer and the triplet acceptor, resulting in accelerating the final UC emission of the system. The interactions between the TTA-UC system and different PC structures were carefully discussed, and the results are anticipated to provide a new efficient platform for the PC-based TTA-UC.

An elaborated surface with a superhydrophilic area and a superhydrophobic area was fabricated by inkjet printing a water-soluble polymer template on a superhydrophilic layer. Titanate was used to generate the superhydrophilic layer with an in situ reaction. A water-soluble polymer template was inkjet printed on the facile fabricated superhydrophilic layer. Superhydrophobic treatment was carried out on the inkjet-printed surface with perfluorinated molecules. A superhydrophilic–superhydrophobic patterned surface (SSPS) was obtained by washing out the water-soluble polymer template. Various patterns of SSPS were fabricated with the different water-soluble polymer templates. Then, adhesion and deposition of water droplets were studied on the SSPS with the different wetting abilities on the surface. Meanwhile, a microreaction with a microfluidic chip was realized on the SSPS. In this work, systematic research on fabricating an SSPS based on a facile fabricated superhydrophilic layer with an inkjet-printed water-soluble polymer template is presented. It will have great potential for patterning materials, fabricating devices, and researching interfaces, such as microdroplet self-removal, analyte enrichment, and liquid–liquid interface reaction.

Microreactors are of great importance for chemical reaction screening, nanoparticle synthesis, protein crystallization, DNA detection, organic synthesis, etc. Here, we reported an effective, flexible, and low-cost method for fabricating microreactor arrays by inkjet printing technology. This strategy utilizes the controllable sliding behavior of the three-phase contact line to form hydrophilic–hydrophobic micropatterns for microreactors with sizes low to several hundreds of nanometers. Reactions in the order of 1 × 10–21mol molecules can be realized in these microreactors, and crystallization processes can also be conducted to synthesize single crystals.

Regular microstructures can improve the electrical and optical characteristics of perovskite single crystals because of the removal of defects and grain boundaries. Microstructured single crystals are commonly fabricated by either rigid or flexible templates. However, rigid templates usually need surface treatment before crystal fabrication to create an antiadhesion layer, while flexible templates encounter difficulties in achieving a large area of uniform single crystals without any deformation. In this work, we present a facile and robust method to fabricate perovskite single crystals using rigid silicon pillars coated with flexible polymer solutions, in which surface treatment is avoided in the preparation process, and deformation is absent in the formed crystals. The method realized the fabrication of colorful concentric-ring patterns composed of nanoscale single crystals for the first time. In order to concisely control the preparation of the template, the Newton’s ring phenomenon was used to value the droplet height because the number of rings changed with the optical path difference. A related digital simulation was performed to find the correlation of the Newton’s ring pattern with the shape of the droplets. The simulated results were consistent with the experimental observations generally, indicating that the pattern could be controlled mechanically. Concomitantly, the resulting perovskite nanoscale single crystals formed a regular colorful concentric-ring pattern. By changing the design of the rigid templates, the parameters of the fabrication process, or the selection of the coating polymer solution, different ring-patterned single crystals were successfully prepared without surface treatment and deformation. The crystals have potential applications in lasers or photodetectors.

Bubble crystals in water are expected to achieve the broad and low-frequency acoustic band gaps that are crucial for acoustic blocking. However, preparing patterned bubble crystals in water remains a challenge because of the instability of bubbly liquids. Here, inspired by biological superhydrophobic systems, we report a simple and rapid approach to prepare patterned bubble arrays in water and their applications in low-frequency acoustic blocking. Patterned bubbles with the desired size, shape, and position can be prepared. Single-layer bubble arrays can block the sounds at low frequencies because of local resonance. By varying the size and distance of the bubbles without changing the thickness, the operating frequency can change from 9 to 1756 kHz. Besides, by preparing multilayer bubbles, broad and low-frequency acoustic band gaps can be achieved, with the generalized width of γ (ratio of the bandgap width to its start frequency) reaching 1.26. This method provides a feasible strategy to control acoustic waves at low frequencies for applications such as acoustic blocking, focusing, imaging, and detecting.

The metal pattern plays a crucial role in various optoelectronic devices. However, fabrication of high-resolution metal patterns has serious problems including complicated techniques and high cost. Herein, an inkjet printed water-soluble sacrificial layer was proposed to fabricate a high-resolution metal pattern. The water-soluble sacrificial layer was inkjet printed on a polyethylene glycol terephthalate (PET) surface, and then the printed surface was deposited with a metal layer by evaporating deposition. When the deposited surface was rinsed by water, the metal layer deposited on the water-soluble sacrificial layer could be removed. Various high-resolution metal patterns were prepared, which could be used in electroluminescent displays, strain sensors, and 3D switches. This facile method could be a promising approach for fabricating high-resolution metal patterns.

Metal halide perovskites are promising light-emitting materials for applications such as wearable lighting devices and flat panel displays because of their high photoluminescence efficiency, high color purity, and facile solution processability. However, the intrinsic ambient instability and crystal friability issues have fundamentally hindered the practical applications of perovskites. Here, we solve this problem through a liquid to liquid self-encapsulation inkjet-printing technique. Perovskite inks are directly inkjet-printed into the liquid polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) precursor to in situ form the self-encapsulation perovskite single-crystal-embedded PDMS structure. We show that the space-confined effect of the liquid PDMS precursor can significantly retard the perovskite crystallization process and promote the embedded growth of perovskite single crystals in PDMS. Benefiting from the sealing function of PDMS, the printed perovskite single crystals show excellent ambient stability and flexibility. Furthermore, we demonstrate that wafer-scale air-stable and flexible perovskite fluorescent patterns can be produced in PDMS by direct inkjet printing, which is cost-effective and free of complex microfabrication processes. This method provides a facile approach to scalable fabrication of air-stable and wearable perovskite fluorescent patterns, which will be of great significance for potential application in perovskite light-emitting diode display.

Biobased shape-memory polymers with high strain and full recoverability have huge potential in biomedical applications. Herein, reversible ultrahigh-strain biobased shape-memory polymers are prepared viaan inhibited-nanophase-separation modulated polymerization strategy. A model polymerization system, citric acid (CA) and 1,10-decanediol as the rigid skeleton and switcher is selected, respectively, while 1,4-butanediol (BD) is used to tune the phase structure in the monomers. The nanomechanical investigation suggests that nanophase separation in the obtained polymers could be subtly suppressed by varying the dose of BD. In particular, poly(1,4-butanediol/1,10-decanediol-co-citric acid) with 7 mol% BD (7%-PBDC) shows an ultrahigh strain of 770% and a high reversibility rate of 98% in a complex origami configuration. In addition, the well-defined bio-inspired micro/nano-structures are fabricated on the PBDC surface by a lithography-free method, which allows for wide-range reversible wettability tunability from a highly hydrophobic state to a hydrophilic state, paving a promising pathway for intelligent skin with unique water collection or/and repulsion capability.

The rapid and sensitive quantification of low-abundance protein markers holds immense significance in early disease diagnosis and treatment. Single-molecule fluorescence imaging exhibits very high detection sensitivity and thus has great application potential in this area. The single-molecule signal, however, is often susceptible to interference from background noise due to its inherently weak intensity. A variety of signal amplification techniques based on cascading reactions have been developed to improve the signal-to-noise ratio of single-molecule imaging. Nevertheless, the operation of these methods is typically complicated and time-consuming, which limits the clinical application. Herein, we introduce an enzyme-free, photonic-crystal-based single-molecule (PC-SM) biochip for cost-effective, time-efficient, and ultrasensitive detection of disease markers. The PC-SM biochip can enhance the signal-to-noise ratio of single molecules by nearly 3-fold compared with unamplified samples, through coupling of the single-molecule photon energy with the optical band gap of the photonic crystal. We used the PC-SM biochip to detect the low-abundance leukemia inhibitory factor in the blood of pancreatic cancer patients and healthy people and achieved a detection limit of 2.0 pg/L and an AUC of 0.9067. The method exhibits exceptional sensitivity and specificity, showing great application potential in various clinical settings.

Advanced in vitro diagnosis technologies are highly desirable in early detection, prognosis, and progression monitoring of diseases. Here, we engineer a multiplex protein biosensing strategy based on the tunable liquid confinement self-assembly of multi-material heterochains, which show improved sensitivity, throughput, and accuracy compared to standard ELISA kits. By controlling the material combination and the number of ligand nanoparticles (NPs), we observe robust near-field enhancement as well as both strong electromagnetic resonance in polymer–semiconductor heterochains. In particular, their optical signals show a linear response to the coordination number of the semiconductor NPs in a wide range. Accordingly, a visible nanophotonic biosensor is developed by functionalizing antibodies on central polymer chains that can identify target proteins attached to semiconductor NPs. This allows for the specific detection of multiple protein biomarkers from healthy people and pancreatic cancer patients in one step with an ultralow detection limit (1 pg/mL). Furthermore, rapid and high-throughput quantification of protein expression levels in diverse clinical samples such as buffer, urine, and serum is achieved by combining a neural network algorithm, with an average accuracy of 97.3%. This work demonstrates that the heterochain-based biosensor is an exemplary candidate for constructing next-generation diagnostic tools and suitable for many clinical settings.

Optimizing the current collectors with rGO and the addition of CNT in PPy, and the structural pulverization is prevented significantly.Areal capacitances of 65.9 to 70 mF cm−2are achieved for PPy-CNT@rGO microsupercapacitors (MSCs) with 79% capacitance retention after 10,000 cycles.The MSC-derived capacitive micro-strain sensor is capable of biosignals detection.The micro strain sensor is capable of detecting wide levels of applied strain with short response/recovery time and excellent reliability.

Multidimensional detection of intensity, wavelength, polarization, and angle of the incidence light significantly accelerates the development of optical information technology and artificial intelligence fields.The first comprehensive overview of the advancement of multifunctional photodetectors for perovskite semiconductors ranging from polarized light detection, spectral detection, and angle-sensing detection to self-powered detection is summarized.The existing problems and perspectives are discussed which can inspire more researchers to rationally design new perovskite materials and micro/nano-structure for high-performance multifunctional photodetectors.

Lightweight and mechanically flexible photovoltaics enable roll-to-roll processing, which improves their potential for low-cost mass production. However, the lack of highly conductive and transparent flexible electrodes still causes reduced efficiency relative to solar cells formed on rigid substrates. Here, we demonstrate an electrode that reduces this performance gap in perovskite solar cells (PSCs) by regulating the phase separation of a conducting polymer network using a fluorosurfactant dopant. This network electrode simultaneously offers high conductivity (>4,000 S/cm), improved transmittance (over 80% from 400 to 900 nm), and high mechanical endurance. PSCs with this electrode achieve stabilized power conversion efficiencies of 19.0% and 10.9% at aperture areas of 0.1 cm2and 25 cm2, respectively, which is comparable to control devices on rigid substrates. This electrode further shows promise as the top electrode in semi-transparent PSCs, which show a stabilized efficiency of 12.5% at 30.6% average visible transmittance. Each of these cells exhibits strong mechanical stability, retaining 80% at 25 cm2, 85% at 0.1 cm2, and 90% for semi-transparent devices of their original efficiency after 5,000 bending cycles at a curvature radius of 3 mm.

Patterning of water or oil is of great significance in microfluidics and printing; however, it is still a great challenge to achieve the synchronous patterning of water and oil. Here, we report a distinct Domino patterning of water and oil, simultaneously originating from O/W emulsions. The O/W emulsions first form various emulsion patterns on the textured substrates due to local capillary differences. With the evaporation, the emulsion breaking in emulsion patterns propagates from the boundary toward the center along the radial direction, followed by the formation of water droplet arrays like a Domino. Combining patterned substrates with the Domino patterning, a variety of polymer patterns, including circle-dot arrays, quadrangle-dot arrays, and triangle-dot arrays on tens of micrometers, are successfully produced on the substrates. The Domino patterning may provide a new view for phase separation patterning, liquid directional transport, and block polymer patterns.

In nature, many species can protect themselves and communicate with peers by changing their body color, which innovates the significant applications of the color variation in security, communication as well as other visual areas. Electrically responsive photonic crystals (PCs) are the most promising tunable photonic systems to imitate the nature and to apply in real technological applications. Recently many electrically responsive PCs have been demonstrated and show great advantages for versatile optical devices. According to the design strategies of the electrically responsive PCs, they are classified into four categories: (1) electrophoretic organization of recyclable colloidal systems, (2) electroactive materials induced colloidal crystal lattice constant variation, (3) inverse opals made from electrically responsive materials and (4) electrically recyclable infiltration in porous photonic structures. In this Review, the design and fabrication of the electrically responsive PCs for functional optical devices are covered and the next steps for this important field are described.

Even though TiO2is the most widely used electron transport layer (ETL) in high-efficiency perovskite solar cells (PSCs), ultraviolet photocatalysis and existence of intrinsic oxygen vacancies result in interfacial charge recombination and poor long-term photo-stability for TiO2-based PSCs under full spectral continuous illumination. To solve the issues, here we report dopamine-capped TiO2nanoparticles as ETL via chelating effect to improve interfacial binding with perovskite active layer. The introduction of dopamine can substantially reduce oxygen vacancies and suppress deep trap states within TiO2. In addition, the terminal amino groups in dopamine can passivate the uncoordinated Pb atoms and decrease the Pb-I/Br antisite defects on the interface of perovskite/TiO2. As an interfacial crosslinking agent, dopamine can not only reduce charge-accumulation and charge-recombination rate, but also increase charge-extraction efficiency at the TiO2and perovskite interface. Based on the dopamine-capped TiO2nanoparticles surface, the corresponding planner Cs0.05FA0.81MA0.14PbI2.55Br0.45PSCs deliver a power conversion efficiency of nearly 21% with negligible hysteresis. Moreover, unencapsulated devices retain 80% of their initial performance after 1200 h operation under constant full-sun illumination in nitrogen atmosphere. Ideally, this chemical-bath-deposited dopamine-modified TiO2provides an effective commercialized route for efficient and photostable planar PSCs.

Minimized photoluminescent devices require both high-density fluorescent arrays and minimal cross-talk between neighboring pixels on the limited area. However, the challenges to achieve the overall integration of nanomaterial-based devices hinder the development of microscale full-color displays, including micro/nanoarray density, orientation control, multimaterial interface morphology, and uniform colors. Here, we report a heterogeneous integration approach to control the orientation, combination, and density of fluorescent micro/nanoarrays on flexible substrates. By controlling the defined interface and critical shrinkage width of liquid bridges, the width of three-primary-color micro/nanolines reached 100 nm. The interval between two parallel luminous lines is down to 40 μm, and the optical cross-talk effect is remarkably reduced. This work provides a facile approach to prepare high-performance micro-photoluminescent and imaging arrays for next-generation flexible display and lighting technology.

The stick–slip motion of the triple phase contact line (TCL) has wide applications in inkjet printing, surface coatings, functional material assembly, and device fabrication. Here, for the first time, we report that on an alumina substrate with nanostructures, the stick–slip motion of the advancing TCL during spreading of an emulsion droplet can serve as an effective nanopatterning process. Air enclosed in the substrate nanostructures can be exchanged with liquid during the “stick” phase, resulting in the formation of bubbles arranged in a ring pattern. The process takes place in two stages: rings of air form first and then, as the volume of air increases, they separate into air bubbles as a result of the Plateau Rayleigh instability. During the first stage, the rings form due to the stick–slip of the advancing TCL and are ascribed to hydrogen-bonding interactions. Ultimate bubble size is dependent on the substrate pore dimensions. The process was simulated using finite-element analysis to elucidate the mechanism associated with subsequent bubble formation. The simulations corroborate well with the experimental results. This stick–slip motion of the advancing TCL provides new insights into the phenomena associated with droplet spreading and wetting, and the ability to control the formation of patterned bubbles will be promising in applications ranging from microfluidics to printing of functional materials and devices based on bubble templates and applications requiring submerged hydrophobic surface.

In nature, biological machines can perform sophisticated and subtle functions to maintain the metabolism of organisms. Inspired from these gorgeous works of nature, scientists have developed various artificial molecular motors and machines. However, selective transport of biomolecules across membrane has remained a great challenge. Here, we establish an ATP transport system by assembling photocontrolled DNA nanomachines into the artificial nanochannels. With alternant light irradiation, these ATP transport lines can selectively shepherd cargoes across the polymer membrane. These findings point to new opportunities for manipulating and improving the mass transportation and separation with light-controlled biomolecular motors, and can be used for other molecules and ions transmembrane transport powered by light.

The undesired segregation of inactive secondary phase that randomly distributed across the perovskite film is detrimental to charge-carrier transport dynamics and light stability. However, in-depth studies for understanding the underlying chemical reaction mechanism and the relationship between phase structural configuration and physical properties are still lacking. Herein, the segregation behavior of the inactive secondary phase and the underlying microcosmic mechanism regarding ionic chemical replacement reaction and lattice reconfiguration process are systematically elaborated. A high-quality perovskite-PbI2heterojunction film is constructed via converting the three-dimensional PbI2photoactive phase into a two-dimensional inactive phase, alleviating the energetic disorder of carrier dynamics and photochemical dissociation. The resultant perovskite solar cells achieve an efficiency of 24.23% with excellent light-resistance. The dissociation energetics of phase dimensional structure is theoretically analyzed. This work provides new insights into crystal structure design for constructing high-quality perovskite heterojunction devices.

Luminescence is an essential signal for many plants, insects, and marine organisms to attract the opposite sex, avoid predators, and so on. Most luminescent living organisms have ingenious optical structures which can help them get high luminescent performances. These remarkable and efficient structures have been formed by natural selection from long‐time evolution. Researchers keenly observed the enhanced luminescence phenomena and studied how these phenomena happen in order to learn the characteristics of bio‐photonics. In this review, we summarize the optical structures for enhancing luminescence and their applications. The structures are classified according to their different functions. We focus on how researchers use these biological inspirations to enhance different luminescence processes, such as chemiluminescence (CL), photoluminescence (PL), and electroluminescence (EL). It lays a foundation for further research on the applications of luminescence enhancement. Furthermore, we give examples of luminescence enhancement by bio‐inspired structures in information encryption, biochemical detection, and light sources. These examples show that it is possible to use bio‐inspired optical structures to solve complex problems in optical applications. Our work will provide guidance for research on biomimetic optics, micro‐ and nano‐optical structures, and enhanced luminescence. Many organisms had formed ingenious optical structures for the efficient emission of light signals in the environment during the long‐term evolution. We summarized detailed examples of bio‐inspired optical structures in enhanced luminescence and presented the applications of these inspirations in information encryption, biochemical detection, and luminescent sources. Our work will provide profound guidance for bio‐inspired optical structures in bio‐photonics, nano‐photonics, and other fields.

Inspired by light/sound trapping in whispering-gallery, a light trapping structure mimicking whispering-gallery (WG) structure is constructed on perovskite active layer for antireflection and light harvesting via simply imprinted process with robust microstructure stamp for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). The WG structured perovskite films can achieve light trapping by optical feedback and gradually absorption. The crystallization and size of perovskite are improved by the imprinting process with robust micro-patterned stamp. Moreover, this method can efficiently accelerate electron-hole separation and suppress recombination by extract tentacles of the arrayed column structure. Consequently, the power conversion efficiency of the whispering-gallery structured PSC is improved to 19.80%, which is ca. 29.4% higher than that of the non-imprinted PSC (15.30%).

The performance of large-area perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is confined to the non-uniformity edge-coating and crystalline defects. Focusing on the critical requirement of large-area uniform and compact crystallized perovskite film for efficient PSCs, here, an inkjet manipulated approach is introduced for controlling the thin-film perovskite growth in a mesoporous solar cell device structure. The ink droplet wetting behavior on mesoporous substrate, the physical properties of solutions have been systematically investigated. Uniform liquid membrane was obtained via precisely controlled micro-droplets by inkjet-printing. Mesoporous substrates guarantee fast and complete coalescence of the precursor droplets, and limit random diffusion of the precursor solution. Homogeneous PbI2film leads to a compact perovskite film with micro-scale crystalline grains, which enables PSCs high power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 18.64% for small area (0.04 cm2) and 17.74% for large area (2.02 cm2). The enhanced performance can be ascribed to improved uniformity of the perovskite film morphology, favorable perovskite crystallite orientation, large grain size (> 2 µm) and less grain boundaries. Inkjet manipulation provides a facile approach to fabricate large-area and high-quality films for future optoelectronics, including field effect transistors, light-emitting diodes, and sensor devices.

Elimination of satellite droplets in inkjet printing has long been desired for high-resolution and precision printing of functional materials and tissues. Generally, the strategy to suppress satellite droplets is to control ink properties, such as viscosity or surface tension, to assist ink filaments in retracting into one drop. However, this strategy brings new restrictions to the ink, such as ink viscosity, surface tension, and concentration. Here, we report an alternative strategy that the satellite droplets are eliminated by enhancing Rayleigh instability of filament at the break point to accelerate pinch-off of the droplet from the nozzle. A superhydrophobic and ultralow adhesive nozzle with cone morphology exhibits the capability to eliminate satellite droplets by cutting the ink filament at breakup point effectively. As a result, the nozzles with different sizes (10–80 μm) are able to print more inks (1 < Z< 38), for which the nozzles are super-ink-phobic and ultralow adhesive, without satellite droplets. The finding presents a new way to remove satellite droplets via designing nozzles with super-ink-phobicity and ultralow adhesion rather than restricting the ink, which has promising applications in printing electronics and biotechnologies.