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Zinc ion batteries have been extensively studied with an aqueous electrolyte system. However, the batteries suffer from a limited potential window, gas evolution, cathode dissolution, and dendrite formation on the anode. Considering these limitations, we developed an alternative electrolyte system based on deep eutectic solvents (DESs) because of their low cost, high stability, biodegradability, and non-flammability, making them optimal candidates for sustainable batteries. The DES electrolyte enables reversible Zn plating/stripping and effectively suppresses zinc dendrite formation. Furthermore, in-depth characterizations reveal that the energy storage mechanism can be attributed to [ZnCl]

Background Redirection of natural killer (NK) cells with chimeric antigen receptors (CAR) is attractive in developing off-the-shelf CAR therapeutics for cancer treatment. However, the site-specific integration of a CAR gene into NK cells remains challenging. Methods In the present study, we genetically modified human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) with a zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology to introduce a cDNA encoding an anti-EpCAM CAR into the adeno-associated virus integration site 1, a “safe harbour” for transgene insertion into human genome, and next differentiated the modified iPSCs into CAR-expressing iNK cells. Results We detected the targeted integration in 4 out of 5 selected iPSC clones, 3 of which were biallelically modified. Southern blotting analysis revealed no random integration events. iNK cells were successfully derived from the modified iPSCs with a 47-day protocol, which were morphologically similar to peripheral blood NK cells, displayed NK phenotype (CD56+CD3-), and expressed NK receptors. The CAR expression of the iPSC-derived NK cells was confirmed with RT-PCR and flow cytometry analysis. In vitro cytotoxicity assay further confirmed their lytic activity against NK cell-resistant, EpCAM-positive cancer cells, but not to EpCAM-positive normal cells, demonstrating the retained tolerability of the CAR-iNK cells towards normal cells. Conclusion Looking ahead, the modified iPSCs generated in the current study hold a great potential as a practically unlimited source to generate anti-EpCAM CAR iNK cells.

Two-dimensional Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs), have now attracted much attention due to their unique layered structure and physical properties. Up to date, several studies have demonstrated monolayered and few-layered TMDC-based photodetectors with good stability, photo-switching time and broadband detectivity from UV to infrared light region. However, the reported responsivity is not as high as the theoretical expectation, indicating that the light absorption is limited by the atomic thickness of 2D-TMDCs and could still be improved. To overcome the drawback of low absorption in 2D TMDC materials, previous reports have revealed several strategies to enhance the electric field and light-harvesting in these atomically thin TMDC layers by hybridizing plasmonic noble-metal nanoparticles, such as Pt, Au and Ag, to facilitate the light-matter interaction at the surface of semiconductors. In this regard, we aim to combine highly absorptive CuInS2(CIS) nanocrystals with noble metal nanoparticles as the photosensitizer to enhance the intrinsic absorptivity and promote the performance of MoS2-based photodetectors. The interests of noble nanocrystals such as platinum and gold are featured for their distinctive properties of the carrier transportation and the storage when combined with semiconductor materials. The strategy described here acts as a perspective to significantly improve the performance of MoS2-based photodetectors with outstanding detection responsivity with selectable wavelengths by further controlling the size and material of the decorated CIS nanocrystals. In addition to optical sensing, TMDCs have also been developed as a promising candidate for gas-molecule detection. Different from commercial metal oxide gas sensors, TMDCs as sensing materials can be operated at room temperature with good performance, increasing its reliability for future industrial applications. Nevertheless, the relatively low response and long response/recovery time are the main drawbacks of these promising devices. Therefore, we proposed the approach to successfully increase the surface area of TMDCs by a one-step synthesis from WO3 into three-dimensional (3D) WS2 nanowalls through a rapid heating and rapid cooling process. Moreover, the combination of CdS/ZnS or CdSe/ZnS core/shell quantum dots (QDs) with different emission wavelengths and WS2 nanowalls will further improve the performance of WS2-based photodetector devices, including 3.5~4.7 times photocurrent enhancement and shorter response time. The remarkable results of the QD-WS2 hybrid devices to the high non-radiative energy transfer (NRET) efficiency between QDs and our nanostructured material are caused by the spectral overlap between the emission of QDs as the donors and the absorption of WS2 as the acceptors. Additionally, the outstanding NO2 gas-sensing properties of QDs/WS2 devices were demonstrated with a remarkably low detection limit down to 50 ppb with a fast response time of 26.8 s, contributed by tremendous local p-n junctions generated from p-type WS2 nanowalls and n-type CdSe-ZnS QDs in this hybrid system. Our strategies to combine 0D nanoparticles or quantum dots and 2D TMDC materials can significantly enhance the optical sensing and gas molecule sensing properties compared to pristine TMDC-based devices, resulting from the efficient charge or energy transfer between the multi-dimension material system and the creation of local p-n junctions. Moreover, the scalability of these hybrid nanostructures allows our devices to exhibit much more possibilities in advanced multifunctional applications.

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) have been made in improving the NRR for the significant effort in catalytic activity due to its unique crystal structures, electronic properties, and promising nonprecious catalysts. However, many studies have provided solutions to activate the inert basal plane with low improvement. With highly asymmetric configuration, Janus monolayer with intrinsic strain and electric field can enable a way to tune the activity in TMDs-based catalysts. Although the first successful experimental synthesis of Janus structure (MoSSe) has gained significant interest and become a fast-growing TMDs-based material, the structure remains limited in the low dimensional and hard to expose the edges site to enhance the catalytic activity. Besides the common benefits of 2D TMDs, such as high surface area, short carrier migration distance, and tunable electronic structure. In this regard, the inherent structural asymmetry of Janus WSSe nanowalls as a new means to enhance the NRR activity was investigated. Janus TMDs nanowalls as the catalyst by taking advantage of its introduction of in-gap states with a shift in the Fermi level in nitrogen adsorbed system because of Janus asymmetry from the origin of stimulating NRR activity. Raman spectra showthe related main modes for WSSe Janus structure as shown in Fig. 1a, for which peaks at 271 and 333 nm can be found, respectively. The linear sweep voltammetric (LSV) curves of the catalysts as shown in Fig. 1b confirm the onset potential of the NRR, which increases with the different materials. Janus WSSe Janus nanowalls exhibit outstanding NRR performance over its parent materials (WS2 and WSe2). The results should propose a new path to design high performance and a novel structure for Janus TMD-based catalysts. Fig1. (a) Evolution of Raman spectra in the WSSe nanowalls as a function of chemical composition (b) LSV curves for WS2, WSe2, WS2-XSe2-2X alloy, and WSSe Janus nanowalls Figure 1

A suitable electrocatalyst plays an essential role in room-temperature Na–S (RT/Na–S) batteries owing to the more severe dissolution of polysulfides and sluggish kinetics of the conversion of polysulfides during charging and discharging processes. In this study, a novel MoS2/MoN heterostructure synthesized via NH3 annealing was introduced as an electrocatalyst into RT/Na–S batteries to promote the evolution of polysulfides in the catholyte with an initial specific capacity of 703 mA h g–1 and retains 392 mA h g–1 after 300 cycles. The density-functional theory (DFT) calculations, ex-situ XPS and Raman spectra were utilized to reveal moderate anchoring and the fast redox kinetics of polysulfides, significantly enhancing the cycling performance and electrochemical performance of the RT-Na/S batteries when compared with those of the RT-Na/S batteries containing pure MoS2 or MoN as the catalyst. The work provides a new strategy for guiding the design of high‐performance catalysts with manipulated chemical components and optimized adsorption ability.