Search

A bromine‐substituted [2‐(9H‐Carbazol‐9‐yl) ethyl] phosphonic acid, 1Br‐2PACz, is designed as hole‐selective self‐assembled monolayers (SAMs), contributing to an outstanding power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 19.35% for binary bulk‐heterojunction (BHJ) based organic solar cells (OSCs). As compared to the previous high‐performance 2Br‐2PACz SAMs, 1Br‐2PACz molecules can effectively reduce the interaction of the SAM with the BTP‐eC9 nonfullerene acceptors with a decreased binding energy, resulting in the suppressed vertical self‐aggregation of BTP‐eC9 small molecules as the bottom side of PM6:BTP‐eC9 BHJ during the solidification process. There is decreased energetic disorder within photoactive layer together with more efficient charge transfer and suppressed non‐radiative recombination. Furthermore, five additional binary BHJ systems are applied in 1Br‐2PACz SAM‐based OSCs, exhibiting continuously superior performance as compared to the reference cells with conventional PEDOT:PSS hole transport layer. This work underscores the potential of advancing OSCs by fine‐tuning SAMs through halogenation strategies to improve active layer morphology and overall device performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work demonstrates a novel polymerization‐derived polymer electrolyte consisting of methyl methacrylate, lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide and fluoroethylene carbonate. The polymerization of MMA was initiated by the amino compounds following an anionic catalytic mechanism. LiTFSI plays both roles including the initiator and Li ion source in the polymer electrolyte. Normally, lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide has difficulty in initiating the polymerization reaction of methyl methacrylate monomer, a very high concentration of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide is needed for initiating the polymerization. However, the fluoroethylene carbonate additive can work as a supporter to facilitate the degree of dissociation of lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide and increase its initiator capacity due to the high dielectric constant. The as‐prepared poly‐methyl methacrylate‐based polymer electrolyte has a high ionic conductivity (1.19 × 10−3 S cm−1), a wide electrochemical stability window (5 V vs Li+/Li), and a high Li ion transference number (tLi+) of 0.74 at room temperature (RT). Moreover, this polymerization‐derived polymer electrolyte can effectively work as an artificial protective layer on Li metal anode, which enabled the Li symmetric cell to achieve a long‐term cycling performance at 0.2 mAh cm−2 for 2800 h. The LiFePO4 battery with polymerization‐derived polymer electrolyte‐modified Li metal anode shows a capacity retention of 91.17% after 800 cycles at 0.5 C. This work provides a facile and accessible approach to manufacturing poly‐methyl methacrylate‐based polymerization‐derived polymer electrolyte and shows great potential as an interphase in Li metal batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fabricating efficient non‐platinum‐group‐metal catalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in proton‐exchange membrane fuel cells still remains a big challenge. This study creates a unique bamboo‐like architecture of Mn and Fe single atomic sites (SASs) anchored on core‐shell structure of nanopaticles@carbon nanotubes (MnFe SASs/NPs@CNTs) via a precursor route, where the Fe nanoparticles (NPs) (identified as γ‐Fe and Austenite) are confined into CNTs, such an architecture exhibits compelling ORR activity and durability in 0.1 m HClO4. Experiments and calculations both reveal that the electron donor–acceptor paradigm between Mn SASs and Fe NPs launches a lattice‐electron coupling mechanism not only increasing occupation of π‐antibonding orbital in Mn−*O intermediates but also rising Jahn–Teller effect, thereby destabilize the Mn−*O intermediate and eventually facilitate the potential‐limiting step from *O to *OH. Such a coupling activation of the ORR‐inert Mn SASs greatly improves ORR performances of MnFe SASs/NPs@CNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding how reaction heterogeneity impacts cathode materials during Li‐ion battery (LIB) electrochemical cycling is pivotal for unraveling their electrochemical performance. Yet, experimentally verifying these reactions has proven to be a challenge. To address this, we employed scanning μ‐XRD computed tomography to scrutinize Ni‐rich layered LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 (NCM622) and Li‐rich layered Li[Li0.2Ni0.2Mn0.6]O2 (LLNMO). By harnessing machine learning (ML) techniques, we scrutinized an extensive dataset of μ‐XRD patterns, about 100,000 patterns per slice, to unveil the spatial distribution of crystalline structure and microstrain. Our experimental findings unequivocally reveal the distinct behavior of these materials. NCM622 exhibits structural degradation and lattice strain intricately linked to the size of secondary particles. Smaller particles and the surface of larger particles in contact with the carbon/binder matrix experience intensified structural fatigue after long‐term cycling. Conversely, both the surface and bulk of LLNMO particles endure severe strain‐induced structural degradation during high‐voltage cycling, resulting in significant voltage decay and capacity fade. This work holds the potential to fine‐tune the microstructure of advanced layered materials and manipulate composite electrode construction in order to enhance the performance of LIBs and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Image registration is a challenging problem in many clinical tasks, but deep learning has made significant progress in this area over the past few years. Real‐time and robust registration has been made possible by supervised transformation estimation. However, the quality of registrations using this framework depends on the quality of ground truth labels such as displacement field. Purpose: To propose a simple and reliable method for registering medical images based on image structure similarity in a completely unsupervised manner. Methods: We proposed a deep cascade unsupervised deformable registration approach to align images without reliable clinical data labels. Our basic network was composed of a displacement estimation module (ResUnet) and a deformation module (spatial transformer layers). We adopted l2$l_2$‐norm to regularize the deformation field instead of the traditional l1$l_1$‐norm regularization. Additionally, we utilized structural similarity (ssim) estimation during the training stage to enhance the structural consistency between the deformed images and the reference images. Results: Experiments results indicated that by incorporating ssim loss, our cascaded methods not only achieved higher dice score of 0.9873, ssim score of 0.9559, normalized cross‐correlation (NCC) score of 0.9950, and lower relative sum of squared difference (SSD) error of 0.0313 on CT images, but also outperformed the comparative methods on ultrasound dataset. The statistical t$t$‐test results also proved that these improvements of our method have statistical significance. Conclusions: In this study, the promising results based on diverse evaluation metrics have demonstrated that our model is simple and effective in deformable image registration (DIR). The generalization ability of the model was also verified through experiments on liver CT images and cardiac ultrasound images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The erratic, intermittent, and unpredictable nature of sweat production, resulting from physiological or psychological fluctuations, poses intricacies to consistently and accurately sample and evaluate sweat biomarkers. Skin‐interfaced microfluidic devices that rely on colorimetric mechanisms for semi‐quantitative detection are particularly susceptible to these inaccuracies due to variations in sweat secretion rate or instantaneous volume. This work introduces a skin‐interfaced colorimetric bifluidic sweat device with two synchronous channels to quantify sweat rate and biomarkers in real‐time, even during uncertain sweat activities. In the proposed bifluidic‐distance metric approach, with one channel to measure sweat rate and quantify collected sweat volume, the other channel can provide an accurate analysis of the biomarkers based on the collected sweat volume. The closed channel design also reduces evaporation and resists contamination from the external environment. The feasibility of the device is highlighted in a proof‐of‐the‐concept demonstration to analyze sweat chloride for evaluating hydration status and sweat glucose for assessing glucose levels. The low‐cost yet highly accurate device provides opportunities for clinical sweat analysis and disease screening in remote and low‐resource settings. The developed device platform can be facilely adapted for the other biomarkers when corresponding colorimetric reagents are exploited. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgency for cost‐effective, high‐resolution, flexible X‐ray imaging detectors is generating great demand for scintillators with low‐temperature processability, high scintillation yield, and negligible afterglow. X‐ray imaging materials are currently dominated by inorganic scintillators in the form of rigid films and bulk crystals, which have inherent limitations including high‐temperature, complex synthesis, and considerable challenges toward advanced nonplanar imaging. Here, high‐performance and flexible X‐ray scintillators based on novel zero‐dimensional (0D) (BTPP)2MnX4 (BTPP = benzyltriphenylphosphonium; X = Cl, Br) halides are reported. They emit bright green light originating from the 4T1‐6A1 transition of Mn2+ under X‐ray excitation. In particular, (BTPP)2MnBr4 single crystals exhibit excellent air‐ and radiation‐stability, a high scintillation yield of 53 000 photons MeV−1, a low detection limit of 89.9 nGyair s−1, and an ultralow afterglow comparable to commercial Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO) single crystals. Moreover, the (BTPP)2MnCl4@polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) flexible scintillation screens achieve a high spatial resolution of 14.1 lp mm−1 and realize high‐quality imaging results of nonplanar objects. This study demonstrates that the flexible scintillation screens based on low‐dimensional Mn(II) hybrid halides have significant potential for low‐dose and high‐resolution X‐ray imaging applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast and high‐linearity detection of fast neutron is vital for special nuclear material seeking, nuclear accident emergency response, nondestructive neutron imaging, and neutron cancer therapy. Neutron scintillators with fast time resolution and linear energy response are indispensable for precisely acquiring the energy and temporal evolution of fast neutron, but none of the conventional neutron scintillators, whether organic, two‐component or inorganic, have performed well in this regard. To address these challenges, it is urgent to develop novel neutron scintillators. Here, 2D hybrid perovskite single crystals (C4H12N)2PbBr4 (BA2PbBr4) successfully combined with fast response time of 2.66 ns and linear energy response to fast neutrons, γ ray, and α particle, is reported. The rapid response time and linear energy response of 2D hybrid perovskite scintillator originate from intensive states density of lead halide frameworks, which are the key fluorescence emitters under neutron irradiation. This effectively suppresses the ionization quenching effect during the fluorescence process. This work represents a milestone in fast neutron detection, demonstrating a new type of neutron scintillator based on 2D hybrid perovskite single crystals with fast and high‐linearity detection characteristics, having great potential in high precision neutron spectrum measurement and nuclear reaction kinetics monitoring. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Achieving high‐performance in all‐small‐molecule organic solar cells (ASM‐OSCs) significantly relies on precise nanoscale phase separation through domain size manipulation in the active layer. Nonetheless, for ASM‐OSC systems, forging a clear connection between the tuning of domain size and the intricacies of phase separation proves to be a formidable challenge. This study investigates the intricate interplay between domain size adjustment and the creation of optimal phase separation morphology, crucial for ASM‐OSCs' performance. It is demonstrated that exceptional phase separation in ASM‐OSCs' active layer is achieved by meticulously controlling the continuity and uniformity of domains via re‐packing process. A series of halogen‐substituted solvents (Fluorobenzene, Chlorobenzene, Bromobenzene, and Iodobenzene) is adopted to tune the re‐packing kinetics, the ASM‐OSCs treated with CB exhibited an impressive 16.2% power conversion efficiency (PCE). The PCE enhancement can be attributed to the gradual crystallization process, promoting a smoothly interconnected and uniformly distributed domain size. This, in turn, leads to a favorable phase separation morphology, enhanced charge transfer, extended carrier lifetime, and consequently, reduced recombination of free charges. The findings emphasize the pivotal role of re‐packing kinetics in achieving optimal phase separation in ASM‐OSCs, offering valuable insights for designing high‐performance ASM‐OSCs fabrication strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radio‐photovoltaic cell is a micro nuclear battery for devices operating in extreme environments, which converts the decay energy of a radioisotope into electric energy by using a phosphor and a photovoltaic converter. Many phosphors with high light yield and good environmental stability have been developed, but the performance of radio‐photovoltaic cells remains far behind expectations in terms of power density and power conversion efficiency, because of the poor photoelectric conversion efficiency of traditional photovoltaic converters under low‐light conditions. This paper reports an radio‐photovoltaic cell based on an intrinsically stable formamidinium‐cesium perovskite photovoltaic converter exhibiting a wide light wavelength response from 300 to 800 nm, high open‐circuit voltage (VOC), and remarkable efficiency at low‐light intensity. When a He ions accelerator is adopted as a mimicked α radioisotope source with an equivalent activity of 0.83 mCi cm−2, the formamidinium‐cesium perovskite radio‐photovoltaic cell achieves a VOC of 0.498 V, a short‐circuit current (JSC) of 423.94 nA cm−2, and a remarkable power conversion efficiency of 0.886%, which is 6.6 times that of the Si reference radio‐photovoltaic cell, as well as the highest among all radio‐photovoltaic cells reported so far. This work provides a theoretical basis for enhancing the performance of radio‐photovoltaic cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two‐dimensional (2D) layered materials have many potential applications in memristors owing to their unique atomic structures and electronic properties. Memristors can overcome the in‐memory bottleneck for use in brain‐like neuromorphic computing. However, exploiting additional lateral memtransistors based on 2D layered materials remains challenging. There are few studies on p‐type semiconductors that have not been theoretically analyzed. In this study, a lateral memtransistor based on p‐type GeSe nanosheets is investigated. A three‐terminal GeSe memtransistor that modulated the interfacial barrier height was fabricated using low‐energy ion irradiation; the memtransistor exhibited a low operating voltage. The memtransistor successfully mimics biological synapse, including neuroplasticity functions, such as short‐term plasticity, long‐term plasticity, paired‐pulse facilitation, and spike‐timing‐dependent plasticity. The mechanism of interfacial modulation was verified by experimental results and theoretical calculations. The results show that it is feasible to modulate the interface of 2D GeSe nanosheets using low‐energy ion irradiation to realize a lateral memtransistor. This may provide promising opportunities for artificial neuromorphic system applications based on 2D layered materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potassium metal as anode is an ideal material for the assembly of high specific energy batteries. However, safety issues caused by unrestricted dendrite growth and "dead K" generation severely limit their application. Here, based on the concept of waste recycling, a structural engineering strategy (chemical exfoliation and enzyme‐assisted synergistic method) is proposed to prepare oxygen‐containing functionalized porous carbon microbelts (OPCMs) as freestanding K metal hosts. The porous structure, uniformly distribution of carbon nanospheres, and the presence of oxygen‐containing functional groups reduce the energy barrier of K nucleation and promote the deposition kinetics. Benefitting from these advantages of OPCMs, the OPCMs‐based K composite anodes (K‐OPCMs) are free of obvious dendrite growth during the plating process. Symmetric cells assembled with K‐OPCMs maintain a stable overpotential of 40 mV after cycling for more than 800 h at 1 mA cm−2. In addition, the K‐OPCMs//organic cathode (PTCDA) full cell exhibits excellent rate capability (96% capacity retention, 100–2000 mA g−1, which is superior to most reported potassium metal batteries) and ultralong lifespan (97.8 mA h g−1, after 1500 cycles at 2000 mA g−1). This study illustrates the effectiveness of structure‐engineered and provides a guiding insight for achieving high‐performance rechargeable batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

X‐ray photography plays an important role in the fields of medical treatment, security inspection, and non‐destructive testing. The high image quality depends on X‐ray detectors with excellent properties. To meet the future demand for high‐performance scintillation screens, adding a new luminescent center in Cs3Cu2I5 by doping is considered. The successful incorporation of Mn brought a new luminescence peak at 565 nm. Different excitation modalities such as ultraviolet and X‐rays have the ability to tune luminescence. X‐ray can promote the energy transfer efficiency of self‐trapped excitons and non‐radiative intermediate trap states to doping Mn2+ ions. This results in a higher radioluminescence intensity of a radioluminescence light yield of 65 000 Photons MeV−1. Subsequently, a Cs3Cu2I5: Mn scintillation screen is prepared by anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) template. The array channel structure of the AAO template strongly suppresses the internal scintillation light scattering, allowing more scintillation photons to be emitted efficiently. Under the combined effect of Mn‐enhanced radioluminescence properties and AAO template suppressed light scattering, it obtains the lowest detection limit of 49 nGyair s−1. High X‐ray imaging quality has been achieved for circuit boards, beetles, and ball‐point pens and reached a high X‐ray imaging resolution of 11.8 lp mm−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The catalytic performance of metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) in Li‐S batteries is significantly hindered by unsuitable pore size, low conductivity, and large steric contact hindrance between the catalytic site and lithium polysulfide (LPSs). Herein, the smallest π‐conjugated hexaaminobenzene (HAB) as linker and Ni(II) ions as skeletal node are in situ assembled into high crystallinity Ni‐HAB 2D conductive MOFs with dense Ni‐N4 units via dsp2 hybridization on the surface of carbon nanotube (CNT), fabricating Ni‐HAB@CNT as separator modified layer in Li‐S batteries. As‐obtained unique π‐d conjugated Ni‐HAB nanostructure features ordered micropores with suitable pore size (≈8 Å) induced by HAB ligands, which can cooperate with dense Ni‐N4 chemisorption sites to effectively suppress the shuttle effect. Meanwhile, the conversion kinetics of LPSs is significantly accelerated owing to the small steric contact hindrance and increased delocalized electron density endued by the planar tetracoordinate structure. Consequently, the Li‐S battery with Ni‐HAB@CNT modified separator achieves an areal capacity of 6.29 mAh cm−2 at high sulfur loading of 6.5 mg cm−2 under electrolyte/sulfur ratio of 5 µL mg−1. Moreover, Li‐S single‐electrode pouch cells with modified separators deliver a high reversible capacity of 791 mAh g−1 after 50 cycles at 0.1 C with electrolyte/sulfur ratio of 6 µL mg−1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to polymer‐based organic solar cells, all‐small‐molecule organic solar cells (ASM‐OSCs) have garnered significant attention due to their well‐defined chemical structures, lower batch‐to‐batch variation, straightforward synthesis and purification procedures, and easy to modulate properties. Recent developments in small molecule donors have enabled ASM‐OSCs to achieve power conversion efficiencies in excess of 17%, gradually approaching those of polymer‐based devices, and demonstrating considerable potential for commercialization. However, structural and morphological features in the all‐small‐molecule blend films, including crystallization behavior, phase separation, and molecular arrangement, play a crucial role in the photoelectric performance. This review systematically introduces and discusses recent advancements in ASM‐OSCs in terms of design strategies for novel small molecule donors and device engineering. Additionally, the correlation between active layer morphology and structure and device performance is analyzed. Finally, the challenges and prospects of ASM‐OSCs are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly intricate in their multilevel multiscale microarchitecture, metamaterials with unique physical properties are challenging the inherent constraints of natural materials. Their applicability in the nanomedicine field still suffers because nanomedicine requires a maximum size of tens to hundreds of nanometers; however, this size scale has not been achieved in metamaterials. Therefore, "nano‐metamaterials," a novel class of metamaterials, are introduced, which are rationally designed materials with multilevel microarchitectures and both characteristic sizes and whole sizes at the nanoscale, investing in themselves remarkably unique and significantly enhanced material properties as compared with conventional nanomaterials. Microarchitectural regulation through conventional thermodynamic strategy is limited since the thermodynamic process relies on the frequency‐dependent effective temperature, Teff(ω), which limits the architectural regulation freedom degree. Here, a novel dual‐kinetic control strategy is designed to fabricate nano‐metamaterials by freezing a high‐free energy state in a Teff(ω)‐constant system, where two independent dynamic processes, non‐solvent induced block copolymer (BCP) self‐assembly and osmotically driven self‐emulsification, are regulated simultaneously. Fe3+‐"onion‐like core@porous corona" (Fe3+‐OCPCs) nanoparticles (the products) have not only architectural complexity, porous corona and an onion‐like core but also compositional complexity, Fe3+ chelating BCP assemblies. Furthermore, by using Fe3+‐OCPCs as a model material, a microstructure‐biological performance relationship is manifested in nano‐metamaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gases generated from lithium batteries are detrimental to their electrochemical performances, especially under the unguarded runaway conditions, which tend to contribute the sudden gases accumulation (including flammable gases), resulting in safety issues such as explosion and combustion. The comprehensive understanding of battery gas evolution mechanism under different conditions is extremely important, which is conducive to realizing a visual cognition about the complex reaction processes between electrodes and electrolytes, and providing effective strategies to optimize battery performances. This review aims to summarize the recent progress about battery gas evolution mechanism and highlight the gas suppression strategies to improve battery safety. New approaches toward future gas evolution analysis and suppression are also proposed. It is anticipated that this review will inspire further developments of lithium batteries on performance, gas suppression, and safety, especially in high energy density systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Al2O3‐cBN‐hBN self‐lubricating ceramics were synthesized by using a high‐pressure sintering method. The mapping relationships between sintering thermodynamic conditions, component content, and mechanical properties were established using the response surface method. The main factors influencing the mechanical properties are clarified. The formation mechanism of the excellent mechanical properties is explained. It is found that the undesired phase transformation from cBN to soft hBN can be effectively inhibited by using a low‐temperature and high‐pressure sintering process. Sintering temperatures improve the relative densities and elastic modulus of self‐lubricating ceramic but have little effect on the hardness and fracture toughness. cBN content is the main factor affecting the mechanical properties of the composites. The microcracks developed during the high‐pressure sintering process contribute to the fracture toughness of the composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, a multifunctional binder with self‐healing, flame retardant, high conductivity, and abundant polar groups is prepared by the free radical polymerization method and applied to lithium–sulfur (Li‐S) batteries to achieve high safety and exceptional electrochemical performance. The self‐healing characteristic of binder induced by intermolecular hydrogen bonds and SS dynamic covalent bonds can repair volume expansion cracks. The polar groups and excellent conductivity endue binder with strong chemisorption on polysulfides and fast charge transportation, which can effectively inhibit the shuttle effect and accelerate polysulfides redox kinetics. More important, the considerable flame retardant performance of binder can improve the safety of the LiS batteries. As a result, the LiS cells using FHCP binder deliver an outstanding cycle stability of a high‐capacity retention rate of 85% after 100 cycles at 0.2 C, and a high reversible area specific capacity of 5.25 mAh cm–2 at a sulfur loading of 4.72 mg cm–2 and a correspondingly lean electrolyte condition (E/S ratio = 6 µL mg–1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensitive and fast detection of neutrons and gamma rays is vital for homeland security, high‐energy physics, and proton therapy. Fast‐neutron detectors rely on light organic scintillators, and γ‐ray detectors use heavy inorganic scintillators and semiconductors. Efficient mixed‐field detection using a single material is highly challenging due to their contradictory requirements. Here we report hybrid perovskites (C8H12N)2Pb(Br1−xClx)4 that combine light organic cations and heavy inorganic skeletons at a molecular level to achieve unprecedented performance for mixed‐field radiation detection. High neutron absorption due to a high density of hydrogen, strong radiative recombination within the highly confined [PbX6]4− layer, and sub‐nanometer distance between absorption sites and radiative centers, enable a light yield of 41 000 photons/MeV, detection pulse width of 2.97 ns and extraordinary linearity response toward both fast neutrons and γ‐rays, outperforming commonly used fast‐neutron scintillators. Neutron energy spectrum, time‐of‐flight based fast‐neutron/γ‐ray discrimination and neutron yield monitoring were all successfully achieved using (C8H12N)2Pb(Br0.95Cl0.05)4 detectors. We further demonstrate the monitoring of reaction kinetics and total power of a nuclear fusion reaction. We envision that molecular hybridized scintillators open a new avenue for mixed‐field radiation detection and imaging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The heterogeneity in biofilms is a major challenge in biofilm therapies due to different susceptibility of bacteria and extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) to antibacterial agents. Here, we describe a therapeutic strategy that overcame biofilm heterogeneity, where antibacterial agent (NO) and EPS dispersant (reactive oxygen species (ROS)‐inducing Fe3+) were separately loaded in the yolk and shell compartment of a yolk–shell nanoplatform. Compared with traditional combinational chemotherapies which suffer from inconsistent pharmacokinetics profiles, this strategy drew on the pharmacokinetic complementarity of ROS and NO, where ROS with a short diffusion distance and a high redox potential corrupted the EPS, facilitating NO, which has a long diffusion distance and a broad antimicrobial spectrum, to penetrate the biofilm and eliminate the resident bacteria. Additionally, the construction of a three‐dimensional spherical biofilm model is novel and clinically relevant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The practical applications of skin‐interfaced sensors and devices in daily life hinge on the rational design of surface wettability to maintain device integrity and achieve improved sensing performance under complex hydrated conditions. Various bioinspired strategies have been implemented to engineer desired surface wettability for varying hydrated conditions. Although the bodily fluids can negatively affect the device performance, they also provide a rich reservoir of health‐relevant information and sustained energy for next‐generation stretchable self‐powered devices. As a result, the design and manipulation of the surface wettability are critical to effectively control the liquid behavior on the device surface for enhanced performance. The sensors and devices with engineered surface wettability can collect and analyze health biomarkers while being minimally affected by bodily fluids or ambient humid environments. The energy harvesters also benefit from surface wettability design to achieve enhanced performance for powering on‐body electronics. This review first summarizes the commonly used approaches to tune the surface wettability for target applications toward skin‐interfaced sensors and devices. By considering the existing challenges, one also discusses the opportunities as a small fraction of potential future developments, which can lead to a new class of skin‐interfaced devices for use in digital health and personalized medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron, nitrogen‐codoped carbon (Fe−N−C) nanocomposites have emerged as viable electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) due to the formation of FeNxCy coordination moieties. In this study, results from first‐principles calculations show a nearly linear correlation of the energy barriers of key reaction steps with the Fe magnetic moment. Experimentally, when single Cu sites are incorporated into Fe−N−C aerogels (denoted as NCAG/Fe−Cu), the Fe centers exhibit a reduced magnetic moment and markedly enhanced ORR activity within a wide pH range of 0–14. With the NCAG/Fe−Cu nanocomposites used as the cathode catalyst in a neutral/quasi‐solid aluminum–air and alkaline/quasi‐solid zinc–air battery, both achieve a remarkable performance with an ultrahigh open‐circuit voltage of 2.00 and 1.51 V, large power density of 130 and 186 mW cm−2, and good mechanical flexibility, all markedly better than those with commercial Pt/C or Pt/C‐RuO2 catalysts at the cathode. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fast neutron detection is significant for neutron imaging and flux monitoring but cannot be directly achieved by inorganic semiconductors. The traditional detection is mainly mediated by an organic scintillator and a coupled photodetector, resulting in signal losses. Here, a direct detection method for fast neutrons is demonstrated based on organic semiconducting single crystals (OSSCs) detectors. Methyl 4‐hydroxybenzoate (4MHB, C6H5O‐COOCH3) and 4‐hydroxycyanobenzene (4HCB, C6H5O‐CN). The organic semiconductor acts as a fast neutron sensitive material due to its high hydrogen density, simultaneously as a semiconductor that generates the electric signal. The detectors based on 4MHB crystals can quantitatively measure the dose and energy of the fast neutron flux with a response time of 0.5 µs and detection efficiency of 78.5% cm−3. Effects of functional groups on fast neutron detection performances are also investigated as a guideline to synthesis new molecules for this purpose. Furthermore, neutron radiation effects on these detectors are investigated. Hydrogen‐related point defects are generated by fast neutrons, but device performances remain robust after irradiation of 1013 n cm−2 fast neutrons. This study demonstrates that OSSCs show great potential as direct fast neutron detectors and particularly have highly‐localized and tissue‐equivalent properties that benefit neutron imaging and cancer therapy applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In situ synchrotron small‐angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS) is a powerful tool for studying dynamic processes during material preparation and application. The processing and analysis of large data sets generated from in situ X‐ray scattering experiments are often tedious and time consuming. However, data processing software for in situ experiments is relatively rare, especially for grazing‐incidence small‐angle X‐ray scattering (GISAXS). This article presents an open‐source software suite (SGTools) to perform data processing and analysis for SAXS and GISAXS experiments. The processing modules in this software include (i) raw data calibration and background correction; (ii) data reduction by multiple methods; (iii) animation generation and intensity mapping for in situ X‐ray scattering experiments; and (iv) further data analysis for the sample with an order degree and interface correlation. This article provides the main features and framework of SGTools. The workflow of the software is also elucidated to allow users to develop new features. Three examples are demonstrated to illustrate the use of SGTools for dealing with SAXS and GISAXS data. Finally, the limitations and future features of the software are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the crystal anisotropy effect of materials on optical and electrical properties is crucial for further comprehension of the device operating mechanism and device performance improvement. In this study, a detailed theoretical analysis is performed to explore the crystal anisotropy effect on the performance of perovskite solar cells by employing state‐of‐the‐art multiscale simulations connecting from the material (first‐principle theory) to the device (drift‐diffusion model). According to the results obtained from first‐principle calculation, the mobility and absorption coefficient of CsPbIBr2 and CsPbI2Br along the [001] orientation are larger than those along the [100] orientation, suggesting that the transport properties and optical properties along the [001] orientation are superior to those along the [100] orientation. According to the results obtained from the drift‐diffusion model, owing to the superior optical and transport characters along the [001] direction, the optimal power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of CsPbI2Br (18.88%) and CsPbIBr2 (16.42%) solar cells can be obtained. In addition, the two‐terminal CsPbIxBr3‐x/silicon tandem solar cell is also investigated. By utilizing CsPbIBr2/silicon and CsPbI2Br/silicon tandem structures along the [001] orientation, ultrahigh efficiencies are achieved up to 26.32% and 31.39%, respectively. Therefore, the [001] crystal orientation of CsPbIBr2 and CsPbI2Br is more suitable for further applications of optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Radio‐photoluminescence (RPL) materials display a distinct radiation‐induced permanent luminescence center, and therefore find application in the detection of ionizing radiation. The current inventory of RPL materials, which were discovered by serendipity, has been limited to a small number of metal‐ion‐doped inorganic materials. Here we document the RPL of a metal–organic framework (MOF) for the first time: X‐ray induced free radicals are accumulated on the organic linker and are subsequently stabilized in the conjugated fragment in the structure, while the metal center acts as the X‐ray attenuator. These radicals afford new emission features in both UV‐excited and X‐ray excited luminescence spectra, making it possible to establish linear relationships between the radiation dose and the normalized intensity of the new emission feature. The MOF‐based RPL materials exhibit advantages in terms of the dose detection range, reusability, emission stability, and energy threshold. Based on a comprehensive electronic structure and energy diagram study, the rational design and a substantial expansion of candidate RPL materials can be anticipated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A thorough study of 14.9 MeV neutron irradiation effects on Ni/GaN Schottky contacts is reported. The electrical characteristics and low‐frequency noise (LFN) spectra of the irradiated devices are measured and analyzed. The fast neutron irradiation shows an obvious carrier removal effect on the n−‐GaN with a carrier removal rate of ≈5.5 cm−1, resulting in significantly decreased forward currents of the irradiated devices. The irradiation also increases the inhomogeneity of the Schottky barrier by creating extra trap states at the Ni/GaN interface, according to the temperature–dependent current–voltage (I–V–T) measurements. The LFN analysis reveals an appearance of Lorentzian noise in the irradiated devices, suggesting that one dominant type of trap states located at around 0.52 eV below the conduction band is generated by the 14.9 MeV fast neutron irradiation in the Ni/GaN Schottky contacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Controllable and repeatable crystal imperfection modulation engineering (CIME) is important for the development of semiconductor science and technology. However, for wide band gap semiconductors (WBGSs), there still lacks universal and reliable CIME. Here, based on the general idea of chemical composition complete expression design, a well‐designed, repeatable, and feasible CIME for ZnO is introduced, making free modulation of carrier in WBGS become possible. Briefly, this extraordinary CIME is dominated by two innovative procedures: an electrochemical doping and a strong oxidizing atmosphere annealing. The proposed CIME is a repeatable and universal carrier modulation project, which holds technological promise for various WBGS‐based semiconductor devices. Benefiting from this CIME, an α particle detector which operating at a high electric field of 107 V cm−1 can be fabricated successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ceramics typically have very high hardness, but suffer from poor toughness. Here, we use graphene to enhance the toughness of bulk boron carbide ceramics. The reduced graphene oxide (rGO) platelets are homogenously dispersed with boron carbide particles after sintering at 1350°C, under high pressure of 4.5 GPa with a multi-anvil apparatus. Fracture toughness of the composites is increased ~131% (from ~3.79 to ~8.76 MPa·m1/2) at 1.5 vol% rGO platelets as a result of a toughing effect of graphene along with a little sacrificing of the hardness and elastic modulus, compared with those of pure boron carbide. The remarkably enhanced fracture toughness in the boron carbide ceramics is associated with graphene sheets crack bridging and graphene interface sliding effect. This study holds much significance for the understanding and development of high-performance graphene reinforcing ceramics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sensitive and fast detection of neutrons and gamma rays is vital for homeland security, high‐energy physics and proton therapy. However, efficient mixed‐field detection using a single material is highly challenging because fast‐neutron detectors rely on light organic scintillators, and γ‐ray detectors use heavy inorganic scintillators and semiconductors. In the cover, the authors (DOI: 10.1002/inf2.12325) illustrate organic‐inorganic hybrid perovskites that combine light organic cations and heavy inorganic skeletons at a molecular level to achieve unprecedented performance for mixed‐field radiation detection, so as to obtain the time information and energy information of the nuclear reaction process accurately. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

O2‐type layered oxides have emerged as promising cathode materials for high‐energy lithium‐ion batteries, offering a solution to mitigate voltage decay through reversible transition metal (TM) migration between TM and Li layers during cycling. However, achieving a fully reversible oxygen redox remains a significant challenge. Here, this is addressed by introducing Li─O─Li configurations in the layered structure of Li0.85□0.15[Li0.08□0.04Ni0.22Mn0.66]O2 (O2‐LLNMO), where □ represents vacancies. This adjustment alters the redox‐active oxygen environment and increases the energy gap between the O 2p nonbonding and TM─O antibonding bands. As a result, the contribution of lattice oxygen to capacity is significantly enhanced, improving the reversibility of oxygen redox processes. The O2‐LLNMO cathode demonstrates minimal voltage decay (0.13 mV per cycle) and excellent cycling stability, retaining 95.8% of its capacity after 100 cycles. A novel strategy is presented to design high‐performance layered oxides with stable anionic redox activity, advancing the development of next‐generation lithium‐ion batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An effective concept of using entropy increase to regulate the nanoscale solvation structure has been proposed to enhance the cycle performance of anode‐free lithium metal batteries (AFLMBs). It includes two mainstream types: entropy increase driven by multiple salts or solvents. However, most current research is based on low‐loading cathodes and mAh‐level battery systems. The relationship between the increase in entropy and practical battery with different high‐loading cathodes and Ah‐levels is seldom reported. In this paper, two mainstream methods of entropy increase are compared, and the relationship of their kinetics parameters, solid electrolyte interphase formation, and cycling performances are studied. It is found that the entropy increases driven by multiple‐solvents are more favorable to the pouch cell with high‐loading cathode and lean electrolytes. The coin cell consists of a copper current collector and a high‐loading cathode (10.5 mg cm−2) performs 40 cycles at discharge rates of 0.5 C, while the cell with a conventional ester electrolyte only last 10 cycles. A large‐capacity pouch cell (4 Ah), with a high‐loading cathode (7.6 mAh cm−2, single side) and lean electrolyte of 1.3 g Ah−1, achieves 500 Wh kg−1 and 20 cycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gallium Oxide (Ga2O3) devices have shown great potential for radiation detection. However, developing Ga2O3 detectors for pulsed radiation monitoring is still challenging, which requires high response sensitivity (R), low noise, high time resolution, and linear outputs. Herein, a vertical p‐NiO/β‐Ga2O3 heterojunction diode (HJD) is fabricated and its performance in X‐ray detection is analyzed. Benefiting from the high quality of the p‐n heterojunction, the HJD exhibits a low‐leakage current density of less than 1.73 × 10−7 A cm−2 at 100 V and features a high R of 7.92 μC Gy−1 cm−2, a low noise equivalent dose rate of 9.14 × 10−12 Gy−1 Hz−0.5 at an X‐ray dose rate of 0.383 Gy s−1, and good linear outputs to X‐ray dose rates from 0.0383 to 1.149 Gy s−1. The conductive process of the HJD detector is dominated by the tunneling mechanism, which leads to a longer response time associated with the trapping and releasing process of the deep‐level traps under the continuous X‐ray illumination. However, the pulsed X‐ray response property shows no significant influence from the slow trapping/releasing process of the traps. As a result, pulsed X‐ray radiation detection with a 50 ns full width is achieved, and the time resolution of the detector is characterized to be 3.31 ns by a 20 ps laser source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Succinonitrile (SCN) based plastic crystal electrolytes (SPCEs) have attracted much attention for lithium metal batteries due to their considerable ionic conductivity and thermal stability. Insufficient mechanical properties, weak reductive stability, and the presence of free SCN molecules can result in adverse interfacial reactions. Polymer introduction has been explored to address these challenges. However, the introduction of polymer affects the SCN state, leading to reduced ionic conductivity, potentially due to limited segmental motion of the polymer at room temperature. Herein, a cross‐linked network polymer strategy is proposed to modify the Li‐ion transport pathway in SPCE, aiming to significantly improve the ionic conductivity. The strong interaction between the polymer matrix and SCN enhances their mutual solubility, reduces the crystallinity of SCN, and forms a rapid conduction pathway (polymer—[SCN—Li+]). The ionic conductivity of SPCE increases to 1.28 mS cm−1, with the Li‐ion migration number (tLi+ ) also rising to 0.7. Electrochemical performances in Li symmetrical, Li||LiFePO4 and Li||LiNi0.8Co0.1Mn0.1O2 cells show significant improvement at both room temperature and 0 °C. These findings suggest that designing polymer network structures in SPCEs holds promise for solid‐state lithium metal battery applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing interfacial adhesion between functional coatings and target surfaces facilitates long‐term stable service by mitigating interferences of mechanical mismatches. Design of mechanical interlocks affords an effective strategy to strengthen the interfacial bonding with durability and compatibility, but the in‐depth investigations are still lacked. Herein, a gecko‐inspired hierarchical strategy realized by hybrid laser direct writing is proposed, which incorporates an armored frame scale for surface protection and a riveted anchor scale for interlocks. Such dual‐scale configurations endow the functional coatings with the stronger adhesion to the targets than the pristine and mono‐scale cases, resulting in 2 orders of magnitude enhancement resistant to tape peeling tests. Utilizing this scheme, a laser‐induced integrated deicing system is in situ manufactured on thermoplastics, primarily comprising superhydrophobic structures, carbon‐based sensors as well as adhesive copper (Cu) interconnects and heaters, where Cu‐based devices exhibit superior resistance to water impacts and stress fatigue. Interfacing with signal processing modules, such an all‐in‐one system demonstrates real‐time temperature monitoring and high efficiency in deicing (4.24 folds faster than the control group). The facile route for intensified adhesion holds promise in the interfaces within advanced equipment and under harsh scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High‐loading electrode is a prerequisite for achieving high energy density in industrial applications of lithium‐ion batteries. However, an increased loading leads to elevated battery polarization and reduced battery power density, which presents a significant technical bottleneck in the industry. The present study focuses on designing a rapid electrolyte diffusion pathway to diminish lithium concentration polarization for the high‐loading LiNi0.83Mn0.12Co0.05O2 (NMC83) electrode by employing two layers of NMC83 materials with different sizes. This innovative architecture demonstrates exceptional rate performance even under challenging conditions with high‐loading and high‐rate. Additionally, the interrelationships between electrode structure, process route, porosity, and optimal thickness ratio between layers are discussed, providing valuable guidance for industrial promotion and application. The designed L‐Dry‐S electrode structure (coating large particles first and then small particles) effectively mitigates concentration polarization in the thick electrode, which is attributed to the fast electrolyte diffusion channel and the differential reaction speeds of NMC83 particles with varying sizes. The knowledge from this work is broadly applicable to other material systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Defect engineering is an effective strategy for regulating the electrocatalysis of nanomaterials, yet it is seldom considered for modulating Pt‐based electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). In this study, we designed Ni‐doped vacancy‐rich Pt nanoparticles anchored on nitrogen‐doped graphene (Vac‐NiPt NPs/NG) with a low Pt loading of 3.5 wt . % and a Ni/Pt ratio of 0.038 : 1. Physical characterizations confirmed the presence of abundant atomic‐scale vacancies in the Pt NPs induces long‐range lattice distortions, and the Ni dopant generates a ligand effect resulting in electronic transfer from Ni to Pt. Experimental results and theoretical calculations indicated that atomic‐scale vacancies mainly contributed the tolerance performances towards CO and CH3OH, the ligand effect derived from a tiny of Ni dopant accelerated the transformation from *O to *OH species, thereby improved the ORR activity without compromising the tolerance capabilities. Benefiting from the synergistic interplay between atomic‐scale vacancies and ligand effect, as‐prepared Vac‐NiPt NPs/NG exhibited improved ORR activity, sufficient tolerance capabilities, and excellent durability. This study offers a new avenue for modulating the electrocatalytic activity of metal‐based nanomaterials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights The development of materials with excellent impact resistance is essential for safety protection. Polyurethane elastomer (PUE) is widely used in impact protection; however, it has low dynamic compressive strength and poor energy absorption efficiency under high‐speed impact, limiting its in‐depth application in the protection field. Herein, an organic montmorillonite (MMT) with interlayer anchored polymer chains, named M@NH3+, was synthesized via the dual modification of MMT involving surface grafting and cation intercalation by macromolecular amino silane, which was used to enhance the impact resistance of PUE. Based on the uniform dispersion of M@NH3+ within the PUE matrix, the strong bonding at the polymer‐filler interface and the synergistic action between M@NH3+ lamellae, PUE‐M@NH3+ composite exhibited excellent mechanical properties and energy absorption capacity. Compared with pure PUE, the elastic modulus (+98.3%), static compressive strength (+37.0%), dynamic compressive strength (+35.4%) and impact energy absorption (+50.8%) of PUE‐2wt%M@NH3+ were significantly improved, which shows that it has potential applications in the field of high‐speed impact protection. Organic MMT with interlayer anchored polymer chains was prepared. The large interlayer spacing of M@NH3+ facilitates its dispersion within the matrix. The interconnected M@NH3+ lamellae can collaboratively disperse impact stress. The impact energy absorption of PUE composite has been remarkably improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of ultrafast scintillators is critical to the GHz X‐ray and time‐of‐flight (TOF) imaging techniques. Low‐dimensional silver‐based halides have emerged as promising candidates due to high radioluminescence efficiency and ultrafast decay time. However, the ultrafast scintillation mechanism in silver‐based halides, such as Rb2AgBr3 (RAB), remains controversial. Here, the study reveals the origin of ultrafast scintillation timing response in melt‐grown RAB bulk crystals. The RAB shows light‐yellow emission with a photoluminescence quantum yield (PLQY) of 13.9%. Under the picosecond (ps) pulse X‐ray irradiation, RAB has an ultrafast decay time of 3.2 ns that accounts for 40.5% of the total emitted light. The light yield is estimated as 3100 photons MeV−1 under 22Na irradiation. Based on the temperature‐dependent radioluminescence (RL) spectroscopy, electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy, and spectrally resolved thermally‐stimulated luminescence (TSL) glow curves, it is confirmed that the bromine vacancy as the F‐center is the origin of the ultrafast scintillation component. These findings provide elaborated and fundamental insights into the ultrafast luminescent mechanisms of low‐dimensional silver‐based halides, thereby opening up new design horizons in the development of ultrafast scintillators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perovskite/copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) tandem solar cells represent an attractive configuration to obtain ultrahigh efficiency. A detailed theoretical analysis is crucial for further improving the performance of tandem solar cells. Herein, four‐terminal and two‐terminal perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells are intensively researched. For four‐terminal perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cell, the optimal thicknesses of CH3NH3PbI3 and CIGS are 0.5 and 3 μm, respectively, according to the simulation result. Reducing the thickness of TiO2 and Spiro‐OMeTAD can minimize the short‐wavelength parasitic absorption and long‐wavelength parasitic absorption, respectively. Meanwhile, using antireflection coating, such as 100 nm MgF2, is beneficial to increase the photon absorption. For two‐terminal perovskite/CIGS tandem solar cells, the thicknesses of perovskite and CIGS are tuned to meet the current matching. To further improve the efficiency of two‐terminal tandem cells, FTO thickness is reduced to minimize reflection, and the optimal doping concentration of CIGS (1 × 1018 cm−3) is used. In addition, results show that the quality of perovskite films should be improved by enlarging the grain size to decrease the trap states at grain boundary. Finally, the optimal efficiency of two‐terminal CH3NH3PbI2Br/CIGS tandem solar cells reaches 31.13%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing interests of stretchable strain sensors due to their important applications in skin electronics, soft robotics, and wearable systems require the capability of detecting subtle strain and large stretched deformation, but this remains a challenge. A new strategy based on a simple bridge‐like structure design, replacing previous sophisticated mechanics designs or advanced low‐dimension materials (carbon‐nanotubes, graphene, metal nanowires etc.), is demonstrated to disperse the applied strain effectively and prevent the conductive layer from unexpected destruction; thus the obtained graphite sensor increases its stretchability up to 123% while maintaining its high gauge factors more than 1000. This strain isolation effect as the underlying mechanism is verified by both experiments and numerical simulations. Furthermore, a biaxial bridge strain sensor with reconstructed crack‐network, fabricated by a simple multistep prestretching method, shows an isotropic strain sensing behavior that has potential applications on detecting complex human motions. The proposed strategy can be easily extended to other conductive materials and stretchable substrates, which can thus serve as a new facile yet efficient way for high‐performance wearable electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cover page for the February 2018 issue, Vol. 4 and issue No. 2 of the journal "Advanced Electronic Materials" is presented.