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A [Si4S10] supertetrahedra containing infrared nonlinear optical material, Rb2CdSi4S10, with a wide band gap (4.23 eV), high LIDT (5 × AgGaS2), and moderate SHG response (0.6 × AgGaS2) is designed and fabricated using a flux method.

l-methionine sulfoxide (Met(O)–OH) as a CPA for cell cryopreservation.

RuCu NFs was synthesized by a facile solvothermal method, showing outstanding HER activity with the low overpotential of 55 mV at 10 mA cm−2.

Anisotropic and super-strong conductive hydrogels were prepared by mechanical stretching combined with the Hofmeister effect. Anisotropic hydrogels exhibit anisotropic mechanical and electrochemical properties.

Although hydrogel-based patches have shown promising therapeutic efficacy in myocardial infarction (MI), synergistic mechanical, electrical, and biological cues are required to restore cardiac electrical conduction and diastolic-systolic function. Here, an injectable mechanical-electrical coupling hydrogel patch (MEHP) is developed via dynamic covalent/noncovalent cross-linking, appropriate for cell encapsulation and minimally invasive implantation into the pericardial cavity. Pericardial fixation and hydrogel self-adhesiveness properties enable the MEHP to highly compliant interfacial coupling with cyclically deformed myocardium. The self-adaptive MEHP inhibits ventricular dilation while assisting cardiac pulsatile function. The MEHP with the electrical conductivity and sensitivity to match myocardial tissue improves electrical connectivity between healthy and infarcted areas and increases electrical conduction velocity and synchronization. Overall, the MEHP combined with cell therapy effectively prevents ventricular fibrosis and remodeling, promotes neovascularization, and restores electrical propagation and synchronized pulsation, facilitating the clinical translation of cardiac tissue engineering.

Li Q., Song S., Li J., et al. Antibacterial Properties and Biocompatibility of Hydroxyapatite Coating Doped with Various Cu Contents on Titanium. Materials Transactions 63, 1072 (2022); https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-M2021245., To explore the effect of copper content in a copper-doped hydroxyapatite coating (CuHAp) on its antibacterial activity and biocompatibility, a layer of CuHAp was deposited on the surface of pure Ti using an electrochemical deposition method. An orthogonal experiment was used to determine the Cu content in the coating by varying the concentration of Cu2+ in the electrolyte. The antibacterial properties and biocompatibility of the CuHAp coatings were also evaluated. The antibacterial effect increased with increasing Cu content in the sample. When the content of Cu in the coating was 1.57%, the deposited CuHAp coating exhibited excellent biocompatibility, and the number of living cells after culturing was significantly higher than that for the HAp coating. When the content of Cu increased to 6.85%, the coating exhibited cytotoxicity. Thus, the CuHAp sample with a Cu content of 1.57% exhibited good antibacterial and biocompatibility, and thus could be a suitable material for use in biomedical applications.

Crystallization plays a critical role in determining crystal size, purity and morphology. Therefore, uncovering the growth dynamics of nanoparticles (NPs) atomically is important for the controllable fabrication of nanocrystals with desired geometry and properties. Herein, we conducted in situ atomic-scale observations on the growth of Au nanorods (NRs) by particle attachment within an aberration-corrected transmission electron microscope (AC-TEM). The results show that the attachment of spherical colloidal Au NPs with a size of about 10 nm involves the formation and growth of neck-like (NL) structures, followed by five-fold twin intermediate states and total atomic rearrangement. The statistical analyses show that the length and diameter of Au NRs can be well regulated by the number of tip-to-tip Au NPs and the size of colloidal Au NPs, respectively. The results highlight five-fold twin-involved particle attachment in spherical Au NPs with a size of 3–14 nm, and provide insights into the fabrication of Au NRs using irradiation chemistry.

Lattice engineering is a powerful strategy not only to optimize electrocatalytic performances, but also to deepen the understanding of electrocatalytic mechanisms. Lattice engineering can be effectively achieved in core-shell nanocrystals...

Micro-electrochemical machining (micro-ECM) can machine microstructures with excellent surface integrity on difficult-to-cut alloys. During micro-ECM, stray corrosion results in tapered sidewalls of machined structures. To suppress the stray corrosion, a novel tool electrode with the sidewall insulation of a gas film is proposed by fabricating the metal tool sidewall into a hydrophobic surface. The sidewall surface is designed to be characterized with spherical array cavities (radius of 500 nm) acting as the hydrophobic features, enhancing the gas-shielding effect of the gas film under electrolysis. The fabrication process of the hydrophobic sidewall is described in detail, including the self-assembly procedure of a monolayer template of Φ

DNA strand displacement plays an essential role in the field of dynamic DNA nanotechnology. However, flexible regulation of strand displacement remains a significant challenge. Most previous regulatory tools focused on controllable activation of toehold and thus limited the design flexibility. Here, we introduce a regulatory tool termed cooperative branch migration (CBM), through which DNA strand displacement can be controlled by regulating the complementarity of branch migration domains. CBM shows perfect compatibility with the majority of existing regulatory tools, and when combined with forked toehold, it permits continuous fine-tuning of the strand displacement rate spanning 5 orders of magnitude. CBM manifests multifunctional regulation ability, including rate fine-tuning, continuous dynamic regulation, reaction resetting, and selective activation. To exemplify the powerful function, we also constructed a nested if-function signal processing system on the basis of cascading CBM reactions. We believe that the proposed regulatory strategy would effectively enrich the DNA strand displacement toolbox and ultimately promote the construction of DNA machines of higher complexity in nucleic acid research and biomedical applications.

Nonvolatile logic devices are crucial for the development of logic-in-memory (LiM) technology to build the next-generation non-von Neumann computing architecture. Ferroelectric field-effect transistors (Fe FET) are one of the most promising candidates for LiMs because of high compatibility with mainstream silicon-based complementary metal-oxide semiconductor processes, nonvolatile memory, and low power consumption. However, because of the unipolar characteristics of a Fe FET, a nonlinear XOR or XNOR logic gate function is difficult to realize with a single device. In addition, because single Fe polarization switch modulation is available in the devices, a reconfigurable logic gate usually needs multiple devices to construct and realize fewer logic functions. Here, we introduced polarization-switching (PS) and charge-trapping (CT) effects in a single Fe FET and fabricated a multi-field-effect transistor with bipolar-like characteristics based on advanced 10 nm node fin field-effect transistors (PS-CT FinFET) with 9 nm thick Hf

PtRu/C is a well-known commercial electrocatalyst with promising performance for the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). Further improving the MOR properties of PtRu-based electrocatalysts is highly desirable, especially through structure design. Here we report a facile approach for the synthesis of PdPtRu nanocages with different components through a seed-mediated approach followed by chemical etching. The Pd@PtRu nanocubes were first generated using Pd nanocubes as the seeds and some Pd atoms were subsequently etched away, leading to the nanocages. When evaluated as electrocatalysts for the MOR in acidic media, the PdPtRu nanocages exhibited substantially enhanced catalytic activity and stability relative to commercial Pt/C and PtRu/C. Specifically, PdPt

Pd72Sn28 octopods synthesized through the Stranski–Krastanov growth mode exhibited remarkably enhanced catalytic performance for the EOR relative to commercial Pd/C.

Ce-doped Bi2O3 nanosheets were synthesized and exhibited substantially enhanced catalytic selectivity and activity for ECR relative to undoped ones.

High entropy alloys (HEAs) are promising as multifunctional electrocatalysts owing to their inherent compositional and structural complexity and thus the multiple active sites for different reactions.

Wide transmittance range is an essential factor for the design of infrared optical materials. Traditionally, the designs of mid-far infrared crystals have focused on oxygen-free systems of chalcogenides and pnictides. Nevertheless, the introduction of elements with large atomic numbers, such as the lone-pair cation Pb2+ and halogen anion I−, based on the oxyhalides, can broaden the infrared transmittance range. Thus, two new polymorphs of Pb(II)-containing oxyhalides, Pb14O8I12 (α-POI) and Pb7O4I6 (β-POI), are successfully synthesized via the high-temperature solution method. Interestingly, they crystallize in the same space group, $$P\bar 1$$ , and present unprecedented [O8Pb14] clusters from the perspective of oxo-centered [OPb4] basic units. Remarkably, POI exhibits a quite wide transparent range (0.47–16.0 µm), which enlightens the oxyhalides with prominent infrared optical properties. Additionally, the first principles calculations show that they have large birefringence (0.139 and 0.108 for α- and β-POI at 1064 nm, respectively), which makes POI promising infrared optical materials.

In this paper, the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis (USP) technology, under normal pressure conditions was adopts in this study to deposited ZnO films. The cheap zinc acetate, ammonium fluoride, and gallium chloride was used as Zn source, F source, Ga source and Cl source, respectively for deposited F, Cl, Al and Ga co-doped ZnO (FCAGZO) films. The influence of substrate temperature (Ts) on the morphology, structure, optical and electrical properties of ZnO thin films was studied. X-ray diffraction analysis shows that the Ts does not change the crystal structure of the ZnO film, and all films have a hexagonal wurtzite structure. With increase of Ts only the preferred orientation of the film changes from (1 0 0) to (0 0 2). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy further confirmed the successful doping of ZnO by F, Cl, Al, and Ga, which accounts for the enhancement in carrier concentration in the FCAGZO films over that of pristine ZnO. As Ts increases, the resistivity first decreases, and then gradually increases. When the optimal substrate temperature Ts = 400 °C, the prepared FCAGZO film has a resistivity of 1.47 × 10-3 Ωcm when rapid heat treatment in N2 atmosphere at 750 °C, and the average transmittance exceeds 85% in the range of 400–1400 nm.

Global warming effect caused by excessive emission of greenhouse gases, such as CO2 from modern industries, are emerging as serious environmental problem nowadays. Many strategies have been developed to address this issue, including solar energy utilization, green plants cultivation and coal desulfurization. These existing strategies always need sophisticated equipment and harsh reaction conditions, and are usually with limited efficiency. With the development of nanoscience and nanotechnology, it is becoming an effective strategy to directly capture and convert CO2 with nanomaterials into valuable chemicals under gentle conditions. Herein, we summarize recent progress on nanomaterials for adsorption and conversion of CO2 under gentle conditions, including various physical and chemical processes, and artificial photosynthesis. Future perspective and research direction of nanomaterials for CO2 adsorption and conversion have been put forward on the basis of existing research works and our experimental experience.

Organolead halide materials have shown promising optoelectronic properties that are suitable for light-emitting diodes (e.g., strong photoluminescence, narrow emission width, and high charge carrier mobility). However, the vast majority of them have no open porosity or open metal sites for host-guest interactions and are therefore not widely applicable in intrinsic fluorescent sensing of small molecules. Herein, we report a lead chloride-based metal-organic framework (MOF) with high porosity and stability and promising photoluminescent characteristics, performing as a sensitive, selective, and long-term stable fluorescence probe for NH3. For the first time, a homemade dynamic real-time photoluminescence monitoring system was developed, which showed that our haloplumbate-based MOF has an immediate response and an extremely low limit of detection (12 ppm) toward NH3. A variety of experimental characterization and theoretical calculations evidenced that the photoluminescence quenching was ascribed to the coordination between NH3 guests and exposed Pb2+ centers in MOFs. Moreover, a portable on-site smart NH3 detector was designed based on this haloplumbate-MOF using a 3D printer, and the quantitative recovery experiment demonstrated the effective detection of NH3 in the range of 15-150 ppm. This study opens a new pathway to design organolead halide-based MOFs to perform on-site chemical sensing of small molecules and shows their high potential to monitor safety concentrations of NH3 in different industrial sites.

Ice recrystallization inhibitors inspired from antifreeze proteins (AFPs) are receiving increasing interest for cryobiology and other extreme environment applications. Here, we present a modular strategy to develop polysaccharide-derived biomimetics, and detailed studies were performed in the case of dextran. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) which has been termed as one of the most potent biomimetics of AFPs was grafted onto dextran via thiol-ene click chemistry (Dex

Cracks are the main damages of concrete structures. Since cracks may occur in areas that are difficult to reach, non-contact measurement technology is required to accurately measure the width of cracks. This study presents an innovative computer vision system combining a camera and laser rangefinder to measure crack width from any angle and at a long distance. To solve the problem of pixel distortion caused by non-vertical photographing, geometric transformation formulas that can calculate the unit pixel length of the image captured at any angle are proposed. The complexity of crack edge calculation and the imbalance of data in the image are other problems that affect measurement accuracy, and a combination of the improved U-net convolutional networks algorithm and Canny edge detection method is adopted to accurately extract the cracks. The measurement results on the different concrete wall indicate that the proposed system can measure the crack in a non-vertical position, and the proposed algorithm can extract the crack from different background images. Although the proposed system cannot achieve fully automated measurement, the results also confirm the ability to obtain the crack width accurately and conveniently.

The ultrahigh electrostrain and piezoelectric constant (d33) in relaxor piezoelectric PMN-30PT single crystals are closely related to the coexistence and transition of multiple phases at the morphotropic phase boundary (MPB). However, the key mechanisms underlying the stability of the phases and their transitions are yet to be fully understood. In this work, we undertake a systematic study of the influences of phase transitions on the electrostrictive and piezoelectric behaviors in ⟨001⟩-, ⟨011⟩-, and ⟨111⟩-oriented PMN-30PT single crystals. We first classify the various phase transitions within the quasi-MPB in electric field-temperature phase diagrams as either dominated by the electric field or by temperature. We find that the electrostrain reaches a maximum at each phase transition, especially in the electric-field-dominated transitions, whereas d33 only peaks at specific phase transitions. In particular, the electrostrain in the ⟨001⟩ crystal reaches a maximum of S = 0.52% at 55 °C under an external electric field with E = 15 kV/cm, primarily due to a joint contribution of the electric field-dominated rhombohedral-monoclinic and monoclinic-tetragonal phase transitions at the quasi-MPB. An ultrahigh d33 (∼2460 pC/N) only occurs at the rhombohedral-monoclinic phase transition in the ⟨001⟩ crystal and at the rhombohedral-orthorhombic transition in the ⟨011⟩ crystal (d33 ∼ 1500 pC/N) due to the lower energy barriers. The temperature-dominated phase transitions also contribute toward minor peaks in electrostrain and/or d33. This work provides a deeper and quantitative understanding of the microscopic mechanisms underlying electrostrictive and piezoelectric behaviors relevant for the design of high-performance materials.

Li Q., Yang J., Li J., et al. Antibacterial Cu-doped calcium phosphate coating on pure titanium. Materials Transactions 62, 1052 (2021); https://doi.org/10.2320/matertrans.MT-M2021005., Cu-doped amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) coatings were fabricated on the surface of pure titanium (Ti) by electrochemical deposition at initial electrolyte temperatures of 35, 45, and 55°C. The antibacterial activities of the coatings were then evaluated by the plate counting method using Escherichia coli as the indicator. The Cu concentrations on the surfaces of samples are increased from 6.90 to 15.05 mass% as initial electrolyte temperature is increased from 35 to 55°C. The Cu-doped ACP coatings show that they can fully inhibit the growth of E. coli.

Underwater adhesion plays an essential role in soft electronics for the underwater interface. Although hydrogel-based electronics are of great interest, because of their versatility, water molecules prevent hydrogels from adhering to substrates, thus bottlenecking further applications. Herein, inspired by the barnacle proteins, MXene/PHMP hydrogels with strong repeatable underwater adhesion are developed through the random copolymerization of 2-phenoxyethyl acrylate, 2-methoxyethyl acrylate, and

Single atom catalysts (SACs) can achieve a maximum atom utilization efficiency of 100%, which provides significantly increased active sites compared with traditional catalysts during catalytic reactions. Synchrotron radiation technology is an important characterization method for identifying single-atom catalysts. Several types of internal information, such as the coordination number, bond length and electronic structure of metals, can all be analyzed. This review will focus on the introduction of synchrotron radiation techniques and their applications in SACs. First, the fundamentals of synchrotron radiation and the corresponding techniques applied in characterization of SACs will be briefly introduced, such as X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy and extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy and in situ techniques. The detailed information obtained from synchrotron radiation X-ray characterization is described through four routes: 1) the local environment of a specific atom; 2) the oxidation state of SACs; 3) electronic structures at different orbitals; and 4) the in situ structure modification during catalytic reaction. In addition, a systematic summary of synchrotron radiation X-ray characterization on different types of SACs (noble metals and transition metals) will be discussed.

The high-speed railway station symbol system, generated from regional culture translations, not only improves transfer efficiency but also reveals the area’s unique urban cultural context. In this study, we used an eye-tracking technique and virtual reality technology to examine the visual cognitive preferences of the existing cultural translation method used by the Beijing–Zhangjiakou high-speed railway. Then, considering the design and layout of the existing station symbol system, we analyzed the visual saliency of different elements such as images, words, and symbols in three types of spaces in the Taizicheng high-speed railway station. The experiment site was located in the physical laboratory of the School of Architecture and Design at Beijing Jiaotong University. A total of 94 students from different majors were selected to participate in the experiment, with 92 datapoints eventually being deemed valid. The experiment data showed the following. First, the overall significance ranking of three scenes in the Taizicheng station was: S1 (81.10%) > S2 (64.57%) > S3 (49.57%). The cognitive correctness rankings of the number positions of the three scenes were: S1: 5 > 2 > 3 > 1 = 4; S2: 4 > 2 > 3 > 1 > 5; S3: 1 > 3 > 2 > 5 > 4. Second, the significance ranking of the transliteration element in S1 was: Images > Words > Sculptures > Patterns > Colors; S2 was: Patterns > Colors > Words > Images > Sculptures; and S3 was: Colors > Images > Words > Patterns > Sculptures. The results underscore the validity of the Beijing–Zhangjiakou cultural translation and offer a reference for station layout and spatial optimization. Finally, they provide new ideas for the design and layout of station symbol systems.

Ti-15Nb-25Zr-(0, 4, 8)Fe (mol.%) alloys were prepared via spark plasma sintering (SPS) for 10 min at 800, 1000, and 1200 °C to study the effect of sintering temperatures and Fe content on the mechanical properties of alloys. The main phase of the alloys sintered at 800 °C is α phase. When the temperature is increased to 1000 and 1200 °C, the alloys are mainly β phase. Raising the sintering temperature can promote the diffusion of elements. Therefore, high strength and high plasticity are obtained in the alloys sintered at high temperature. The compressive strength of Ti-15Nb-25Zr sintered at 1200 °C is 1604 MPa, and the fracture strain is around 35%. The strength and plasticity are influenced by the complex effects of elemental diffusion, grain boundary and solid-solution strengthening. Adding Fe can improve the diffusion of elements, promote the formation of β grains and supply solid-solution strengthening effect. As the sintering temperature is increased, the compressive strength of Ti-15Nb-25Zr-4Fe shows an increasing trend and the plasticity is almost not changed. The Fe content is excessive in Ti-15Nb-25Zr-8Fe, which leads to some disadvantages including intermetallic compounds formation and grain boundary coarsening. The mechanical properties of Ti-15Nb-25Zr-8Fe are not always better than those of Ti-15Nb-25Zr-4Fe. The compressive strength of Ti-15Nb-25Zr-8Fe shows an increasing trend and the plasticity firstly increases and then decreases when the temperature is raised from 800 up to 1200 °C. Although the sintering time of SPS is short, Ti-15Nb-25Zr-(4, 8)Fe sintered at 1000 °C and Ti-15Nb-25Zr-(0, 4)Fe sintered at 1200 °C show good combination of strength and plasticity.

Lithium-rich manganese-based layered oxides (LRMOs) offer joint cationic and anionic redox at a high voltage, thus promising high energy density for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). However, the restive anion redox is also connected with poor rate performance, severe capacity fading, and continuous voltage decay. Herein, a successful strategy for enhancing the Li+ ion diffusivity and structure stability of LRMOs is proposed. The obtained material possesses high cationic and anionic redox activity due to the introduction of Te6+. Moreover, a heterogeneous protective layer that is composed of acid-resistant Mg3(PO4)2 and self-induced cation-disordered phase with passivated lattice oxygen is verified to be located on the surface of the material, thereby restraining the structural degeneration. Benefitting from the unique architecture, the modified material presents a favorable cycling performance and excellent rate capability (178.8 mA h g-1, 10 C). More importantly, the voltage decay is significantly suppressed during cycling. The finding here exhibits the importance of activating cationic and anionic redox in the bulk and passivating surface oxygen for enhancing reversible capacity at high rates and improving structural stability, providing a ponderable way to promote the electrochemical performance of LRMOs.

Cathode interface instability is a significant obstacle for the practical application of sulfide-based all-solid-state lithium-ion batteries (ASSLIBs). However, the origin of cathode interface degradation is lack of comprehensive understanding. In this paper, X-ray characterizations combined with electrochemical analysis are adopted to investigate the underlying degradation mechanism at cathode interface. The results indicate that residual lithium compounds on the surface of Ni-rich LiNi0.8Mn0.1Co0.1O2 (NMC811) are the main reason that triggering the oxidation of sulfide solid-state electrolytes (SSEs), therefore inducing severe side-reactions at cathode interface and structural degradation of NMC811. The degradation of the cathode interface can be significantly suppressed when the cathode surface is cleaned. As a result, the surface cleaned NMC811 without coating demonstrates significantly improved electrochemical performance in both Li5.5PS4.5Cl1.5 (LPSCl) and Li10GeP2S12 (LGPS) based ASSLIBs, proving the universal application of this strategy.

Recently, multidimensional metasurfaces, which can modulate multiple optical parameters of input and output lights simultaneously, have aroused intensive interest. Here, we demonstrate multidimensional switchable images and 3D integrated beam splitters based on hyperbolic metamaterials (HMMs). On one hand, a switchable image controlled by output helicity and input wavelengths is achieved by arranging HMMs with different polarization conversion performance. On the other hand, polarization-multiplexed broadband beam splitter is generated by spatially engineering the subunit with broadband half-plate performance. By integrating the multiplexed beam splitter with a filter metamaterial, this multidimensional beam splitter can further realize the separation of output light by space and wavelength. This cascaded multilayer metamaterial achieves a brand new optical functionality and offers more inspiring possibilities for the design of multifunctional optical devices in the future.