Search

ABSTRACTElectric double layer (EDL) gating is a technique in which ions in an electrolyte modulate the charge transport in an electronic material through electrical field effects. A sub-nanogap capacitor is induced at the interface of electrolyte/semiconductor under the external electrical field and the capacitor has an ultrahigh capacitance density (~µF cm−2). Recently, EDL gating technique, as an interfacial gating, is widely used in two-dimensional (2D) crystals for various sophisticated materials characterization and device applications. This review introduces the EDL-gated transistors based on 2D materials and their applications in the field of bioinspired optoelectronic detection, sensing, logic circuits, and neuromorphic computation.

Background: As a ribosome receptor, LRRC59 was thought to regulate mRNA translation on the ER membrane. Evidence suggests that LRRC59 is overexpressed in a number of human malignancies and is associated with poor prognoses, but its primary biological function in the development of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) remains obscure. Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate at the expression changes and functional role of LRRC59 in OSCC. Methods: LRRC59 gene expression and correlation with prognosis of OSCC patients were first examined using the data from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) databases. Following that, a series of functional experiments, including cell counting kit-8, cell cycle analysis, wound healing assays, and transwell assays, were carried out to analyze the biological roles of LRRC59 in tumor cells. Mechanistically, we employed Tandem Affinity Purification-Mass Spectrometry (TAP-MS) approach to isolate and identify protein complexes of LRRC59. Downstream regulatory proteins of LRRC59 were verified through immunoprecipitation and immunofluorescence experiments. Furthermore, we isolated exosomes from OSCC cell supernatant and conducted co-culture experiments to examine the effect of LRRC59 knockdown on OSCC cells. Results: In samples from OSCC patients, LRRC59 was highly expressed and correlated with poor prognoses. Moreover, the gene sets analysis based on TCGA RNA-seq data indicated that LRRC59 seemed to be strongly related with protein secretory and OSCC migration. Upregulated levels of LRRC59 are more prone to lymph node metastasis in OSCC patients. LRRC59 knockdown impaired the ability of OSCC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion invitro. Mechanistically, our TAP-MS data situate LRRC59 in a functional nexus for mRNA translation regulation via interactions with SRP pathway components, translational initiation factors, CRD-mediated mRNA stabilization factors. More importantly, we found that LRRC59 interacted with cytoskeleton-associated protein 4 (CKAP4) and promoted the formation of CKAP4-containing exosomes. We also revealed that the LRRC59-CKAP4 axis was a crucial regulator of CKAP4-containing exosome secretion in OSCC cells for migration and invasion. Conclusions: Therefore, based on our findings, LRRC59 may serve as a potential biomarker for OSCC patients, and LRRC59-induced exosome secretion via the CKAP4 axis may serve as a potential therapeutic target for OSCC.

Processing waste tires into rubber granules for secondary use can effectively alleviate the problem of environmental pollution. Therefore, this paper prepares foam concrete by replacing cementitious materials with recycled rubber granules to recycle resources. The dry density, water absorption, cubic compression, and prismatic flexure tests are carried out with the foam admixture and rubber substitution rate as the test parameters to study the effects of foam admixture and rubber substitution rate on the performance of foam concrete. Using Monte Carlo method simulation and non-linear fitting, a numerical analysis model was developed to predict recycled rubber foam concrete's mechanical properties. The ABAQUS finite element simulation method was used to explore the changes in the stress–strain relationship and damage development of the recycled rubber foam concrete, combined with microscopic observation, SEM, and XRD tests to reveal the specimens' damage mechanism, microscopic morphology, and physical structure. The experimental results show that the foam admixture has a more significant effect on the specimens' dry density, water absorption, and strength index than the effect of the rubber replacement rate. In addition, the strength prediction model, strength conversion model, and uniaxial compression finite element model of recycled rubber foam concrete were established.

Abstract High sensitivity and fast response are the figures of merit for benchmarking commercial sensors. Due to the advantages of intrinsic signal amplification, bionic ability, and mechanical flexibility, electrochemical transistors (ECTs) have recently gained increasing popularity in constructing various sensors. In the current work, we have proposed a pulse‐driven synaptic ECT for supersensitive and ultrafast biosensors. By pulsing the presynaptic input (drain bias, VD) and setting the modulation potential (gate bias) near transconductance intersection (VG,i), the synaptic ECT‐based pH sensor can achieve a record high sensitivity up to 124 mV pH−1 (almost twice the Nernstian limit, 59.2 mV pH−1) and an ultrafast response time as low as 8.75 ms (7169 times faster than the potentiostatic sensors, 62.73 s). The proposed synaptic sensing strategy can effectively eliminate the transconductance fluctuation issue during the calibration process of the pH sensor and significantly reduce power consumption. Besides, the most sensitive working point at VG,i has been elaborately figured out through a series of detailed mathematical derivations, which is of great significance to provide higher sensitivity with quasi‐nonfluctuating amplification capability. The proposed electrochemical synaptic transistor paired with an optimized operating gate offers a new paradigm for standardizing and commercializing high‐performance biosensors.

Highlights Multidiscipline application of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) for intelligent Internet of Things (IoTs) are summarized from the aspects of agriculture, industry, city, emergency monitoring, and artificial intelligence. Perspectives on the challenges and future research directions of TENGs in IoTs have been proposed.

Abstract Inspired by biological neural networks, the fabrication of artificial neuromorphic systems with multimodal perception capacity shows promises in overcoming the “von Neumann bottleneck” and takes advantage of the efficient perception and computation of diverse types of signals. Here, we combine a triboelectric nanogenerator with an α‐phase indium selenide (α‐In2Se3) optoelectronic synaptic transistor to construct a tribo‐ferro‐optoelectronic artificial neuromorphic device with multimodal plasticity. Based on the excellent ferroelectric and optoelectronic characteristics of the α‐In2Se3 channel, typical synaptic behaviors (e.g., pair‐pulse facilitation and short‐term/long‐term plasticity) are successfully simulated in response to the synergistic effect of mechanical and optical stimuli. The interaction of mechanical displacement and light illumination enables heterosynaptic plasticity and spatiotemporal dynamic logic. Furthermore, multiple Boolean logical functions and associative learning behaviors are successfully implemented using the paired stimuli of displacement pulses and light pulses. The proposed tribo‐ferro‐optoelectronic artificial neuromorphic devices have great potential for application in interactive neural networks and next‐generation artificial intelligence.

The ocean is the largest reservoir of renewable energy on earth, in which wave energy occupies an important position due to its high energy density and extensive distribution. As a cutting-edge technology, wave-driven triboelectric nanogenerators (W-TENGs) demonstrate substantial potential for ocean energy conversion and utilization. This paper provides a comprehensive review of W-TENGs, from materials manufacturing and structural fabrications to marine applications. It highlights the versatility in materials selection for W-TENGs and the potential for unique treatments to enhance output performance. With the development of materials science, researchers can manufacture materials with various properties as needed. The structural design and fabrication of W-TENGs is the pillar of converting wave energy to electrical energy. The flexible combination of TENG’s multiple working modes and advanced manufacturing methods make W-TENGs’ structures rich and diverse. Advanced technologies, such as three-dimensional printing, make manufacturing and upgrading W-TENGs more convenient and efficient. This paper summarizes their structures and elucidates their features and manufacturing processes. It should be noted that all efforts made in materials and structures are aimed at W-TENGs, having a bright application prospect. The latest studies on W-TENGs for effective application in the marine field are reviewed, and their feasibility and practical value are evaluated. Finally, based on a systematic review, the existing challenges at this stage are pointed out. More importantly, strategies to address these challenges and directions for future research efforts are also discussed. This review aims to clarify the recent advances in standardization and scale-up of W-TENGs to promote richer innovation and practice in the future.

With the arrival of the era of artificial intelligence (AI) and big data, the explosive growth of data has raised higher demands on computer hardware and systems. Neuromorphic techniques inspired by biological nervous systems are expected to be one of the approaches to breaking the von Neumann bottleneck. Piezotronic neuromorphic devices modulate electrical transport characteristics by piezopotential and directly associate external mechanical motion with electrical output signals in an active manner, with the capability to sense/store/process information of external stimuli. In this review, we have presented the piezotronic neuromorphic devices (which are classified into strain-gated piezotronic transistors and piezoelectric nanogenerator-gated field effect transistors based on device structure) and discussed their operating mechanisms and related manufacture techniques. Secondly, we summarized the research progress of piezotronic neuromorphic devices in recent years and provided a detailed discussion on multifunctional applications, including bionic sensing, information storage, logic computing, and electrical/optical artificial synapses. Finally, in the context of future development, challenges, and perspectives, we have discussed how to modulate novel neuromorphic devices with piezotronic effects more effectively. It is believed that the piezotronic neuromorphic devices have great potential for the next generation of interactive sensation/memory/computation to facilitate the development of the Internet of Things, AI, biomedical engineering, etc.

Abstract Electronic fibers used to fabricate wearable triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) for harvesting human mechanical energy have been extensively explored. However, little attention is paid to their mutual advantages of environmental friendliness, mechanical properties, and stability. Here, we report a super-strong, biodegradable, and washable cellulose-based conductive macrofibers, which is prepared by wet-stretching and wet-twisting bacterial cellulose hydrogel incorporated with carbon nanotubes and polypyrrole. The cellulose-based conductive macrofibers possess high tensile strength of 449 MPa (able to lift 2 kg weights), good electrical conductivity (~ 5.32 S cm−1), and excellent stability (Tensile strength and conductivity only decrease by 6.7% and 8.1% after immersing in water for 1 day). The degradation experiment demonstrates macrofibers can be degraded within 108 h in the cellulase solution. The designed fabric-based TENG from the cellulose-base conductive macrofibers shows a maximum open-circuit voltage of 170 V, short-circuit current of 0.8 µA, and output power at 352 μW, which is capable of powering the commercial electronics by charging the capacitors. More importantly, the fabric-based TENGs can be attached to the human body and work as self-powered sensors to effectively monitor human motions. This study suggests the potential of biodegradable, super-strong, and washable conductive cellulose-based fiber for designing eco-friendly fabric-based TENG for energy harvesting and biomechanical monitoring.

Low power electronics endowed with artificial intelligence and biological afferent characters are beneficial to neuromorphic sensory network. Here, the authors report contact-electrification-activated artificial afferent at femtojoule energy, which is able to carry out spatiotemporal recognition on external stimuli.

The development of industry and of the Internet of Things (IoTs) have brought energy issues and huge challenges to the environment. The emergence of triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) has attracted wide attention due to their advantages, such as self-powering, lightweight, and facile fabrication. Similarly to paper and other fiber-based materials, which are biocompatible, biodegradable, environmentally friendly, and are everywhere in daily life, paper-based TENGs (P-TENGs) have shown great potential for various energy harvesting and interactive applications. Here, a detailed summary of P-TENGs with two-dimensional patterns and three-dimensional structures is reported. P-TENGs have the potential to be used in many practical applications, including self-powered sensing devices, human–machine interaction, electrochemistry, and highly efficient energy harvesting devices. This leads to a simple yet effective way for the next generation of energy devices and paper electronics.

Here, the authors demonstrate an atomic threshold-switching field-effect transistor constructed by integrating a metal filamentary switch with a two-dimensional MoS2 channel, and obtain abrupt steepness in the turn-on characteristics and 4.5 mV/dec subthreshold swing over five decades.

Iontronic sensors represent a novel class of soft electronics which not only replicate the biomimetic structures and perception functions of human skin but also simulate the mechanical sensing mechanism. Relying on the similar mechanism with skin perception, the iontronic sensors can achieve ion migration/redistribution in response to external stimuli, promising iontronic sensing to establish more intelligent sensing interface for human-robotic interaction. Here, a comprehensive review on advanced technologies and diversified applications for the exploitation of iontronic sensors toward ionic skins and artificial intelligence is provided. By virtue of the excellent stretchability, high transparency, ultrahigh sensitivity, and mechanical conformality, numerous attempts have been made to explore various novel ionic materials to fabricate iontronic sensors with skin-like perceptive properties, such as self-healing and multimodal sensing. Moreover, to achieve multifunctional artificial skins and intelligent devices, various mechanisms based on iontronics have been investigated to satisfy multiple functions and human interactive experiences. Benefiting from the unique material property, diverse sensing mechanisms, and elaborate device structure, iontronic sensors have demonstrated a variety of applications toward ionic skins and artificial intelligence.

With the development of 5G, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things, diversified sensors (such as the signal acquisition module) have become more and more important in people’s daily life. According to the extensive use of various distributed wireless sensors, powering them has become a big problem. Among all the powering methods, the self-powered sensor system based on triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs) has shown its superiority. This review focuses on four major application areas of wireless sensors based on TENG, including environmental monitoring, human monitoring, industrial production, and daily life. The perspectives and outlook of the future development of self-powered wireless sensors are discussed.

Foam concrete is widely used for its excellent properties, such as light weight, heat insulation, fire resistance, and sound insulation. The stability of foam is the main factor that affects the mechanical performance of foam concrete. The experiments are designed from two perspectives: the foam’s stability performance and the foam concrete’s modification effect. The effects on foam volume, foam half-life, foam bleeding rate, and foam pore size were investigated based on different concentrations of foam stabilizer CMC (0%, 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3%, 0.4%, 0.5%). A combination of macroscopic testing and microscopic analysis, a comparative study of dry density, water absorption test, mechanical property test, and pore structure analysis were conducted after using the modified foam for foam concrete. It is shown that the addition of CMC has an enhanced effect on foam stability. Foaming volume, water secretion rate, and average pore size showed a decreasing trend with the increase of CMC admixture, while the foam half-life displayed an increasing trend. In addition, adding CMC reduces the dry density and improves water absorption and compressive strength. The pore structure development of foam concrete has a noticeable improvement effect, and the optimal amount of admixture is 0.4%. Research results provide a reference for applying thickening foam stabilizer CMC in foam concrete.

Summary: Energy storage systems are crucial in the deployment of renewable energies. As one of the most promising solutions, redox flow batteries (RFBs) are still hindered for practical applications by low energy density, high cost, and environmental concerns. To breakthrough the fundamental solubility limit that restricts boosting energy density of the cell, we here demonstrate a new RFB system employing polysulfide and high concentrated ferricyanide (up to 1.6 M) species as reactants. The RFB cell exhibits high cell performances with capacity retention of 96.9% after 1,500 cycles and low reactant cost of $32.47/kWh. Moreover, neutral aqueous electrolytes are environmentally benign and cost-effective. A cell stack is assembled and exhibits low capacity fade rate of 0.021% per cycle over 642 charging-discharging steps (spans 60 days). This neutral polysulfide/ferricyanide RFB technology with high safety, long-duration, low cost, and feasibility of scale-up is an innovative design for storing massive energy.

Contact electrification-activated triboelectric potential offers an efficient route to tuning the transport properties in semiconductor devices through electrolyte dielectrics, i.e., triboiontronics. Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) make more effective use of ion injection in the electrolyte dielectrics by changing the doping state of the semiconductor channel. However, the mainstream flexible/wearable electronics and OECT-based devices are usually modulated by electrical signals and constructed in conventional geometry, which lack direct and efficient interaction between the external environment and functional electronic devices. Here, we demonstrate a fiber-shaped triboiontronic electrochemical transistor with good electrical performances, including a current on/off ratio as high as ≈1286 with off-current at ~nA level, the average threshold displacements (Dth) of 0.3 mm, the subthreshold swing corresponding to displacement (SSD) at 1.6 mm/dec, and excellent flexibility and durability. The proposed triboiontronic electrochemical transistor has great potential to be used in flexible, functional, and smart self-powered electronic textile.

Smart, flexible, and self‐powered sensory systems represent the developmental trend of information technology beyond Moore's law with versatility and diversity toward artificial intelligence. Piezo/tribotronics offer a direct linkage/triggering of the electrical output sensing signals with external mechanical actions in an active way, which is highly promising in smart and flexible sensors, intelligent human–machine interaction, and self‐powered systems. Starting with the origin of piezo/triboelectric nanogenerators (PENGs/TENGs), herein, a review on the piezotronic devices based on 1D nanowires, 2D materials, 1D/2D mixed dimensional structures, PENG/TENG‐gated three‐terminal devices, and their applications in various multifunctional sensors is covered. In addition, a discussion is provided around how to improve the effectiveness in utilizing the piezo/triboelectric potential and fabricate smarter and more sophisticated electronic devices. Finally, future research concerns on piezo/triboelectric potential applications are summarized. There remains a massive space for the further development of piezotronics/tribotronics, which will be a multidisciplinary subject closely associated with soft electronics, neuromorphic devices, artificial intelligence, self‐powered systems, and even ocean/space technologies.

Since the discovery of graphene, two-dimensional (2D) materials have been widely applied to field-effect transistors due to their great potential in optoelectronics, photodetectors, intelligent sensors, and neuromorphic devices. By integrating a 2D transistor with a triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) into a tribotronic transistor, the induced triboelectric potential can readily regulate the charge carrier transport characteristics in the semiconductor channel. The emerging research field of tribotronics (mainly tribotronic transistors) has attracted extensive attention due to their significant applications in various sensation and human–machine interactions. Here, this review summarizes the recent developments of 2D tribotronic transistors. Firstly, the electrical, optoelectronic, and piezoelectric properties of typical 2D materials are introduced. Then, tribotronic tuning at the micro/nanoscale is discussed together with the methodologies of thermionic emission, triboelectricity tunneling, and atomic force microscope probe scanning, which is of great significance for the investigation of the underlying mechanism of the tribotronic effect. In addition, macroscale tribotronic regulation via TENG mechanical displacement is discussed in detail to explore the applications of 2D tribotronic transistors in intelligent sensors, logic devices, memory devices, and artificial synapses. Finally, the challenges and perspectives for 2D tribotronic transistors are discussed.

Due to the unique two-dimensional structure and features of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), such as high thermal stability and superior catalytic property, it is considered to be a promising flame retardant nano-additive for polymers. Here, we reported a facile strategy to prepare cobalt/phosphorus co-doped graphitic carbon nitride (Co/P-C3N4) by a simple and scalable thermal decomposition method. The structure of Co/P-C3N4 was confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The carbon atoms in g-C3N4 were most likely substituted by phosphorous atoms. The thermal stability of polylactide (PLA) composites was increased continuously with increasing the content of Co/P-C3N4. In contrast to the g-C3N4, the Polylactide (PLA) composites containing Co/P-C3N4 exhibited better flame retardant efficiency and smoke suppression. With the addition of 10 wt % Co/P-C3N4, the peak heat release rate (PHRR), carbon dioxide (CO2) production (PCO2P) and carbon oxide (CO) production (PCOP) values of PLA composites decreased by 22.4%, 16.2%, and 38.5%, respectively, compared to those of pure PLA, although the tensile strength of PLA composites had a slightly decrease. The char residues of Co/P-C3N4 composites had a more compact and continuous structure with few cracks. These improvements are ascribed to the physical barrier effect, as well as catalytic effects of Co/P-C3N4, which inhibit the rapid release of combustible gaseous products and suppression of toxic gases, i.e., CO.