An Environment‑Tolerant Ion‑Conducting Double‑Network Composite Hydrogel for High‑Performance Flexible Electronic Devices

High-performance ion-conducting hydrogels(ICHs)are vital for developing flexible electronic devices.However,the robustness and ion-conducting behavior of ICHs deteriorate at extreme tempera-tures,hampering their use in soft electronics.To resolve these issues,a method involving freeze–thawing and ionizing radiation technology is reported herein for synthesizing a novel double-network(DN)ICH based on a poly(ionic liquid)/MXene/poly(vinyl alcohol)(PMP DN ICH)system.The well-designed ICH exhibits outstanding ionic conductivity(63.89 mS cm^(-1) at 25℃),excellent temperature resistance(-60–80℃),prolonged stability(30 d at ambient temperature),high oxidation resist-ance,remarkable antibacterial activity,decent mechanical performance,and adhesion.Additionally,the ICH performs effectively in a flexible wireless strain sensor,thermal sensor,all-solid-state supercapacitor,and single-electrode triboelectric nanogenerator,thereby highlighting its viability in constructing soft electronic devices.The highly integrated gel structure endows these flexible electronic devices with stable,reliable signal output performance.In particular,the all-solid-state supercapacitor containing the PMP DN ICH electrolyte exhibits a high areal specific capacitance of 253.38 mF cm^(-2)(current density,1 mA cm^(-2))and excellent environmental adaptability.This study paves the way for the design and fabrication of high-performance mul-tifunctional/flexible ICHs for wearable sensing,energy-storage,and energy-harvesting applications.

Phase reconfiguration of heterogeneous CoFeS/CoNiS nanoparticles for superior battery-type supercapacitors

Developing advanced battery-type materials with abundant active sites,high conductivity,versatile morphologies,and hierarchically porous structures is crucial for realizing high-quality hybrid supercapacitors.Herein,heterogeneous FeS@NiS is synthesized by cationic Co doping via surface-structure engineering.The density functional theory(DFT)theoretical calculations are firstly performed to predict the advantages of Co dopant by improving the OH^(−)adsorption properties and adjusting electronic structure,benefiting ions/electron transfer.The dynamic surface evolution is further explored which demonstrates that CoFeS@CoNiS could be quickly reconstructed to Ni(Co)Fe_(2)O_(4)during the charging process,while the unstable structure of the amorphous Ni(Co)Fe_(2)O_(4)results in partial conversion to Ni/Co/FeOOH at high potentials,which contributes to the more reactive active site and good structural stability.Thus,the free-standing electrode reveals excellent electrochemical performance with a superior capacity(335.6 mA h g^(−1),2684 F g^(−1))at 3 A g^(−1).Furthermore,the as-fabricated device shows a quality energy density of 78.1 W h kg^(−1)at a power density of 750 W kg^(−1)and excellent cycle life of 92.1%capacitance retention after 5000 cycles.This work offers a facile strategy to construct versatile morphological structures using electrochemical activation and holds promising applications in energy-related fields.

Oncolytic adenovirus targeting LASP-1 inhibited renal cell cancerprogression

Recent studies suggested that LIM and SH3 protein 1(LASP-1)is a promising therapeutic target for renal cell cancer(RCC).This study aimed to explore the role of LASP-1 in RCC.For this purpose,LASP-1 expression in RCC tissues was analyzed by immunohistochemistry and Western blot analysis.Cell proliferation,migration,invasion,and gene expression were detected by CCK-8 assay,Transwell assay,and Western blot analysis.The results showed that LASP-1 was highly expressed in RCC,and its expression level,t was positively correlated with lymph node metastasis and tumor,nodes,and metastases(TNM)stage.The knockdown of LASP-1 expression significantly inhibited the proliferation of RCC cells,increased the apoptosis rate,and inhibited RCC cell invasion and migration by inhibiting epithelial–mesenchymal transition.We conclude that LASP-1 promotes RCC progression and metastasis and is a promising therapeutic target for RCC.

Simultaneous Optimization of Efficiency,Stretchability,and Stability in All-Polymer Solar Cells via Aggregation Control

With the emergence of Y-series small molecule acceptors,polymerizing the small molecule acceptors with aromatic linker units has attracted significant research attention,which has greatly advanced the photovoltaic performance of all-polymer solar cells.Despite the rapid increase in efficiency,the unique characteristics(e.g.,mechanical stretchability and flexibility)of all-polymer systems were still not thoroughly explored.In this work,we demonstrate an effective approach to simultaneously improve device performance,stability,and mechanical robustness of all-polymer solar cells by properly suppressing the aggregation and crystallization behaviors of polymerized Y-series acceptors.Strikingly,when introducing 50 wt%PYF-IT(a fluorinated version of PY-IT)into the well-known PM6:PY-IT system,the all-polymer devices delivered an impressive photovoltaic efficiency of 16.6%,significantly higher than that of the control binary cell(15.0%).Compared with the two binary systems,the optimal ternary blend exhibits more efficient charge separation and balanced charge transport accompanying with less recombination.Moreover,a high-performance 1.0 cm^(2)large-area device of 15%efficiency was demonstrated for the optimized ternary all-polymer blend,which offered a desirable PCE of 14.5%on flexible substrates and improved mechanical flexibility after bending 1000 cycles.Notably,these are among the best results for 1.0 cm^(2)all-polymer OPVs thus far.This work also heralds a bright future of all-polymer systems for flexible wearable energy-harvesting applications.

Refining acceptor aggregation in nonfullerene organic solar cells to achieve high efficiency and superior thermal stability

With the rapid increase in photoelectric conversion efficiency of organic photovoltaics(OPVs),prolonging the operational lifetime of devices becomes one of the critical prerequisites for commercial applications.Guided by the theoretical calculations of molecular stacking and miscibility,we proposed an effective approach to simultaneously improve device performance and thermal stability of high-efficiency OPVs by refining the aggregation of Y-series acceptors.The key to this approach is deliberately designing an asymmetric Y-series acceptor,named Y6-CNO,which acts as a third component regulator to finely tune the degree of acceptor aggregation and crystallization in the benchmark PM6:Y6-BO system.Strikingly,a champion photovoltaic efficiency of 18.0%was achieved by introducing 15 wt%Y6-CNO into the PM6:Y6-BO system,significantly higher than the control binary cell(16.7%).Moreover,annealing at 100°C for over 1,200 h does not markedly affect the photovoltaic performance of the optimal ternary devices,maintaining above 95%of the initial performance and exhibiting an exceptionally high T_(80)lifetime of 9,000 h under continuous thermal annealing.By contrast,binary devices suffer from excessive crystallization of acceptors with long-term annealing.Additionally,mixing thermodynamics combined with morphological characterizations were employed to elucidate the microstructure-thermal stability relationships.The ternary OPVs consisting of symmetric and asymmetric homologous acceptors form better charge transport channels and can effectively suppress excessive aggregation of acceptors under long-term annealing.This work demonstrates the effectiveness of refining acceptor aggregation via molecular design for highly efficient and stable nonfullerene-based OPVs.

The SlWRKY57-SlVQ21/SlVQ16 module regulates salt stress in tomato

Salt stress is a major abiotic stress which severely hinders crop production.However,the regulatory network controlling tomato resistance to salt remains unclear.Here,we found that the tomato WRKY transcription factor WRKY57 acted as a negative regulator in salt stress response by directly attenuating the transcription of salt-responsive genes(Sl RD29B and Sl DREB2)and an ion homeostasis gene(Sl SOS1).We further identified two VQ-motif containing proteins Sl VQ16 and Sl VQ21as Sl WRKY57-interacting proteins.Sl VQ16 positively,while Sl VQ21 negatively modulated tomato resistance to salt stress.Sl VQ16 and Sl VQ21 competitively interacted with Sl WRKY57 and antagonistically regulated the transcriptional repression activity of Sl WRKY57.Additionally,the Sl WRKY57-Sl VQ21/Sl VQ16 module was involved in the pathway of phytohormone jasmonates(JAs)by interacting with JA repressors JA-ZIM domain(JAZ)proteins.These results provide new insights into how the Sl WRKY57-Sl VQ21/Sl VQ16 module finely tunes tomato salt tolerance.

A generic approach yields organic solar cells with enhanced efficiency and thermal stability

The use of deuterium are critical for promoting the fundamental understanding of aggregate materials and their new functions.Particularly,the solution structure of conjugated polymers can be hardly resolved without deuteration.However,studies about the isotopic effects of casting solvents on the aggregated structures of photovoltaic polymers and their bulk-heterojunction blends are deficient.Here,the impact of deuterated solvents on the thermal behavior,aggregated structures,and device performance of photovoltaic polymers is clearly delineated for the first time by multiple techniques.The enhanced π-π stacking order of photovoltaic polymers is highly relevant to their relatively poor miscibility with deuterated solvents.Benefiting from higher crystallinity and optimized morphology of deuterated solvents processed films,the devices are able to achieve better efficiency and notable improvement in thermal stability.Our results highlight the isotopic effects of solvents on the aggregated structure of conjugated polymer systems and reveal the potential of innovative approaches to fabricate thermally stable high-efficiency solar cells.

Rise of ecofriendly AgBiS_(2) nanocrystal solar cells

During the past decade,nanocrystal solar cells have attracted worldwide research attention due to their high absorption coefficient,broad and tunable absorption range,and promising multiple exciton generation.With joint efforts,great performance breakthroughs have been achieved in the field of nanocrystal solar cell technology,with a certified efficiency of 18.1%for perovskite nanocrystal solar cells(https://www.nrel.gov/pv/cell-efficiency.html)and a record efficiency of 15.4%for PbS nanocrystal solar cells[1].Despite the striking advances,the high toxicity of Pbbased nanocrystal materials raises great concerns when introduced into consumer electronics.Environmental concerns have opened an opportunity for the exploration of ecofriendly alternatives.

Realizing over 10% efficiency in polymer solar cell by device optimization

The low band gap polymer based on benzodithiophene(BDT)-thieno[3,4-b]thiophene(TT)backbone,PBDT-TS1,was synthesized following our previous work and the bulk heterojunction(BHJ)material comprising PBDT-TS1/PC71BM was optimized and characterized.By processing the active layer with different additives i.e.1,8-diiodooctane(DIO),1-chloronaphthalene(CN)and 1,8-octanedithiol(ODT)and optimizing the ratio of each additive in the host solvent,a high PCE of 9.98%was obtained under the condition of utilizing 3%DIO as processing additive in CB.The effect of varied additives on photovoltaic performance was illustrated with atomic force microscopy(AFM)and transmission electron microscope(TEM)measurements that explained changes in photovoltaic parameters.These results provide valuable information of solvent additive choice in device optimization of PBDTTT polymers,and the systematic device optimization could be applied in other efficient photovoltaic polymers.Apparently,this work presents a great advance in single junction PSCs,especially in PSCs with conventional architecture.

Tribological and anti-corrosion performance of epoxy resin composite coatings reinforced with differently sized cubic boron nitride(CBN)particles

A series of high solid content(30 wt%)epoxy resin(EP)composite coatings reinforced with differently sized cubic boron nitride(CBN)particles were fabricated successfully on 304 L stainless steel.Polydopamine(PDA)was used to improve the dispersibility of CBN particles in EP.The structural and morphological features of the CBN particles and the composite coatings were characterized by Raman spectroscopy,scanning electron microscopy(SEM),and transmission electron microscopy(TEM).Moreover,a UMT-3 tribometer and surface profiler were used to investigate the tribological behaviors of the as-prepared composite coatings.Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy(EIS)and Tafel analysis were used to investigate the coatings'anti-corrosion performance.The results demonstrated that the CBN fillers could effectively enhance the tribological and anti-corrosion properties of the EP composite coatings.In addition,when the additive proportion of the microsized(5μm)and nanosized(550 nm)CBN particles was 1:1,the tribological property of the EP composite coatings was optimal for dry sliding,which was attributed to the load carrying capability of the microsized CBN particles and the toughening effect of the nanosized CBN particles.However,when the additive proportion of the microsized and nanosized CBN particles was 2:1,the tribology and corrosion resistance performance were optimal in seawater conditions.We ascribed this to the load-carrying capacity of the microparticles,which played a more important role under the seawater lubrication condition,and the more compact structure,which improved the electrolyte barrier ability for the composite coatings.

Realizing 11.3% efficiency in fullerene-free polymer solar cells by device optimization

In this work, photovoltaic properties of the PBDB-T:ITIC based-NF-PSCs were fully optimized and characterized by tuning the morphology of the active layers and changing the device architecture. First, donor/acceptor(D/A) weight ratios were scanned,and then further optimization was performed by using different additives, i.e. 1,8-diiodooctane(DIO), diphenyl ether(DPE),1-chloronaphthalene(CN) and N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone(NMP), on the basis of best D/A ratio(1:1, w/w), respectively. Finally,the conventional or inverted device architectures with different buffer layers were employed to fabricate NF-PSC devices, and meanwhile, the morphology of the active layers was further optimized by controlling annealing temperature and time. As a result,a record efficiency of 11.3% was achieved, which is the highest result for NF-PSCs. It's also remarkable that the inverted NF-PSCs exhibited long-term stability, i.e. the best-performing devices maintain 83% of their initial PCEs after over 4000 h storage.

Structuring Nonlinear Wavefront Emitted from Monolayer Transition-Metal Dichalcogenides

The growing demand for tailored nonlinearity calls for a structure with unusual phase discontinuity that allows the realization of nonlinear optical chirality,holographic imaging,and nonlinear wavefront control.Transition-metal dichalcogenide(TMDC)monolayers offer giant optical nonlinearity within a few-angstrom thickness,but limitations in optical absorption and domain size impose restriction on wavefront control of nonlinear emissions using classical light sources.In contrast,noble metal-based plasmonic nanosieves support giant field enhancements and precise nonlinear phase control,with hundred-nanometer pixellevel resolution;however,they suffer from intrinsically weak nonlinear susceptibility.Here,we report a multifunctional nonlinear interface by integrating TMDC monolayers with plasmonic nanosieves,yielding drastically different nonlinear functionalities that cannot be accessed by either constituent.Such a hybrid nonlinear interface allows second-harmonic(SH)orbital angular momentum(OAM)generation,beam steering,versatile polarization control,and holograms,with an effective SH nonlinearityχ^((2))of~25 nm/V.This designer platform synergizes the TMDC monolayer and plasmonic nanosieves to empower tunable geometric phases and large field enhancement,paving the way toward multifunctional and ultracompact nonlinear optical devices.

Large second-harmonic vortex beam generation with quasi-nonlinear spin–orbit interaction

A harmonic vortex beam is a typical vector beam with a helical wavefront at harmonic frequencies(e.g.,second and third harmonics). It provides an additional degree of freedom beyond spin-and orbitalangular momentum, which may greatly increase the capacity for communicating and encoding information. However, conventional harmonic vortex beam generators suffer from complex designs and a low nonlinear conversion efficiency. Here, we propose and experimentally demonstrate the generation of a large second-harmonic(SH) vortex beam with quasi-nonlinear spin–orbit interaction(SOI). Highquality SH vortex beams with large topological charges up to 28 are realized experimentally. This indicated that the quasi-angular-momentum of a plasmonic spiral phase plate at the excitation wavelength(topological charge, q) could be imprinted on the harmonic signals from the attached WS2 monolayer. The generated harmonic vortex beam has a topological charge of l_(n)= 2 nq(n is the harmonic order). The results may open new avenues for generating harmonic optical vortices for optical communications and enables novel multi-functional hybrid metasurface devices to manipulate harmonic beams.

Thermally stable poly(3-hexylthiophene):Nonfullerene solar cells with efficiency breaking 10%

Solar cells featuring polythiophenes as donors are one of the optoelectronic devices that hold notable promises for commercial application,profiting from the lowest synthetic complexity and excellent scalability.However,the complex phase behaviors of polythiophenes and their blends put constraints on modulating electrical performance and thus realizing stable performance under thermal stress.In this contribution,we present a multi-technique approach that combines calorimetry,scattering,spectroscopy,and microscopy to thoroughly probe the thermodynamic mixing,thermal properties of materials,the evolution of nanoscale domain structure,and device performance of poly(3-hexylthiophene)(P3HT)with a range of nonfullerene acceptors(NFAs)such as ITIC,IDTBR,and ZY-4Cl.Accordingly,two blending guidelines are established for matching these popular NFAs with P3HT to enable highly efficient and thermally stable cells.First,blend systems with weak vitrification and hypo-miscibility are excellent candidates for efficient solar cells.Furthermore,high thermal stability can be achieved by selecting NFAs with diffusion-limited crystallization.The P3HT:ZY-4Cl blend was found to endow the best performance of over 10%efficiency and an exceptionally high T_(80) lifetime of>6000 h under continuous thermal annealing,which are among the highest values for P3HT-based solar cells.This realization of high thermal stability and efficiency demonstrates the remarkable potentials of simple polythiophene:nonfullerene pairs in electronic applications.

The Key Role of Subtle Substitution for a High-Performance Ester-Modified Oligothiophene-Based Polymer Used in Photovoltaic Cells

In organic solar cells (OSCs), developing high-performing easily synthesized photoactive materials is essential for pursuing cost- effective balance. Herein, we have designed and synthesized a pair of wide-band-gap polymers (PBDE4T-0F and PBDE4T-2F), using the low synthesis cost dicarboxylic ester-substituted quaterthiophene as the building block. Despite the minor change of molecular structure for polymer PBDE4T-xF, the fluorine substituent in polymer PBDE4T-2F greatly enhances its interchain aggregation. The higher aggregation tendency of ester-modified polymer in solution is beneficial for reducing both the aggregate size and π-π stacking distance of blend film, which contribute to the highly efficient exciton dissociation and symmetric charge transport. An impressive power-conversion efficiency (PCE) of 16.1% is achieved for the PBDE4T-2F:BTP-eC9-based device, while its counterpart only delivers a PCE of 5.8% with distinctly lower short-circuit current density (J_(sc)) and fill factor. Notably, the aggregation effect of donor polymer has also been found to be associated with the energy level shifts, and thus the variation of charge transfer energy and voltage losses for blend system. The results suggest that simultaneously reduced voltage loss and increased J_(sc) can be expected by further finely tuning the aggregation behavior of the ester-modified oligothiophene-based donor polymer.

Miscibility screening promotes the efficiency and stability of P3HT-based organic solar cells Special Issue:Emerging Investigators

The power conversion efficiency of organic photovoltaics(OPVs)has witnessed continuous breakthroughs in the past few years,mostly benefiting from the extensive use of a facile ternary blending strategy by blending the host polymer donor:small molecule acceptor mixture with a second small molecule acceptor.Nevertheless,this rather general strategy used in the well-known PM6 systems fails in constructing high-performance P3HT-based ternary OPVs.As a result,the efficiencies of all resulting ternary blends based on a benchmark host P3HT:ZY-4Cl and a second acceptor are no more than 8%.Employing the mutual miscibility of the binary blends as a guide to screen the second acceptor,here we were able to break the longstanding 10%-efficiency barrier of ternary OPVs based on P3HT and dual nonfullerene acceptors.With this rational approach,we identified a multifunctional small molecule acceptor BTP-2Br to simultaneously improve the photovoltaic performance in both P3HT and PM6-based ternary OPVs.Attractively,the P3HT:ZY-4Cl:BTP-2Br ternary blend exhibited a record-breaking efficiency of 11.41%for P3HT-based OPVs.This is the first-ever report that over 11%efficiency is achieved for P3HTbased ternary OPVs.Importantly,the study helps the community to rely less on trial-and-error methods for constructing ternary solar cells.