Textured Asymmetric Membrane Electrode Assemblies of Piezoelectric Phosphorene and Ti_(3)C_(2)T_(x)MXene Heterostructures for Enhanced Electrochemical Stability and Kinetics in LIBs

Black phosphorus with a superior theoretical capacity(2596 mAh g^(-1))and high conductivity is regarded as one of the powerful candidates for lithium-ion battery(LIB)anode materials,whereas the severe volume expansion and sluggish kinetics still impede its applications in LIBs.By contrast,the exfoliated two-dimensional phosphorene owns negligible volume variation,and its intrinsic piezoelectricity is considered to be beneficial to the Li-ion transfer kinetics,while its positive influence has not been discussed yet.Herein,a phosphorene/MXene heterostructure-textured nanopiezocomposite is proposed with even phosphorene distribution and enhanced piezo-electrochemical coupling as an applicable free-standing asymmetric membrane electrode beyond the skin effect for enhanced Li-ion storage.The experimental and simulation analysis reveals that the embedded phosphorene nanosheets not only provide abundant active sites for Li-ions,but also endow the nanocomposite with favorable piezoelectricity,thus promoting the Li-ion transfer kinetics by generating the piezoelectric field serving as an extra accelerator.By waltzing with the MXene framework,the optimized electrode exhibits enhanced kinetics and stability,achieving stable cycling performances for 1,000 cycles at 2 A g^(-1),and delivering a high reversible capacity of 524 m Ah g^(-1)at-20℃,indicating the positive influence of the structural merits of self-assembled nanopiezocomposites on promoting stability and kinetics.

Phenylfluorenamine-functionalized poly(N-vinylcarbazole)s as dopant-free polymer hole-transporting materials for inverted quasi-2D perovskite solar cells

In order to improve the efficiency and stability of inverted three-dimensional(3D) or quasi-2D perovskite solar cells(PSCs) for future commercialization, exploring high efficient dopant-free polymer holetransporting materials(HTMs) is still desired and meaningful. One simple and efficient way to achieve high performance dopant-free HTMs is to synthesize novel non-conjugated side-chain polymers via rational molecular design. In this work, N-(4-methoxyphenyl)-9,9-dimethyl-9H-fluoren-2-amine(FMeNPh) groups are introduced into the poly(N-vinylcarbazole)(PVK) side chains to afford two nonconjugated polymers PVCz-DFMeNPh and PVCz-FMeNPh as dopant-free HTMs in inverted quasi-2D PSCs. Benefited from the flexible properties of polyethylene backbone and excellent optoelectronic natures of FMeNPh side-chain groups, PVCz-DFMeNPh with more FMeNPh units exhibited excellent thermal stability, well-matched energy levels and improved charge mobility as compared to PTAA and PVCzFMeNPh. Moreover, the morphologies investigation of quasi-2D perovskite on PVCz-DFMeNPh shows more compact and homogeneous perovskite films than those on PTAA and PVCz-FMeNPh. As a result,the dopant-free PVCz-DFMeNPh based inverted quasi-2D PSCs deliver power conversion efficiency(PCE) up to 18.44% as well as negligible hysteresis and favorable long-term stability, which represents as excellent performance reported to date for inverted quasi-2D PSCs. The results demonstrate the great potentials of constructing non-conjugated side-chain polymer HTMs based on phenylfluorenamine-func tionalized PVK for the development of high efficient and stable inverted 3D or quasi-2D PSCs.

Lead?Free Halide Double Perovskite Materials: A New Superstar Toward Green and Stable Optoelectronic Applications

Lead-based halide perovskites have emerged as excellent semiconductors for a broad range of optoelectronic applications, such as photovoltaics, lighting, lasing and photon detection. However, toxicity of lead and poor stability still represent significant challenges. Fortunately, halide double perovskite materials with formula of A_2M(I)M(III)X_6 or A_2M(IV)X_6 could be potentially regarded as stable and green alternatives for optoelectronic applications, where two divalent lead ions are substituted by combining one monovalent and one trivalent ions, or one tetravalent ion. Here, the article provides an up-to-date review on the developments of halide double perovskite materials and their related optoelectronic applications including photodetectors, X-ray detectors, photocatalyst, light-emitting diodes and solar cells. The synthesized halide double perovskite materials exhibit exceptional stability, and a few possess superior optoelectronic properties. However, the number of synthesized halide double perovskites is limited, and more limited materials have been developed for optoelectronic applications to date. In addition, the band structures and carrier transport properties of the materials are still not desired, and the films still manifest low quality for photovoltaic applications. Therefore, we propose that continuing e orts are needed to develop more halide double perovskites, modulate the properties and grow high-quality films, with the aim of opening the wild practical applications.

Memristive Artificial Synapses for Neuromorphic Computing

Neuromorphic computing simulates the operation of biological brain function for information processing and can potentially solve the bottleneck of the von Neumann architecture.This computing is realized based on memristive hardware neural networks in which synaptic devices that mimic biological synapses of the brain are the primary units.Mimicking synaptic functions with these devices is critical in neuromorphic systems.In the last decade,electrical and optical signals have been incorporated into the synaptic devices and promoted the simulation of various synaptic functions.In this review,these devices are discussed by categorizing them into electrically stimulated,optically stimulated,and photoelectric synergetic synaptic devices based on stimulation of electrical and optical signals.The working mechanisms of the devices are analyzed in detail.This is followed by a discussion of the progress in mimicking synaptic functions.In addition,existing application scenarios of various synaptic devices are outlined.Furthermore,the performances and future development of the synaptic devices that could be significant for building efficient neuromorphic systems are prospected.

Novel Hyperbranched Polymers as Host Materials for Green Thermally Activated Delayed Fluorescence OLEDs

A series of novel hyperbranched polymers （HBPs） consisting ofa 2,7-subsituted 9-（heptadecan-9-yl）-9H-carbazole unit （A2＋A2＇） and a tetra-substituted green thermally activated delayed fluorescence （TADF） dye of 2,3,5,6-tetra（9H- carbazol-9-yl）-4-pyridinecarbonitrile （4CzCNPy, B4） have been synthesized via Suzuki cross-coupling reaction following an ＂Az＋A2＇＋B4＂ method. The polymers are named according to the polymerization ratio of 4CzCNPy monomer （5 mol%, 10 mol% and 15 mol% for HBPs of P2-P4 respectively, and 0 mol% for the control linear polymer P1）. Their thermal, optoelectronic and electrochemical properties have been characterized by a combination of techniques. All the polymers exhibit high thermal stability with the decomposition temperatures （Ta） above 400 ℃ and glass transition temperatures （Tg） up to 98℃. Unfortunately, the incorporation of TADF moiety into these HBP materials induced non-TADF characteristics. However, when the HBPs functionalized as the host for our previously developed 4CzCNPy TADF dopant in solution processed devices, maximum external quantum efficiency of 5.7% and current efficiency of 17.9 cd/A have been achieved in P3-based device, which is significantly higher than those of 1.5% and 4.2 cd/A for the linear polymer P1.

2020 roadmap on two-dimensional materials for energy storage and conversion

Energy storage and conversion have attained significant intere st owing to its important applications that reduce CO2 emission through employing green energy.Some promising technologies are included metalair batteries,metal-sulfur batteries,metal-ion batteries,electrochemical capacitors,etc.Here,metal elements are involved with lithium,sodium,and magnesium.For these devices,electrode materials are of importance to obtain high performance.Two-dimensional(2 D) materials are a large kind of layered structured materials with promising future as energy storage materials,which include graphene,black phosporu s,MXenes,covalent organic frameworks(COFs),2 D oxides,2 D chalcogenides,and others.Great progress has been achieved to go ahead for 2 D materials in energy storage and conversion.More researchers will join in this research field.Under the background,it has motivated us to contribute with a roadmap on ’two-dimensional materials for energy storage and conversion.

Emerging trends in organ-on-a-chip systems for drug screening

New drug discovery is under growing pressure to satisfy the demand from a wide range of domains, especially from the pharmaceutical industry and healthcare services. Assessment of drug efficacy and safety prior to human clinical trials is a crucial part of drug development, which deserves greater emphasis to reduce the cost and time in drug discovery. Recent advances in microfabrication and tissue engineering have given rise to organ-on-a-chip, an in vitro model capable of recapitulating human organ functions in vivo and providing insight into disease pathophysiology, which offers a potential alternative to animal models for more efficient pre-clinical screening of drug candidates. In this review, we first give a snapshot of general considerations for organ-on-a-chip device design. Then, we comprehensively review the recent advances in organ-on-a-chip for drug screening. Finally, we summarize some key challenges of the progress in this field and discuss future prospects of organ-on-a-chip development. Overall,this review highlights the new avenue that organ-on-a-chip opens for drug development, therapeutic innovation, and precision medicine.

The enhancement of 21.2%-power conversion efficiency in polymer photovoltaic cells by using mixed Au nanoparticles with a wide absorption spectrum of 400 nm–1000 nm

Au nanoparticles （NPs） mixed with a majority of bone-like, rod, and cube shapes and a minority of irregu- lar spheres, which can generate a wide absorption spectrum of 400 nm-1000 nm and three localized surface plas- mon resonance peaks, respectively, at 525, 575, and 775 nrn, are introduced into the hole extraction layer poly（3,4- ethylenedioxythiophene）：poly（4-styrenesulfonate） （PEDOT：PSS） to improve optical-to-electrical conversion performances in polymer photovoltaic ceils. With the doping concentration of Au NPs optimized, the cell performance is significantly improved： the short-circuit current density and power conversion efficiency of the poly（3-hexylthiophene）： [6,6]-phenyl- C60-butyric acid methyl ester cell are increased by 20.54% and 21.2%, reaching 11.15 mA.cm-2 and 4.23%. The variations of optical, electrical, and morphology with the incorporation of Au NPs in the cells are analyzed in detail, and our results demonstrate that the cell performance improvement can be attributed to a synergistic reaction, including： 1） both the local- ized surface plasmon resonanceand scattering-induced absorption enhancement of the active layer, 2） Au doping-induced hole transport/extraction ability enhancement, and 3） large interface roughness-induced efficient exciton dissociation and hole collection.

High-Efficiency Green Phosphorescent Organic Light-Emitting Diode Based on Simplified Device Structures

A high-efficiency green phosphorescent organic light emitting diode with a simplified structure is achieved that is free of a hole transport layer. The design of this kind of device structure not only saves the consumption of organic materials but also greatly reduces the structural heterogeneities and effectively facilitates the charge injection into the emissive layer. The resulting green phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes （PHOLEDs） exhibit higher electroluminescent efficiency. The maximum external quantum efficiency and current efficiency reach 23.7% and 88 cd/A, respectively. Moreover the device demonstrates satisfactory stability, keeping 23.7% and 88cd/A, 22% and 82cd/A, respectively, at a luminance of 100 and 1000cd/m2. The working mechanism for achieving high efficiency based on such a simple device structure is discussed correspondingly. The improved charge carrier injection and transport balance are proved to prominently contribute to achieve the high efficiency and great stability at high luminance in the green PHOLEDs.

High-Efficiency Bottom-Emitting Organic Light-Emitting Diodes with Double Aluminum as Electrodes

Bottom-emitting organic light-emitting diodes （BOLEDs）, using AI/MoO3 as the semitransparent anode and LiF/Al as the reflective cathode and Alqa as the emitter, are fabricated. At the same time, the performance improvement of the BOLEDs having a capping layer inserted between the semitransparent anode and the glass substrate is studied. The optimized microcavity BOLED shows a current efficiency （5.49cd/A） enhancement of 10% compared with a conventional BOLED based on ITO （5.0cd/A）. Slight color variation is observed in 120° forward viewing angle with 5Onto BCP as the capping layer. Strong dependence of efficiency on A1 anode thickness and the thickness and refractor index of the capping layer is explained. The results indicate that the BOLEDs with the double-aluminum electrode have potential practical applications.

Modulating the alloying mode in the doping-induced synthesis of Au-Pd nanowires

Heterogeneous doping is one effective strategy for synthesizing metal alloy nanowires.Herein,the heterogeneous doping processes of Pd on the ultrathin Au nanowires were systematically modulated and investigated.Au-Pd alloy nanowires with various morphologies and lattice structures can be obtained by adjusting the morphology of the precursor Au nanowires and the kinetics of the heterogeneous doping processes.The effects of the rate of Pd reduction and the concentration of the ligand oleylamine(OAm)on the Pd deposition and alloying mode were articulated.Generally,as the Pd deposition rate decreases,the Pd deposition and alloying mode switches from the island-forming Stransky–Krastanov(SK)mode to the epitaxial Frank-van der Merwe(FM)mode,and eventually to an unconventional twisting alloying mode,where the interdiffusion of Pd and Au causes drastic rearrangement of the lattice structure and formation of helical structures.The kinetics-related variation of alloying mode could also be observed in the Au-Ag nanowires,demonstrating a general design principle for the synthesis of alloy nanostructures.In addition,the electrocatalytic performance of various Au-Pd nanowires was evaluated,and the alloy nanowire formed via the SK mode was found to be an excellent electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and ethanol oxidation.

Purely organic optoelectronic materials with ultralong-lived excited states under ambient conditions

The exponential growth of utilizing synthetic organic molecules in optoelectronic applications poses strong demands for rational control over the excited states of the materials. The manipulation of excited states through molecular design has led to the development of high-performance optoelectronic devices with tunable emission colors, high quantum efficiencies and efficient energy/charge transfer processes. Recently, a significant breakthrough in lifetime tuning of excited states has been made;the purely organic molecules were found to have ultralonglived excited state under ambient conditions with luminescence lifetimes up to 1.35 s, which are several orders of magnitude longer than those of conventional organic fluorophores. Given the conceptual advance in understanding the fundamental behavior of excited state tuning in organic luminescent materials, the investigations of organic ultralong room-temperature phosphorescence(OURTP) should provide new directions for researches and have profound impacts on many different disciplines. Here, we summarized the recent understandings on the excited state tuning, the reported OURTP molecules and their design considerations,the spectacular photophysical performance, and the amazing optoelectronic applications of the newly emerged organic optoelectronic materials that free of heavy metals.

Tuning the intermolecular interaction of A_(2)-A_(1)-D-A_(1)-A_(2) type non-fullerene acceptors by substituent engineering for organic solar cells with ultrahigh V_(OC) of ~1.2 V

For non-fullerene acceptors(NFAs)with linear A_(2)-A_(1)-D-A_(1)-A_(2) backbone,there are three kinds of possible intermolecular interaction,A_(1)-A_(1),A_(1)-A_(2) and A_(2)-A_(2) stacking.Hence,it is a huge challenge to control this interaction and investigate the effect of intermolecular stacking model on the photovoltaic performance.Here,we adopt a feasible strategy,by utilizing different substituent groups on terminal A2 unit of dicyanomethylene rhodanine(RCN),to modulate this stacking model.According to theoretical calculation results,the molecule BTA3 with ethyl substituent packs via heterogeneous interaction between A_(2) and A_(1) unit in neighboring molecules.Surprisingly,the benzyl group can effectively transform the aggregation of BTA5 into homogeneous packing of A_(2)-A_(2) model,which might be driven by the strong interaction between benzyl and A1(benzotriazole)unit.However,different with benzyl,phenyl end group impedes the intermolecular interaction of BTA4 due to the large steric hindrance.When using a BTA-based D-π-A polymer J52-F as donor according to“Same-A-Strategy”,BTA3-5 could achieve ultrahigh open-circuit voltage(VOC)of 1.17–1.21 V.Finally,BTA5 with benzyl groups realized an improved power conversion efficiency(PCE)of 11.27%,obviously higher than that of BTA3(PCE=9.04%)and BTA4(PCE=5.61%).It is also worth noting that the same trend can be found when using other four classic p-type polymers of P3HT,PTB7,PTB7-Th and PBDB-T.This work not only investigates the intermolecular interaction of A_(2)-A_(1)-D-A_(1)-A_(2) type NFAs for the first time,but also provides a straightforward and universal method to change the interaction model and improve the photovoltaic performance.

Highly biocompatible BSA-MnO_2 nanoparticles as an efficient near-infrared photothermal agent for cancer therapy

More recently, the biomedical applications of MnO2 in bioanalysis, cell imaging, and drug delivery as a result of their appealing physicochemical properties, have been reported and expanded rapidly. However, research on a near infrared （NIR） photothermal response of MnO2 was ignored. In this work, we reported a facile, one-pot method to synthesis of bovine serum albumin （BSA）-reduced and stabilized MnO2 nanoparticles （BSA-MnO2 NPs） with good aqueous dispersibility and high biocompatibility. And we also showed for the first time that BSA-MnO2 NPs displayed superior NIR photothermal efficiency and photostability which demonstrated as a novel class of photothermal antitumor agent.

Study of Karstedt＇s Catalyst for Hydrosilylation of a Wide Variety of Functionalized Alkenes with Triethoxysilane and Tri meth oxysi lane

The hydrosilylation is one of the most important methods for the synthesis of organosilicon compounds. Karstedt＇s catalyst [Pt,（H2C=CHSiMe2OSiMe2CH = CH2）m] is a kind of platinum catalyst which is widely used in the hydrosilylation. In this paper, we studied the catalytic activity of Karstedt＇s catalyst for the hydrogenation of olefins and especially aminated alkenes with trimethoxysilane and triethoxysilane, and demonstrated the excellent performance in terms of the yield and selectivity.

Slight Structural Disorder in Bithiophene-based Random Terpolymers with Improved Power Conversion Efficiency for Polymer Solar Cells

A series of random terpolymers P2-P5 were designed and synthesized by randomly embedding 5 mol%, 10 mol%, 15 mol% and 25 mol% feed ratios of low cost 2,2-bithiophene as the third monomer to the famous donor-acceptor （D-A） type copolymer PTBT-Th （P1）. All polymers showed similar molecular weight with number-average molecular weight （Mn） and weight-average molecular weight （Mw） in the range of （59-74） and （93-114） kg·mol-1, respectively, to ensure a fair comparison on the structure-property relationships. Compared with the control copolymer PTBT-Th, the random terpolymers exhibited enhanced absorption intensity in a wide range from 400 nm to 650 nm in both solution and film as well as in polymer/PC71BM blends. From grazing incident wide-angle X-ray diffraction （GIWAXS）, compared with the regularly alternated copolymer PTB7-Th, the random terpolymers demonstrated mild structural disorder with reduced （100） lamellar stacking and slightly weakened （010） π-π stacking for the polymers as well as slightly reduced PC71BM aggregation in polymer/PC71BM blends. However, the measured hole mobility for terpolymers （（1.20-3.73） × 10 -4 cm2·V-1·s-1） was evaluated to be comparable or even higher than 1.35 × 10 -4 cm2·V-1 ·s-1 of the alternative copolymer. Enhanced average power conversion efficiency （PCE） from 7.35% to 8.11% and 7.79% to 8.37% was observed in both conventional and inverted device architectures from copolymer P1 to terpolymers P4, while further increasing the 2,2-bithiophene feed ratio decreased the PCE.

Enhanced power conversion efficiency in iridium complexbased terpolymers for polymer solar cells

By introducing various low concentrations of Iridium complexes to the famous donor polymer of PTB7-Th backbone,new heavy metal containing terpolymers have been demonstrated.When blended with PC71BM,an obvious increase of power conversion efficiency(PCE)is obtained in 1 mol%Ir containing polymer for different photovoltaic devices either using Ca or PDIN as cathode interface layers.The impact of molecular weight on the photovoltaic performance has been particularly considered by using three batches of control polymer PTB7-Th to ensure a fair and more convincing comparison.At similar molecular weight conditions(Mn:~60 kg mol−1,M_(w):100-110 kg mol^(−1)),the 1 mol%Ir containing PTB7-ThIr1/PC71BM blends exhibits enhanced PCE to 9.19%compared with 7.92%of the control PTB7-Th.Through a combination of physical measurement,such as optoelectrical characterization,GIWAXS and pico-second time-resolved photoluminescence,the enhancement are contributed from comprehensive factors of higher hole mobility,less bimolecular recombination and more efficient slow process of charge separation.

Pure aromatic hydrocarbons with meta-linked phenyl-core and perihedral fluorene substitutions with/without inert groups of tert-butyl： bipolar hosts for blue phosphorescence

Two pure hydrocarbon molecules of l,3,5-tris(9-phenyl-9H-fluoren-9-yl)benzene(mTPFB)and l,3,5-tris(2-tert-butyl-9-phenyl-9H-fluoren-9-yl)benzene(tBu-mTPFB)were synthesized.Due to the conjugation blocked connection mode and rigid/bulky substitutions,these two materials possess high triplet energy,enabling them as good hosts for blue phosphor in PhOLEDs.By studying their thermal,electrochemical,electronic absorption and photoluminescent properties,it was found that the influence of the inert tert-butyl group on material photoelectrical properties is negligible.For instance,mTPFB and tBu-mTPFB showed very similar absorption and emission profiles,with almost the same bandgap,triplet energy and energy levels.However,the encapsulation of tert-butyl on the 2-position of 9-phenylfluorene enhanced material thermal stability.Most importantly,carrier transport properties were improved dramatically,as proved by the mono carrier device.Blue phosphorescent OLEDs hosted by tBu-mTPFB showed external quantum efficiency of 15.2%and current efficiency of 23.0 cd/A,which were much higher than that of the OLEDs based on mTPFB with the analogous structure.

Multilayer Porous Vanadium Nitride Microsheets Anodes for Highly Stable Na-ion Batteries

Sodiumion batteries(SIBs)have attracted intensive attention as promising alternative to lithium-ionbatteries(LIBs)for large scale energy storage systems because of low cost of sodium,similar energy storage mechanism and the reasonable performance.However,it is still a great challenge to search and design a robust structure of anode materials with excellent cycling stability and high rate capability for SIBs.Herein,multilayer porous vanadium nitride(VN)microsheets are synthesized through a facile and scalable hydrothermal synthesis-nitrogenization strategy as an effective anode material for SIBs.The multilayer porous VN microsheets not only offer more active sites for fast Na+insertion/extraction process and short diffusion pathway,but also effectively buffer the volume change of anode due to more space in the multilayer porous structure.The large proportions of capacitive behavior imply that the Na+charge storage depends on the intercalation pseudocapacitive mechanism.The multilayer porous VN microsheets electrodes manifest excellent cycling stability and rate capability,delivering a discharge capacity of 156.1 mA·h/g at 200 mA/g after 100 cycles,and a discharge capacity of 111.9 mA·h/g at 1.0 A/g even after 2300 cycles with the Coulombic efficiency of nearly 100%.

Subtle structure tailoring of metal-free triazine luminogens for highly efficient ultralong organic phosphorescence

Ultralong organic phosphorescent materials have invoked considerable attention for their great potential in sensing,data encryption,information anti-counterfeiting and so forth.However,effective ways to achieve highly efficient ultralong organic phosphorescence(UOP)in metal-free organic materials remain a great challenge.Herein,we designed three isomers based on asymmetric triazines with various bromine substituted positions.Impressively,phosphorescence efficiency of p-BrAT in solid state can reach up to 9.7%with a long lifetime of 386 ms,which was one of the highest efficient UOP materials reported so far.Theoretical calculations further demonstrated that para-substitution exhibited the most effective radiative transition for triplet excitons.These results will provide an effective approach to achieving highly efficient UOP materials.