Carbon Binder Domains

In article number 2400350, Joonam Park, Kang Taek Lee, and co-workers present a groundbreaking study leveraging digital twin technology to investigate the carbon binder domain (CBD) distribution in lithium-ion battery cathodes. By modeling and analyzing electrode structures, the study reveals how varying CBD gradients significantly affect charge and discharge capacity, mass transport, and electrochemical reactions, providing critical insights for optimizing high-performance electrode designs.

Zintl Thermoelectrics

Designing Zintl compounds with complex structures and heavy elements enables bonding heterogeneity, inducing lattice anharmonicity and low thermal conductivity. In article number 2400632, Takao Mori and Nagendra Singh Chauhan explore alloying-driven bonding heterogeneity in α-Mg₃(Sb, Bi)₂, revealing local atomic ordering and heterogeneous interfaces in Mg₃(Sb_1−2xBi_xSn_x)₂. Alloying triggers partial phase transitions, with a cubic Mg₂Sn nanophase emerging at x ≥ 0.1. Optimized nanocomposites achieve zT ∼ 0.25 at 673 K, highlighting the role of anionic sites in structural and functional properties.

Magnetoelectric Microenvironment

In article number 2400466, Xuliang Deng, Wenwen Liu, and co-workers report a magnetoelectric microenvironment consisting of flexible core-shell composite membranes regulated by an applied magnetic field. The magnetoelectric microenvironment can selectively activate mitochondria, promote aerobic respiration of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, and cause a critical event of metabolic switch during osteogenic differentiation.

This review critically summarizes the recent achievements on atomic active centers (AACs) anchored photocatalysts for CO₂ photoreduction to ethylene/ethane. It covers the preparation route, structure/composition–activity relationship, and insightful reaction mechanism of these AACs anchored photocatalysts. It also introduces the current key challenges and future outlooks in this photocatalysis area.

The morphology, structure, properties, and working mechanism of barium titanate nanomaterial based on ultrasonic stimulation are introduced and three main preparation methods are listed; in addition, it also shows the sonodynamic therapy based on barium titanate multifunctional nanomaterial and the method of multimode collaborative treatment of tumor.

The impact of carbon binder domain (CBD) distribution on lithium-ion battery cathode performance using digital twin technology is explored. It covers the generation and analysis of virtual cathodes with varied CBD configurations, highlighting the effects on capacities, mass transport, and electrochemical reactions. The findings emphasize the importance of optimizing CBD distribution for improved battery electrode design and performance.

Alloying-induced bonding heterogeneity in p-type Mg₃(Sb_1−2xBi_xSn_x)₂ leads to local atomic ordering, site preferences, and heterogeneous interfaces, influencing structural transitions and thermoelectric properties. A partial trigonal-to-monoclinic phase transition occurs, with a cubic Mg₂Sn nanophase emerging at higher alloying content. The optimized nanocomposite achieves zT ≈ 0.25 at 673 K, demonstrating synergistic thermal conductivity reduction and power factor enhancement.

A novel approach to promote bone defect repair by targeted modulation of mitochondria in bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells utilizing a built-in magnetoelectric microenvironment is studied. This study explores the intrinsic mechanism of the magnetoelectric microenvironment regulating osteogenesis from the perspective of cellular energy metabolism, providing new insights for future research on the mechanisms of biomaterials accelerating cellular osteogenic differentiation.

The Cu compensatory doping of ZnO nanowires is of great interest to face the challenge arising from the detrimental screening of the piezoelectric potential. Here, they are investigated locally by combining mass spectrometry and optical spectroscopy with X-Ray linear dichroism using synchrotron radiation. The findings shed light on the local environment of Cu as an important outcome for piezoelectric devices.

This work aims to develop a catalyst-coated membrane (CCM) for high-temperature polymer-electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) using an ion-pair-coordinated membrane and a protonated phosphoric acid ionomer. A structured membrane enhances catalyst utilization, proton and oxygen transport, and adhesion strength between the membrane and electrode, thereby maximizing CCM performance for HT-PEMFC applications.

The anodes for lithium-ion batteries are designed utilizing porous microspheres comprising biphasic silicon-amorphous iron selenite (Si/FeSeO_x) nanocrystals enveloped within an N-doped graphitic carbon (NGC) matrix with well-grown and highly intertwined N-doped carbon nanotubes (CNTs) (Si/FeSeO_x@NGC/N-CNT). The synergistic effect of multicomponents such as Si, amorphous FeSeO_x, NGC, and N-doped CNTs network within the nanostructures results in enhanced battery performance.

In situ compression tests on the honeycomb structure of Fomes fomentarius hymenium under parallel and transverse loading show that parallel loading results in small and uniform displacements due to hyphae orientation along the honeycomb. Damage occurs through plastic buckling and delamination of tube walls in dry samples. In contrast, wet samples buckle at lower strain, with fewer fatal cracks.

A PbO₂ electrode with a hierarchical porous structure is synthesized using a simple template method via self-assembly of polystyrene beads of varying sizes. The hierarchical porous electrode demonstrates superior electrochemical performance for pollutant degradation compared to its nonporous counterpart, highlighting the benefits of its enhanced surface area and structure.

Atomically precise zigzag edges in multilayer MoS₂, fabricated through electron beam lithography and anisotropic wet etching, enable humidity-tolerant sensing at elevated temperatures and enhanced performance at room temperature under UV illumination. Exposure to 2.5 ppb NO₂ at 70% humidity yields a 33-fold response increase, with theoretical detection limits of 4–400 ppt, validated by first-principles calculations.

Temperature-dependent electrical conductivity measurements reveal in mesoporous silicon a thermally activated transport in extended electronic states. A variation of the thermal activation energies from sample to sample is discussed in terms of microscopic disorder. The existence of a disorder-dependent mobility edge between localized and extended states in a band tail with exponential density-of-states is indispensable for understanding the transport mechanism.

Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) therapy shows promise in treating advanced cancers, but response rates are low due to the tumor microenvironment (TME). M2 macrophages promote immune evasion, while M1 macrophages exert antitumor effects. Using mannose-modified nanodroplets (MPH@NDs) loaded with hematoporphyrin monomethyl ether and activated by low-intensity focused ultrasound can remodel the TME, enhancing ICB therapy efficacy and reducing tumor growth.

Dopants strongly bonded with oxygen exsolve from the amorphous state of perovskite oxide, followed by crystallization of the oxide through reductive annealing at elevated temperatures. This technique extracts all Fe atoms heavily doped into SrTiO₃ substrates without decomposing the SrTiO₃, forming uniformly distributed, high-density Fe₃O₄ particles embedded in the support, ensuring complete structural stability and significantly enhancing photoelectrochemical performance.

A shear-printing method is reported to digitally print anti-erasure liquid metal (LM) circuits onto paper by shear force. This method allows the formation of hierarchical embedded LM lines that are embedded into the fiber network and the microgrooves of the paper. The hierarchical embedded LM circuits have potential applications in wearables and microfluidics.

Chiral-nematic liquid-crystal (N* LC) polymer films with controlled helical-axis alignments have attracted significant attention to fabricating next-generation materials. Here, photogradient polymerization is proposed to arbitrarily control helical-axis alignment in N* LC polymer film. This method has great potential for fabricating next-generation N* LC polymer film with precisely controlled helical-axis alignment.

A porous-skeleton-encapsulated electronic-yarn (E-Yarn) with moisture-pressure dual-mode sensing performance is developed. E-Yarn can decouple moisture and pressure stimuli through changing spatial configuration of single and cross-placed. Benefited by absorbent porous-skeleton and microstructure on twisted yarn, E-Yarn has low detection limit and high fidelity. Combining with deep learning, E-Yarn can be further applicated in individual protection and personalized healthcare monitoring.

The demand for advanced bone repair biomaterials leads to integrating graphene oxide into chitosan hydrogels, enhancing structural integrity. Meanwhile, self-assembled peptide nanofibers further improve biocompatibility and promote biomimetic mineralization. The innovative bioinspired hydrogels support bone regeneration, offering significant advancements in bone tissue engineering with essential osteogenic and pro-angiogenic properties.

DNA and peptide-stabilized gold nanoclusters (AuNCs) are prepared with excellent optical properties. AuNCs are conjugated with a branched hybridization chain reaction strategy for fluorescent biosensing and bioimaging of miRNA. Good analytical performances and intracellular lighting are achieved. This work may offer a powerful tool for the investigation of miRNA-related bioprocesses.

GA: A three-stage model is proposed to describe unidirectional transport through Janus membranes, encompassing liquid intrusion, capillary wetting, and liquid transport. The mechanisms of liquid intrusion include direct-contact-driven intrusion in bilayer structures and surface-energy-driven intrusion in gradient structures.

A hybrid structure based on monolayer MoS₂ and GaP nanowire for the enhancement of the emission and its directional outcoupling is presented. Resonant spectral modulation of the photoluminescence with Q factor exceeding 350 is obtained. The results pave the way to the development of nanoscale laser sources and on-chip light routing for basic nanophotonic circuitry based on 2D materials.