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Access to clean and renewable energy, osmotic energy from salinity gradient difference, for example, is central to the sustainability of human civilization. Despite numerous examples of nanofluidic membranes for osmotic energy conversion, one produced from abundant and renewable biomass resources remains largely unexplored. In this work, cotton-derived cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are employed to fabricate a membrane by self-assembly with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and subsequent in situ growth of metal-organic framework (MOF), UiO-66-(COOH) 2 , to provide an example. The composite membrane exhibits excellent mechanical strength and toughness due to the long chains and hydrogen bonding interactions of PVA. The incorporation of UiO-66-(COOH) 2 endows the composite membrane with abundant nano- and subnano-sized ion transport channels, resulting in a 150% increase in ion conductance, while also providing superior cation selectivity through collaboration with the sulfated CNCs. The composite membrane with 27.4% MOF content can achieve an osmotic energy conversion performance of 5.10 W m -2 under a 50-fold KCl gradient condition and a monovalent cation selectivity of ≈16 for K + /Mg 2+ . This work presents a solution for harvesting renewable osmotic energy by constructing nanofluidic membranes using plentiful renewable biomass materials and a simple, low-emission fabrication procedure., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

MoS 2 , as a classical 2D material, becomes a capable anode candidate for sodium-ion batteries. However, MoS 2 presents a disparate electrochemical performance in the ether-based and ester-based electrolyte with unclear mechanism. Herein, tiny MoS 2 nanosheets embedded in nitrogen/sulfur-codoped carbon (MoS 2 @NSC) networks are designed and fabricated through an uncomplicated solvothermal method. Thanks to the ether-based electrolyte, the MoS 2 @NSC shows a unique capacity growth in the original stage of cycling. But in the ester-based electrolyte, MoS 2 @NSC shows a usual capacity decay. The increasing capacity puts down to the gradual transformation from MoS 2 to MoS 3 with the structure reconstruction. Based on the above mechanism, MoS 2 @NSC demonstrates an excellent recyclability and the specific capacity keeps around 286 mAh g -1 at 5 A g -1 after 5000 cycles with an ultralow capacity fading rate of only 0.0034% per cycle. In addition, a MoS 2 @NSC‖Na 3 V 2 (PO 4 ) 3 full cell with ether-based electrolyte is assembled and demonstrates a capacity of 71 mAh g -1 , suggesting the potential application of MoS 2 @NSC. Here the electrochemical conversion mechanism of MoS 2 is revealed in the ether-based electrolyte and significance of the electrolyte design on the promoting Na ion storage behavior is highlighted., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The construction of the cost-effective materials that are convenient to be used for sustainable detection and efficient removal of toxic pollutants is highlighted in practical application. Herein, a plug-and-play bifunctional fiber-like In 2 O 3 heterojunction (ETI) is constructed by growing indium metal-organic frameworks directly onto an etched titanium sheet (ET) and subsequently annealed. The results show that the noble-metal free In 2 O 3 nanofibers induced by ET can sensitively response to trace triphenylmethane pollutant-bright green (BG, as low as 1 × 10 -11  m, analysis enhanced factor (AEF) = 7.68 × 10 5 ). In addition, excellent selectivity and repeatability for surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) detection of BG can be achieved on the uniform ETI substrate. Moreover, the portable ETI substrate shows significant photocatalytic efficiency and maintains stability throughout cycles in degrading BG, which is greatly superior to some comparisons. The highly efficient SERS and photocatalytic activity of ETI can be mainly attributed to the confinement effect in the nanofibers and the strong internal electric field generated at multiple heterogeneous interfaces between TiO 2 nanoparticles "islands" and In 2 O 3 nanofibers on the ET. This study will establish a new foundation for developing noble-metal-free substrates flexibly used in detecting and eliminating organic pollutants in wastewater., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

As one of the data-intensive in-memory computing hardware, ternary content addressable memory (TCAM) stands out for its efficient in-memory-searching capability, enabling high-throughput and low-latency computing. However, TCAMs, especially those based on resistive non-volatile memories, face challenges in limited resistance ratio (R high /R low ) that deteriorate sensing margin and energy efficiency. Addressing these issues, a TCAM cell composed of two memcapacitors (2C-TCAM) based on NAND flash array structure is proposed. The 2C-TCAM utilizes the memcapacitors coupled with the mature technology of flash cells for reliable operation and high-density (8F 2 ) array configuration. Thanks to the capacitive readout of memcapacitors, the 2C-TCAM achieves near-zero static power consumption and minimizes IR drop effect. Consequently, highly parallel and reliable search functionality can be obtained even in large arrays while preserving the sensing margin. Electrical characteristics and operation schemes of the proposed 2C-TCAM cell are validated through fabrication and measurements, and array operations are experimentally demonstrated using a 24 × 48 memcapacitor crossbar array with sensing circuits. Additionally, the system-level performance of the 2C-TCAM array is analyzed, considering the device programming accuracy. Search times of 47 ps and energy consumption of 11.7 fJ per bit are achieved by scaling down the device cell area to 1 µm 2 ., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Carbazole-based self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) are widely used in inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the biased intermolecular assembly of SAM molecules, and the lack of Lewis-basic heteroatoms to efficiently tune the crystallinity of perovskites and passivate the interface defects still limited the further improvement of the efficiency and stability for PSCs involving carbazole-based SAMs. Herein, a novel 3,6-dithiophene carbazole-based SAM molecule (named CzTh) is designed via the substituent engineering strategy, which is demonstrated to effectively solve the obstacles. The theory and experiment find that the introduction of thiophene regulated SAMs with the carbazole core in terms of surface wettability for precursor solvent, energy level alignment, the crystallization of perovskite films and defects passivation, which is attributed to dipole moment changes, and the Lewis base property of S atom. Consequently, the PSCs with CzTh achieved enhanced power conversion efficiency (PCE) and excellent air stability, compared to the commercial SAMs (Me-4PACz). As an "one-stone-three-birds" design strategy for SAMs, the "thiophene-substitution" effectively tunes the perovskite crystallization, passivates the defects, and enhances the hole injection at the perovskite/SAMs interface of inverted PSCs., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Osmotic energy, also called blue energy, promotes sustainable energy development. Nanofluidic membranes constructed from various nanomaterials applied in reverse electrodialysis play an important role in enhancing the effective osmotic energy conversion. The fabrication of g-C 3 N 4 modified MXene/regenerated cellulose composite nanofluidic membranes is developed. Optimization of advanced membrane structure not only designed a well-ordered layer arrangement resulting in low membrane impedance but also enabled photoelectric/photothermal guided ion transport to promote energy conversion. The photoelectric effect promoted the separation of electrons and holes between g-C 3 N 4 and MXene to form a local electric field, causing the output current of thenanofluidic membrane-based reverse electrodialysis to jump sharply from 17 µA to a peak current of 28 µA (no light to light) and increasing the power density from 0.9 W m -2 to 4.3 W m -2 . After 1200 s of illumination, the MXene channel created an inhomogeneous temperature gradient that triggered ion transport driven by thermal osmosis through the photothermal effect, resulting in an excellent output power density of 5.9 W m -2 . Photoelectric/photothermal enhanced osmotic energy harvesting over multiple climate changes. Thus, this work expands the way of photoelectric/photothermal guided ion transport to enhance the conversion of osmotic energy into electrical energy., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Democratizing biomarker testing at the point-of-care requires innovations that match laboratory-grade sensitivity and precision in an accessible format. Here, high-sensitivity detection of cardiac troponin I (cTnI) is demonstrated through innovations in chemiluminescence-based sensing, imaging, and deep learning-driven analysis. This chemiluminescence vertical flow assay (CL-VFA) enables rapid, low-cost, and precise quantification of cTnI, a key cardiac protein for assessing heart muscle damage and myocardial infarction. The CL-VFA integrates a user-friendly chemiluminescent paper-based sensor, a polymerized enzyme-based conjugate, a portable high-performance CL reader, and a neural network-based cTnI concentration inference algorithm. The CL-VFA measures cTnI over a broad dynamic range covering six orders of magnitude and operates with 50 µL of serum per test, delivering results in 25 min. This system achieves a detection limit of 0.16 pg mL -1 with an average coefficient of variation under 15%, surpassing traditional benchtop analyzers in sensitivity by an order of magnitude. In blinded validation, the computational CL-VFA accurately measures cTnI concentrations in patient samples, demonstrating a robust correlation against a clinical-grade FDA-cleared analyzer. These results highlight the potential of CL-VFA as a robust diagnostic tool for accessible, rapid cardiac biomarker testing that meets the needs of diverse healthcare settings, from emergency care to underserved regions., (© 2025 The Author(s). Small published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Solid-state electrolytes have garnered significant attention due to their inherent advantages in safety and electrochemical stability. Despite these benefits, the interfacial issues between the electrode and the solid-state electrolyte continue to hinder the widespread application of solid-state lithium batteries. The lack of effective interfacial contact, particularly in inorganic solid electrolytes (ISEs), remains a critical barrier to achieving optimal battery performance. This study proposes a strategy to address this challenge by constructing a covalent electrode/ISE interface. Strengthening the interactions between the cathode and ISE reduces interfacial resistance and enhances electrochemical stability, leading to significant improvements in battery performance. The resulting solid-state lithium battery, featuring a stable covalent coupling at the electrode/ISE interface, demonstrates outstanding cycling stability, retaining 85% of its initial capacity after 700 cycles at 1 C. This work not only provides new insights into overcoming interfacial resistance in ISEs but also offers a promising approach for the development of high-performance solid-state lithium batteries., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The development of diverse microstructures has substantially contributed to recent progress in high-performance electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption materials, providing a versatile platform for the modulation of absorption properties. Exploring multidimensional microstructures and developing tailored and gentle strategies for their precise optimization can substantially address the current challenges posed by relatively unclear underlying mechanisms. Here, a series of 2D/1D heterogeneous NiO@PPy composites featuring hollow hierarchical microstructures are successfully synthesized using a straightforward strategy combining sacrificial templating with chemical oxidative polymerization. This strategy offers a facile and effective approach to fine-tune the microstructure by adjusting the thickness of the polypyrrole (PPy) coating. This enables the continuous optimization of the dielectric properties and specific microstructures to maximize EMW absorption. Remarkably, the optimized 2D/1D hierarchical hollow NiO@PPy composite demonstrates an ultrathin thickness of 2.3 mm, a wide effective absorption band spanning 5.89 GHz, and a strong absorption intensity of -71.65 dB at a minimal loading of only 10 wt.%. The proposed mild and controllable preparation strategy not only provides insights for further tailoring the optimal dielectric properties of specific structures to enhance the absorption capacity, but also enriches the exploration of the underlying absorption mechanisms from the perspective of microstructure regulation., (© 2025 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Mechanistic understanding of how electrode-electrolyte interfaces evolve dynamically is crucial for advancing water-electrolysis technology, especially the restructuring of catalyst surface during complex electrocatalytic reactions. However, for perovskite fluorides, the mechanistic exploration for the influence of the dynamic restructuring on their chemical property and catalytic mechanism is unclear due to their poor conductivity that makes the definition of electrocatalyst structure difficult. Herein, for oxygen evolution reaction (OER), various operando characterizations are employed to investigate the structure-activity relationships of the KNi x Fe 1- x F 3 @NF. Adding iron to the KNi x Fe 1- x F 3 structure increases metal vacancies, enhancing electrochemical reconstruction. For reconstructed KNi x Fe 1- x F 3 structure, the results from operando Raman, operando X-ray diffraction, operando UV-vis spectroscopy, and differential electrochemical mass spectrometry reveal that the surface Ni sites act as catalytic centers within the amorphous Ni(Fe)OOH active layer, and the incorporation of Fe activates oxidized oxygen ions during water oxidation. Theoretical calculations support this by demonstrating the optimized adsorption-free energy of oxygenated intermediates. Consequently, the KNi 0.5 Fe 0.5 F 3 @NF achieves an overpotential of 281 mV to reach OER current of 150 mA·cm -2 and maintains stable operation for 200 h. These results highlight a promising pathway to tuning OER mechanisms in perovskite fluorides and offer a new perspective for developing high-efficiency and durable OER catalysts., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Developing highly efficient biomass-derived carbon-based electrocatalysts remains challenging for urea electrolysis because most of these electrocatalysts show powder morphology, which can lead to Ostwald ripening during the reaction process, and its reaction mechanism should be further verified. Herein, self-supported lignin-derived carbon coupling NiO@MoNi 4 heterojunction (NiO@MoNi 4 /C) possesses superhydrophilic properties and electronic modulation, boosting the performance of urea electrolysis. Electrochemical results show that an indirect oxidation step for urea oxidation reaction (UOR) and Volmer-Heyrovsky mechanism for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) occurs on the surface of NiO@MoNi 4 /C. It displays low potentials for UOR (E 10/500/1000 = 1.28/1.41/1.47 V) and for HER (E -10/-500/-1000 = -38/-264/-355 mV) in 1.0 M KOH + 0.5 M urea electrolyte solution. The good activity is ascribed to the self-supported lignin-derived carbon and heterojunction, which increases the number of active sites, optimizes electronic structure, and improves electron transfer. Benefiting from the self-supported lignin-derived carbon, NiO@MoNi 4 /C demonstrates corrosion resistance and superhydrophilicity, which avoids Ostwald ripening and accelerates gas-liquid transfer, thus, maintaining for 100 h at ±1000/±1500 mA cm -2 during the UOR and HER test. This work provides a good catalyst for urea electrolysis and presents a promising way for preparing lignin-derived carbon-based catalysts while expanding the application of lignin-based biomass carbon materials., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Developing solid-state lithium metal batteries with wide operating temperature range is important in future. Polyethylene oxide (PEO)-based solid-state electrolytes are extensively studied for merits including superior flexibility and low glass transition temperature. However, ideal usage temperatures for conventional PEO-based solid-state electrolytes are between 60 and 65 °C, and unequable temperature degrades their electrochemical performances at low and high temperatures (≤25 °C and ≥80 °C). Herein, modification methods of PEO electrolytes for low, high especially wide-temperature applications are reviewed based on detailed analyses of mechanisms involved in its modification at different temperatures. First, shortcomings of PEO solid electrolytes due to influence of temperature are pointed out. Second, existing modification strategies are summarized in detail from three aspects of high, low especially wide temperatures, including application of PEO derivatives or chain segment modification treatment of PEO, addition of fillers, and other modification methods such as reasonable regulation of lithium salts, introduction of functional layers and addition of metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) or covalent organic frameworks (COFs). Finally, a summary and description of PEO-based solid electrolyte research and development trends for wide-temperature applications are provided. The review aims to offer some guidance for the creation of PEO solid batteries with wider working temperature ranges., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Metal-metal oxide hybrid materials, typically composed of metal nanoparticles anchored on metal oxides matrix, are devoted enormous attentions as famous heterogeneous catalysts. The interactions between noble metals and metal oxides as well as their interfaces have been proven to be the origin of their excellent catalytic performance. Deep understandings on the interactions between noble metals and metal oxides at atomic precision, thus to precisely assess their contributions to catalysis, can serve as basic principles for catalyst design. In recent years, polyoxometalates (POMs), which in principle can be regarded as atomically precise metal oxide clusters, have been shown to have strong affinity to noble metals, thus forming diverse kinds of POM-noble metal hybrid clusters. Their well-resolved atomically precise structures and hybrid nature promise them as ideal platforms to understand the interfaces and interactions between noble metals and metal oxides. In this review, metal-metal oxide interface is classified into different categories based on the different configurations of hybrid clusters, and aims to understand the interface structures and electronic correlations between POMs and noble metals at the atomic precision. Based on these basic understandings, the study provides the perspectives on the challenges and research efforts to be paid in the future., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The ever-expanding scale of industry and agriculture has led to the gradual increase of pollutants (e.g., heavy metal ions, synthetic dyes, and antibiotics) in water resources, and the ecology and wastewater are grave problems that need to be solved urgently and has attracted widespread attention from the research community and industry in recent years. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a type of organic-inorganic hybrid material with a distinctive 3D network crystal structure. Lately, MOFs have made striking progress in the fields of adsorption, catalytic degradation, and biomedicine on account of their large specific surface and well-developed pore structure. This review summarizes the latest research achievements in the preparation of pristine MOFs, MOF composites, and MOF derivatives for various applications including the removal of heavy metal ions, organic dyes, and other harmful substances in sewage. Furthermore, the working mechanisms of utilizing adsorption, photocatalytic degradation, and membrane separation technologies are also briefly described for specific pollutants removal from sewage. It is expected that this review will provide inspiration and references for the synthesis of pristine MOFs as well as their composites and derivatives with excellent water treatment performance., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Bottom-up design of electronic materials based on nanometer-sized building blocks requires precise control over their self-assembly process. Atomically precise metal nanoclusters (NCs) are the well-characterized building blocks for crafting tunable nanomaterials. Here, a solution-processed assembly of a newly synthesized molecular silver nanocluster (0 D Ag 12 -NC) into a 1D nanocluster chain (1 D Ag 12 -CAM) is mediated by 4,4'-bipyridine linker Both 0 D Ag 12 -NC and 1 D Ag 12 -CAM consist of Ag 12 core that adopts the cuboctahedron geometry protected by organic ligands. The resistive switching devices are fabricated in a sandwich-like structure of ITO (Indium tin oxide)/X/Ag (where X is either 0 D Ag 12 -NC or 1 D Ag 12 -CAM). The device based on 1 D Ag 12 -CAM exhibited excellent resistive switching behaviour, enduring up to 1000 cycles and boasting a fivefold higher I on /I off ratio compared to the device based on the molecular 0 D Ag 12 -NC nanocluster. Furthermore, the device based on 1 D Ag 12 -CAM demonstrated negative differential resistance (NDR) phenomena, achieving a peak-to-valley ratio of 2.34 with a switching efficiency of 23 Ns. This work highlights the importance of interconnecting molecular nanoclusters into 1D nanocluster chains for fine-tuning resistive memory properties in futuristic electronic appliances., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Antimony sulfide (Sb 2 S 3 ) is regarded as one of the potential candidates for the next generation of photovoltaic absorber due to its excellent photoelectric properties. However, the selection and optimization of the hole transport layer (HTL) is still a major challenge for efficiency breakthrough of the Sb 2 S 3 solar cells. In this work, lead sulfide (PbS) is deposited as a HTL of the Sb 2 S 3 device by thermal evaporation for the first time. A high quality PbS films is conformally coated on the Sb 2 S 3 rear surface by regulating the feeding amount, which thanks to the mass transfer mechanism of Ostwald ripening by scrutinizing the film growth kinetics. Meanwhile, both the valence band maximum (VBM) and Fermi levels are shifted down by a deliberate oxygen doping under a low vacuum ambient, which effectively reduces the offset between Sb 2 S 3 and carbon electrode and then accelerates hole collection. Finally, it delivers an impressive photovoltaic conversion efficiency of 6.63% for carbon-based Sb 2 S 3 solar cells, coupled with a V oc of 779 mV, J sc of 14.9 mA cm -2 and FF of 57.13%, which is 13% higher than that under high vacuum condition., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Seawater electrolysis is the most promising technology for hydrogen production, in which surface reconstruction on the interface of electrode/electrolyte plays a crucial role in activating the catalytic reactions with a low activation energy barrier. Herein, an efficient Mo modifying NiCoMo prickly flower clusters electrocatalyst supported on nickel foam (Mo-doped Ni/Co-OOH prickly flower clusters) is obtained, which serves as an eminently active and durable catalyst for both hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) due to the surface reconstruction during the alkaline seawater electrolysis with ultralow overpotentials. It just requires a cell voltage of 1.52 V to achieve the current density of 10 mA cm -2 for water electrolysis along with robust durability over 30 h. Mo doping effectively regulates the surface reconstruction of Ni/Co-OOH, which facilitates the adsorption of oxygen-containing intermediates on the active center, and the nonhomogeneous interface induces charge rearrangement for the catalytic process to improve efficiency, providing a new strategy for revealing the seawater electrolytic mechanism., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Multiple resonance thermally activated delayed fluorescence (MR-TADF) materials are applied in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) due to their high efficiency and color purity. However, the inherent planar structure of MR emitters presents significant challenges, including concentration-induced emission quenching, spectral redshift and broadening. To address these issues, two orthorhombic asymmetric conformational materials, SBNO and SBNOS, have been developed. Both MR-TADF emitters incorporate a sterically hindered spiro-carbon bridge to minimize intermolecular chromophore interactions. Consequently, the spectra of the SBNOS-based devices exhibit only a 4 nm redshift and a 7 nm broadening of the full-width at half maximum (FWHM) across a doping ratio range of 1-100 wt%. The steric effect produces pure green OLEDs with a CIE y of 0.69 and enhances performance, achieving a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE max ) of up to 32.7%. The referent BNO without spiro skeleton suffers from serious spectral redshift and broadening as well as a lower device efficiency. This research demonstrates a promising approach to developing MR-TADF devices that resist redshift and broadening while maintaining high color purity and efficiency., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Copper sulfides (Cu x S, 1 ≤ x ≤ 2) are notable for their unique photoelectric properties and potential applications, particularly in photo/electrocatalysis. These materials are valued for their tunable band gap, near-infrared optical characteristics, and plasmonic resonance effects. However, challenges such as low catalytic activity and limited stability impede their practical applications. This review addresses these issues by exploring advanced strategies for electronic structure modulation, including atomic doping, shape alteration, heterojunction construction, and defect introduction to enhance catalytic efficiency. A detailed analysis of the optical and electrical properties of Cu x S across various stoichiometric ratios and crystal structures is provided, offering a comprehensive overview of their applications in photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, and photo/electrocatalysis. Additionally, the review synthesizes current knowledge and highlights the potential of these strategies to optimize Cu x S-based photo/electrocatalysts, proposing future research directions to bridge the gap between theoretical studies and practical applications. This work underscores the importance of Cu x S in photo/electrocatalysis and aims to inspire further innovation and exploration in this field, emphasizing its significance in material science and engineering., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The Ag cluster-POM assemblies have been shown to possess interesting and potentially useful properties. However, there is no precedent example of atomically precise Ag cluster-POM assemblies showing heterojunction effects in photocatalysis. Herein, the synthesis and total structure determination of the periodically distributed molecular heterojunction [Ag 12 (SCy) 6 (CH 3 CN) 12 (PW 12 O 40 )] n (Ag 12 -PW 12 ) are reported. The assembly of Ag/W clusters into 3D network can endow the resulting binary structure with an aesthetic topology and unique physicochemical properties. More remarkably, the incorporation of Ag 12 cluster with PW 12 can efficiently facilitate the separation of photogenerated electrons and holes, thus significantly promoting the catalytic efficiency in selective oxidation of sulfides. The Ag 12 -PW 12 heterojunction can be recovered and reused five times with no drastic change in the catalytic performance. This research is expected to assist in the rational design of cluster-based heterojunction catalysts. The increase of catalytic activity of the Ag 12 -PW 12 assembly in comparison with the unassembled Ag 12 and PW 12 clusters is attributed to the synergistic effect of Ag 12 and PW 12 clusters, offering the splendid opportunity for deciphering structure-reactivity relationship of heterostructure-coupled photosystem., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Considering the potential threats posed by oily wastewater to the ecosystem, it is urgently in demand to develop efficient, eco-friendly, and intelligent oil/water separation materials to enhance the safety of the water environment. Herein, an intelligent hydrogel-coated wood (PPT/PPy@DW) membrane with self-healing, self-cleaning, and oil pollution detection performances is fabricated for the controllable separation of oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions and water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions. The PPT/PPy@DW is prepared by loading polypyrrole (PPy) particles on the delignified wood (DW) membranes, further modifying the hydrogel layer as an oil-repellent barrier. The layered porous structure and selective wettability endow PPT/PPy@DW with great separation performance for various O/W emulsions (≥98.69% for separation efficiency and ≈1000 L m -2  h -1  bar -1 for permeance). Notably, the oil pollution degree of PPT/PPy@DW can be monitored in real-time based on the changed voltage generated during O/W emulsion separation, and the oil-polluted PPT/PPy@DW can be self-cleaned by soaking in water to recover its separation performance. The high affinity of PPT/PPy@DW for water makes it effective in trapping water from the mixed surfactant-stabilized W/O emulsions. The prepared eco-friendly and low-cost multifunctional hydrogel wood membrane shows promising potential in on-demand oil/water separation and provides new ideas for the functional improvement of new biomass oil/water separation membrane materials., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Enhancing the concentration and type of nitrogen (N) dopants within the Sp 2 -carbon domain of carbon recycled from biomass sources is an efficient approach to mimic CNT, GO, and rGO to activate oxidants such as H 2 O 2 , excluding toxic chemicals and limiting reaction steps. However, monitoring the kind and concentration of N species in the Sp 2 -C domain is unlikely with thermal treatments only. A high temperature for graphitization reduces N moieties, leading to low electron density. This inhibits H 2 O 2 adsorption and activation on catalyst surfaces. In this study, coffee waste (CW) is converted into B, N-doped biochar (B X Nb Y ) using boric acid-assisted pyrolysis (H 3 BO 3  mass = X and carbonization temperature = Y) under N 2 to overcome the challenge. The B dopant regulates the concentration and type of N, provides Lewis's acid sites, and converts graphitic-N to pyridine-N in B X Nb Y . The optimized B 3 Nb 900 exhibits excellent colorimetric sensing performance toward H 2 O 2 with a low detection limit (36.9 nM) and high selectivity in the presence of many interferences and milk samples due to high pyridinic-N and Sp 2 domain sizes. Interestingly, B enhances other properties of N-containing CW-derived carbon and introduces self-extinguishing and tribopositive properties. Hence, B X Nb Y -coated polyurethane foam shows excellent flame retardancy and energy harvesting performance., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Asymmetric electronic environments based on microscopic-scale perspective have injected infinite vitality in understanding the intrinsic mechanism of polarization loss for electromagnetic (EM) wave absorption, but still exists a significant challenge. Herein, Zn single-atoms (SAs), structural defects, and Co nanoclusters are simultaneously implanted into bimetallic metal-organic framework derivatives via the two-step dual coordination-pyrolysis process. Theoretical simulations and experimental results reveal that the electronic coupling interactions between Zn SAs and structural defects delocalize the symmetric electronic environments and generate additional dipole polarization without sacrificing conduction loss owing to the compensation of carbon nanotubes. Moreover, Co nanoclusters with large nanocurvatures induce a strong interfacial electric field, activate the superiority of heterointerfaces and promote interfacial polarization. Benefiting from the aforementioned merits, the resultant derivatives deliver an optimal reflection loss of -58.9 dB and the effective absorption bandwidth is 5.2 GHz. These findings provide an innovative insight into clarifying the microscopic loss mechanism from the asymmetric electron environments viewpoint and inspire the generalized electronic modulation engineering in optimizing EM wave absorption., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

2D semiconductors can drive advances in quantum science and technologies. However, they should be free of any contamination; also, the crystallographic ordering and coupling of adjacent layers and their electronic properties should be well-controlled, tunable, and scalable. Here, these challenges are addressed by a new approach, which combines molecular beam epitaxy and in situ band engineering in ultra-high vacuum of semiconducting gallium selenide (GaSe) on graphene. In situ studies by electron diffraction, scanning probe microscopy, and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy reveal that atomically-thin layers of GaSe align in the layer plane with the underlying lattice of graphene. The GaSe/graphene heterostructure, referred to as 2semgraphene, features a centrosymmetric (group symmetry D 3d ) polymorph of GaSe, a charge dipole at the GaSe/graphene interface, and a band structure tunable by the layer thickness. The newly-developed, scalable 2semgraphene is used in optical sensors that exploit the photoactive GaSe layer and the built-in potential at its interface with the graphene channel. This proof of concept has the potential for further advances and device architectures that exploit 2semgraphene as a functional building block., (© 2024 The Author(s). Small published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Pure magnesium anode used in rechargeable magnesium batteries (RMB) exhibits high theoretical capacity but has been challenged by the passivation issue with conventional electrolytes. Alloy-type anodes have the potential to surpass this issue and have attracted increasing attention. However, the kinetic performance and stabilities of conventional alloy anodes are still constrained. In this study, the InSb-10%C anode is synthesized by a two-step high-energy ball milling process. The InSb-10%C anode exhibits a remarkably high capacity of up to 448 mA h g -1 , significantly improved cycle performance (234 mA h g -1 at 100 cycles) and rate performance (168 mA h g -1 at 500 mA g -1 ). The above-mentioned superior performance of the InSb-10%C anode for RMBs is attributed to the cellular graphitized amorphous carbon composite structure (CGA) which effectively refines the particle size and restricts the volume expansion. Additionally, the reduced surface electron density of InSb combined with the high conductivity resulting from graphitization enhances the Mg 2+ diffusion performance. Notably, the InSb-10%C anode demonstrates good compatibility with conventional halogen-free salt ether-based electrolytes in the full battery configuration., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Rare earth microalloying nanocrystals have gotten widespread attention due to their unprecedented performances with customization-defected nanostructures, divided energy bands, and ensembled surface chemistry, regarded as a class of ideal electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Herein, a lanthanide microalloying strategy is proposed to fabricate strain wave-featured LaRuIr nanocrystals with oxide skin through a rapid crystal nucleation, using thermally assisted sodium borohydride reduction in aqueous solution at 60 °C. The atomic strain waves with alternating compressive and tensile strains, resulting from La-stabilized edge dislocations in form of Cottrell atmospheres. In 0.5 m H 2 SO 4 , the LaRuIr displays an overpotential of 184 mV at 10 mA cm -2 , running at a steadily cell voltage for 60 h at 50 mA cm -2 , eightfold enhancement of IrO 2 ||Pt/C assemble in PEMWE. The coupled compressive and tensile profiles boost the OER kinetics via faster AEM and LOM pathways. Moreover, the tensile facilitates surface structure stabilization through dynamic refilling of lattice oxygen vacancies by the adsorbed oxyanions on La, Ru, and Ir sites, eventually achieving a long-term stability. This work contributes to developing advanced catalysts with unique strain to realize simultaneous improvement of activity and durability by breaking the so-called seesaw relationship between them during OER for water splitting., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The osmotic energy conversion properties of biomimetic light-stimulated nanochannels have aroused great interest. However, the power output performance is limited by the low light-induced current and energy conversion efficiency. Here, nanochannel arrays with simultaneous modification of ZnO and di-tetrabutylammonium cis-bis(isothiocyanato)bis(2,20-bipyridyl-4,40-dicarboxylato) ruthenium (II) (N719) onto anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) to combine the nano-confined effect and heterojunction is designed, which demonstrate rectified ion transport behavior due to the asymmetric composition, structure and charge. High cation selectivity and ion flux contribute to the high power density of ≈7.33 W m -2 by mixing artificial seawater and river water. Under light irradiation, heterojunction promoted the production and separation of exciton, enhanced cation selectivity, and improved the utilization efficiency of osmotic energy, providing a remarkable power density of ≈18.49 W m -2 with an increase of 252% and total energy conversion efficiency of 30.43%. The work opens new insights into the biomimetic nanochannels for high-performance energy conversion., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Hydrogels show great potential in biomedical applications due to their inherent biocompatibility, high water content, and resemblance to the extracellular matrix. However, they lack self-powering capabilities and often necessitate external stimulation to initiate cell regenerative processes. In contrast, piezoelectric materials offer self-powering potential but tend to compromise flexibility. To address this, creating a novel hybrid biomaterial of piezoelectric hydrogels (PHs), which combines the advantageous properties of both materials, offers a systematic solution to the challenges faced by these materials when employed separately. Such innovative material system is expected to broaden the horizons of biomedical applications, such as piezocatalytic medicinal and health monitoring applications, showcasing its adaptability by endowing hydrogels with piezoelectric properties. Unique functionalities, like enabling self-powered capabilities and inducing electrical stimulation that mimics endogenous bioelectricity, can be achieved while retaining hydrogel matrix advantages. Given the limited reported literature on PHs, here recent strategies concerning material design and fabrication, essential properties, and distinctive applications are systematically discussed. The review is concluded by providing perspectives on the remaining challenges and the future outlook for PHs in the biomedical field. As PHs emerge as a rising star, a comprehensive exploration of their potential offers insights into the new hybrid biomaterials., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Vascular diseases (VDs) pose the leading threat worldwide due to high morbidity and mortality. The detection of VDs is commonly dependent on individual signs, which limits the accuracy and timeliness of therapies, especially for asymptomatic patients in clinical management. Therefore, more effective early diagnosis and lesion-targeted treatments remain a pressing clinical need. Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are porous crystalline materials formed by the coordination of inorganic metal ions and organic ligands. Due to their unique high specific surface area, structural flexibility, and functional versatility, MOFs are recognized as highly promising candidates for diagnostic and therapeutic applications in the field of VDs. In this review, the potential of MOFs to act as biosensors, contrast agents, artificial nanozymes, and multifunctional therapeutic agents in the diagnosis and treatment of VDs from the clinical perspective, highlighting the integration between clinical methods with MOFs is generalized. At the same time, multidisciplinary cooperation from chemistry, physics, biology, and medicine to promote the substantial commercial transformation of MOFs in tackling VDs is called for., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Osmotic energy, as a renewable clean energy with huge energy density and stable yield, has received widespread attention over the past decades. Reverse electrodialysis (RED) based on ion-exchange membranes is an important method of obtaining osmotic energy from salinity gradients. The preparation of ion-exchange membranes with both high ion selectivity and ion permeability is in constant exploration. In this work, metal hydroxide-organic framework (MHOF) membranes are successfully prepared onto porous anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) membranes by a facile hydrothermal method to form Ni 2 (OH) 2 @AAO composite membranes, used for osmotic energy conversion. The surface is negatively charged with cation selectivity, and the asymmetric structure and extreme hydrophilicity enhance the ionic flux for effective capture of osmotic energy. The maximum output power density of 5.65 W m -2 at a 50-fold KCl concentration gradient is achieved, which exceeds the commercial benchmark of 5 W m -2 . Meanwhile, the composite membrane can also show good performance in different electrolyte solutions and acid-base environments. This work provides a new avenue for the construction and application of MHOF membranes in efficient osmotic energy conversion., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The evolution of porous membranes has revitalized their potential application in sustainable osmotic-energy conversion. However, the performance of multiporous membranes deviates significantly from the linear extrapolation of single-pore membranes, primarily due to the occurrence of ion-concentration polarization (ICP). This study proposes a robust strategy to overcome this challenge by incorporating photoelectric responsiveness into permselective membranes. By introducing light-induced electric fields within the membrane, the transport of ions is accelerated, leading to a reduction in the diffusion boundary layer and effectively mitigating the detrimental effects of ICP. The developed photoelectric-responsive covalent-organic-framework membranes exhibit an impressive output power density of 69.6 W m -2 under illumination, surpassing the commercial viability threshold by ≈14-fold. This research uncovers a previously unexplored benefit of integrating optical electric conversion with reverse electrodialysis, thereby enhancing energy conversion efficiency., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

The efficient removal of radioactive uranium from aqueous solution is of great significance for the safe and sustainable development of nuclear power. An ultrathin 2D metal-organic framework (MOF) nanosheet with cavity structures was elaborately fabricated based on a calix[4]arene ligand. Incorporating the permanent cavity structures on MOF nanosheet can fully utilize its structural characteristics of largely exposed surface area and accessible adsorption sites in pollutant removal, achieving ultrafast adsorption kinetics, and the functionalized cavity structure would endow the MOF nanosheets with the ability to achieve preconcentration and extraction of uranium from aqueous solution, affording ultrahigh removal efficiency even in ultra-low concentrations. Thus, more than 97% uranium can be removed from the concentration range of 50-500 µg L -1 within 5 min. Moreover, the 2D nano-material exhibits ultra-high anti-interference ability, which can efficiently remove uranium from groundwater and seawater. The adsorption mechanism was investigated by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) analysis, and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, which revealed that the cavity structure plays an important role in uranium capture. This study not only realizes highly efficient uranium removal from aqueous solution but also opens the door to achieving ultrathin MOF nanosheets with cavity structures, which will greatly expand the applications of MOF nanosheets., (© 2023 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs), a new class of crystalline materials connected by covalent bonds, have been developed rapidly in the past decades. However, the research on COFs is mainly focused on two-dimensional (2D) COFs, and the research on three-dimensional (3D) COFs is still in the initial stage. In 2D COFs, the covalent bonds exist only in the 2D flakes and can form 1D channels, which hinder the charge transport to some extent. In contrast, 3D COFs have a more complex pore structure and thus exhibit higher specific surface area and richer active sites, which greatly enhance the 3D charge carrier transport. Therefore, compared to 2D COFs, 3D COFs have stronger applicability in energy storage and conversion, sensing, and optoelectronics. In this review, it is first introduced the design principles for 3D COFs, and in particular summarize the development of conjugated building blocks in 3D COFs, with a special focus on their application in optoelectronics. Subsequently, the preparation of 3D COF powders and thin films and methods to improve the stability and functionalization of 3D COFs are summarized. Moreover, the applications of 3D COFs in electronics are outlined. Finally, conclusions and future research directions for 3D COFs are presented., (© 2023 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite (HOIP) ferroelectric materials have great potential for developing self-powered electronic transducers owing to their impressive piezoelectric performance, structural tunability and low processing temperatures. Nevertheless, their inherent brittle and low elastic moduli limit their application in electromechanical conversion. Integration of HOIP ferroelectrics and soft polymers is a promising solution. In this work, a hybrid organic-inorganic rare-earth double perovskite ferroelectric, [RM3HQ] 2 RbPr(NO 3 ) 6 (RM 3 HQ = (R)-N-methyl-3-hydroxylquinuclidinium) is presented, which possesses multiaxial nature, ferroelasticity and satisfactory piezoelectric properties, including piezoelectric charge coefficient (d 33 ) of 102.3 pC N -1 and piezoelectric voltage coefficient (g 33 ) of 680 × 10 -3  V m N -1 . The piezoelectric generators (PEG) based on composite films of [RM3HQ] 2 RbPr(NO 3 ) 6 @polyurethane (PU) can generate an open-circuit voltage (V oc ) of 30 V and short-circuit current (I sc ) of 18 µA, representing one of the state-of-the-art PEGs to date. This work has promoted the exploration of new HOIP ferroelectrics and their development of applications in electromechanical conversion devices., (© 2023 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Layered double hydroxides (LDHs) with unique layered structure and atomic composition are limited in the field of electromagnetic wave absorption (EMA) due to their poor electrical conductivity and lack of dielectric properties. In this study, the EMA performance and anticorrosion of hollow derived LDH composites are improved by temperature control and composition design using ZIF-8 as a sacrifice template. Diverse regulation modes result in different mechanisms for EMA. In the temperature control process, chemical reactions tune the composition of the products and construct a refined structure to optimize the LDHs conductivity loss. Additionally, the different phase interfaces generated by the control components optimize the impedance matching and enhance the interfacial polarization. The results show that the prepared NCZ (Ni3ZnC0.7/Co3ZnC@C) has a minimum reflection loss (RL min ) of -58.92 dB with a thickness of 2.4 mm and a maximum effective absorption bandwidth (EAB max ) of 7.36 GHz with a thickness of 2.4 mm. Finally, due to its special structure and composition, the sample exhibits excellent anticorrosion properties. This work offers essential knowledge for designing engineering materials derived from metal organic framework (MOF) with cutting-edge components and nanostructures., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Osmotic energy from the salinity gradients represents a promising energy resource with stable and sustainable characteristics. Nanofluidic membranes can be considered as powerful alternatives to the traditional low-performance ion exchange membrane to achieve high-efficiency osmotic energy harvesting. However, the development of a highly efficient and easily scalable core membrane component from low-cost raw materials remains challenging. Here, a composite membrane based on the self-assembly of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) with polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and graphene oxide (GO) nanoflakes as additives is developed to provide a solution. The introduction of soft PVA polymer significantly improves the mechanical strength and water stability of the composite membrane by forming a nacre-like structure. Benefiting from the abundant negative charges of CNC nanorods and GO nanoflakes and the generated network nanochannels, the composite membrane demonstrates a good cation-selective transport capacity, thus contributing to an optimal osmotic energy conversion of 6.5 W m -2 under a 100-fold salinity gradient and an exemplary stability throughout 25 consecutive days of operation. This work provides an option for the development of nanofluidic membranes that can be easily produced on a large scale from well-resourced and sustainable biomass materials for high-efficiency osmotic energy conversion., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs) based T 2 -weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents (CAs) are liver-specific with good biocompatibility, but have been withdrawn from the market and replaced with Eovist (Gd-EOB-DTPA) due to their inherent limitations (e.g., susceptibility to artifacts, high magnetic moment, dark signals, long processing time of T 2 imaging, and long waiting time for patients after administration). Without the disadvantages of Gd-chelates and MIONs, the recently emerging exceedingly small MIONs (ES-MIONs) (<5 nm) are promising T 1 CAs for MRI. However, there are rare review articles focusing on ES-MIONs for T 1 -weighted MRI. Herein, the recent progress of ES-MIONs, including synthesis methods (the current basic synthesis methods and improved methods), surface modifications (artificial polymers, natural polymers, zwitterions, and functional protein), T 1 -MRI visual strategies (structural remodeling, reversible self-assemblies, metal ions doped, T 1 /T 2 dual imaging modes, and PET/MRI strategy), and imaging-guided cancer therapy (chemotherapy, gene therapy, ferroptosis therapy, photothermal therapy, photodymatic therapy, radiotherapy, immuotherapy, sonodynamic therapy, and multimode therapy), is summarized. The detailed description of synthesis methods and applications of ES-MIONs in this review is anticipated to attract extensive interest from researchers in different fields and promote their participation in the establishment of ES-MIONs based nanoplatforms for tumor theranostics., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Lead halide perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have made unprecedented progress, exhibiting great potential for commercialization. Among them, inverted p-i-n PSCs provide outstanding compatibility with flexible substrates, more importantly, with silicon (Si) bottom devices for higher efficiency perovskite-Si tandem solar cells. However, even with recently obtained efficiency over 25%, the investigation of inverted p-i-n PSCs is still behind the n-i-p counterpart so far. Recent progress has demonstrated that the fill factor (FF) in inverted PSCs currently still underperforms relative to open-circuit voltage and short-circuit current density, which requires an in-depth understanding of the mechanism and further research. In this review article, the recent advancements in high FF inverted PSCs by adopting the approaches of interfacial optimization, precursor engineering as well as fabrication techniques to minimize undesirable recombination are summarized. Insufficient carrier extraction and transport efficiency are found to be the main factors that hinder the current FF of inverted PSCs. In addition, insights into the main factors limiting FF and strategies for minimizing series resistance in inverted PSCs are presented. The continuous efforts dedicated to the FF of high-performance inverted devices may pave the way toward commercial applications of PSCs in the near future., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The accelerated development of antitumor immunotherapies in recent years has brought immunomodulation into the spotlight. These include immunotherapeutic treatments with dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccines which can elicit tumor-specific immune responses and prolong survival. However, this personalized treatment has several drawbacks, including being costly, labor-intensive, and time consuming. This has sparked interest in producing artificial dendritic cells (aDCs) to open up the possibility of standardized "off-the-shelf" protocols and circumvent the cumbersome and expensive personalized medicine. aDCs take advantage of materials that can be designed and tailored for specific clinical applications. Here, an overview of the immunobiology underlying antigen presentation by DCs is provided in an attempt to select the key features to be mimicked and/or improved through the development of aDCs. The inherent properties of aDCs that greatly impact their performance in vivo and, consequently, the fate of the triggered immune response are also outlined., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The volume expansion of CoFe 2 O 4 anode poses a significant challenge in the commercial application of lithium/sodium-ion batteries (LIBs/SIBs). However, metal-organic-frameworks (MOF) offer superior construction of heterostructures with refined interfacial interactions and lower ion diffusion barriers in Li/Na storage. In this study, the CoFe 2 O 4 @carbon nanofibers derived from MOF are produced through electrospinning, in situ growth followed by calcination, which are then confined within an MXene-confined MOF-derived porous CoFe 2 O 4 @carbon composite architecture under alkali treatment. The CoFe 2 O 4 nanofibers anchor on the alkalized MXene that is decorated with the NaOH solution to form a multi-pleated structure. The sandwich-like structure of the composite effectively alleviates the volume expansion and shortens the Li/Na-ion diffusion path, which displays high capacity and outstanding rate performance as anode materials for LIBs/SIBs. As a consequence, the obtained CoFe 2 O 4 @carbon@alkalized MXene composite anode shows satisfied rate performance at current density of 10 A g -1 for LIBs (318 mAh·g -1 ) and 5 A g -1 for SIBs (149 mAh g -1 ). The excellent cycling performance is further demonstrated at a high current density, where it maintains a discharge capacity of 807 mAh g -1 at 2 A g -1 after 400 cycles for LIBs and 130 mAh g -1 at 1 A g -1 even after 1000 cycles for SIBs., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Transition metal carbide (Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene), with a large specific surface area and abundant surface functional groups, is a promising candidate in the family of electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorption. However, the high conductivity of MXene limits its EMW absorption ability, so it remains a challenge to obtain outstanding EMW attenuation ability in pure MXene. Herein, by integrating HF etching, KOH shearing, and high-temperature molten salt strategies, layered MXene (L-MXene), network-like MXene nanoribbons (N-MXene NRs), porous MXene monolayer (P-MXene ML), and porous MXene layer (P-MXene L) are rationally constructed with favorable microstructures and surface states for EMW absorption. HF, KOH, and KCl/LiCl are used to functionalize MXene to tune its microstructure and surface state (F - , OH - , and Cl - terminals), thereby improving the EMW absorption capacity of MXene-based nanostructures. Impressively, with the unique structure, proper electrical conductivity, large specific surface area, and abundant porous defects, MXene-based nanostructures achieve good impedance matching, dipole polarization, and conduction loss, thus inheriting excellent EMW absorption performance. Consequently, L-MXene, N-MXene NRs, P-MXene ML, and P-MXene L enable a reflection loss (R L ) value of -43.14, -63.01, -60.45, and -56.50 dB with a matching thickness of 0.95, 1.51, 3.83, and 4.65 mm, respectively., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Li-O 2 batteries are acknowledged as one of the most promising energy systems due to their high energy density approaching that of gasoline, but the poor battery efficiency and unstable cycling performance still hinder their practical application. In this work, hierarchical NiS 2 -MoS 2 heterostructured nanorods are designed and successfully synthesized, and it is found that heterostructure interfaces with internal electric fields between NiS 2 and MoS 2 optimized e g orbital occupancy, effectively adjusting the adsorption of oxygenated intermediates to accelerate reaction kinetics of oxygen evolution reaction and oxygen reduction reaction. Structure characterizations coupled with density functional theory calculations reveal that highly electronegative Mo atoms on NiS 2 -MoS 2 catalyst can capture more e g electrons from Ni atoms, and induce lower e g occupancy enabling moderate adsorption strength toward oxygenated intermediates. It is evident that hierarchical NiS 2 -MoS 2 nanostructure with fancy built-in electric fields significantly boosted formation and decomposition of Li 2 O 2 during cycling, which contributed to large specific capacities of 16528/16471 mAh g -1 with 99.65% coulombic efficiency and excellent cycling stability of 450 cycles at 1000 mA g -1 . This innovative heterostructure construction provides a reliable strategy to rationally design transition metal sulfides by optimizing e g orbital occupancy and modulating adsorption toward oxygenated intermediates for efficient rechargeable Li-O 2 batteries., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Renewable energy storage using electrochemical storage devices is extensively used in various field applications. High-power density supercapacitors and high-energy density rechargeable batteries are some of the most effective devices, while lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are the most common. Due to the scarcity of Li resources and serious safety concerns during the construction of LIBs, development of safer and cheaper technologies with high performance is warranted. Magnesium is one of the most abundant and replaceable elements on earth, and it is safe as it does not generate dendrite following cycling. However, the lack of suitable electrode materials remains a critical issue in developing electrochemical energy storage devices. 2D MXenes can be used to construct composites with different dimensions, owing to their suitable physicochemical properties and unique magnesium-ion adsorption structure. In this study, the construction strategies of MXene in different dimensions, including its physicochemical properties as an electrode material in magnesium ion energy storage devices are reviewed. Research advancements of MXene and MXene-based composites in various kinds of magnesium-ion storage devices are also analyzed to understand its energy storage mechanisms. Finally, current opportunities, challenges, and future prospects are also briefly discussed to provide crucial information for future research., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Piezoelectric material-mediated sonodynamic therapy (SDT) has received considerable research interest in cancer therapy. However, the simple applications of conventional piezoelectric materials do not realize the full potential of piezoelectric materials in medicine. Therefore, the energy band structure of a piezoelectric material is modulated in this study to meet the actual requirement for cancer treatment. Herein, an elaborate PEGylated piezoelectric solid solution 0.7BiFeO 3 -0.3BaTiO 3 nanoparticles (P-BF-BT NPs) is synthesized, and the resultant particles achieve excellent piezoelectric properties and their band structure is tuned via band engineering. The tuned band structure of P-BF-BT NPs is energetically favorable for the synchronous production of superoxide radicals (•O 2 - ) and oxygen (O 2 ) self-supply via water splitting by the piezoelectric effect. Besides, the P-BF-BT NPs can initiate the Fenton reaction to generate hydroxyl radical (•OH), and thus, chemodynamic therapy (CDT) can be augmented by ultrasound. Detailed in vitro and in vivo research has verified the promising effects of multimodal imaging-guided P-BF-BT NP-mediated synergistic SDT/CDT by the piezo-Fenton process in hypoxic tumor elimination, accompanied by high therapeutic biosafety. The current demonstrates a novel strategy for designing and synthesizing "custom-made" piezoelectric materials for cancer therapy in the future., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The recognition and separation of chiral molecules with similar structure are of great industrial and biological importance. Development of highly efficient chiral recognition systems is crucial for the precise application of these chiral molecules. Herein, a homochiral zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (c-ZIF) functionalized nanochannel device that exhibits an ideal platform for electrochemical enantioselective recognition is reported. Its distinct chiral binding cavity enables more sensitive discrimination of tryptophan (Trp) enantiomer pairs than other smaller chiral amino acids owing to its size matching to the target molecule. It is found that introducing neighboring aldehyde groups into the chiral cavity will result in an inferior chiral Trp recognition due to the decreased adsorption-energy difference of D- and L-Trp on the chiral sites. This study may provide an alternative strategy for designing efficient chiral recognition devices by utilizing the homochiral reticular materials and tailoring their chiral environments., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Due to the intrinsic layered structure, graphdiyne (GDY) strongly tends to form 2D materials, therefore, most of the current research are based on GDY 2D structures. Up to now, the synthesis of its ultrathin nanowires with a high aspect ratio has not been reported. Here, the ultrathin GDY nanowires with diameters below 3 nm are reported for the first time by a two-phase interface synthesis method, which has excellent crystallinity and an aspect ratio of more than 2500. Evidence shows that the GDY ultrathin nanowires are formed by the oriented-attachment mechanism of nanoparticles. The GDY ultrathin nanowires exhibit a significant quantum confinement effect, enhanced photoelectric effect, and promising applications in surface-enhanced Raman sensing., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The insufficient ionic conductivity, limited lithium-ion transference number (t Li +), and high interfacial impedance severely hinder the practical application of quasi-solid polymer electrolytes (QSPEs). Here, a sandwich-structured polyacrylonitrile (PAN) based QSPE is constructedin which MXene-SiO 2 nanosheets act as a functional filler to facilitate the rapid transfer of lithium-ion in the QSPE, and a polymer and plastic crystalline electrolyte (PPCE) interface modification layer is coated on the surface of the PAN-based QSPE of 3 wt.% MXene-SiO 2 (SS-PPCE/PAN-3%) to reduce interfacial impedance. Consequently, the synthesized SS-PPCE/PAN-3% QSPE delivers a promising ionic conductivity of ≈1.7 mS cm -1 at 30 °C, a satisfactory t Li + of 0.51, and a low interfacial impedance. As expected, the assembled Li symmetric battery with SS-PPCE/PAN-3% QSPE can stably cycle more than 1550 h at 0.2 mA cm -2 . The Li||LiFePO 4 quasi-solid-state lithium metal battery (QSSLMB) of this QSPE exhibits a high capacity retention of 81.5% after 300 cycles at 1.0 C and at RT. Even under the high-loading cathode (LiFePO 4  ≈ 10.0 mg cm -2 ) and RT, the QSSLMB achieves a superior area capacity and good cycling performance. Besides, the assembled high voltage Li||NMC811(loading ≈ 7.1 mg cm -2 ) QSSLMB has potential applications in high-energy fields., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The commercialization of high-energy Li-metal batteries is impeded by Li dendrites formed during electrochemical cycling and the safety hazards it causes. Here, a novel porous copper current collector that can effectively mitigate the dendritic growth of Li is reported. This porous Cu foil is fabricated via a simple two-step electrochemical process, where Cu-Zn alloy is electrodeposited on commercial copper foil and then Zn is electrochemically dissolved to form a 3D porous structure of Cu. The 3D porous Cu layers on average have a thickness of ≈14 um and porosity of ≈72%. This current collector can effectively suppress Li dendrites in cells cycled with a high areal capacity of 10 mAh cm -2 and under a high current density of 10 mA cm -2 . This electrochemical fabrication method is facile and scalable for mass production. Results of advanced in situ synchrotron X-ray diffraction reveal the phase evolution of the electrochemical deposition and dealloying processes., (© 2023 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Ag clusters with a controlled number of atoms have received significant interest because they show size-dependent catalytic, optical, electronic, or magnetic properties. However, the synthesis of size-controlled, ligand-free, and air-stable Ag clusters with high yields has not been well-established. Herein, it is shown that isostructural porous ionic crystals (PICs) with redox-active polyoxometalates (POMs) can be used to synthesize Ag clusters via electron transfer from POMs to Ag + . Ag clusters with average numbers of three, four, or six atoms emitting blue, green, or red colors, respectively, are formed and stabilized in the PICs under ambient conditions without any protecting ligands. The cluster size solely correlates with the degree of electron transfer, which is controlled by the reduction time and types of ions or elements of the PICs. Thus, advantages have been taken of POMs as electron sources and PICs as scaffolds to demonstrate a convenient method to obtain few-atom Ag clusters., (© 2023 The Authors. Small published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Recruitment of receptors at membrane interfaces is essential in biological recognition and uptake processes. The interactions that induce recruitment are typically weak at the level of individual interaction pairs, but are strong and selective at the level of recruited ensembles. Here, a model system is demonstrated, based on the supported lipid bilayer (SLB) that mimics the recruitment process induced by weakly multivalent interactions. The weak (mm range) histidine-nickel-nitrilotriacetate (His 2 -NiNTA) pair is employed owing to its ease of implementation in both synthetic and biological systems. The recruitment of receptors (and ligands) induced by the binding of His 2 -functionalized vesicles on NiNTA-terminated SLBs is investigated to identify the ligand densities necessary to achieve vesicle binding and receptor recruitment. Threshold values of ligand densities appear to occur in many binding characteristics: density of bound vesicles, size and receptor density of the contact area, and vesicle deformation. Such thresholds contrast the binding of strongly multivalent systems and constitute a clear signature of the superselective binding behavior predicted for weakly multivalent interactions. This model system provides quantitative insight into the binding valency and effects of competing energetic forces, such as deformation, depletion, and entropy cost of recruitment at different length scales., (© 2023 The Authors. Small published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)