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Yarn artificial muscles offer an exciting avenue to replicate the extraordinary efficiency of biological muscles, converting chemical energy directly into mechanical work. Nevertheless, realizing the chemical‐mechanical energy conversion has posed significant challenges. In this study, a novel approach for harnessing direct catalysis to power yarn artificial muscles within a one‐compartment aqueous system is introduced. This research distinguishes itself through an innovative actuation mechanism using nanoscale catalytic particles. These nanoparticles synthesized and integrated onto the yarn surface act as a chemical trigger for muscle actuation. Notably, the resulting yarn muscle demonstrates a reversible tensile stroke of nearly 4% in ≈20 s. By bridging the gap between chemical catalysis and mechanical performance, this study paves the way for innovative applications in fields ranging from robotics to biomedical devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Combining the merits of battery and supercapacitor into a single device represents a major scientific and technological challenge. From a design perspective, electrode material plays a key role in the device and the fundamental difficulty lies in incorporating a high density of active sites into a stable material with excellent charge transfer kinetics. Here, the synthesis is reported of a nearly full‐oxygen‐functionalized 2D conductive transition metal carbide (Ti3C2Oy) with ultrahigh density of Ti─O/═O redox‐active sites by nucleophilic substitution and in situ oxidation under the presence of a proper electrophilic reagent (K+). The fabricated electrode delivered exceptionally high gravimetric and volumetric capacitance (1,082 F g−1 and 3,182 F cm−3 in a potential window of 0.85 V, approximating the theoretical capacity of many transition metal oxides), fast charging/discharging in tens of seconds across a wide range of temperature (−70 to 60 °C), and excellent structural and chemical stability. These promising results provide avenues for the development of high‐energy, high‐power storage devices as well as electromagnetic shielding, and electronic and optoelectronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present work not only predicts the existence of 3D topological semimetallic carbon allotropes composed of tetrarings, but also provides a likely crystalline structure for the unknown phase produced in the detonation soot., (© 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)