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This article discusses the potential applications of semiconductor fibers in clinical and translational medicine. Semiconductor fibers have the ability to monitor and measure various physiological parameters, making them suitable for use in medical devices. They can be used for thermoregulation, pulse monitoring, and have potential applications in implantable sensors, neural interfaces, and tissue engineering. However, further research is needed to fully understand the biophysics of semiconductor fibers and their practical use in clinical settings. The study was supported by various funding sources and the authors declare no conflicts of interest. [Extracted from the article]

Metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have recently emerged as ideal electrode materials and precursors for electrochemical energy storage and conversion (EESC) owing to their large specific surface areas, highly tunable porosities, abundant active sites, and diversified choices of metal nodes and organic linkers. Both MOF-based and MOF-derived materials in powder form have been widely investigated in relation to their synthesis methods, structure and morphology controls, and performance advantages in targeted applications. However, to engage them for energy applications, both binders and additives would be required to form postprocessed electrodes, fundamentally eliminating some of the active sites and thus degrading the superior effects of the MOF-based/derived materials. The advancement of freestanding electrodes provides a new promising platform for MOF-based/derived materials in EESC thanks to their apparent merits, including fast electron/charge transmission and seamless contact between active materials and current collectors. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of freestanding structures and MOF-based/derived materials, outstanding electrochemical performance in EESC can be achieved, stimulating the increasing enthusiasm in recent years. This review provides a timely and comprehensive overview on the structural features and fabrication techniques of freestanding MOF-based/derived electrodes. Then, the latest advances in freestanding MOF-based/derived electrodes are summarized from electrochemical energy storage devices to electrocatalysis. Finally, insights into the currently faced challenges and further perspectives on these feasible solutions of freestanding MOF-based/derived electrodes for EESC are discussed, aiming at providing a new set of guidance to promote their further development in scale-up production and commercial applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The corrected figures are shown below, GLO:BDBC/15apr21:aenm202100296-fig-0001.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): 3 f) CV data for the electrodes containing S-Fe2O3, Fe2O3, and initial CNTF at 10 mV s-1 scan rate. gl GLO:BDBC/15apr21:aenm202100296-fig-0002.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): 4 a) CV curves for the S-Fe2O3/CNTF electrodes at various scan rates. d) GCD curves for the S-Fe2O3/CNTF electrodes. gl GLO:BDBC/15apr21:aenm202100296-fig-0003.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): 5 g) Comparative GCD curves of Ni(OH)2, ZNCO, and ZNCO@Ni(OH)2 electrodes at 4 mA cm-2. h) CV curves for the Ni(OH)2, ZNCO and ZNCO@Ni(OH)2 electrodes at various scan rates. i) GCD curves of the ZNCO@Ni(OH)2 electrode at various current densities. gl GLO:BDBC/15apr21:aenm202100296-fig-0004.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): 6 b) CV curves for the S-Fe2O3 NWAs/CNTF-based anode and ZNCO@Ni(OH)2 NWAs/CNTF-based cathode collected using a three-electrode system. gl GLO:BDBC/15apr21:aenm202100296-fig-0005.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): S7 a) CV curves and (b) GCD profiles of initial CNTF electrode anode. gl GLO:BDBC/15apr21:aenm202100296-fig-0006.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): S8 a) CV and (b) GCD curves of Fe2O3 NWAs/CNTF electrode. gl GLO:BDBC/15apr21:aenm202100296-fig-0007.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): S10 a) Charge-discharge curves of the S-Fe2O3 NWAs under different current densities. gl GLO:BDBC/15apr21:aenm202100296-fig-0008.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): S17 a) CV curves and (b) GCD curves of initial CNTF cathode. gl GLO:BDBC/15apr21:aenm202100296-fig-0009.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): S18 a) CV and (b) GCD curves of ZNCO NWAs/CNTF electrode. gl GLO:BDBC/15apr21:aenm202100296-fig-0010.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): S19 a) CV and (b) GCD curves of Ni(OH)2/CNTF electrode. gl GLO:BDBC/15apr21:aenm202100296-fig-0011.jpg PHOTO (COLOR): S22 a) Charge-discharge curves of the ZNCO@Ni(OH)2 NWAs at different current densities. gl The authors apologize for any inconvenience caused. [Extracted from the article]

Fiber‐shaped aqueous lithium‐ion capacitors (FALICs) featured with high energy and power densities together with outstanding safety characteristics are emerging as promising electrochemical energy‐storage devices for future portable and wearable electronics. However, the lack of high‐capacitance fibrous anodes is a major bottleneck to achieve high performance FALICs. Here, hierarchical MoS2@α‐Fe2O3 core–shell heterostructures consisting of spindle‐shaped α‐Fe2O3 cores and MoS2 nanosheet shells on a carbon nanotube fiber (CNTF) are successfully fabricated. Originating from the unique core/shell architecture and prominent synergetic effects for multi‐components, the resulting MoS2@α‐Fe2O3/CNTF anode delivers a remarkable specific capacitance of 2077.5 mF cm−2 (554.0 F cm−3) at 2 mA cm−2, substantially outperforming most of the previously reported fibrous anode materials. Further density functional theory calculations reveal that the MoS2@α‐Fe2O3 nano‐heterostructure possesses better electrical conductivity and stronger adsorption energy of Li+ than those of the individual MoS2 and α‐Fe2O3. By paring with the self‐standing LiCoO2/CNTF battery‐type cathode, a prototype quasi‐solid‐state FALIC with a maximum operating voltage of 2.0 V is constructed, achieving impressive specific capacitance (253.1 mF cm−2) and admirable energy density (39.6 mWh cm−3). Additionally, the newly developed FALICs can be woven into the flexible textile to power wearable electronics. This work presents a novel effective strategy to design high‐performance anode materials for next‐generation wearable ALICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous rechargeable Ni‐Fe batteries featuring an ultra‐flat discharge plateau, low cost, and outstanding safety characteristics show promising prospects for application in wearable energy storage. In particular, fiber‐shaped Ni‐Fe batteries will enable textile‐based energy supply for wearable electronics. However, the development of fiber‐shaped Ni‐Fe batteries is currently challenged by the performance of fibrous Fe‐based anode materials. In this context, this study describes the fabrication of sulfur‐doped Fe2O3 nanowire arrays (S‐Fe2O3 NWAs) grown on carbon nanotube fibers (CNTFs) as an innovative anode material (S‐Fe2O3 NWAs/CNTF). Encouragingly, first‐principle calculations reveal that S‐doping in Fe2O3 can dramatically reduce the band gap from 2.34 to 1.18 eV and thus enhance electronic conductivity. The novel developed S‐Fe2O3 NWAs/CNTF electrode is further demonstrated to deliver a very high capacity of 0.81 mAh cm−2 at 4 mA cm−2. This value is almost sixfold higher than that of the pristine Fe2O3 NWAs/CNTF electrode. When a cathode containing zinc‐nickel‐cobalt oxide (ZNCO)@Ni(OH)2 NWAs heterostructures is used, 0.46 mAh cm−2 capacity and 67.32 mWh cm−3 energy density are obtained for quasi‐solid‐state fiber‐shaped NiCo‐Fe batteries, which outperform most state‐of‐the‐art fiber‐shaped aqueous rechargeable batteries. These findings offer an innovative and feasible route to design high‐performance Fe‐based anodes and may inspire new development for the next‐generation wearable Ni‐Fe batteries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive research efforts have been recently devoted to the development of self‐driven electrocatalytic water‐splitting systems to generate clean hydrogen chemical fuels. Currently, self‐driven electrocatalytic water‐splitting devices are powered by solar cells, which operate intermittently, or by aqueous batteries, which deliver stored electric power, leading to high operating costs and environmental pollution. Thus, a fully solar‐powered uninterrupted overall water‐splitting system is greatly desirable. Here, the solar cells, stable output voltage of 1.75 V Ni–Zn batteries, and high efficiency zinc–nickel–cobalt phosphide electrocatalysts are successfully assembled together to create a 24 h overall water‐splitting system. Specifically, the silicon‐based solar cells enable the charging of aqueous Ni–Zn batteries for energy storage as well as providing sufficient energy for electrocatalysis throughout the day; in addition, the high‐capacity Ni–Zn batteries offer a steady output voltage for overall water‐splitting at night. Such an uninterrupted solar‐to‐hydrogen system opens up exciting opportunities for the development and applications of renewable energy.A prototype uninterrupted overall water‐splitting system is successfully assembled by incorporating solar cells with stable output voltage of 1.75 V Ni–Zn batteries and high‐efficiency zinc–nickel–cobalt phosphide electrocatalysts. Such a novel concept of the uninterrupted solar‐to‐hydrogen system opens up exciting opportunities for the development and application of renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Fiber-shaped asymmetric supercapacitors (FASCs) have emerged as intriguing energy storage devices for next-generation wearable electronics. However, the limited specific capacitances that arise from electrode materials severely restrict further enhancement of their energy densities. We successfully fabricated a hierarchically structured three-dimensional VO 2 @polypyrrole (VO 2 @PPy) core-shell nanowire array (NWA) on carbon nanotube fiber (CNTF) via a facile and cost-effective route. Such a composite structure not only enables a highly pseudo-capacitive VO 2 core to provide a large surface area for reversible Faradic redox reactions, but also uses a highly conductive PPy shell to suppress the dissolution of VO 2 , thus making the hybrid fiber a new state of fibrous electrode with exceptional specific capacitance and rate behavior. To benefit from these superior features, we assembled a high-performance FASC with an operating voltage of 1.8 V and achieved a remarkable specific capacitance of 60.6 F/cm3 and an extraordinary energy density up to 29.3 mWh/cm3 at a current density of 0.25 A/cm3. In addition, the FASC device exhibited excellent flexibility; its capacitance retention remained at 88.9% after bending 4000 times. Thus, these findings should help to develop advanced VO 2 -based cathodes for next-generation wearable energy storage devices. Graphical abstract Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Significant efforts have been recently devoted to constructing high-performance fiber-shaped asymmetric supercapacitors. However, it is still a paramount challenge to develop high-energy-density fiber-shaped asymmetric supercapacitors for practical applications in portable and wearable electronics. This work reports a simple and efficient method to directly grow vanadium nitride nanosheets on carbon nanotube fibers as advanced negative electrodes with a high specific capacitance of 188 F/cm 3 (564 mF/cm 2 ). Taking advantage of their attractive structure, we successfully fabricated a fiber-shaped asymmetric supercapacitor device with a maximum operating voltage of 1.6 V by assembling the vanadium nitride/carbon nanotube fiber negative electrode with the Zinc-Nickel-Cobalt ternary oxides nanowire arrays positive electrode. Due to the excellent synergistic effects between positive and negative electrodes, a remarkable specific capacitance of 50 F/cm 3 (150 mF/cm 2 ) and an outstanding energy density of 17.78 mWh/cm 3 (53.33 μWh/cm 2 ) for our fiber-shaped asymmetric supercapacitor can be achieved. Furthermore, the as-assembled fiber-shaped asymmetric supercapacitor device has excellent mechanical flexibility in that 91% of the capacitance retained after bending 90° for 3000 times. Thus, this work exploits a pathway to construct high-energy-density fiber-shaped asymmetric supercapacitor for next-generation portable and wearable electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taking the importance of uniform size catalysts and the unfavorable effects of residual metal catalysts into consideration, herein, we develop a facile way which utilizes the typical and facile semiconducting technique namely atomic layer deposition (ALD) to prepare non-metallic Al 2 O 3 catalysts for narrow diameter single-walled carbon nanotube (SWNT) arrays growth. As a result, we obtained SWNT arrays with narrow-diameter distribution of 1.26 ± 0.033 nm on the a-plane sapphire substrates. Moreover, the relationship between catalysts and SWNTs were explored. These optimized conditions pave an avenue for narrow diameter even chirality distribution in SWNTs growth, which promotes the development of structure-controlled and relative applications of SWNTs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nanocrystalline graphene/graphite hybrids all carbon transparent electrodes were fabricated from photoresist with a photolithography method by the carbonization and graphitization of the aromatic molecules in the photoresist. The sheet resistance and transmittance of the hybrids transparent electrodes can be easily optimized by modulating the photoresist grid size and gridline width. The optimized hybrids were fabricated on quartz for graphene glass that exhibits excellent properties for heating device. They were also engaged on Si with a thin oxide layer by a catalyst-free and direct growth method for high-performance Schottky junction photodetectors that exhibit remarkable properties on photodetection with the photovoltage responsivity exceeding up to 10 5 V/W under the incident light power of 0.05 μW, which make it suitable as weak-light-signal detectors. This study should be helpful on the various applications of catalyst-free, cost-effective, transparent, electrically and thermally conductive graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene-silicon based configurations are attracting great attention for their potential application as electronics and optoelectronics. For their practical use, it is still limited by the configuration fabrication process. In this paper, a catalyst-free method is reported to directly grow nanographene on silicon covered with a thin oxide layer to form nanographene-oxide-silicon configurations. Compared with previously reported nanographene-silicon Schottky junctions, the nanographene-oxide-silicon structures exhibit a high performance on electronic and photovoltaic properties. The reverse leakage current of the nanographene-oxide-silicon is suppressed from over 10−5 A down to 10−8 A and the rectifier ratio is greatly enhanced from less than 5 up to 103. The photovoltage is enhanced over 50 times. The nanographene-oxide-silicon structures exhibit especially ultrasensitive to weak light at a photovoltage working mode, which exceeds up to 106 V/W at the light power of 0.025 μW. Due to the source material for nanographene is photoresist and the fabrication process is mainly based on the current-used photolithography and silicon technique, the developed nanographene-oxide-silicon structures are very easy for device fabrication, integration, and miniaturization, and could be a promising way to produce metal-free graphene-silicon based electronics and optoelectronics for commercial use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of soft electronics and soft fiber devices has significantly advanced flexible and wearable technology. However, they still face the risk of damage when exposed to sharp objects in real‐life applications. Taking inspiration from nature, self‐healable materials that can restore their physical properties after external damage offer a solution to this problem. Nevertheless, large‐scale production of self‐healable fibers is currently constrained. To address this limitation, this study leverages the thermal drawing technique to create elastic and stretchable self‐healable thermoplastic polyurethane (STPU) fibers, enabling cost‐effective mass production of such functional fibers. Furthermore, despite substantial research into the mechanisms of self‐healable materials, quantifying their healing speed and time poses a persistent challenge. Thus, transmission spectra are employed as a monitoring tool to observe the real‐time self‐healing process, facilitating an in‐depth investigation into the healing kinetics and efficiency. The versatility of the fabricated self‐healable fiber extends to its ability to be doped with a wide range of functional materials, including dye molecules and magnetic microparticles, which enables modular assembly to develop distributed strain sensors and soft actuators. These achievements highlight the potential applications of self‐healable fibers that seamlessly integrate with daily lives and open up new possibilities in various industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (AZIBs) with the merits of superior security, natural abundance, and inexpensive Zn hold great promises for next‐generation energy storage. Nevertheless, the instabilities of the Zn anodes arising from the unsatisfactory dendrite growth and parasitic reactions have seriously restricted their practical application. Herein, an interfacial protection engineering approach is proposed for stabilizing Zn anode via in‐situ constructing 3D hybrid fiber networks within high elastic polyether‐type polyurethane (TPEU) and super‐ionic conductor NaTi2(PO4)3 (NTP). This 3D NTP@TPEU fiber framework demonstrates synergistic effects of enhancing Zn2+ immigration kinetics and improving the desolvation process. Subsequently, such a superior protected interface induces a highly reversible Zn (002) deposition/stripping with a dendrites‐free feature. Moreover, the NTP@TPEU/Zn displays an ultralong lifespan of over 2000 cycles with an average Coulombic efficiency (CE) of 99.5% in the half‐cell configuration. To highlight, a full battery matched with Ca‐doped VO2 on carbon cloth cathode acquires an enhanced CE as high as 99.8% and delivers good cycling stability with a capacity retention of 81.6% at 2 A g−1 over 3000 cycles. These excellent outcomes provide a distinctive perspective of designing a highly stable zinc anode for the practical application of AZIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

3D porous copper is anticipated to serve as an ideal current collector for lithium‐metal anodes (LMAs) owing to its excellent conductivity, huge surface area, and cost‐effectiveness. However, most pertinent studies center around commercial copper foams, where their notable large pore size (150–400 µm) is identified as a primary inducement for dendrite formation and ultimate battery failure. Hence, ensuring the appropriate pore structure in 3D porous copper for achieving highly reversible lithium deposition/stripping process plays a pivotal role in stabilizing LMAs. Herein, the hydrogen bubble template method is employed to fabricate five distinct types of 3D porous copper. Among them, the one with an average surface pore diameter of 25.18 µm and the lowest probability of macropores distribution within the pore walls demonstrates optimal electrochemical performance. To further improve the inherent lithiophobicity of copper, Cu2Se/Cu2O heterostructure nanowires are loaded as kinetic enhanced nucleation sites. Benefiting from the synergistic effect of optimized pore structure and heterostructure nanowires, the Cu2Se/Cu2O@3D Cu composite current collector exhibits excellent dendrite‐free characteristics and outstanding electrochemical performance, showcasing an ultra‐long symmetrical‐cell lifespan of 3000 h at 1 mA cm−2 and stability for 300 h even under 20 mA cm−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High‐performance fiber‐shaped energy‐storage devices are indispensable for the development of portable and wearable electronics. Composite pseudocapacitance materials with hierarchical core–shell heterostructures hold great potential for the fabrication of high‐performance asymmetric supercapacitors (ASCs). However, few reports concerning the assembly of fiber‐shaped ASCs (FASCs) using cathode/anode materials with all hierarchical core–shell heterostructures are available. Here, cobalt‐nickel‐oxide@nickel hydroxide nanowire arrays (NWAs) and titanium nitride@vanadium nitride NWAs are constructed skillfully with all hierarchical core–shell heterostructures directly grown on carbon nanotube fibers and are shown to exhibit ultrahigh capacity and specific capacitance, respectively. The specific features and outstanding electrochemical performances of the electrode materials are exploited to fabricate an FASC device with a maximum working voltage of 1.6 V, and this device exhibits a high specific capacitance of 109.4 F cm−3 (328.3 mF cm−2) and excellent energy density of 36.0 mWh cm−3 (108.1 µWh cm−2). This work therefore provides a strategy for constructing all hierarchical core–shell heterostructured cathode and anode materials with ultrahigh capacity for the fabrication of next‐generation wearable energy‐storage devices. Cobalt‐nickel‐oxide@nickel hydroxide nanowire arrays (NWAs) and titanium nitride@vanadium nitride NWAs with hierarchical core–shell heterostructures directly grown on carbon nanotube fibers as electrode materials are demonstrated. The resulting fiber‐shaped asymmetric supercapacitors take advantage of the large specific surface area, rich reaction sites, and short electron/ion of all hierarchical core–shell heterostructures electrode materials to yield excellent electrochemical performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ever‐increasing demands for portable and wearable electronics continue to drive the development of high‐performance fiber‐shaped energy‐storage devices. Metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) with well‐tunable structures and large surface areas hold great potential as precursors and templates to form porous battery materials. However, to date, there are no available reports about fabrication of wearable energy‐storage devices on the utilization of all‐MOF‐derived battery materials directly grown on current collectors. Here, MOF‐derived NiZnCoP nanosheet arrays and spindle‐like α‐Fe2O3 on carbon nanotube fibers are successfully fabricated with impressive electrochemical performance. Furthermore, the resulting all‐solid‐state fiber‐shape aqueous rechargeable batteries take advantage of large specific surface area and abundant reaction sites of well‐designed MOF‐derived electrode materials to yield a remarkable capacity of 0.092 mAh cm−2 and admirable energy density of 30.61 mWh cm−3, as well as superior mechanical flexibility. Thus, this research may open up exciting opportunities for the development of new‐generation wearable aqueous rechargeable batteries. A prototype wearable aqueous rechargeable battery using all‐metal‐organic framework‐derived battery materials on carbon nanotube fibers as binder‐free electrodes is demonstrated. The resulting devices exhibit excellent electrochemical performance. Such a novel concept of fiber‐shaped aqueous rechargeable batteries opens new opportunities for flexible energy‐storage technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Developing high‐capacity conversion‐type anodes with superior durability substituting conventional graphite anodes is urgently desired to improve the energy density of lithium‐ion batteries (LIBs). However, fatal capacity decay during cycling of the conversion‐type anodes, which is primarily due to their inevitable structural degradation and continuous solid‐electrolyte interphase reformation induced by drastic volume change, has highly restricted their commercialization. And, the interrelated effects of phase transformation, structural evolution, and electrochemical characteristics of the conversion‐type anodes during cycling remain poorly understood. Herein, the findings on the fabrication and understanding of a previously unexplored entropy‐stabilized spinel oxide, (Co0.2Mn0.2V0.2Fe0.2Zn0.2)3O4 as a promising conversion anode for LIBs, exhibiting not only moderate volume change character but also highly reversible capacities of ≈900 mAh g−1 for 500 cycles at 0.2 A g−1 and ≈500 mAh g−1 for 2000 cycles at 3 A g−1, respectively, are reported. Evidenced by in situ transmission electron microscopy coupled with theoretical calculations, its underlying mechanism underpinning highly reversible Li storage is explicitly revealed, which originates from reversible phase transformation and domain reconstruction during cycling. Moreover, the origin of small volume change is also clearly clarified. This work provides renewed mechanistic insights into designing high‐capacity and durable conversion‐type electrode materials for high‐performance LIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vanadate oxides with low price and high theoretical capacity are competitive cathodes for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs). However, the existing problems such as sluggish Zn2+ ion mobility, weak conductivity, and complicated flexible electrode preparation hinder the development of their practical applications in flexible AZIBs (FAZIBs). Herein, sodium-ion and polyaniline are co-inserted into ammonium vanadate (NaNVO-PANI) nanoarrays, which can serve as the novel freestanding cathodes for FAZIBs. By virtue of synergistic pillar effect of sodium ions and polyaniline, the interplanar spacing of NaNVO-PANI expands to "13.8 A. Both experimental data and theoretical calculation confirm that the optimal spacing of NaNVO-PANI can boost enhance the electronic conductivity and reduce Zn2+ diffusion barrier. As expected, the resulting coin-type AZIBs exhibit high capacity of 610.7 mAh g-1 at 0.5 A g-1 and remarkable capacity retention of 98% after 5000 cycles at 5 A g-1. More encouragingly, quasi-solid-state FAZIBs with sandwich structure are assembled, achieving impressive energy density of345.59 Wh kg-1 at a power density of380.46 W kg-1. This study is of great significance for developing high-performance vanadium-based electrode for wearable FAZIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (AZIBs) with high safety and low cost hold great promise for potential applications in wearable electronics, but the strong electrostatic interaction between Zn2+ and crystalline structures, and the traditional cathodes with single cationic redox center remain stumbling blocks to developing high‐performance AZIBs. Herein, freestanding amorphous vanadium oxysulfide (AVSO) cathodes with abundant defects and auxiliary anionic redox centers are developed via in situ anodic oxidation strategy. The well‐designed amorphous AVSO cathodes demonstrate numerous Zn2+ isotropic pathways and rapid reaction kinetics, performing a high reversible capacity of 538.7 mAhg‐1 and high‐rate capability (237.8 mAhg‐1@40Ag‐1). Experimental results and theoretical simulations reveal that vanadium cations serve as the main redox centers while sulfur anions in AVSO cathode as the supporting redox centers to compensate local electron‐transfer ability of active sites. Significantly, the amorphous structure with sulfur chemistry can tolerate volumetric change upon Zn2+/H+ insertion and weaken electrostatic interaction between Zn2+ and host materials. Consequently, the AVSO composites display alleviated structural degradation and exceptional long‐term cyclability (89.8% retention after 20 000 cycles at 40 Ag‐1). This work can be generally extended to various freestanding amorphous cathode materials of multiple redox reactions, inspiring development of designing ultrafast and long‐life wearable AZIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Transition metal phosphides (TMPs) are battery-typed materials with superior conductivity and redox activity, thereby making them promising in fiber-shaped hybrid capacitors (FSHCs). Yet designed synthesis of nanostructured TMPs on conductive fiber substrate as binder-free electrode is essential to improve their electrochemical performance. This work proposes an efficient strategy to directly grow hierarchical NiCoP nanosheet arrays (NSAs) on carbon nanotube fibers (CNTFs) by using a hydrothermal process and subsequent gas-solid phosphorization. Benefiting from the ordered nanosheet structure, the NiCoP/CNTF electrode exhibits a specific capacity of 0.711 mAh cm−2 at a current density of 1 mA cm−2. Matching this electrode with a negative electrode of CNTF supported vanadium nitride (VN) NSAs, we fabricated a high-performance twisted FSHC with a maximum operating voltage of 1.6 V. Owing to the ultrahigh electrochemical performance of the hybrid fiber electrodes, the FSHC device delivers a high specific capacitance of 325.6 mF cm−2 (108.53 F cm−3) at the current density of 1 mA cm−2, and achieves an energy density of 115.78 μWh cm−2. Moreover, it displays excellent flexibility with negligible capacitance loss after 5000 bending cycles. Thus, this work elucidates a feasible route to construct NiCoP-based fiber electrodes for wearable energy storage devices. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • NiCoP nanosheet arrays was served as active positive electrode material. • The positive electrode achieved a specific capacity of 0.711 mAh cm−2. • It is believed that the phosphorization is responsible for the high capacity. • The hybrid capacitor delivered a specific capacitance of 325.6 mF cm−2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous zinc‐ion batteries (AZIBs) may have applications in macroscale energy storage on account of their advantages of high‐safety, cost‐effectiveness, and ecofriendliness. As a promising application, flexible quasi‐solid‐state AZIBs (FQAZIBs) can withstand mechanical deformation, and can act as favorable power supply devices for wearable electronics. As FQAZIBs are one of the most exciting and rapidly ongoing topics among aqueous batteries, it is critical yet timely to summarize the latest development in this field, providing the much‐needed guidance for the fabrication of FQAZIBs. In this review, the recent progress and rational design strategies for FQAZIBs from mechanisms, design principles, and applications are systematically presented. First, the energy storage and flexible mechanisms of FQAZIBs are illuminated in detail. Subsequently, the design philosophies of FQAZIBs are also systematically elucidated. Moreover, the latest progress and practical applications of FQAZIBs in wearable electronics are reviewed in detail according to various functions such as compressibility, stretchability, electrochromic ability, anti‐freezing ability, self‐healing ability, self‐charging properties, photodetecting function, shape memory, biodegradability, and actuated function. Finally, some applications and promising prospects in the research area of FQAZIBs are demonstrated to supply guidelines on the exploitation of their practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber-shaped supercapacitors (FSCs) are lightweight and flexible energy storage devices that have potential applications in portable and wearable electronics. However, FSCs have flawed energy density stemming from a small specific capacitance and low operating voltage, which limits their practical application. This study puts forth a simple and effective approach to grow well-aligned three-dimensional cobalt oxide nanowire arrays (Co 3 O 4 NWAs) directly on carbon nanotube fibers (CNTFs). The hybrid fibers obtained an ultrahigh specific capacitance of 734.25 F cm −3 (2210 mF cm −2 ) in a three-electrode system. Benefiting from their intriguing features, we successfully fabricated an all-solid-state fiber-shaped asymmetric supercapacitor (FASC) prototype with a stable potential window of 1.6 V. Where the vanadium nitride nanowires/carbon nanotube fibers (VN NWAs/CNTFs) acted as negative electrode and the KOH poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) worked as the gel electrolyte. The electrochemical results suggested that the device possessed a high energy density of 13.2 mWh cm −3 at a current density of 1.0 A cm −3 . Besides, the FASC exhibited excellent mechanical flexibility and structural stability. Therefore, this device has great potential for next-generation wearable energy-storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber‐supercapacitors (FSCs) are promising energy storage devices that can complement or even replace microbatteries in miniaturized portable and wearable electronics. Currently, a major challenge for FSCs is achieving ultrahigh volumetric energy and power densities simultaneously, especially when the charge/discharge rates exceed 1 V s−1. Herein, an Au‐nanoparticle‐doped‐MnOx@CoNi‐alloy@carbon‐nanotube (Au–MnOx@CoNi@CNT) core/shell nanocomposite fiber electrode is designed, aiming to boost its charge/discharge rate by taking advantage of the superconductive CoNi alloy network and the greatly enhanced conductivity of the Au doped MnOx active materials. An all‐solid‐state coaxial asymmetric FSC (CAFSC) prototype device made by wrapping this fiber with a holey graphene paper (HGP) exhibits excellent performance at rates up to 10 V s−1, which is the highest charge rate demonstrated so far for FSCs based on pseudocapacitive materials. Furthermore, our fully packaged CAFSC delivers a volumetric energy density of ≈15.1 mW h cm−3, while simultaneously maintaining a high power density of 7.28 W cm−3 as well as a long cycle life (90% retention after 10 000 cycles). This value is the highest among all reported FSCs, even better than that of a typical 4 V/500 µA h thin‐film lithium battery. An Au‐nanoparticle‐doped‐MnOx@CoNi‐alloy@carbon‐nanotube (Au–MnOx@CoNi@CNT) core/shell nanocomposite fiber electrode is designed and fabricated by a simple and controllable method. An all‐solid‐state coaxial asymmetric fiber‐supercapacitor (CAFSC) prototype device is constructed by wrapping the Au–MnOx@CoNi@CNT fiber with a holey graphene paper. The realization of ultrafast, ultraflexible, and ultrahigh energy density CAFSC makes a big step toward the practical applications of wearable electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A high-performance, all-solid-state hybrid supercapacitor (HSC) device was assembled successfully. The ZnCo 2 O 4 nanowire array (NA)/carbon nanotube film (CNTF) positive electrode materials and the assembled device possess areal specific capacitances of 1.019 F cm −2 and 158.08 mF cm −2 , respectively. A supernal volume energy density of 49.5 mWh cm −3 was obtained when the voltage window increased to 1.5 V. Moreover, the assembled HSC device exhibited good cycling stability with 90.7% initial capacitance retention after 6000 cycles, and the coulombic efficiency remained near 100%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by nature, various self‐healing materials that can recover their physical properties after external damage have been developed. Recently, self‐healing materials have been widely used in electronic devices for improving durability and protecting the devices from failure during operation. Moreover, self‐healing materials can integrate many other intriguing properties of biological systems, such as stretchability, mechanical toughness, adhesion, and structural coloration, providing additional fascinating experiences. All of these inspirations have attracted extensive research on bioinspired self‐healing soft electronics. This review presents a detailed discussion on bioinspired self‐healing soft electronics. Firstly, two main healing mechanisms are introduced. Then, four categories of self‐healing materials in soft electronics, including insulators, semiconductors, electronic conductors, and ionic conductors, are reviewed, and their functions, working principles, and applications are summarized. Finally, human‐inspired self‐healing materials and animal‐inspired self‐healing materials as well as their applications, such as organic field‐effect transistors (OFETs), pressure sensors, strain sensors, chemical sensors, triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), and soft actuators, are introduced. This cutting‐edge and promising field is believed to stimulate more excellent cross‐discipline works in material science, flexible electronics, and novel sensors, accelerating the development of applications in human motion monitoring, environmental sensing, information transmission, etc. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-based composites are ideal materials for electrothermal applications because of their lightweight, excellent conductivity, heat sensitivity, and easy processability. In this study, high-performance electrothermal films were synthesized by a novel layer-by-layer method. Electrothermal films were prepared by pouring CNT solution into the designed mold and subsequent curing of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) applied on the CNT layer. The flexible films showed sensitive electrothermal performance, and a steady-state temperature of ∼140 °C could be reached at 10 V. In addition, temperature versus voltage and time-dependent temperature results show that the heating performance was strongly dependent on the CNT content and input power. Moreover, they can bear large deformations, which could be widely used in defogging and defrosting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber‐shaped energy‐storage devices with high energy and power density are crucial for powering wearable electronics. However, the improvement of their energy and power density is limited by the low mass loading of active materials and slow diffusion of ions, which further hinders the application as flexible energy‐storage devices. Herein, a facile and cost‐effective strategy is proposed to fabricate polypyrrole (PPy)‐assisted nitrogen‐doped vanadium dioxide/nitrogen‐doped carbon (N–VO2@NC) heterostructures by the pyrolyzation of vanadium oxide (VOx)/PPy supported on carbon nanotube fiber (CNTF). The carbonization of PPy nanowire not only forms nitrogen‐doped carbon 3D conductive scaffold for enhancing ion transport pathways and mass loading of N–VO2 but also provides source of nitrogen in situ doping into VOx to produce N–VO2 for improving electronic conductivity and energy‐storage capacity. Consequently, the well‐designed N–VO2@NC@CNTF electrode delivers impressive electrochemical performance and extraordinary mechanical flexibility both applied in all‐solid‐state fiber‐shaped nonpolarity supercapacitors and aqueous zinc‐ion batteries. Furthermore, the results of theoretical calculations discovered that the band gap of PPy‐assisted N–VO2 can be significantly reduced from 0.55 to 0.23 eV and thus its conductivity is greatly enhanced. This work sheds light on the construction of high‐performance free‐standing electrodes for next‐generation wearable aqueous energy‐storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on van der Waals heterostructures based on stacked 2D atomic crystals is intense due to their prominent properties and potential applications for flexible transparent electronics and optoelectronics. Here, nonvolatile memory devices based on floating-gate field-effect transistors that are stacked with 2D materials are reported, where few-layer black phosphorus acts as channel layer, hexagonal boron nitride as tunnel barrier layer, and MoS2 as charge trapping layer. Because of the ambipolar behavior of black phosphorus, electrons and holes can be stored in the MoS2 charge trapping layer. The heterostructures exhibit remarkable erase/program ratio and endurance performance, and can be developed for high-performance type-switching memories and reconfigurable inverter logic circuits, indicating that it is promising for application in memory devices completely based on 2D atomic crystals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Graphene/silicon heterostructures present a Schottky characteristic and have potential applications for solar cells and photodetectors. Here, we fabricated graphene/silicon heterostructures by using chemical vapor deposition derived graphene and n-type silicon, and studied the electronic and optoelectronic properties through varying their interface and silicon resistivity. The results exhibit that the properties of the fabricated configurations can be effectively modulated. The graphene/silicon heterostructures with a Si (111) interface and high resistivity show a better photovoltaic behavior and should be applied for high-performance photodetectors. With the combined atomic force microscopy and theoretical analysis, the possible origination is discussed. The work here should be helpful on exploring high-performance graphene/silicon photoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

www. advancedscience. comVol. 11 • No. 24 • June 26 • 2024 [Extracted from the article]

Vanadium pentoxide (V 2 O 5), due to its distinctive open-framework construction and significant theoretical capacity, has widespread applications in the rapid development of aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) and pressure sensors. However, V 2 O 5 exhibits rapid capacity degradation and poor cycling stability due to its low electrical conductivity and ion diffusion rate, limiting its vast application prospects. Therefore, the self-supporting V 2 O 5 nanoarrays employing a Ni doping strategy on flexible carbon substrates act as an AZIBs cathode material (Ni–V 2 O 5 @CNTF), which possesses an enlarged interlayer space and high ion conductivity to provide a stable crystal structure for fast and reversible Zn2+ insertion/extraction. More notably, the assembled Zn/Ni–V 2 O 5 @CNTF battery achieves a high capacity of 398.85 mAh cm−3 at 0.1 A cm−3, superior rate performance and cycling stability for 2000 cycles. In addition, the V 2 O 5 nanoarrays grown on carbon cloth serving as the functional electrode material (Ni–V 2 O 5 @CC) are applied in a flexible resistive pressure sensor, exhibiting a high sensitivity of 0.8 kPa−1 from 0 to 5.0 kPa and stable sensing capabilities from 0 to 25 kPa. Furthermore, extensive applications are investigated in monitoring human activities and anti-intrusion pre-alarm systems. This work demonstrates a dual-functional fabric electrode based on Ni–V 2 O 5 , offering new guidelines for the next generation of multifunctional flexible electronic products. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The ZnO NRA-Al 2 O 3 /Cu 2 O was successfully prepared. • Al 2 O 3 was firstly modified the interface between ZnO and Cu 2 O. • The enhanced PEC performance of ZnO NRA-Al 2 O 3 /Cu 2 O was discussed and revealed. The p-n heterojunctions with the built-in electric field are often adopted to promote the separation of photoexcited electron-hole pairs and enhance the photoelectrochemical (PEC) performance. However, the interface states often affect the band alignment of ZnO/Cu 2 O heterointerface and cause the decline of PEC performance. In this study, the ultrathin insulating Al 2 O 3 layer was introduced to modify the interface between n-type ZnO nanorod arrays (NRA) and p-type Cu 2 O. Compared to that of ZnO NRA/Cu 2 O, the photocurrent density is significantly improved and onset potential shifts negatively for ZnO NRA-Al 2 O 3 /Cu 2 O. The Al 2 O 3 ultrathin layer is deemed to suppress the photoexcited carriers trapped by the heavy interface defect states via improving the interface quality and block the recombination between electrons in the conduction band of ZnO NRA and holes in the valence band of Cu 2 O. This work broadens the interface modification method of p-n heterojunction and its results are favorable for photovoltaic devices, photodetection and PEC water splitting applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the suitable bandgap and valence band for photoelectrochemical (PEC) water oxidation, BiVO 4 has been regarded as a promising photoanode material. However, poor charge-separation and -transport behavior as well as sluggish surface oxygen evolution reaction (OER) kinetics caused the BiVO 4 photoanode for water splitting to be significantly lower than its theoretical value. In this study, the synergistic effect of constructing an n-BiVO 4 /p-CuCoO 2 heterojunction and NiCo 3 -LDH as an OER cocatalyst was designed to enhance the PEC performance of BiVO 4 photoanode. The resultant BiVO 4 /CuCoO 2 /NiCo 3 -LDH demonstrates a maximum photocurrent density of 6.95 mA/cm2 at 1.8 V vs. RHE, which is approximately 24.8 times that of BiVO 4 (0.28 mA/cm2) and 5.5 times that of BiVO 4 /CuCoO 2 (1.27 mA/cm2) with good stability (70 % remained after 2 h of operation). This work broadens the construction strategy of photoanode heterojunctions to enhance PEC performance. [Display omitted] • Combination of p-n junction and OER cocatalysts to enhance PEC performance. • Modification of BiVO 4 with CuCoO 2 and NiCO 3 -LDH cocatalyst to enhance the PEC performance. • Optimum molar ratio of Ni and Co was investigated to enhance the OER catalytic performance of NiCo 3 -LDH. • Photocurrent density of BiVO 4 /CuCoO 2 /NiCo 3 -LDH is about 24.8 times compared with that of BiVO 4. • Simple routes have been adopted for the fabrication of BiVO 4 /CuCoO 2 /NiCo 3 -LDH photoanodes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber-shaped asymmetric supercapacitors (FASCs) have potential applications in next-generation wearable and portable electronics due to their high power density, remarkable flexibility, fast charge-discharge capability, long cycle life and light weight. However, low specific capacitance and energy density hinder their practical applications. To obtain anode materials with high conductivity and high specific capacity, we first synthesize Fe 2 O 3 nanowire arrays (NWAs) on carbon nanotube fibers as negative electrodes and then obtain FeS 2 and FeP NWAs negative electrodes by sulfuration and phosphorization, respectively. The transformation processes effectively enhance the desirable properties of the electrode materials, improving the areal capacitance from 292 mF cm−2 to 833 mF cm−2 (sulfuration) and 1135 mF cm−2 (phosphorization) at a current density of 1 mA cm−2, demonstrating a significant improvement compared to Fe 2 O 3 NWAs and, importantly, that phosphorization produces better results than sulfuration. Furthermore, the fabricated FASC exhibits outstanding mechanical flexibility and weavability and thus has great potential in for practical application in novel wearable and portable supercapacitors, which are expected to be the next generation of flexible energy-storage devices. Image 1 • FeS 2 and FeP nanowire arrays directly grown carbon nanotube fibers as the binder-free negative electrodes are synthesized by sulfuration and phosphorization based on Fe 2 O 3 precursor nanowire arrays for fiber-shaped asymmetrical supercapacitors. • Fiber-shaped asymmetrical supercapacitors deliver a working potential of 1.8 V and achieve remarkable specific capacitance and energy density. • The fiber-shaped asymmetrical supercapacitors exhibit excellent weavability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Superstructured α-Fe 2 O 3 nanorods grown on the CNTF as binder-free negative electrode. • Array of 3D nanoplates architectures formed the superstructured α-Fe 2 O 3 nanorods. • Superstructures with empty place and channels reduced ion transport distance. • The FESD exhibits outstanding electrochemical performance and excellent weavability. Fiber-shaped energy storage devices are indispensable parts of wearable and portable electronics. Aqueous rechargeable Ni/Fe battery is a very appropriate energy storage device due to their good safety without organic electrolytes, high ionic conductivity, and low cost. Unfortunately, the low energy density, poor power density and cycling performance hinder its further practical applications. In this study, in order to obtain high performance negative iron-based material, we first synthesized α-iron oxide (α-Fe 2 O 3) nanorods (NRs) with superstructures on the surface of highly conductive carbon nanotube fibers (CNTFs), then electrically conductive polypyrrole (PPy) was coated to enhance the electron, ion diffusion and cycle stability. The as-prepared α-Fe 2 O 3 @PPy NRs/CNTF electrode shows a high specific capacity of 0.62 Ah cm−3 at the current density of 1 A cm−3. Furthermore, the Ni/Fe battery that was assembled by the above negative electrode shows a maximum volumetric energy density of 15.47 mWh cm−3 with 228.2 mW cm−3 at a current density of 1 A cm−3. The cycling durability and mechanical flexibility of the Ni/Fe battery were tested, which show good prospect for practical application. In summary, these merits make it possible for our Ni/Fe battery to have practical applications in next generation flexible energy storage devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fiber supercapacitors (FSCs) represent a promising class of energy storage devices that can complement or even replace microbatteries in miniaturized portable and wearable electronics. One of their main limitations, however, is the low volumetric energy density when compared with those of rechargeable batteries. Considering the energy density of FSC is proportional to CV2 (E = 1/2 CV2, where C is the capacitance and V is the operating voltage), one would explore high operating voltage as an effective strategy to promote the volumetric energy density. In the present work, an all‐solid‐state asymmetric FSC (AFSC) with a maximum operating voltage of 3.5 V is successfully achieved, by employing an ionic liquid (IL) incorporated gel‐polymer as the electrolyte (EMIMTFSI/PVDF‐HFP). The optimized AFSC is based on MnOx@TiN nanowires@carbon nanotube (NWs@CNT) fiber as the positive electrode and C@TiN NWs@CNT fiber as the negative electrode, which gives rise to an ultrahigh stack volumetric energy density of 61.2 mW h cm−3, being even comparable to those of commercially planar lead‐acid batteries (50–90 mW h cm−3), and an excellent flexibility of 92.7% retention after 1000 blending cycles at 90°. The demonstration of employing the ILs‐based electrolyte opens up new opportunities to fabricate high‐performance flexible AFSC for future portable and wearable electronic devices. An all‐solid‐state asymmetric fiber supercapacitor (AFSC) with a maximum operating voltage of 3.5 V is demonstrated, by employing an ionic liquid (IL) incorporated gel‐polymer as the electrolyte, which gives rise to an ultrahigh stack volumetric energy density of 61.2 mW h cm−3. The demonstration of employing the IL‐based electrolyte opens up new opportunities to fabricate high‐performance flexible AFSC for future wearable electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The interface plays a key role in determining the properties of polymer composites. However, chemical inertness of hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) makes its surface modification troublesome. In this study, we, for the first time, used SiO 2 as the modified molecular and investigated the effects of exfoliated h-BN and SiO 2 nanoparticles-modified-exfoliated h-BN (SiO 2 @exfoliated h-BN) on the storage modulus, the glass transition temperature, the filler dispersion and the thermal conductivity of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) composites prepared by a solution mixture method. The results showed that the SiO 2 modification enhanced the interface interaction and improved the performance of the PVA composites. Based on the enhanced interface interaction by SiO 2 modification and the aligned fillers in PVA by vacuum filtration, the high thermal conductivity of 13.88 W/m·K was realized at 15.2 wt% SiO 2 @exfoliated h-BN loading. Meanwhile, the tensile strength was also largely improved to 156 MPa, compared with 47 MPa of pure PVA. This study broadens the surface modification method of h-BN and provides a valuable reference for fabrication of high-performance thermal interface materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A perylene-based imide derivative with larger π-conjugated structure (2PDI) was prepared as electrode material. • The assembled 2PDI battery offered an ultralong cycling stability with 99.4% of capacity retention after 50 000 cycles at 3000 mA g−1. • Its mechanism of reversible co-insertion Zn2+/H+ are verified via electrochemical tests and ex-suit characterizations. • The most favorable structure of discharge products was further clarified and discussed to be (2PDI) 2 (H+) 6 (Zn2+). Organic carbonyl compounds as electrode materials have exhibited promising candidates for application in next-generation aqueous rechargeable batteries. However, a primary concern that is poor cycling performance are still remains due to high solubility of discharge products, which greatly limits their broader application. Herein, we developed a strategy to enhance the cyclability of aqueous zinc-organic batteries (AZOBs) by the terminal imidization and lateral π-system extension of perylene-3,4,9,10-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (PTCDA). This strategy resulted in a perylene-based imide derivative with larger π-conjugated structure (2PDI), significantly inhibiting the solubility in an aqueous electrolyte. As expected, 2PDI as cathode offered a discharge capacity of 72.8 mA h g−1 at a current density of 100 mA g−1, and even retaining 99.4% capacity after ultralong 50 000 cycles at 3000 mA g−1. Its mechanism of reversible co-insertion Zn2+/H+ at the carbonyl site was verified via electrochemical tests and ex-suit characterizations. Moreover, density functional theory calculation (DFT) also revealed this co-insertion mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flexible insulating composites with superior thermal conductivity (usually below 5 W m −1  K −1 for the previously-reported composites) are highly desirable for further miniaturization of high-power electronics and portable devices. Herein hexagonal boron nitride (hBN)/thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composites were readily fabricated by solution ball-milling of hBN and TPU in N , N ′-dimethylformamide followed by precipitation in ethanol. The coagulated solids were then processed by hot-pressing to produce TPU composite films with well-dispersed hBN platelets. The amount of hBN in the TPU matrix was loaded as high as 95 wt% while retaining mechanical flexibility. The in-plane thermal conductivity variations' trend with hBN loadings exhibited a sudden jump happened with the loading level over 40 wt% in the polymer matrix. Intriguingly, the TPU composite film with 95 wt% hBN exhibits an in-plane thermal conductivity of up to 50.3 W m −1  K −1 (a 264-fold increase compared to pure TPU), due to the hot-compression induced alignment of hBN platelets and strong interactions in/with the TPU matrix. The corresponding out-of-plane thermal conductivity is also as high as 6.9 W m −1  K −1 . The hBN/TPU composite films were further employed as heat spreaders for light-emitting diodes, resulting in a significant decrease by about 40 °C in the set-point and the saturation temperatures. Such superior thermal transport performance has rarely been reported in the polymer composites. The proposed method provides a facile and novel strategy for the scalable fabrication of high-performance polymer composites containing two dimensional layered materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel substrate-anchored catalyst, solid solution, was developed, which experienced the annealing treatment of the single crystal MgO substrates with Co species deposited. The formation of specific structure on MgO surface and sub-surface makes Co catalysts anchored. Subsequent H 2 reduction treatment continuously released fresh active catalysts from this anchored special structure for SWNTs nucleation and growth. This gradual releasing behavior provides more catalytic opportunities to nucleate and realizes high density SWNTs growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer infiltrating filler-network has been actively researched recently to obtain composite materials with enhanced thermal conductivities. However, the long infiltration time blocks its wide application. In this study, we prepared hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) composite by combining polymer infiltration with filler diffusion through the polymer to reduce infiltration time and form heat conduction paths. Base on this process, the maximum thermal conductivities of the obtained h-BN/PVA composites were 1.63 W/m·K and 8.44 W/m·K along the through-plane and in-plane directions, respectively. In addition, the composites displayed excellent heat dissipation performance when attached on top of a light emitting diode (LED) light strip. The research results indicate our approach is facile and capable of fabricating high performance thermal interface materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Hydrochromic CsPbBr 3 -KBr (CPB-K) were prepared via an eco-friendly method. • Inks based on CPB-K enables to realize multiple encryption of information. • CPB-K/PDMS-based TENG for self-powered biomechanical monitoring was demonstrated. Metal-halide perovskites (MHPs) featured with excellent photoelectronic properties and low-temperature solution processability are emerging as desired candidates for next-generation wearable and portable electronics. However, irreversible emission properties quenching of MHPs in the presence of water has severely impeded their versatile applications. Here, we present a facile water–ethanol assisted co-precipitation strategy for cost-effective and eco-friendly fabrication of hydrochromic smart luminescent CsPbBr 3 -KBr microcrystals (CPB-K). Interestingly, the as-prepared CPB-K can achieve reversible transition between luminescent and non-luminescent state upon the water removal/exposure owing to the dissolution/recrystallization of luminescent CsPbBr 3 nanocrystals with the help of KBr salts. The coating of polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) effectively prevents the destruction of CPB-K and maintains its green emission upon moisture. Further, by leveraging the hydrochromic CPB-K and water-resistant CPB-K/PDMS characteristic synergistically realize multiple encryption effects of information, and the hidden information can be clearly identified upon moisture decryption. Because of electrical and dielectric properties of MHPs, a flexible triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) made from CPB-K/PDMS film as friction layer has been constructed with maximum open-circuit voltage of 43.4 V (loading CPB-K of 20 wt%), about 1.8 times that of the pristine PDMS-based TENG. Additionally, we demonstrate a self-powered wearable sensor based on CPB-K/PDMS TENG for real-time biomechanical monitoring with electrical signals. This work provides an eco-friendly fabrication approach for perovskite-based smart luminescent materials, which further opens up the possibility to expand their diverse applications in wearable electronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: aqueous electrolytes; nonpolarity supercapacitors; polypyrrole-assisted nitrogen doping; vanadium dioxide; zinc-ion batteries EN aqueous electrolytes nonpolarity supercapacitors polypyrrole-assisted nitrogen doping vanadium dioxide zinc-ion batteries 1 1 1 11/07/22 20221103 NES 221103 B Aqueous Energy-Storage Devices b In article number 2201481, Chunlei Wang, Qichong Zhang, Qingwen Li, and co-workers develop an in-situ nitrogen doping strategy to fabricate nitrogen-doped vanadium dioxide/nitrogen-doped carbon heterostructures by pyrolyzation of the vanadium oxide/polypyrrole. Aqueous electrolytes, nonpolarity supercapacitors, polypyrrole-assisted nitrogen doping, vanadium dioxide, zinc-ion batteries Polypyrrole-Assisted Nitrogen Doping Strategy to Boost Vanadium Dioxide Performance for Wearable Nonpolarity Supercapacitor and Aqueous Zinc-Ion Battery (Adv. [Extracted from the article]

Graphene/silicon (Gr/Si) configurations form Schottky junctions and should be a promising structure for high-performance electronics and optoelectronics. Here we presented a study on the properties of Gr/Si Schottky junctions by thermal annealing and air exposing. It was found that the ideal factor and the Schottky barrier height were lowered after vacuum annealing and increased after exposing in air for several days. The modulation of the Schottky junctions was further used to tune their optoelectronic properties. The results exhibit that the open-circuit voltage of the junctions under light illumination was varied with the ideal factor. The work here should be helpful on developing high-performance Gr/Si electronics and optoelectronics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aqueous batteries (ABs) have been regarded promising candidates for large-scale energy-storage applications due to their low-cost, high-safety, ease-of-fabrication, and high ionic conductivity. In contrast to standard rigid battery devices, flexible batteries can retain their functionality under deformation such as bending, twisting, rolling, or stretching. Therefore, the flexible solid-state ABs (FSABs) accelerates their practical application in wearable electronics. To date, numerous studies have focused on the optimization of the electrolyte, the electrode design, and the battery preparation processes to enhance both electrochemical performance and mechanical robustness. Although some reviews mention FSABs in a wider context, no exclusive review on FSABs for wearable electronics exists. Such a review is presented here, containing all aspects of the engineering, design and characterization of FSABs. The review presented gives an ample introduction to the basic principles of the energy storage mechanisms, the evaluation of the flexibility, and the design principles of FSABs. Furthermore, the recent progress in the electrochemical performance and mechanical flexibility of FSABs and their for practical applications in wearable electronic devices are comprehensively summarized. Finally, our insights regarding major challenges and prospective solutions in future research are provided to guide the further development of this fascinating and fast-evolving research area of FSABs. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growing demand for intelligent equipment has greatly inspired the development of flexible devices. Thus, disparate flexible multifunctional devices, including pressure sensitive flexible/stretchable displays, have drawn worldwide research attention. Electrodes maintaining conductivity and mechanical strength against deformations are indispensable components in all prospective applications. In this work, a flexible pressure mapping sensor array is developed based on patterned Ag-nanofibers (Ag-NFs) electrode through electrospinning and lithography. The metallic Ag layer is sputtered onto the electrospinning polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) NFs. A uniform and super conductive electrode layer with outstanding mechanical performance is thus formed after dissolving PVA. Followed by the traditional lithography method, a patterned electrode array (4 × 4 sensors) is obtained. Based on the newly developed triboelectric nanogenerator (TENG) technology, a flexible pressure-mapping sensor with excellent stability towards bending deformations is further demonstrated. Moreover, a letter "Z" is successfully visualized by this pressure sensor array, encouraging more human–machine interactive implementations, such as multi-functional tactile screens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The performance of quasi‐solid‐state flexible zinc–air batteries (ZABs) is critically dependent on the advancement of air electrodes with outstanding bifunctional electrocatalysis for both the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER), together with the desired mechanical flexibility and robustness. The currently available synthesis processes for high‐efficiency bifunctional bimetallic sulfide electrodes typically require high‐temperature hydrothermal or chemical vapor deposition, which is undesirable in terms of the complexity in experimental procedure and the damage of flexibility in the resultant electrode. Herein, a scalable fabrication process is reported by combining electrospinning with in situ sulfurization at room temperature to successfully obtain CuCo2S4 nanosheets@N‐doped carbon nanofiber (CuCo2S4 NSs@N‐CNFs) films, which show remarkable bifunctional catalytic performance (Ej= 10 (OER) – E1/2 (ORR) = 0.751 V) with excellent mechanical flexibility. Furthermore, the CuCo2S4 NSs@N‐CNFs cathode delivers a high open‐circuit potential of 1.46 V, an outstanding specific capacity of 896 mA h g−1, when assembled into a quasi‐solid‐state flexible ZAB together with Zn NSs@carbon nanotubes (CNTs) film (electrodeposited Zn nanosheets on CNTs film) as the anode. The ZAB also shows a good flexibility and capacity stability with 93.62% capacity retention (bending 1000 cycles from 0° to 180°), making it an excellent power source for portable and wearable electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights from the article: In the initially published version of this article, the order of the authors and affiliations was incorrectly presented. Dr. J. X. Zhao, Y. Zhang, X. X. Zhao, Dr. J. X. Xie, C. F. Yang, J. J. Wang, L. L. Li, Prof. C. H. Lu.