O3-type layered transition metal oxides are promising cathodes for sodium-ion batteries due to their high initial sodium content and theoretical capacity. However, they suffer from irreversible phase transitions, sluggish Na+ diffusion, and lattice strain during cycling, leading to rapid capacity fading and poor rate performance. Herein, we report a high-entropy O3-type layered oxide cathode, NaNi0.24Fe0.24Mn0.24Li0.07Mg0.07Ti0.07Sb0.07O2 (HEO), designed by incorporating near-equiatomic redox-active Ni/Fe/Mn with low-content inactive Li/Mg/Ti/Sb dopants to maximize configurational entropy while maintaining charge neutrality and ionic radius matching. Compared to the benchmark NaNi1/3Fe1/3Mn1/3O2 (NFM), HEO exhibits single-phase formation, expanded interlayer spacing, narrowed bandgap (from 1.35 to 0.63eV), and reduced Na+ migration barriers. This enables superior rate capability (63.57 mAh g-1 at 10 C with 49.0% retention) and exceptional cycling stability (80.71% retention after 300 cycles at 1 C; 80.09% after 1000 cycles at 5 C). In situ XRD reveals a highly reversible O3 ↔ P3 ↔ OP2 phase transition sequence, suppressing the irreversible O'3 phase in NFM. These improvements stem from entropy stabilization and synergistic multi-cation effects, demonstrating high-entropy engineering as an effective strategy for developing robust, long-lifespan sodium-ion battery cathodes.

The excessive consumption of fossil fuels, coupled with the severe shortage of freshwater resources, has precipitated grave energy and environmental challenges for society, the urgent need for sustainable solar-driven water evaporation technologies. This study draws inspiration from the microstructure of velvet ant cuticles, employing structural synergy to extend light propagation paths, thereby devising a novel strategy to enhance light absorption capabilities. Herein, a ZIF-67-derived composite supported on functionalized boron nitride nanosheets (f-BNNS) is fabricated to achieve efficient interfacial solar steam generation. Under light irradiation, f-BNNS may interact with ZIF-67 through their conjugated structures, which could facilitate the conversion of π-π* electronic transitions into thermal energy. In addition, cobalt nanoparticles derived from ZIF-67 are considered to act as localized photothermal centers. Their localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) effect and possible phonon-phonon coupling may contribute to interfacial heat localization, thereby promoting water evaporation. Benefiting from broadband light absorption, improved thermal management, and efficient photothermal conversion, the composite exhibits an evaporation rate of 1.38 kg·m-2·h-1 and an energy efficiency of 95.58% under simulated sunlight. This work presents a sustainable and magnetically recoverable photothermal system integrating MOF-derived photothermal components and thermally conductive scaffolds for high-efficiency solar-driven water evaporation.

The densification of solid electrolyte (SE) materials is crucial for improving the performance and stability of all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs). In this study, the role of granular creep in SE densification is investigated using numerical simulations and experimental validation on Li6PS5Cl separators. Using discrete element method simulations, we analyze the influence of strain rate and cohesion on force chain evolution, particle rearrangement, and porosity reduction. Our results indicate that low strain rates promote granular creep, allowing for gradual particle reorientation and stress relaxation, leading to higher packing density and lower residual porosity. To validate these findings, we also performed experiments at different strain rates, where X-ray computed tomography and scanning electron microscopy confirm that low strain rates produce a more homogeneous microstructure. Furthermore, critical current density (CCD) tests on lithium symmetric cells reveal that samples processed at the lowest strain rate exhibit a CCD of mA cm-2, three times higher than samples processed at faster strain rates, highlighting the direct correlation between granular creep, densification, and ionic transport enhancement. These findings underscore the importance of strain-rate-controlled processing in optimizing SE microstructure, mechanical, and electrochemical performance, offering insights into the fabrication of high-density, high-performance separators for next-generationASSBs.

Precise tracking of the rapid and complex 3D movement of eukaryotic flagella is important for understanding their roles in cellular motility, sensory functions, and resource acquisition. Yet, achieving accurate 3D kinematic reconstruction of flagellar beating patterns, particularly highly non-planar ones, remains challenging. Here we present holoV3C, a method based on Digital Holographic Microscopy (DHM) that allows precise, label-free 3D tracking of highly non-planar eukaryotic flagella with high temporal resolution. This algorithm leverages phase anomaly detection to provide a combination of high temporal and axial resolution, with 0.25µm for beating mouse sperm flagella and down to 53nm for polystyrene particles, across large sampling volumes in a computationally efficient manner. Algorithmic validation is performed by tracking mouse sperm flagella over time, capturing approximately 600 points along a single flagellum to achieve high axial resolution. Furthermore, we apply holoV3C to reconstruct the highly non-planar beating dynamics of the 200-nm-diameter flagellum of the protist Reclinomonas americana with a temporal resolution of 200 frames per second. By enabling 3D tracking of non-planar eukaryotic flagella, holoV3C can yield important insights to advance our understanding of flagellar dynamics, opening new avenues in the study of microorganism motility and its ecological roles.

Doping is a cornerstone of semiconductor engineering, yet conventional methods lack precise and uniform control over electronic properties. Here, we present a highly controllable voltage-programmed electrochemical doping strategy utilizing pulsed gate voltage sequences to orchestrate anion/cation ingress into polymer matrices. This approach, applied to the benchmark semicrystalline p-type polymer poly(2,5-bis(3-tetradecylthiophen-2-yl)thieno[3,2-b]thiophene) and the cyano-functionalized bithiophene imide dimer (CNI2)-based n-type polymer, overcomes the limitations of chemical doping by delivering exceptional scalability and tunability, achieving conductivities of up to 685 and 21Scm- 1, respectively. These gains arise from optimized electronic properties and enhanced polymer crystallinity enabled by precise voltage-driven ion intercalation. Notably, this enables a Hall mobility of 2.6cm2V- 1s- 1 at 300K and signatures of mesoscopic phase-coherent transport, as evidenced by the observation of Hall effect signals and positive magnetoresistance associated with weak localization. This study establishes a generalizable framework for engineering charge transport in conjugated polymers for advanced electronic and spintronic applications.

Surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) nanoprobe-based immunoassay is an emerging liquid biopsy modality for the detection of blood biomarkers. However, quantitative detection of blood biomarkers using SERS nanoprobe immunoassays remains challenging, primarily due to intrinsic stochastic fluctuations of SERS signals. Herein, Ag nanogap shells (AgNGS) encoded with Raman labels are prepared as SERS nanoprobes with single-particle sensing resolution and long-term structural and signal stability. Then, digital SERS nanoprobe immunoassays using AgNGS nanoprobes and magnetic nanoparticles conjugated with detection and capture antibodies for carbohydrate antigen 19-9 (CA19-9) and apolipoprotein A1 (APOA1) are developed for their quantitative detection in the clinical serum samples of pancreatic cancer (PC). Furthermore, digitization of the SERS intensity-based assay outcomes into On/Off states allows significant improvement in limits of detection and quantification for biomarker detection. Finally, the digital AgNGS nanoprobe immunoassay enables quantitative detection of both CA19-9 and APOA1 from the 150 clinical serum samples of PC patients, which are integrated with machine learning analysis via bootstrap sampling and logistic regression modeling for the diagnosis of early-stage PC, achieving a high AUC of 0.988. AgNGS nanoprobe immunoassays offer an effective liquid biopsy route for profiling various blood biomarkers associated with many diseases.

While oxide-based memristors enable CMOS-compatible in-memory computing, their confinement to single-material memristive layers restricts heterogeneous interfacial engineering-limiting neuromorphic adaptability. Here, a unique nanobrush-based Y2O3/CeO2 superlattice structure with an average height of 75nm is fabricated using diffusion-limited laser epitaxy. Atomic-resolution structural characterization reveals that each Y2O3/CeO2 superlattice nanobrush exhibits self-organized heterogeneous interfaces along (111) crystallographic orientation. Notably, the nanobrush memristor exhibits unipolar switching with a RON/ROFF ratio ∼12 higher than film-based superlattice devices, plus excellent endurance (1000 cycles) and retention (104 s). The enhanced resistive switching in nanobrush memristors likely stems from their brush geometry and space charge enrichment at chevron-like heterointerfaces. XPS analysis confirms abundant oxygen vacancies in the nanobrush-based superlattices, generating substantial mobile ionic defects. The vertically-aligned nanobrush geometry provides abundant conduction pathways for oxygen vacancy migration. Ultimately, these fluorite-bixbyite superlattice nanobrushes demonstrate structurally engineered, energy-efficient, noise-resistant memory for high-density neuromorphic circuits.

2D materials hold immense promise for next-generation electronics and quantum technologies. However, their full potential has been hindered by the lack of scalable transfer techniques that can simultaneously enable high-precision, deterministic placement, and enhance imaging quality to ensure accurate transfer by both human and automated methods. Here, we present a room-temperature transfer method integrating an optical-grade N-BK7 hemispherical lens with a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamp system, resolving the fundamental trade-off between transfer precision and optical resolution. Our technique achieves three key advances while eliminating any thermal processing: (1) improvement in imaging resolution through aberration correction, (2) transfer success rates, and (3) universal compatibility with diverse architectures, including patterned electrodes, etched substrates, and nanopillar arrays. Our method achieves the placement accuracy as low as and is fully compatible with motorized staging. This enables the selective pickup of target flakes and effectively eliminates non-target material, which can occupy valuable space or lead to electrical shorts in pre-patterned fabricated devices, establishing a transformative platform for scalable production of van der Waals heterostructures. This advance bridges the critical gap between laboratory research and industrial-scale manufacturing of 2D materialdevices.

Replacing heavily doped silicon layers with wide-bandgap transition metal oxides (TMOs) in crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells shows great potential for reducing parasitic absorption, simplifying the fabrication process, and improving power conversion efficiency (PCE). However, the formation and migration of oxygen vacancies (VO) and the limited tunability of optoelectronic properties in TMOs films hinder further performance gains. Combining first-principles calculations with device simulation, this study explores how incorporating H, F, Cl, and Br into TMOs modulates their optoelectronic behavior, as well as their effect on dipole polarization at c-Si/TMO interface. These dopants can effectively inhibit VO formation and migration, maintaining high work function (WF) and enabling tailored optoelectronic properties. Among them, H doping notably enhances the optical-electrical properties and strengthens interfacial dipole polarization, leading to a PCE of 24.4%. Meanwhile, experimentally fabricated H-doped TMO device exhibits an obvious efficiency enhancement relative to VO-TMO device, consistent with the theoretical results. This work bridges theoretical understanding and device realization, offering valuable guidance for designing high-efficiency, dopant-engineered c-Si photovoltaics.

Copper (I) iodide clusters represent a class of promising materials for optoelectronic applications owing to their structural diversity and tunable photophysical properties. Herein, we report a developing free direct photolithography method that enables the in situ growth and patterning of (PPh3)4Cu4I4 clusters within a polymer matrix through a photoinduced redox reaction. Upon UV irradiation, iodine radicals generated from iodinated organic precursors initiate a redox reaction, triggering the formation of (PPh3)4Cu4I4 clusters. This approach allows the creation of micro- and nanoscale patterns with a resolution of 6µm within just 15 min, eliminating the developing step required in conventional photolithography. The resulting patterns exhibit distinct fluorescence under dual-wavelength excitation (310 and 365nm). Exploiting this characteristic for high-density information encoding, we demonstrate applications in anti-counterfeiting labels and chip encryption. This work provides an efficient and controllable strategy for patterning functional metal-halide clusters, expanding their potential for use in advanced optoelectronic devices.