Science China Materials最新文献

In recent years, wearable electrochemical sensors have been widely used for biochemical analysis. These sensors, which incorporate flexible electrodes and sensitive recognition elements on a flexible substrate, facilitate the noninvasive, in-situ, real-time, and continuous monitoring of target biochemical molecules in biofluids while maintaining high selectivity and sensitivity. This review provides a comprehensive examination of the principles guiding the selection of core components and the recent advances in wearable electrochemical sensors for biochemical markers in recent years. Initially, we outline the essential considerations in designing wearable sensors to detect biomarkers in biofluids, including sampling techniques, material selection, design parameters, recognition elements, sensing strategies, power requirements, data processing, and sensor integration. We emphasize the improved efficacy of recognition elements, which has been significantly enhanced by biotechnology and materials science developments, facilitating selective and sensitive detection of target components within complex matrices. Concurrently, incorporating nanomaterials and conductive polymers (CPs) has markedly improved the sensing capabilities of flexible electronics. Subsequently, we investigate recent progress in situ detection of biochemical markers utilizing wearable electrochemical sensors that employ advanced materials, optimized mechanical structures, and various conduction mechanisms. The notable applications stemming from these technological innovations illustrate significant improvements in sensitivity, reliability, and monitoring capabilities of wearable electrochemical sensors while enhancing user comfort. Finally, we address the current challenges and future perspectives regarding implementing clinically oriented wearable electrochemical sensors for disease monitoring and personalized medicine.

Side chain engineering of small-molecule acceptors (SMAs) is a promising strategy for improving device efficiency in organic solar cells (OSCs). This study investigates the parent SMAs of BT-BO and BT-TBO, along with the newly synthesized asymmetric SMA, BT-ASY, which features branched alkyl chains and thiophene side chains substituted at the β positions of the thiophene units, respectively. Despite exhibiting comparable optical and electrochemical properties, the PM6:BT-ASY-based device achieves a power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 18.08% representing a significant improvement over its symmetric counterparts. This enhancement is primarily attributed to improved charge mobility, extended carrier lifetimes, optimized molecular packing, and effective phase separation, as confirmed by grazing incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering measurements. Our findings highlight that asymmetric side-chain strategy enhances π-π stacking and electronic coupling, offering a simple yet effective approach to improving photovoltaic performance. This work underscores the potential of asymmetric structural modifications in SMAs for advancing OSC technology and renewable energy solutions.

Photocatalytic H₂ production has been regarded as a charming strategy for harvesting solar energy to chemical energy yet remains a great challenge due to the weak light absorption in visible range, low charge transfer, and fast recombination of photogenerated carriers. Here, we integrate solar-driven water splitting with benzyl alcohol (BA) oxidation, a typical platform chemical from biomass, for producing H₂ and benzaldehyde (BAD) over ZnIn₂S₄ nanosheets doped with Ni and N (Ni-N/ZIS). Mechanism studies show that Ni-N/ZIS provides a fast charge channel (i.e., Ni–N) for separating photogenerated electrons and holes, as a result of significantly enhanced photocatalytic performance. Impressively, Ni-N/ZIS displays a H₂ productivity of 18.7 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ with an apparent quantum yield (AQE) of 29.1% at 420 nm, which is 37.4, 10.6 and 2.8 times higher than that of pristine ZIS, N/ZIS and Ni/ZIS, surpassing all the reported noble metal-free catalysts. Besides, the productivity of BAD reaches 17.5 mmol g⁻¹ h⁻¹ under the irradiation of visible light (λ ⩾ 420 nm). This work integrates two significant processes (i.e., solar-driven water splitting with benzyl alcohol oxidation) for producing H₂ and BAD, respectively, which will contribute to alleviating the current energy and environmental crisis.

The pursuit of highly efficient catalysts for the urea oxidation reaction (UOR) represents a pivotal and sustainable approach to the generation of renewable energy. Structural regulation has emerged as a particularly effective approach to achieving superior catalytic performance. However, in the realm of amorphous catalysts with disordered structure and remarkable catalytic potential, identifying effective regulation strategies to enhance the UOR performance remains a formidable yet critical challenge. In this study, we present a coupling modulation strategy based on the growth mode and pulse current, utilizing pulse electrodeposition (PED) to achieve amorphous Ni-P catalysts with high-efficiency UOR performance. Amorphous Ni/Ni-P catalyst engineered by Stranski-Krastanov (SK) growth mode along with low pulse current exhibits unprecedented catalytic activity for UOR, as evidenced by its overpotential of 1.35 V at 10 mA/cm² and 1.37 V @ 100 mA/cm². We reveal the regulation-relationship among the growth modes, catalyst structure and UOR performance by PED. We also show that low-pulse current can efficiently enhance UOR performance by elevating energy states in amorphous Ni-P, and further demonstrate the broad applicability across diverse growth modes. Therefore, by integrating film growth modes with a pulse current, we have established a novel method for significantly enhancing catalytic performance, setting the stage for the advancement of superior catalysts.

Due to the influence of quantum confinement effect, two-dimensional (2D) materials like graphene exhibit unique and exceptional properties, highlighting the significance of low-dimensional materials in fundamental research and practical applications. This has led to high expectations for one-dimensional (1D) atomic chain materials with even lower dimensions. Compared with 2D materials, single 1D atomic chains reach their physical limits in both dimensions, resulting in a more pronounced quantum confinement effect that gives rise to unexpected physical phenomena and will establish a new field for exploration. Herein, we review the emerging field concerning 1D van der Waals (vdW) atomic chains. We first summarize the various types and structures of their bulk of the 1D vdW materials. Subsequently, we discuss the methods employed for their preparation and characterization. Finally, we analyze the challenges faced during the development of 1D atomic chains and provide prospects for their future development.

Lithium metal batteries (LMBs) using gel polymer electrolytes with satisfactory theoretical capacity and low cost hold great promise for high energy density storage systems. However, the inherently unwanted polarizations and uncontrolled lithium dendrites resulting from inferior Li-ion transporting efficiency hinder the practical application of conventional gel electrolytes. Herein, a highly conductive composite gel polymer electrolyte with effective Li-ion conducting channels is designed via swelling nanofibrous membrane, where the single-ion conducting polymer of lithium sulfonate-based polyether (DEBS-Li) used as the Li-ion accelerator is combined with poly(vinylidene fluoride-hexafluoropropylene) P(VDF-HFP) matrix by the electrospinning technology. The DEBS-Li having rich sulfonic groups can promote lithium salts dissociation via electrostatic interaction, thus expediting the ionic migration and enabling the as-developed gel electrolyte with high ionic conductivity (∼1.58× 10⁻³ S cm⁻¹) and lithium transference number (0.62) at 25°C. Such optimization of ionic transfer kinetics can highly delay the nucleation time of lithium dendrite and significantly inhibit dendritic formation, which leads to a stable Li plating/stripping in the symmetrical battery over 250 h at 1.5 mA cm⁻². Benefiting from these advantages, the Li∥LiFe-PO4 cell using the electrolyte realizes ultralong stable cycling over 500 cycles at a high rate of 10 C with ∼90% capacity retention. We believe this novel lithium sulfonate-based polyether gel polymer electrolyte has profound potential for practical applications in high-performance LMBs.

Achieving an in-depth understanding of the nexus between temperature and phase transitions is paramount for advancing the electrochemical efficiency of aqueous zinc ion batteries. Yet, the intricacies of electrochemical interactions, particularly those associated with the structural evolution over extended periods, remain enigmatic. In this research, we leverage V₂O₅ as an initial structural model of crystals to demystify the kinetics of electrode reactions and the decay mechanism of global electrochemical degradation by meticulously controlling the crystal defects via applying different mechanical grounding intensities. It is noted that the grounding V₂O₅ (GVO) can exhibit a stable crystal structure that suppresses the dissolution/shuttling of vanadium and mitigates Zn anodes by-products caused by electrochemical processes. Thus, the GVO is utilized as the cathode material, achieving excellent Zn storage capacity at both room temperature and low temperatures, e.g., 380 and 246 mA h g⁻¹ at room temperature and −20°C, respectively. Remarkably, the GVO cathode retains a specific capacity of 160 mA h g⁻¹ with a capacity retention rate of 99% after 1500 cycles at −20°C and 1 A g⁻¹. This work provides a novel insight into the electrochemical crosstalk behavior of aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) in a wide range of temperatures.

High-resolution organic arrays with diverse pixel types hold significant promise for various applications, such as full-color displays and photonic crystals. The direct growth of such arrays (e.g., high-resolution multi-color patterns) cannot be achieved in a single step with conventional strategies. Here, we present a viable approach integrating a bottom-up solution strategy with phase-change materials (PCMs), specifically aggregation-induced emission (AIE) materials. Through intentional self-assembly, color-programmable organic micro-patterns featuring distinct phases or colors were created. Notably, manipulating the amount of involved substance for nucleation/crystallization was achieved by adjusting the sizes of pre-defined nucleation sites. This precise control resulted in varied phases and colors for each pixel. Thus, high-resolution organic micro-arrays with transfer-free multi-color pixels were directly achieved. These may open avenues for seamless, transfer-free growth of multifunctional micro-patterns using PCMs, holding immense potential for applications in high-resolution full-color imaging/displays, photonic crystals, information storage, and encryption, etc.

The sensing capabilities of a soft arm are of paramount importance to its overall performance as they allow precise control of the soft arm and enhance its interaction with the surrounding environment. However, the actuation and sensing of a soft arm are not typically integrated into a monolithic structure, which would impede the arm’s movement and restrict its performance and application scope. To address this limitation, this study proposes an innovative method for the integrated design of actuator structures and sensing. The proposed method combines the art of kirigami with soft robotics technology. In the proposed method, sensors are embedded in the form of kirigami structures into actuators using laser cutting technology, achieving seamless integration with a soft arm. Compared to the traditional amanogawa kirigami and fractal-cut kirigami structures, the proposed middle-cut kirigami (MCK) structure does not buckle during stretching and exhibits superior tensile performance. Based on the MCK structure, an advanced interdigitated capacitive sensor with a high degree of linearity, which can significantly outperform traditional kirigami sensors, is developed. The experimental results validate the effectiveness of the proposed soft arm design in actual logistics sorting tasks, demonstrating that it is capable of accurately sorting objects based on sensor signals. In addition, the results indicate that the developed continuum soft arm and its embedded kirigami sensors have great potential in the field of logistics automation sorting. This work provides a promising solution for high-precision closed-loop feedback control and environmental interaction of soft arms.