Highly Curved Defect Sites: How Curvature Effect Influences Metal-Free Defective Carbon Electrocatalysts.

Topological defects are widely recognized as effective active sites toward a variety of electrochemical reactions. However, the role of defect curvature is still not fully understood. Herein, carbon nanomaterials with rich topological defect sites of tunable curvature is reported. The curved defective surface is realized by controlling the high-temperature pyrolytic shrinkage process of precursors. Theoretical calculations demonstrate bending the defect sites can change the local electronic structure, promote the charge transfer to key intermediates, and lower the energy barrier for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Experimental results convince structural superiority of highly-curved defective sites, with a high kinetic current density of 22.5 mA cm-2 at 0.8 V versus RHE for high-curvature defective carbon (HCDC), ≈18 times that of low-curvature defective carbon (LCDC). Further raising the defect densities in HCDC leads to the dual-regulated products (HCHDC), which exhibit exceptionally outstanding ORR activity in both alkaline and acidic media (half-wave potentials: 0.88 and 0.74 V), outperforming most of the reported metal-free carbon catalysts. This work uncovers the curvature-activity relationship in carbon defect for ORR and provides new guidance to design advanced catalysts via curvature-engineering.

Two-dimensional measurements of receptor-ligand interactions.

Gaining insight into the two-dimensional receptor-ligand interactions, which play a significant role in various pivotal biological processes such as immune response and cancer metastasis, will deepen our understanding of numerous physiological and pathological mechanisms and contribute to biomedical applications and drug design. A central issue involved is how to measure the in situ receptor-ligand binding kinetics. Here, we review several representative mechanical-based and fluorescence-based methods, and briefly discuss the strengths and weaknesses for each method. In addition, we emphasize the great importance of the combination of experimental and computational methods in studying the receptor-ligand interactions, and further studies should focus on the synergistic development of experimental and computational methods.

Pneumatically Actuated Soft Gripper with Bistable Structures.

This study presents the design and test of a novel self-adaptive soft gripper, integrating pneumatic actuators and bistable carbon-fiber reinforced polymer laminates. The morphology was designed using the distinct structural characteristics of bistable structures; and the stable gripping configuration of the gripper was maintained through the bistability without continuous pressure application. The sufficient compliance of bistable structures makes the gripper versatile and adaptable to gripping deformable objects. First, a pneumatic-actuated method was introduced to achieve the reversible shape transition of the bistable structure. Next, three arrangement methods for actuators were analyzed with respect to the bistable transition and curvature, where it was found that the cross-arrangement is optimal. The effects of pneumatic actuators with different geometrical parameters on the response times are discussed, and the results show that the bistable structure can achieve shape transition within milliseconds under low pressure. Furthermore, the numerical and experimental results show good agreement between critical pressures and out-of-plane deformation. Furthermore, the shape retention function of the soft gripper was studied by using it to grasp objects of various sizes even when the pressure was reduced to the initial state. The bistable laminates exhibit sufficient compliance, and the deformed laminates can automatically accommodate the deformation of objects. The relationship between the weight and size of available gripping objects was studied; functional tests confirmed that the proposed soft gripper is versatile and adaptable for gripping objects of various shapes, sizes, and weights. This gripper has immense potential to reduce energy consumption in vacuum environments such as underwater and space.

Interplay Between Receptor-Ligand Binding and Lipid Domain Formation Depends on the Mobility of Ligands in Cell-Substrate Adhesion.

Cell-cell adhesion and the adhesion of cells to extracellular matrix are mediated by the specific binding of receptors on the cell membrane to their cognate ligands on the opposing surface. The adhesion receptors can exhibit affinity for nanoscale lipid clusters that form in the cell membrane. Experimental studies of such adhesion systems often involve a cell adhering either to a solid surface with immobile ligands or a supported lipid bilayer with mobile ligands. A central question in these cell-substrate adhesions is how the mobility of the ligands physically affects their binding to the adhesion receptors and thereby the behavior of the nanoscale lipid clusters associated with the receptors. Using a statistical mechanical model and Monte Carlo simulations for the adhesion of cells to substrates with ligands, we find that, for mobile ligands, binding to adhesion receptors can promote the formation of mesoscale lipid domains, which in turn enhances the receptor-ligand binding. However, in the case of immobile ligands, the receptor-ligand binding and the tendency for the nanoscale lipid clusters to further coalesce depend on the distribution of the ligands on the substrate. Our findings help to explain why different adhesion experiments for identifying the interplay between receptor-ligand binding and heterogeneities in cell membranes led to contradictory results.

Non-Uniform Curvature Model and Numerical Simulation for Anti-symmetric Cylindrical Bistable Polymer Composite Shells.

The bistability of anti-symmetric thin shallow cylindrical polymer composite shells, made of carbon fiber/epoxy resin, has already been investigated based on the uniform curvature and inextensible deformation assumptions by researchers in detail. In this paper, a non-uniform curvature model that considers the extensible deformations is proposed. Furthermore, a parametric modeling and automatic postprocessing plug-in component for the bistability analysis of polymer composite cylindrical shells is established by means of ABAQUS-software, by which the equilibrium configurations and the load-displacement curves during the snap process can be easily obtained. The presented analytical model is validated by the numerical simulation and literature models, while the factors affecting the bistability of anti-symmetric cylindrical shells are revisited. In addition, the planform effects of anti-symmetric cylindrical shells with rectangular, elliptical and trapezoidal planform are discussed. The results show that the presented analytical model improves the accuracy of the prediction of the principal curvature of second equilibrium configuration and agree well with the numerical results.