(C8H7N2O2)2[Bi2Br8]·2H2O and (C8H7N2O2)6[Bi2Cl10]Cl2·2H2O: Exploring Birefringent Crystals in Hybrid Halide Systems.

In this study, new hybrid birefringent crystals of (C8H7N2O2)2[Bi2Br8]·2H2O and (C8H7N2O2)6[Bi2Cl10]Cl2·2H2O were successfully synthesized by introducing a new birefringent group [C8H7N2O2]+ by a simple aqueous solution evaporation method. They crystallize in the P21/n space group, and their structure consists mainly of the π-conjugated group [C8H7N2O2]+ and the octahedron centered on Bi3+. By first-principles calculations, the birefringence response comes from the [C8H7N2O2]+ group with a planar π-conjugated structure. Meanwhile, the synthesis, structure, first-principles calculations, and optical properties are reported in this paper.

Controlled Fabrication of Hierarchically Structured MnO2@NiCo-LDH Nanoarrays for Efficient Electrocatalytic Urea Oxidization.

Urea, a prevalent component found in wastewater, shows great promise as a substrate for energy-efficient hydrogen production by electrolysis. However, the slow kinetics of the anodic urea oxidation reaction (UOR) significantly hamper the overall reaction rate. This study presents the design and controlled fabrication of hierarchically structured nanomaterials as potential catalysts for UOR. The prepared MnO2@NiCo-LDH hybrid catalyst demonstrates remarkable improvements in reaction kinetics, benefiting from synergistic enhancements in charge transfer and efficient mass transport facilitated by its unique hierarchical architecture. Notably, the catalyst exhibits an exceptionally low onset potential of 1.228 V and requires only 1.326 V to achieve an impressive current density of 100 mA cm-2, representing a state-of-the-art performance in UORs. These findings highlight the tremendous potential of this innovative material designing strategy to drive advancements in electrocatalytic processes.

Naphthalene-Like Unit That Induces Strong Optical Anisotropy in C10H8NO2Br and C10H8NO2Br·H2O.

Two metal-free birefringent crystals, C10H8BrNO2 and C10H8BrNO2·H2O, which contain a new birefringence-active [C10H8NO2]+ gene, were synthesized via a mild solution evaporation method. In their crystal structures, the π-conjugated naphthalene-like [C10H8NO2]+ groups are basically aligned, which induces high optical anisotropy; i.e., the title compounds exhibit large birefringences of 0.36 and 0.41 at 550 nm according to first-principles calculations. Moreover, the UV-vis-near-IR diffuse-reflectance spectra suggest that they have similar optical band gaps. Structural analysis and theoretical calculations show that the [C10H8NO2]+ unit is responsible for the good optical anisotropy. These results make the naphthalene-like motif a good structural gene to search for new birefringent crystals.

Iodine-doped g-C3N4 modified zinc titanate electron transporting layer for highly efficient perovskite solar cells.

The development of excellent ternary metal oxides as electron transporting layers (ETLs) is highly challenging for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). In this study, ZnTiO3 (ZTO) nanoparticles are synthesized via a facile sol-gel method, and used as an ETL in PSCs. Furthermore, for the first time, iodine-doped g-C3N4 (ICN) is introduced into ZnTiO3-based ETL as additive via a glass-assisted annealing route. Characterizations demonstrate that the ZnTiO3-based ETL with the addition of ICN will enhance the PCE, which is attributed to the improved crystalline quality and more favorable energy level alignment. Moreover, the existence of ICN will strengthen the interfacial cohesion between perovskite layer and ETL as well as retard the perovskite crystals from decomposing, leading to the high quality capping light-harvesting layer upon ICN-modified ZnTiO3 (ZTO-ICN) film. Consequently, a champion device fabricated with ZTO-ICN ETL achieves a maximum PCE of 19.17 % with an open circuit voltage (Voc) of 1.012 V, a short-circuit current density (Jsc) of 26.32 mA cm-2 and a fill factor (FF) of 0.720 under AM 1.5 G sunlight (100 mW cm-2).

Superelastic, Antifreezing, Antidrying, and Conductive Organohydrogels for Wearable Strain Sensors.

Sensors based on conductive hydrogels have received extensive attention in various fields, such as artificial intelligence, electronic skin, and health monitoring. However, the poor resilience and fatigue resistance, icing, and water loss of traditional hydrogels greatly limit their application. Herein, an ionic conductive organohydrogel (PAC-Zn) was prepared for the first time by copolymerization of cardanol and acrylic acid in water/1,3-butanediol as a binary solvent system. A very small amount of cardanol (1% cardanol of total monomers) could not only significantly improve the tensile strength (∼4 times) and toughness (∼3 times) of PAA but also improve its extensibility. Due to the presence of 1,3-butanediol, PAC-Zn showed outstanding tolerance for freezing (-45 °C) and drying (over 85% moisture retention after 15 days of storage in a 37 °C oven). Compared with ethylene glycol and glycerol as antifreeze agents used in organohydrogels, the addition of 1,3-butanediol endowed the organohydrogel with not only similar frost resistance but also better mechanical performance. Besides, PAC-Zn exhibited fast resilience (almost no hysteresis loop) and excellent antifatigue ability. More importantly, a PAC-Zn organohydrogel-based sensor could detect human motion in real time (wrist, elbow, finger, and knee joints), revealing its fast response, good sensitivity, and stable electromechanical repeatability. In conclusion, the multifunctional PAC-Zn organohydrogel is expected to become a potential and promising candidate in the field of strain sensors under a broad range of environmental temperatures.

In situ synthesis of g-C3N4 by glass-assisted annealing route to boost the efficiency of perovskite solar cells.

TiO2-based electron transport layers (ETLs) show tremendous advantages in constructing efficient perovskite solar cells (PSCs), but the power conversion efficiency (PCE) needs further improvements. Thus, in this study, graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4), a typical two-dimensional material, was synthesized in-situ and introduced into TiO2-based ETLs as an additive via a facile glass-assisted annealing route. The results demonstrated that the addition of g-C3N4 positively influenced the crystalline quality of the perovskite layers, as well as the conductivity and photovoltaic properties of the devices. Furthermore, favorable energy level alignment facilitated rapid migration of electrons and suppressed charge recombination at the interfaces. Consequently, the champion device fabricated using the g-C3N4-modified ETL achieved a maximum PCE of 20.46% owing to the remarkable improvement in the Voc, Jsc, and fill factor. The PCE is approximately 20% higher than that obtained for the pristine device, i.e., 17.18%.

Click-Grafting of Cardanol onto Mesoporous Silica/Silver Janus Particles for Enhanced Hemostatic and Antibacterial Performance.

Janus particles with obvious chemical compartition can perform their functions independently, so they have attracted much attention in biomedical materials. Herein, a mesoporous silica/silver Janus nanoparticle modified with cardanol (C-MSN@Ag) was designed and synthesized via redox and click chemical reactions and was further evaluated as a highly efficient hemostatic dressing. This Janus structure endowed C-MSN@Ag with both prominent hemostatic and antibacterial performance. The hemostatic time of C-MSN@Ag on rat liver laceration was up to 40% shorter than that of MSN and MSN@Ag because of adhesion of phenolic compounds on the tissue and the blocking effect of the hydrophobic alkyl chains from cardanol. Besides, C-MSN@Ag could promote coagulation by forming a three-dimensional network with fibrin more quickly than MSN and MSN@Ag. Additionally, due to the released silver ions and phenolic hydroxyl groups of cardanol, C-MSN@Ag exhibited a broad-spectrum antibacterial rate (∼99%) against both Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. C-MSN@Ag also possessed non-cytotoxicity. This work not only provides a way for the fabrication of silica-based Janus hemostatic agents by the atom-economical click reaction but also gives a direction for the application of the sustainable naturally occurring cardanol.

High-Index Faceted Porous Co3O4 Nanosheets with Oxygen Vacancies for Highly Efficient Water Oxidation.

Because of sluggish kinetics of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), designing low-cost, highly active, and stable electrocatalysts for OER is important for the development of sustainable electrochemical water splitting. Here, {112} high-index facet exposed porous Co3O4 nanosheets with oxygen vacancies on the surface have been successfully synthesized via a simple hydrothermal method followed by NaBH4 reduction. As compared with the pristine and other faceted porous Co3O4 nanosheets (e.g., {110} and {111}), the as-prepared {112} faceted porous nanosheets exhibit a much lower overpotential of 318 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm-2. Importantly, these nanosheets also give excellent electrochemical stability, displaying an insignificant change in the required overpotential at a current density of 10 mA cm-2 even after a 14 h long-term chronoamperometric test. All these superior OER activity and stability could be attributed to their unique hierarchical structures assembled by ultrathin porous nanosheets, {112} high-index exposed facets with higher ratio of Co2+/Co3+ and oxygen vacancies on the surface, which can substantially enhance the charge transfer rate and increase the number of active sites. All these findings not only demonstrate the potency of our Co3O4 nanosheets for efficient water oxidation but also provide further insights into developing cost-effective and high-performance catalysts for electrochemical applications.

Inverted Silicon Nanopencil Array Solar Cells with Enhanced Contact Structures.

Although three-dimensional nanostructured solar cells have attracted extensive research attention due to their superior broadband and omnidirectional light-harvesting properties, majority of them are still suffered from complicated fabrication processes as well as disappointed photovoltaic performances. Here, we employed our newly-developed, low-cost and simple wet anisotropic etching to fabricate hierarchical silicon nanostructured arrays with different solar cell contact design, followed by systematic investigations of their photovoltaic characteristics. Specifically, nano-arrays with the tapered tips (e.g. inverted nanopencils) are found to enable the more conformal top electrode deposition directly onto the nanostructures for better series and shunt conductance, but its insufficient film coverage at the basal plane would still restrict the charge carrier collection. In contrast, the low-platform contact design facilitates a substantial photovoltaic device performance enhancement of ~24%, as compared to the one of conventional top electrode design, due to the shortened current path and improved lateral conductance for the minimized carrier recombination and series resistance. This enhanced contact structure can not only maintain excellent photon-trapping behaviors of nanostructures, but also help to eliminate adverse impacts of these tapered nano-morphological features on the contact resistance, providing further insight into design consideration in optimizing the contact geometry for high-performance nanostructured photovoltaic devices.

Approaching the Hole Mobility Limit of GaSb Nanowires.

In recent years, high-mobility GaSb nanowires have received tremendous attention for high-performance p-type transistors; however, due to the difficulty in achieving thin and uniform nanowires (NWs), there is limited report until now addressing their diameter-dependent properties and their hole mobility limit in this important one-dimensional material system, where all these are essential information for the deployment of GaSb NWs in various applications. Here, by employing the newly developed surfactant-assisted chemical vapor deposition, high-quality and uniform GaSb NWs with controllable diameters, spanning from 16 to 70 nm, are successfully prepared, enabling the direct assessment of their growth orientation and hole mobility as a function of diameter while elucidating the role of sulfur surfactant and the interplay between surface and interface energies of NWs on their electrical properties. The sulfur passivation is found to efficiently stabilize the high-energy NW sidewalls of (111) and (311) in order to yield the thin NWs (i.e., <40 nm in diameters) with the dominant growth orientations of ⟨211⟩ and ⟨110⟩, whereas the thick NWs (i.e., >40 nm in diameters) would grow along the most energy-favorable close-packed planes with the orientation of ⟨111⟩, supported by the approximate atomic models. Importantly, through the reliable control of sulfur passivation, growth orientation and surface roughness, GaSb NWs with the peak hole mobility of ∼400 cm(2)V s(-1) for the diameter of 48 nm, approaching the theoretical limit under the hole concentration of ∼2.2 × 10(18) cm(-3), can be achieved for the first time. All these indicate their promising potency for utilizations in different technological domains.

High-Performance GaAs Nanowire Solar Cells for Flexible and Transparent Photovoltaics.

Among many available photovoltaic technologies at present, gallium arsenide (GaAs) is one of the recognized leaders for performance and reliability; however, it is still a great challenge to achieve cost-effective GaAs solar cells for smart systems such as transparent and flexible photovoltaics. In this study, highly crystalline long GaAs nanowires (NWs) with minimal crystal defects are synthesized economically by chemical vapor deposition and configured into novel Schottky photovoltaic structures by simply using asymmetric Au-Al contacts. Without any doping profiles such as p-n junction and complicated coaxial junction structures, the single NW Schottky device shows a record high apparent energy conversion efficiency of 16% under air mass 1.5 global illumination by normalizing to the projection area of the NW. The corresponding photovoltaic output can be further enhanced by connecting individual cells in series and in parallel as well as by fabricating NW array solar cells via contact printing showing an overall efficiency of 1.6%. Importantly, these Schottky cells can be easily integrated on the glass and plastic substrates for transparent and flexible photovoltaics, which explicitly demonstrate the outstanding versatility and promising perspective of these GaAs NW Schottky photovoltaics for next-generation smart solar energy harvesting devices.

Modulating the morphology and electrical properties of GaAs nanowires via catalyst stabilization by oxygen.

Nowadays, III-V compound semiconductor nanowires (NWs) have attracted extensive research interest because of their high carrier mobility favorable for next-generation electronics. However, it is still a great challenge for the large-scale synthesis of III-V NWs with well-controlled and uniform morphology as well as reliable electrical properties, especially on the low-cost noncrystalline substrates for practical utilization. In this study, high-density GaAs NWs with lengths >10 µm and uniform diameter distribution (relative standard deviation σ ∼ 20%) have been successfully prepared by annealing the Au catalyst films (4-12 nm) in air right before GaAs NW growth, which is in distinct contrast to the ones of 2-3 µm length and widely distributed of σ ∼ 20-60% of the conventional NWs grown by the H2-annealed film. This air-annealing process is found to stabilize the Au nanoparticle seeds and to minimize Ostwald ripening during NW growth. Importantly, the obtained GaAs NWs exhibit uniform p-type conductivity when fabricated into NW-arrayed thin-film field-effect transistors (FETs). Moreover, they can be integrated with an n-type InP NW FET into effective complementary metal oxide semiconductor inverters, capable of working at low voltages of 0.5-1.5 V. All of these results explicitly demonstrate the promise of these NW morphology and electrical property controls through the catalyst engineering for next-generation electronics.

Low-temperature growth of highly crystalline ß-Ga2O3 nanowires by solid-source chemical vapor deposition.

Growing Ga2O3 dielectric materials at a moderately low temperature is important for the further development of high-mobility III-V semiconductor-based nanoelectronics. Here, ß-Ga2O3 nanowires are successfully synthesized at a relatively low temperature of 610°C by solid-source chemical vapor deposition employing GaAs powders as the source material, which is in a distinct contrast to the typical synthesis temperature of above 1,000°C as reported by other methods. In this work, the prepared ß-Ga2O3 nanowires are mainly composed of Ga and O elements with an atomic ratio of approximately 2:3. Importantly, they are highly crystalline in the monoclinic structure with varied growth orientations in low-index planes. The bandgap of the ß-Ga2O3 nanowires is determined to be 251 nm (approximately 4.94 eV), in good accordance with the literature. Also, electrical characterization reveals that the individual nanowire has a resistivity of up to 8.5 × 10(7) Ω cm, when fabricated in the configuration of parallel arrays, further indicating the promise of growing these highly insulating Ga2O3 materials in this III-V nanowire-compatible growth condition. PACS: 77.55.D; 61.46.Km; 78.40.Fy.

GaAs nanowires: from manipulation of defect formation to controllable electronic transport properties.

Reliable control in the crystal quality of synthesized III-V nanowires (NWs) is particularly important to manipulate their corresponding electronic transport properties for technological applications. In this report, a "two-step" growth process is adopted to achieve single-crystalline GaAs NWs, where an initial high-temperature nucleation process is employed to ensure the formation of high Ga supersaturated Au7Ga3 and Au2Ga alloy seeds, instead of the low Ga supersaturated Au7Ga2 seeds observed in the conventional "single-step" growth. These two-step NWs are long (>60 µm) and thick (>80 nm) with the minimal defect concentrations and uniform growth orientations. Importantly, these NWs exhibit p-type conductivity as compared to the single-step grown n-type NWs for the same diameter range. This NW conductivity difference (p- versus n-channel) is shown to originate from the donor-like crystal defects, such as As precipitates, induced by the low Ga supersaturated multicrystalline Au7Ga2 alloy seeds. Then the well-controlled crystal quality for desired electronic properties is further explored in the application of large-scale p-type GaAs NW parallel array FETs as well as the integration of both p- and n-type GaAs NWs into CMOS inverters. All these illustrate the successful control of NW crystal defects and corresponding electronic transport properties via the manipulation of Ga supersaturation in the catalytic alloy tips with different preparation methods. The understanding of this relationship between NW crystal quality and electronic transport properties is critical and preferential to the future development of nanoelectronic materials, circuit design, and fabrication.

Surface roughness induced electron mobility degradation in InAs nanowires.

In this work, we present a study of the surface roughness dependent electron mobility in InAs nanowires grown by the nickel-catalyzed chemical vapor deposition method. These nanowires have good crystallinity, well-controlled surface morphology without any surface coating or tapering and an excellent peak field-effect mobility up to 15,000 cm(2) V(-1) s(-1) when configured into back-gated field-effect nanowire transistors. Detailed electrical characterizations reveal that the electron mobility degrades monotonically with increasing surface roughness and diameter scaling, while low-temperature measurements further decouple the effects of surface/interface traps and phonon scattering, highlighting the dominant impact of surface roughness scattering on the electron mobility for miniaturized and surface disordered nanowires. All these factors suggest that careful consideration of nanowire geometries and surface condition is required for designing devices with optimal performance.

Tunable electronic transport properties of metal-cluster-decorated III-V nanowire transistors.

A metal-cluster-decoration approach is utilized to tailor electronic transport properties (e.g., threshold voltage) of III-V NWFETs through the modulation of free carriers in the NW channel via the deposition of different metal clusters with different work function. The versatility of this technique has been demonstrated through the fabrication of high-mobility enhancement-mode InAs NW parallel FETs as well as the construction of low-power InAs NW inverters.

Sulfur and nitrogen co-doped, few-layered graphene oxide as a highly efficient electrocatalyst for the oxygen-reduction reaction.

S and N co-doped, few-layered graphene oxide is synthesized by using pyrimidine and thiophene as precursors for the application of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The dual-doped catalyst with pyrrolic/graphitic N-dominant structures exhibits competitive catalytic activity (10.0 mA cm(-2) kinetic-limiting current density at -0.25 V) that is superior to that for mono N-doped carbon nanomaterials. This is because of a synergetic effect of N and S co-doping. Furthermore, the dual-doped catalyst also shows an efficient four-electron-dominant ORR process, which has excellent methanol tolerance and improved durability in comparison to commercial Pt/C catalysts.

Depletion of invariant NKT cells reduces inflammation-induced preterm delivery in mice.

This study sought to determine whether invariant NKT (iNKT) cells play an essential role in inflammation-induced preterm delivery. Preterm delivery and fetal death rates were determined in wild-type (WT) C57BL/6 mice and iNKT cell-deficient Jα18(-/-) mice injected i.p. with LPS. The percentages of decidual immune cells, including activated subsets, and costimulatory molecule expression were analyzed by flow cytometry. Th1 and Th2 cytokine production in the culture supernatants of decidual mononuclear cells was measured by ELISA. To some extent, Jα18(-/-) mice were resistant to LPS-induced preterm delivery. The proportions of decidual CD3(+) and CD49b(+) cells were slightly lower in Jα18(-/-) mice than in WT Jα18(+/+) mice, whereas almost no CD3(+)CD49b(+) cells could be found in Jα18-null mice. The percentages of activated decidual DCs, T cells, and NK cells were significantly lower in LPS-treated Jα18(-/-) mice than in WT mice. The CD40, CD80, and CD86 expression levels on decidual CD11c(+) cells from Jα18(-/-) mice were also significantly lower than in WT mice. Mean concentrations of Th1 cytokines IFN-γ and IL-12p70 in the culture supernatants of decidual mononuclear cells from LPS-treated Jα18(-/-) mice were apparently lower than those of LPS-induced WT mice. Additionally, the proportions of activated CD11c(+) cells, CD3(+) cells, and CD49b(+) cells in LPS-induced preterm delivery mice were strikingly higher in both WT and null mice when compared with the control PBS group and LPS-injected but normally delivered mice. Our results suggest that iNKT cells may play an essential role in inflammation-induced preterm birth.

Iron phthalocyanine coated on single-walled carbon nanotubes composite for the oxygen reduction reaction in alkaline media.

Iron (II) phthalocyanine coated on single-walled carbon nanotubes was synthesized as a non-noble electrocatalyst for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The composite exhibited higher activity than the commercial Pt/C catalyst, and excellent anti-crossover effect for methanol oxidation in the ORR.