Articles in 2021

Integration and design of existing function units into specialized architectures might show combined and even improved performances of the original components. Here we describe a serial of synthetic antibacterial complexes composed of melittin, a natural antimicrobial peptide, and poly(ethylene glycol), a clinical available agent, as building blocks, which show potent and architecture-modulated antibacterial activity against multidrug-resistant pathogens and decreased cytotoxicity.

In this work, a substrate with dual anisotropy were prepared by combination of 3D printing and magnetic field-induced magnetic nanoparticle assembly. ADSCs cultured on this substrates have significantly higher osteogenic markers expression and more calcium nodules formation was also found, suggesting a stronger tendency of toward osteogenic differentiation of ADSCs. RNA-seq data revealed alteration of that alterations in kinase signaling pathway transduction, cell adhesion and cytoskeletalon reconstruction may account for the elevated osteogenic induction capacity.

A resistive switching device is fabricated using nanostructured nickel cobaltite for high-density data storage and synaptic learning applications. The active switching layer of the device consists of quasi-hexagonal porous nanosheets that enable smooth charge transport. The device shows voltage tunable and forming-free resistive switching effect and non-ideal memristive properties. The rational design of the device helps to show controlled multilevel resistive switching property and thereby switch between three conductive states. The analog switching of the device helps to mimic specific neural network behavior, such as the potentiation, depression and four spike-timing-dependent plasticity rules.

For the organic ferromagnetic materials, strong couplings have been observed among the charge, orbit, spin, and phonon. Therefore, the recent progress of organic magnetoelectric and optomagnetic coupling effects are briefly summarized in this review paper. Magnetoelectric coupling and opto-magnetic coupling materials have great potential applications in low-power multifunctional multiferroic magnetoelectric memory and all magneto-optical recording, respectively. However, the mechanism of the origin of the couplings is still only partly understood. Thus, further studying on the organic magnetoelectric and opto-magnetic couplings could promote the understanding on the mechanism and their potential industrial applications.

Pressure engineered optical properties as well as presssure induced emergent superconductivity are revealed in II-IV-V₂ semiconductor ZnSiP₂, which demonstrate vivid structure–property relationships. Especially, along with a structural phase transition from tetragonal to cubic phase under compression, ZnSiP₂ evolves from a photovoltaic semiconductor into a superconductor.

The semiconductor SnSe hosts a unique multivalley electronic band structure, offering rich physical phenomena for various applications. Especially its excellent thermoelectric properties are ceaselessly under great attention. By employing pressure-dependent infrared spectroscopy combined with density functional theory calculations, the evolution of the multivalley is mapped under external pressure for different self-dopings. The presented diagram summarizes the findings. In lightly doped SnSe, a phase transition from a semiconductor to a semimetal is observed by increasing the pressure. However, for heavily doped SnSe, altering the Fermi surface, successive Lifshitz transitions take place under pressure, further activating the multivalley physics.

The broken inversion symmetry and time-reversal symmetry along with the large spin–orbit interactions in monolayer MoS₂ make it an ideal candidate for novel valleytronic applications. The present study demonstrates the fabrication of a monolayer MoS₂ field-effect transistor employing [Co/Pt] multilayer electrodes. Integration of PMA electrodes results in very-low Schottky barrier height in MoS_2-based field-effect transistor devices.

Despite the hopeful signs of progress of COVID-19 vaccine development and vaccination, the highly infectious nature and mutations of SARS-CoV-2 are warnings of an infighting annual revival of the virus. This article clarifies the complexities of COVID-19 by referring to the molecular-level mechanisms of the infection, immune response, replication, and transmission of SARS-CoV-2, which are essential during the development of an effective vaccine or a drug to fight the pandemic. Furthermore, this article underscores the significance of an interface among chemistry, nanoscience, cell biology, immunology, and virology to resolve the challenges of COVID-19.

we report a field-effect device with a graphene/MoSe₂ channel layer and high-k ion-gel gate dielectric. The device shows a high carrier mobility (~247 cm²/V ∙ s), a high on/off ratio (3.3 × 10⁴), and ambipolar behavior that are controlled by an applied gate voltage. The strong gating effect of the device results in higher external quantum efficiency (EQE) (66.3%), photoresponsivity (285.0 mA/W), and gate-tuning ratio (1.50 μA/V) compared to pristine devices. Therefore, our graphene/MoSe₂ barristor device can be a suitable candidate for use in ambipolar transistors and gate-tunable broad-area photodetectors.

We introduced spintronics-based synapses (spin-S) by utilizing a stripe domain ensuring its highly linear and symmetric weight responses, together with domain-wall motion-based neurons (spin-N) for activation functions. In addition, a crossbar array architecture for the spin-S/N has been proposed and experimentally demonstrated. A simple pattern-classification task was tested using an integrated network of electrically connected spin-S and spin-N to mimic a human brain. Our experimental findings provide a new avenue toward establishing more efficient neural network systems with spintronic devices.

Spin mixing conductance (\(g_r^{ \uparrow \downarrow }\)) and spin interface transparency at the interface of epitaxial Co₂Fe_0.4Mn_0.6Si Heusler alloy and Pt has be studied by inverse spin Hall effect and spin pumping measurements. Highest value of \(g_r^{ \uparrow \downarrow }\) = 1.70 × 10²⁰ m⁻² is observed compared to any other ferromagnetic -Pt heterostructures. Further, a high value of spin interface transparency (~83%) is observed, which makes Co₂Fe_0.4Mn_0.6Si/Pt heterostructure a potential candidate for the development of power efficient spintronics devices.

In this review, recent developments of carbon nanomaterial-based SERS biosensors are systematically summarized, which focus on fundamental principles for carbon-based materials for SERS biosensor design, fabrication methods and operation mechanisms, providing insight into their rapidly growing future potential in the fields of biomedical and biological engineering, in-situ analysis, quantitative analysis and flexible photoelectric functional materials.

A hitherto unappreciated shear-strain-mediated magnetoelectric coupling effect with highly tunable ferromagnetic resonance by electric field is demonstrated by using the ferroelastic domain engineering of the ferroelectric substrate. The pure shear strain, instead of magnetic field and electric current, control of Kerr signal with superior stability and nonvolatile behaviors shows promising applications in next-generation lightweight, energy efficient magnetoelectric microwave devices and spintronic devices.

Infrared spectral and spatial imaging configurations were developed based on near-infrared graphene quantum dots with ultranarrow half-width (FWHM = 21 nm). The spectral imaging is obtained without a spectrometer and the spatial imaging exceeds the limits of resolution (superresolved imaging). The superresolved sensing is obtained due to the unique temporal and spectral properties of the quantum dot.

a Aging-time dependent saturation magnetostriction for Fe₇₃Ga₂₇ random polycrystals. Bright-field images for the b 1373 K-quenched, c 1 h-aged and d 12 h-aged Fe₇₃Ga₂₇ random polycrystals. e Figure of merit as a function of aging time for Fe₈₁Ga₁₉ random polycrystals. f Comparison of saturation magnetostriction among our optimally aged Fe–Ga random polycrystals, the quenched random polycrystals doped with a third element and the single crystals.

A sponge-like double-layer porous (SLDLP) structure is reported to simulate synapse in our work. The results of the study provide the method, structure, and model of the device to clarify the mechanism of the synaptic behaviors.

Stretchable and wearable Ag-PTFE conductors were fabricated by the simple and mature co-sputtering process with variations in the DC/RF power ratio applied to the Ag and PTFE target. A stretching test was conducted 40% strain under all conditions and reversible to confirm that the hysteresis and stretchability were good for DC 5 W:RF 40 W.

We present an in vitro model of the peripheral nervous system by establishing a coculture of motor neurons (MNs) and Schwann cells (SCs) in a microengineered hydrogel scaffold. This 3D microenvironment allowed the axons of MNs to actively interact with SCs during their growth and maturation. Treating the MN–SC coculture model with ascorbic acid induced myelin formation on axon fibers. Moreover, this can be reversed by treating myelinated nerve fibers with glial growth factor to potentially block the formation of the myelin sheath and induce demyelination. Our model may offer new opportunities to study pathophysiological processes involved in neurodegenerative diseases.

A novel 3D self-supported integrated electrode of Co₄N@CoSA/N-CNT/CC is designed for admirable HER electrocatalysis. Experiment and theory studies reveal that the suitable d-band center and electron-charge transfer optimized by Co₄N nanoparticles and single-atom Co in the electrocatalyst contribute to an excellent performance. This electrode requires overpotentials of only 78 and 86 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² in acidic and basic electrolytes, respectively. Notably, Co₄N@CoSA/N-CNT/CC also exhibits superior long-term stability in acidic and alkaline medium, the decrease in current density after continuous electrocatalysis for 50 h are only 5% and 11%, respectively.