Articles

We evaluated the liquid fragility and structural and dynamic heterogeneity of glassy solids. The most fragile alloy exhibited the maximum dynamic heterogeneity in the mechanical unfreezing process. We observed that atomic displacement significantly correlated with degrees of clustering of local atomic orders. The clustering produced during the glass-forming quenching process enhanced structural and dynamic heterogeneities. Therefore, there are correlations among liquid fragility, dynamic heterogeneity in liquid alloys, and dynamic and structural heterogeneities in glassy solids. In addition, the alloy with the most fragility exhibited the largest difference in atomic mobility between the densely and loosely packed local atomic orders.

A liquid–solid dual-phase magnetoactive microlattice metamaterial composed of flexible 3D-printed polymer shell and magnetorheological (MR) fluid has been designed and fabricated. The MR fluid-filled magnetoactive microlattices demonstrated remarkable recoverability (~50%) and be substantially stiffened in the presence of a magnetic field, with an ~200% increment in stiffness at 60 mT. Based on specific applications, the mechanical properties of this magnetoactive microlattice metamaterial can be modulated on demand, leading to certain programmable stress-strain behavior.

Drawing inspiration from the structural attributes of mussels, we have introduced a riveting layer into our hydrogel-plastic hybrids, facilitating robust bonding between hydrogel networks and plastic substrates. This work underscores the immense potential and advantages that this integration of hydrogels and plastics holds, especially in the development of intelligent robotics.

In this work, we report a strategy with which to realize efficient manipulation of CNT networks by forming double networks with branched polyethylenimine (PEI). The double network was highly viscoelastic and ductile and enabled efficient film stretching or creeping for CNT alignment, which dramatically improved the mechanical strengths of the CNT films. Due to viscous drag from the polymer network, the CNTs showed enhanced movability in reconstructing new networks, which made the film repairable. The repairability resulted from the branched polymeric structure. This double-networking strategy provides a new way to manipulate CNT assemblies for high-performance applications.

Despite enormous efforts by many research groups, Sr₂IrO₄ was found to stay remarkably insulating in thin film form. Now, a high-pressure oxygen annealing treatment on the Sr₂IrO₄ thin film realized the long-sought metallicity for the first time. An emerging transport phase diagram was deduced from the experiment that features an interplay between two states: the robust insulating state, which is likely dominated by the defect scattering effect of planar oxygen vacancies O(2), and the new metallic state, which likely reflects an intrinsic bulk-like property of the IrO₂ planes with effective electron doping due to apical oxygen vacancies O(1).

The single crystals of lithium rare earth fluorides exhibit remarkable magnetocaloric performance with a record-high entropy change of 16.73 J kg^-1 K^-1 achieved under a very small magnetic field of 5 kOe.

This paper introduces OPV, an organic semiconductor material, as a novel photosensitizer to kill intracellular bacteria that are infectious and antibiotic-resistant. It explains how OPV binds to bacterial membranes and produces reactive oxygen species by blue light, guiding photodynamic therapy design. It proves the excellent antibacterial effect of OPV against Porphyromonas gingivalis and MRSA in vitro and in vivo, without damaging normal cells or tissues, indicating good biocompatibility and safety. It also shows that OPV can be excited by dental blue light curing lamps, facilitating clinical applications.

Although the electrostatic tuning by three-terminal devices is generally weak for phase transition materials, it can control phases with much hither precision than temperature or pressure. This technique was applied to the scaled-down VO₂ metal-insulator transitions, where the material phase is controlled by the gate voltage. The crossover from continuous to binary transition with scaling down was demonstrated, and the critical channel length was given by domain boundary instability. Interestingly, below the critical channel length, the influence of the noncritical stimulus (drain voltage in this case) disappeared because the spatial degree of freedom is lost in the single-domain VO₂ channel.

The coexistence of ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism has been a traditional challenge for a long time. In this work, we propose a method of transition metal implantation into hybrid perovskites, which realizes the mutual regulation of magnetism and electricity, and obtains an obvious multiferroic magnetic-electric coupling effect. This study provides a new idea for realizing room-temperature magnetoelectric coupling of multiferroic materials employing ion implantation and paves the way for the realization of a new generation of spin-dependent electronic devices.

A modular assembly strategy has been demonstrated to construct metal nanoparticles functionalized mesoporous carbon two-dimensional (2D) nanosheets by organizing zero-dimensional (0D) spherical monomicelle modules on the 2D supporting blocks. The resultant materials exhibit an excellent electrocatalytic activity for oxygen reduction reaction, which holds a great potential as a catalyst for fuel cells.

SPHNs can effectively accumulate in solid tumor via magnetic-RGD dual-targeting effect for valid CDDP delivery, resulting in a significantly improved antitumor effect with minimal side effects.

This work aims to fabricate well-ordered nanonetwork Au through a bottom-up approach using templated electrochemical deposition for enhanced mechanical properties. As evidenced by nanoindentation and micro-compression tests, diamond-structured Au fabricated exhibits high reduced modulus and yield strength above the Hashin-Shtrikman upper bound due to the deliberate structuring and nanosized effects.

The use of an identical electrolyte in electrochemical metallization (ECM)-based neuron and synaptic devices has not yet been achieved. We demonstrate ECM devices containing the same ferroelectric PbZr_0.52Ti_0.48O₃ (PZT) electrolyte, which can sustain both neuron and synaptic behavior depending on the active electrode. The Ag/PZT/La_0.8Sr_0.2MnO₃ (LSMO) threshold switching memristor exhibits abrupt and volatile resistive switching characteristics, resulting in neuron devices. In contrast, the Ni/PZT/LSMO memory switching memristor displays gradual, non-volatile resistive switching behavior which leads to synaptic devices. The divergent behavior of the ECM devices is attributed to greater control of cation migration through the ultrathin ferroelectric PZT.

Topological semimetal HoPtBi exhibits anomalous AMR effect in paramagnetic state. The AMR exhibits a novel transition from a quasi-twofold to fourfold symmetry and finally forms a stable rotated fourfold symmetry as B increases. C₂ and C₄ signals with phase angle transitions dominate the novel AMR. Anisotropy of magnetic-field tunable effect induces the topological band change and leads to the phase angle transition.

Infrared-active InAs quantum dots (QDs) were synthesized with zinc coordination complexes for surface passivation, resulting in improved optoelectronic properties. The resulting InAs QDs doped with Zn showed narrowed size distributions, reduced surface defects, and modulation of electronic properties through Zn surface doping. These InAs:Zn QDs exhibited improved electrical properties when integrated into infrared photodiodes.

Silica-polymer hybrids are promising materials for bone repair. Here, biodegradable, tough and porous silica-polyurethane hybrid scaffold was successfully fabricated. Polyurethane is a versatile polymer that can be designed to have desired properties. Polymerization and alkoxysilane functionalization under high-temperature formed polyurethanes with high molecular weight, which enabled rapid gelation during the sol-gel process. This allowed porous hybrid scaffold fabrication through the facile salt-leaching method. The hybrid scaffold had self-healing properties which can self-fit into irregular bone defects. Furthermore, silicate ion release from the hybrid scaffold induced angiogenesis and osteogenic differentiation, while the porous structure suppressed chronic inflammation.

We developed a novel surface engineering technique using electrospinning and hydrothermal processes to create a flexible, binder-free electrode composed of Ti₃C₂T_x MXene/carbon nanofibers (MCNFs) coated with amorphous RuOx. The MXene served as a template for the growth of amorphous and disordered state RuO_x that positively impacted electrochemical performance. The combination of RuOx and MXene resulted in an enhanced pseudocapacitive reaction, resulting in a supercapacitor with a record-high energy density of 8.5 Wh kg^–1 at 85.8 W kg^–1, as well as excellent flexibility.

We developed a ROS-responsive and controllable nanocarrier (GC-EB) that efficiently delivered a clinically used antifungal drug, voriconazole (VOR). GC-EB-VOR exhibited high penetration through corneal barriers, good retention in the cornea and controllable drug release under low concentrations of ROS. Mechanistically, the successful delivery and accumulation of GC-EB-VOR in the cornea followed by the inhibition of oxidative stress and of the inflammatory response contributed to the therapeutic effect of GC-EB-VOR against fungal keratitis.

This study provided a universality method for synthesis of nanotherapeutics for encapsulating various metal complexes. The dual-targeted MP3/AA@NPs greatly improved discrimination between cancer cells and normal cells, moreover, MP3/AA@NPs displayed good in vitro and in vivo antitumor activities as well as stimulating immunotherapeutic response.

2D Ni/ITQ-2-co material prepared by ligand-chelating impregnation approach shows outstanding activity and stability in the conversion of bio-derived triglycerides (TGs) or free fatty acids (FFAs) to diesel range alkanes, beneficially from the highly dispersive Ni nanoclusters and immobilization effect of 2D zeolite.