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Lithium dendrite propagation through ceramic electrolytes can prevent the realization of high-energy-density all-solid-state lithium-anode batteries. The propagation of cracks and lithium dendrites through a solid electrolyte has now been tracked as a function of charge.
Porous materials can absorb energy by water infiltration, but studies at industrially relevant high-rate intrusions are rare. Here, high-rate experiments are performed on ZIFs showing high energy storage capacity, while molecular simulations allow design rules to be formulated for absorption materials.
An approach integrating molecular dynamics-based computer-aided engineering with computer-aided design allows for the rapid construction of large three-dimensional DNA assemblies and control over their geometry, mechanics and dynamics.
Patterned contracting networks composed of biomolecular motors and filaments achieve millimetre-scale actuation of mechanical structures with light-triggered molecular stimuli.
Although the photogeneration yield spectrum is a key property for photoabsorbers in photovoltaic and photoelectrochemical cells, its characterization remains challenging. An empirical method to extract this parameter through quantum efficiency measurements of ultrathin films is proposed.
It is now shown that cells migrate robustly on soft, viscoelastic substrates with fast stress relaxation using a migration mode marked by a rounded cell morphology and filopodia protrusions extending at the leading edge.
A general method for the synthesis of high-purity crystals of metastable 1T′-phase transition metal dichalcogenides is reported, providing a source of phase-engineered materials that can be used to systematically explore their intrinsic properties.
Epitaxially grown 3D DNA masks with prescribed geometry, pitch and size improve the resolution of reactive ion etching-based nanolithography, scaling the line pitch down to 16.2 nm and the critical dimension size to 7.2 nm.
Development of efficient yet durable photoelectrodes is of paramount importance for deployment of solar-fuel production. The photoelectrochemically self-improving behaviour of a silicon/gallium nitride photocathode highly efficient for hydrogen production is now reported.
Pseudocapacitors exhibit charge-storage mechanisms leading to high-capacity and rapidly cycling devices. An organic system designed via molecular contortion is now shown to exhibit unprecedented electrochemical performance and stability.
The optical emission of graphene under pumping with femtosecond laser pulses contains a strong component linked to plasmon emission from the hot electrons in the system.
Raman measurements of twisted bilayer MoS2 as a function of twist angles, with theoretical support, reveal phonon renormalization in this moiré superlattice.
Low-k dielectric materials are essential to allow continued electronics miniaturization, but their low thermal conductivity limits performance. Here, two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks are shown to combine high thermal conductivity with a low dielectric constant.
Although bulk defects can influence the performance of electrocatalysts used for energy conversion, their structural origins are still unclear. The effects of bulk defects on CO2 electroreduction and H2 evolution activity on Au electrodes are now elucidated.
Neutron and X-ray scattering measurements provide further insight into the anharmonic behaviour of lead halide perovskites, revealing that rotations of PbBr6 octahedra in CsPbBr3 crystals occur in a correlated fashion along two-dimensional planes.
Although layered oxides electrodes in lithium-ion batteries are designed under conditions avoiding phase transitions, phase separation during delithiation has been observed. This apparent phase separation is shown to be a dynamical artefact occurring in a many-particle system driven by autocatalytic electrochemical reactions.
All-solid-state lithium-ion batteries provide improved safety but typically suffer from high cost and low volumetric energy density. An electrolyte melt-infiltration approach offering reduced manufacturing costs and improved volumetric energy density in all solid cells is proposed.
CrSe2 nanosheets grown on WSe2 show no apparent change in surface roughness or magnetic properties after months of exposure in air. Calculations suggest that charge transfer from the WSe2 substrate and interlayer coupling within CrSe2 play a critical role.