Thermal instability remains a fundamental bottleneck in oxide-based resistive random-access memory (RRAM), where elevated operating temperatures invariably increase the high-resistance-state (HRS) leakage current and collapse the ON/OFF switching window, severely limiting reliable deployment. Here, an Au/AgHfO3-x/Al2O3/FTO (fluorine-doped tin oxide) memristor is reported in which this paradigm is inverted. The HRS current anomalously decreases with increasing temperature, yielding a reversible ∼25-fold enhancement in the ON/OFF ratio from 300 K to 400 K. This counter-intuitive behavior originates from trap-controlled space charge-limited conduction (SCLC) at the chemically sharp 5 nm Al2O3 interlayer, where thermal energy depopulates shallow trap states, suppressing hopping-assisted leakage without disrupting filamentary conduction in the low-resistance state. The optimized heterostructure achieves a room-temperature ON/OFF ratio of 349 ± 53, endurance exceeding 103 bipolar switching cycles, retention over 25 000 s, and ten discrete analog conductance states spanning six orders of magnitude. Device-derived conductance states are directly used as synaptic weights in software-level simulations of handwritten-digit classification and image denoising on the MNIST benchmark. The handwritten-digit classification achieves 97.74% accuracy via transfer learning without implementation in a physical crossbar array or its associated peripheral circuitry. These results establish interface-engineered trap control as a design principle for thermally self-correcting memristors, a class where elevated temperature enhances rather than degrades performance, with direct relevance to neuromorphic hardware in thermally demanding environments.
Solar-driven green photocatalytic H2O2 production bears the potency of a breakthrough-technology, especially with advanced porous materials. Howbeit, the design of porous materials based superior photocatalysts with high inherent charge separation...
Orthorhombic hafnium oxide (HfO2) is predicted to exhibit multiple domain walls (DWs): the pbca-like DW with the lowest energy but hindered migration, and higher-energy pbcn-like and t-like DWs. However, which of these DWs most readily appears during polarization switching has yet to be determined. We adopt machine-learning interatomic-potentials and molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the dynamic processes of ferroelectric HfO2 under an electric field. The simulation shows that a local electric field above 5 MV cm-1 within a domain can induce local polarization switching, forming the t-like DW. This DW exhibits facile migration, requiring a critical field of only 1.2 MV cm-1. The pbca-like DW emerges only when the applied electric field exceeds 6 MV cm-1. The pbcn-like DW is not identified, although its energy is comparable to that of t-like DW. During a migration cycle of the t-like DW, an intermediate state resembling the pbcn-like DW appears, but this intermediate state cannot be stably maintained. Room-temperature phonon calculations show that the pbcn-like DW possesses an imaginary frequency mode, preventing stabilization, while the t-like DW is dynamically stable. This work sheds light on the room-temperature instability of the pbcn-like DW and highlights the crucial role of the mobile t-like DW in polarization switching of HfO2.
The interfacial microenvironment plays a decisive role in reaction performance. Introducing a layer of inert oils that are immiscible with water at a conventional liquid (aqueous solution)-solid (catalyst) two-phase interface to form a novel liquid (water)-liquid (oil)-solid (catalyst) three-phase system could improve catalytic reactions involving gaseous reactants, as many oils exhibit an impressive ability to dissolve substantial volumes of gas. However, the construction and regulation of such liquid-liquid-solid three-phase systems remain challenging. Here, by combining catalyst structure optimization and reaction interface regulation, we designed a liquid-liquid-solid three-phase system featuring an ultra-thin oil layer (L-L(UTO)-S) based on ordered TiO2 porous films. The ordered porous films possess a large surface area and high surface roughness, facilitating the deposition of an ultra-thin oil layer on their surfaces. We investigated its interfacial properties and catalytic performance in a visible-light-driven photooxidation reaction. The ultra-thin oil layer (<1 nm) in this L-L(UTO)-S system synergistically enriches O2 and organic molecules at the reaction interface without substantially inhibiting electron transfer efficiency, thereby markedly enhancing photocatalytic performance compared to the liquid (water)-solid (catalyst) two-phase system. Further studies on the influence of oil thickness in the L-L-S system indicated that the ultra-thin oil layer effectively minimizes the adverse impact on interfacial electron transfer arising from the insulating properties of oil. These findings highlight the importance of rational interface architecture design, and the as-fabricated L-L(UTO)-S system provides a promising route for the further development of high-performance photocatalytic systems.
While additive manufacturing is widely recognized for enabling geometric complexity, its transformative potential lies in direct fabrication of functional devices with integrated sensing, actuation, and electronic capabilities. Although fused filament fabrication (FFF) is one of the most widely used additive manufacturing technologies, it remains largely limited to producing structural components. Direct laser scribing (DLS) on polyether ether ketone (PEEK) to produce laser-induced graphene (LIG) offers a promising route to overcome this limitation. PEEK is a high-performance, carbon-rich precursor for laser-induced graphitization, while LIG provides direct-written conductivity, piezoresistivity, and electrothermal functionality. In this study, we present an integrated FFF-DLS platform with a self-developed G-code post-processor that enables in situ, layer-by-layer alternating PEEK deposition and LIG graphitization within a single manufacturing process, providing an automated route to fabricating multifunctional PEEK devices with spatially registered, programmable LIG networks. Building on this platform, a series of fabrication characterizations were conducted. Using the optimized fabrication parameters, we further demonstrated the versatility of the platform in directly fabricating functional devices for multiple applications, including Joule heating, temperature sensing, and strain sensing, used in aerospace and biomedical areas.
Living systems, including cells and viruses, exhibit intrinsic adaptivity that enables them to navigate complex biological environments through dynamic regulation of their structural and functional states. Inspired by these natural processes, bio-inspired adaptive nanoparticles have emerged as a promising strategy to overcome the limitations of static nanocarriers. These engineered systems sense or recognize changes in the local microenvironment and subsequently undergo spatiotemporal remodeling of their structures, biointerfaces, or biological functions, thereby meeting stage-specific requirements for cancer delivery and therapy. In this Review, we summarize recent advances in bio-inspired adaptive nanoparticles for cancer applications. We first outline representative natural adaptive particles and their underlying adaptive mechanisms. We then discuss how these principles guide the design of structurally and functionally adaptive nanoparticles to overcome tumor-delivery barriers and regulate the tumor microenvironment. Finally, we highlight approaches for the mechanistic and quantitative validation of adaptive behavior and discuss the major challenges and future directions for developing next-generation adaptive nanomedicines with translational potential.
Manufacturing ultrathin lithium (Li)-metal anodes remains challenging because metallic Li is adhesive and creep-prone, making it difficult to process into mechanically stable freestanding foils. In the present work, we report...
Microbial induction becomes a sustainable pathway for the growth of engineering and functional materials under ambient conditions. The properties of microbially induced materials can be adjusted through structural regulation, with the introduction of a biomimetic structure being the preferred option. Herein, a bacteria-laden membrane is developed for structural regulation of biomimetic inorganic-organic multilayers on planar surfaces and in cylindrical pores. The urease-producing bacteria, Sporosarcina pasteurii, are encapsulated within a superimposed graphene oxide membrane to facilitate ureic hydrolysis. Subsequently, the diffusion of the bicarbonate constituents in a permeable microcompartment promotes the growth of biomimetic multilayers locally. While extracellular polymeric substances of bacteria contribute to the formation of multilayers with high strength and toughness, the bacteria themselves are responsible for this physicochemical process from a distance. The introduction of bacteria-laden membranes in a perforated polypropylene sheet fulfills the in situ formation of a biomimetic multilayer in each channel and complete sealing. Subsequently, the perforated polypropylene sheet integrated with biomimetic multilayers successfully impedes liquid permeation under hydraulic pressure. The present study demonstrates that bacteria-laden membranes guarantee the introduction of biomimetic multilayers with mechanical merits in porous microenvironments for complete sealing, which represents a primary objective of microbially induced materials.
Tin-based perovskite solar cells (Sn-PSCs) employing poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)-poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) gas hole transport layer represent one of the most promising architectures. However, their performance is severely limited by the insulating and hygroscopic...
Ion-selective membranes for reverse electrodialysis typically rely on fixed charged groups to establish Donnan exclusion, yet their effective charge density is rapidly weakened by Debye screening under high-salinity conditions. Here we report hydrazone-linked covalent organic framework (COF) nanochannels with biomimetic dipolar pore-wall microenvironments for dynamic surface-charge regulation and coupled salinity-thermal energy conversion. Among hydroxyl-, methoxy- and non-functionalized COF membranes, the ortho-hydroxyl-functionalized COF-DhaBt/PAN establishes a cooperative hydroxyl-hydrazone dipolar network that preferentially restricts anion migration through ion-dipole interactions and hydrogen bonding, thereby generating an adaptive negative microenvironment for accelerated cation transport. Phosphate preadsorption further converts anion retention into a charge-amplification mechanism, increasing the power density from 41.7 to 116.6 W m-2 under a 0.5 M‖0.01 M NaCl gradient. When a 35 K temperature gradient is introduced, the phosphate-regulated membrane delivers a power density of 208.4 W m-2, accompanied by an increase in the ionic Seebeck coefficient from 0.72 to 0.82 mV K-1. This work establishes dipolar pore-wall programming as an effective strategy for overcoming charge-screening limitations and integrating salinity-gradient energy harvesting with low-grade heat utilization.
Electromagnetic waves (EMWs) underpin modern functional devices yet raise safety concerns across biological, military, and civilian domains. While polymers offer softness and light weight, their intrinsically weak interaction with EMWs...
Vertically stacked electronics require thermal interface adhesives that conduct heat through confined bondlines while retaining adhesion after placement. Yet, highly filled ceramic adhesives are still commonly designed as bulk composites, with performance pursued by increasing filler loading or filler conductivity. This view overlooks how heat transport and adhesion are determined within the formed bondline, where filler connectivity, shear-dependent processability, wetting, and trapped air collectively govern performance. Here, we introduce a rheology-guided bondline densification strategy for multiscale thermally conductive adhesives composed of spherical Al2O3, plate-like hBN, fine AlN, and heat-activated polycaprolactone (PCL). The Al2O3/hBN architecture was optimized to balance shear-thinning flow, shape retention, and cured-state integrity, while fine AlN reinforced the conductive network. PCL was used as a thermoplastic densification mediator that softens during heat-primed mixing and suppresses microvoids within the ceramic-rich network. This strategy reduced microvoid formation, drove the skeletal density toward the composition-dependent theoretical density, and increased the surface free energy of the cured adhesive. The adhesive showed scale-bridging adaptability, conformally filling microscale roughness while remaining processable into large-area sheets and stamped macroscopic forms. The optimized adhesive achieved a through-plane thermal conductivity of 3.57 W m-1 K-1, representing a 2280% enhancement over neat epoxy and a 35% increase over the Al2O3/hBN baseline, along with a lap shear strength of 3.704 MPa, corresponding to a 113% improvement over the 20/40 baseline. Mobile-device heat-dissipation and load-bearing demonstrations further confirmed its practical applicability. These results establish bondline densification as a design principle for dense, processable, conformable, and adhesive thermal interfaces.
Modern technological demands require metals to integrate structural and functional performance, yet conventional metallurgy remains constrained by intrinsic trade-offs among strength, electrical conductivity, and wear resistance. Neutron-star evolution offers a natural blueprint for overcoming this limitation: load-bearing nuclear matter forms continuous frameworks, while a permeating electron sea enables efficient charge transport, intrinsically decoupling mechanical support from transport functionality. Inspired by this principle, we designed a neutron-star-inspired metallic metamaterial that assigns load bearing to a tungsten framework and electrical transport to a silver network. Realized through sequential 3D printing and metal infiltration, the resulting Ag-W architecture delivers high strength (≈213 MPa), high electrical conductivity (>50% IACS), and ultra-low friction-reduced to ∼20% of conventional bulk metals, demonstrating an unusually favorable convergence of mechanical, electrical, and tribological performance that is difficult to achieve through composition-based alloying alone. Crucially, the performance gain goes beyond a simple composite effect, as evidenced by the ∼75% reduction in friction relative to non-neutron-star-like architected comparators. These results establish topology-guided metallic architectures as a promising complementary route for mitigating multi-property trade-offs.
Shape-reconfigurable optical materials are promising for camouflage, sensing, and anti-counterfeiting, yet most existing systems produce only a single optical output and suffer from optical instability during deformation. Herein, a bioinspired tri-state optical gel (TOG) is fabricated by photopolymerization, incorporating SiO2 photonic nanoparticles, SrAl2O4:Eu2+,Dy3+ phosphors and phase-change polymers. Phase-change components enable the gel to fix its geometry at low temperatures and to undergo programmable 2D-to-3D reshaping upon heating. Notably, the thermally tunable gel displays three distinct optical states under different illumination conditions: structural color under natural light, UV-triggered fluorescence and persistent phosphorescence. This work integrates programmable shape morphing and triple optical signals in a single gel, offering a facile route toward advanced dynamic optical composites.
The reversible intercalation of Na+ is an intrinsic limitation for simultaneous fast ion transport, structural resilience, and high electrochemical reversibility of sodium-ion batteries (SIBs). This highlights the unresolved barrier to enabling the practical deployment of high-performance SIBs with higher energy density. During the subsequent charging process, the reversible conversion of anodes is limited. This remains largely responsible for a decline in the performance of SIBs. Therefore, enhanced Na+ storage capacity of conventional conversion-type anodes, such as MoS2, is imperative while maintaining structural stability simultaneously. Higher initial reversible capacity and greater capacity retention over longer cycles require the rational design of anodes for high-energy density SIBs. This article highlights unsolved barriers to reversibility and, more critically, we identify laboratory-scale results that fail to translate into practical improvements. We rather focus on deep analysis of the inherent trade-offs at the kinetic and thermodynamic levels. This includes mitigation of interlayer confinement and enabling of all-slope-dominated Na+ storage with rapid reversibility by tuning sites and pores. Therefore, while describing reversible Na+ batteries, we address (1) critical flaws in current approaches and (2) factors responsible for failure to transform into translational improvements and provide (1) deep insight into the community needs, (2) a strong central argument defended with evidence, and (3) a unique perspective on reversibility. This article focuses on the electrochemical reversibility of the de/sodiation by conversion and alloying dual mechanisms for the anode-driven reversibility with irreversible intermediate residues. However, drawbacks of conversion electrodes with conventional intercalation chemistry include kinetic limitations and large volume expansion. We have identified factors that are responsible for the limited reversibility of SIBs, along with strong future perspectives.
This study proposes a dual-mode capacitor based processing-in-memory (PIM) architecture to address the memory bottleneck and power consumption issues arising from the rapid expansion of large language models (LLMs). In...
In contrast to polymer-to-polymer recycling of waste polyethylene terephthalate (wPET), chemical upcycling into added-value molecules beyond terephthalic acid is a promising strategy.Among possible transformations, electrophilic substitution offers a direct path,...
Jammed microgels form porous hydrogel architectures in which packing-derived interstitial voids provide transport-accessible pathways while retaining the processability of soft granular matter. However, the same microgel-continuous phase interfaces scatter and redistribute projected light, complicating volumetric printing. Here, we develop refractive-index-matched jammed microgel assemblies by independently tuning the refractive indices of gelatin/acrylamide microgels and an immiscible silicone-oil continuous phase. Cooling-induced gelatin gelation stabilizes discrete microgels, whereas acrylamide photopolymerization integrates the packed particles within the irradiated regions. Matching the refractive indices of the microgels and surrounding oil confines the projected 405 nm light field and restores design-to-print fidelity to a level comparable to that of a homogeneous bulk-gel control despite the high density of particle interfaces. This optical improvement is achieved without eliminating the particle-assembled architecture. The printed constructs retain packing-derived interstitial porosity and can be transferred from the oil-containing printing state into an aqueous hydrogel state while maintaining their overall geometry and measurable mechanical integration. Across the size-varied formulations, assemblies containing larger microgels exhibit wider interstitial features and greater dye penetration, whereas those containing smaller microgels show more restricted dye penetration and greater rheological and compressive resistance. These findings establish independent refractive-index control of the microgel and continuous phases as a materials design strategy for reconciling the optical requirements of volumetric printing with the structural and functional heterogeneity of particle-assembled soft materials.
The development of high-performance lanthanide-based fluorescence-intensity-ratio (FIR) thermometers is limited by the lack of a continuously tunable, quantitatively guided crystal-field design principle. Most systems still rely on empirical host–dopant screening,...
Organic thermoelectric (TE) materials are attractive for sustainable energy harvesting owing to their mechanical flexibility, low cost, and intrinsically low thermal conductivity. Among them, PEDOT:PSS is one of the most...
