Traditional metalenses prioritize diffraction-limited imaging, which frequently encounters nanofabrication bottlenecks due to steep phase gradients and high sensitivity to incident angles. This study shifts the design paradigm toward efficient energy harvesting by proposing a multifocal metalens. Instead of pursuing a singular diffraction-limited spot, we construct a focal-cluster architecture within a defined spatial region to enhance system robustness. To systematically verify this approach, twenty metalenses with varying numerical apertures (NA) and inter-focal distances were designed and fabricated on amorphous silicon (α-Si). Experimental results demonstrate that this multifocal strategy effectively smooths local phase gradients, significantly reducing manufacturing difficulty. For a high-NA design (NA = 0.92), the focusing efficiency was improved from 32% to 55%, representing a 72% relative improvement. Furthermore, the device maintains exceptional stability within an incident angle window of 0° to 10°, with efficiency fluctuations remaining below 10%. By delivering superior angular tolerance and throughput, this multifocal approach provides a highly reliable, hardware-level photon-collection solution for alignment-sensitive optoelectronic integration, a reliable micro-optical solution for alignment-sensitive non-imaging applications, such as photoelectric detection.

With the continuous growth of the sodium-ion battery market, research interest in Prussian blue analogues as cathode materials has increased significantly. These materials are easy to synthesize, feature open framework structures, and have low cost, demonstrating promising application prospects. Cobalt nickel hexacyanoferrate (CoNiHCF) shows rate capability and cycling stability that need to be further improved, while Iron hexacyanoferrate (FeHCF) exhibits excellent rate and cycling performance. Accordingly, a core-shell structure of CoNiHCF@FeHCF designed based on dorbital electronic structure, consisting of a CoNiHCF core and an FeHCF shell, is designed to boost the electrochemical performance. Benefiting from the excellent lattice matching between the CoNiHCF core and the FeHCF shell, a coherent interface with low strain and low defect density is formed between them. This interface not only provides a continuous, low-energy diffusion pathway for Na⁺ ions but also reduces the interfacial charge-transfer resistance, thereby enabling fast ion transport. Electrochemical testing indicates that this core-shell structure achieves an initial discharge capacity of 108.5 mAh g-1 at a 1C rate. In the rate charge/discharge cycling tests from 0.1 C to 20 C, the CoNiHCF@FeHCF material exhibited an initial discharge capacity of 85 mAh g-1 at 1 C, and when the current was returned to 1 C, its discharge capacity was 80.5 mAh g-1, with a capacity retention rate of 95%. This research provides a universal epitaxial engineering paradigm for designing PBA-based electrode materials that combine high activity with high stability.

Metalenses which can freely manipulate light fields, are regarded as highly promising optical components for enhancing the performance of photodetectors. In this letter, a novel InGaAs/InP single-photon avalanche diode (SPAD) with small active diameter and backside InP metalens is presented. The active area, with a diameter of 8 mu m, is complemented by 100 mu m x100 mu m metalens that focuses incident photons into the photosensitive region. The focused beam size of the metalens is approximately 1.3 mu m (full width at half-maximum) at the target focal plane. The novel SPAD with backside metalens achieves a maximum photon detection efficiency (PDE) of 15.9% at wavelength of 1550 nm. Comparative experiments indicate that the integration of the metalens provides a 37% relative-increase in maximum PDE while maintaining a compact size. This work provides a new way for the realization of small-pixel, high-PDE InGaAs/InP SPAD arrays and supports the development of miniaturized, multi-dimensional photon detectors.

In the realm of wireless sensing, it is envisioned that sensing and communication functionalities will coexist and be fully integrated within a unified system. Future sensing systems thus necessitate detectors capable of operating at higher frequency bands-ranging from millimeter wave to terahertz (THz)-while delivering wider bandwidths, faster response rates, and enhanced functional integration. Dirac-source (DS) detectors use Dirac semimetals as hot-electron sources to capitalize on the low density of states (DOS) near the Dirac point, thereby effectively suppressing the formation of metal-induced gap states. Furthermore, when this architecture incorporates the inherent interlayer vertical electron transport of vertical van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures, it shows great promise for realizing low-power, post-Moore era sensing devices with superior injection and transport efficiencies. Here, we report a DS detector composed of the completely vertical gold/zirconium pentatelluride/graphene/gold structure (Au/ZrTe5/graphene/Au) heterojunction, which harnesses strong localized fields to achieve high thermionic emission. The detector manifests outstanding performance in terms of remarkable responsivity, exceeds a peak of 1600 V/W from 0.02 to 0.5 THz at room temperature, has a fast response time less than 20 ns, and notably is capable for heterodyne mixing with intermediate frequency (IF) bandwidth larger than ±26.5 gigahertz. Our results not only shed a fresh light on DS dynamics in the terahertz region but also highlight the transformative potential of semimetal electronics for applications in wireless energy harvesting, communication, and imaging.

Mevalonate (MVA) is a pivotal platform intermediate for the biosynthesis of terpenoids and other high-value isoprenoids with broad applications in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and materials. However, MVA biosynthesis through the glycolytic pathway requires three molecules of acetylCoA (Ac-CoA), accompanied by the release of three molecules of CO2, resulting in limited carbon atom efficiency with a theoretical maximum of only 66.6%. Here, we developed a previously unreported glucose-acetone co-substrate strategy in Escherichia coli to improve the theoretical carbon atom yield of MVA biosynthesis by coupling acetone assimilation with CO2 incorporation. We first selected and identified a highly active acetoacetate-CoA synthetase, and subsequently established a glucose and acetone co-substrate pathway in vivo. Further improvement in pathway efficiency was achieved through integrated metabolic engineering strategies, including suppression of competing acetoacetate-consuming pathways, reinforcement of CO2 hydration via carbonic anhydrase overexpression and cell-surface display, and modulation of intracellular ATP supply to meet the energetic demands of acetone assimilation. 13C isotopic tracing provided direct evidence that CO2 was incorporated into the MVA biosynthetic pathway. Ultimately, fed-batch fermentation in a 5 L bioreactor achieved an MVA titer of 2130 mg/L. Overall, this work establishes a novel co-substrate framework for MVA biosynthesis that integrates acetone assimilation with CO2 fixation, providing an interesting idea for developing a low-carbon and sustainable biomanufacturing strategy.

We investigate the stability and causality of relativistic spin hydrodynamics in the presence of a nonvanishing spin density background, assuming that the spin chemical potential ω^μν is of leading order (ω^μν∼𝒪(1)) in the gradient expansion and is treated as a finite background in the linear perturbation analysis. It is found that within the first-order spin hydrodynamic framework, a finite spin density background modifies the dispersion relations, and modes propagating along different directions are controlled by distinct transport coefficients. Certain specific modes only appear in the x direction. However, the modes in the large wave-vector limit exhibit acausal behavior. To address this issue, we subsequently adopt the framework of minimal causal spin hydrodynamics and derive the corresponding stability and causality conditions. The spin density background directly determines whether stability and causality can be satisfied simultaneously. In the small wave-vector limit, the results are similar to those of the first-order theory. In the large wave-vector region, however, significant differences emerge: the distinctions between different directions are no longer merely simple substitutions of transport coefficients, but involve more complex combinations. This indicates that the difference between modes in different directions increases with increasing wave vector.

Ideal electrolytes for low-temperature-resistant aqueous zinc-ion batteries should promote rapid ion desolvation while stabilizing interfacial reactions. Existing research generally introduces additive molecules for optimizing local coordination environment to inhibit H2O crystallization; the strong hydrogen bond (HB) effect between co-solvents still exists, and uncoordinated polar groups act as acceptors/donors to induce uneven group coordination and the formation of new strong HB networks. Herein, we propose an electrolyte design strategy with a coordination-induced mechanism to address the long-standing challenges of slow low-temperature kinetics and irregular dendrites in aqueous zinc-ion batteries. By introducing low-carbon polyols to optimize the global solvation structure, low-temperature ice crystallization through intramolecular strain is mitigated, promoting the interaction between non-coordinating solvents to shift from strong HB (O-H:O*, 30 kJ/mol) to weak HB (C-H:O*, 5 kJ/mol), which enables dynamic salt-water-organic cosolvent ternary interaction, promoting rapid Zn2+ reaction kinetics and stabilizing interfacial reactions. Both experimental and theoretical analyses confirm the effectiveness of the present strategy, which enables low-carbon-polyol-based electrolyte to exhibit a high capacity of 65.13 mAh/g at -25 degrees C (1 A/g) and a capacity retention of similar to 95% after 600 cycles.

Thallium (Tl), an extremely toxic and highly volatile heavy metal, has become the primary cause of rapid deactivation of V2O5/TiO2 (VTi) SCR catalysts used in cement kilns. Industrial post-operation analyses consistently show exceptional Tl enrichment on catalyst surfaces—often 2–3 orders of magnitude higher than other heavy metals—resulting in a sharp decline in NOx removal efficiency and raising significant environmental and operational hazards. Motivated by real industrial observations that appropriate amounts of WO3 substantially enhance the Tl tolerance of VTi catalysts, this study provides a mechanistic explanation for both the poisoning pathway and the mitigation effect. We demonstrate that Tl deactivation originates from its strong affinity for VO active sites, where it forms stable V-O-Tl bonds that collapse Lewis acidity, suppress oxygen-vacancy regeneration, and disrupt the V5+/V4+ redox cycle essential for SCR activity. Through multi-scale characterization and DFT analysis, we reveal that WO₃ alleviates Tl toxicity through a dual synergistic mechanism: steric shielding that limits Tl access to vanadium centers, and oxidation of mobile Tl+ to less reactive Tl3+, thereby weakening its ability to bind and deactivate V sites. This cooperative electronic-structural modulation preserves both acidity and redox functionality under realistic high-Tl exposure. The mechanistic insights presented here offer a rational foundation for developing durable, Tl-resistant SCR catalysts tailored for hazardous flue gas environments in cement and waste-incineration industries.

Diabetic bone regeneration is severely hindered by hyperglycemia-induced inflammation and microangiopathy. In this case, conventional drug strategies show limited efficacy. Inspired by the natural polyphenol structure, this study engineered a dual-network self-assembled hydrogel with glucose responsiveness and stage-adapted release characteristics. Punicalagin (PUN), a natural floral tannin with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties, contains abundant catechol groups. Based on the primary network formed by dynamic phenylboronic ester bonds, the hydrogel responds sensitively to the local hyperglycemia microenvironment. The stable secondary cross-linking formed by metal-polyphenol coordination endows the hydrogel with excellent mechanical properties. Rapidly released PUN reduces excessive inflammation by inhibiting pro-inflammatory cytokines and promoting macrophage polarization toward the regenerative M2 phenotype. The sustained release of cobalt ions (Co2+) promotes endothelial cell viability. In vivo results show that the synergistic effect of the two bioactive components regulates the osteoimmune microenvironment, accelerates the reconstruction of the functional vascular network, and ultimately facilitates bone regeneration. In this process, Co-Gel-PUN (CGP) hydrogel regulated the osteogenic microenvironment by inhibiting the JAK2/STAT1 pathway. The proposed “immune-angiogenesis” dual-regulatory strategy provides an effective therapeutic paradigm for diabetic bone regeneration.

Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) require anode materials with high cyclic stability to address volume expansion and interfacial degradation during long-term operation. By using time aging, the storage mechanism of lithium ions and the issues encountered during storage can be better addressed and explained. Here we report a heterostructured FeTe2/CoTe2 that mitigates these challenges through interfacial engineering. The heterostructure accelerates preferential formation of Li2Te conductive networks during lithiation, buffering mechanical stress and enhancing charge transfer kinetics. Over 70 days of cyclic aging at 0.1 A g(-1), the material retains 86.5 % of its initial capacity (513.9 mAh g(-1)) with minimal polarization (<50 mV) and stable interfacial impedance (43-70 Omega). In situ electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and ex situ X-ray diffraction confirm preserved crystallinity and formation of a dense solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) membrane, suppressing electrolyte consumption and parasitic reactions. Theoretical calculations reveal that Te-vacancy defects and ordered layered structures optimize Li+ diffusion pathways while interlayer sliding mechanisms mitigate lattice stress. This work establishes heterointerfacial engineering as a scalable strategy to enhance the aging resilience of transition metal chalcogenides, providing a blueprint for high-stability anodes in next-generation energy storage systems.

Electrochromic technology holds significant promise for applications such as adaptive camouflage; however, its performance stability under low temperature conditions faces severe challenges due to electrolyte solidification, sluggish ion transport, and degradation of interfacial reaction kinetics. To overcome this limitation, this study designs a polyacrylamide-based hydrogel electrolyte incorporating a high concentration of zinc salt and glycerol. Theoretical calculations reveal that the binding energy between the hydroxyl groups of glycerol and Zn2+ is lower than that between glycerol and the polymer matrix. This characteristic enables glycerol to effectively plasticize the polymer network and suppress solvent phase separation at low temperatures, thereby mitigating the decrease in ion mobility. Experimental results demonstrate that the developed electrolyte combines excellent low-temperature performance (down to -20 degrees C) with high optical transparency (79%). A flexible device integrated with a transparent zinc anode exhibits an ionic conductivity of 46.9 mS & sdot;cm- 1 at room temperature, which remains at 3.96 mS & sdot;cm- 1 at -20 degrees C, along with a notable areal capacity of 41 mF & sdot;cm- 2 at 0.1 mA & sdot;cm- 2 under the same low temperature. Furthermore, large-area electrochromic devices based on this bifunctional system exhibit exceptional low-temperature energy storage and intelligent color-changing camouflage capabilities, enabling dynamic color matching with sky backgrounds for visual camouflage. The flexible thin-film structure enhances conformability to complex curved surfaces and is compatible with diverse device platforms, laying a critical technical foundation for next-generation integrated adaptive camouflage systems.

ABSTRACT Moisture‐driven energy generators (MEGs) offer a sustainable route for low‐grade energy harvesting, yet their integration into high‐power electronics is limited by internal Joule heating and external thermal loads. Conventional MEGs also lack integrated thermal management and waste heat recovery. Guided by Density Functional Theory and Molecular Dynamics simulations of selective sulfidation, Grotthuss proton hopping, and thermal transport, we develop a sulfidation‐carbonization strategy for a multifunctional hydrogel MEG. Gradient organosulfate groups provide proton‐transport pathways, while highly dispersed in situ carbon dots enhance heat dissipation, structural robustness, and waste heat capture. Theoretical predictions agree with experimental observations. The optimized Al‐based MEG delivers 89 µW cm −2 (0.8 V, 0.35 mA cm −2 ) and operates from −24.9°C to 90.4°C. Importantly, an inert Pt/carbon‐cloth device also retains favorable electrical performance, reaching 29.2 µW cm −2 (0.56 V, 133 µA cm −2 ) at 70% RH. The system achieves a thermal dissipation efficiency of 38.9%, reduces LED temperature by 40.3°C, and enables closed‐loop energy utilization. This work establishes a coupled energy‐harvesting and thermal‐management platform for high‐temperature electronics.

Narrowband long-wave infrared (LWIR) optical filters are of great importance for applications in environmental monitoring, thermal imaging, and medical diagnostics. However, conventional all-dielectric interference filters suffer from intrinsic limitations, including strong sensitivity to the angle of incidence and a pronounced blue shift of the transmission peak with increasing angle, which severely degrades their performance. In this work, we systematically investigate the factors governing the angular sensitivity of multilayer narrowband filters and propose a novel angle-insensitive filtering strategy based on multilayer dispersion engineering. By introducing a highly dispersive material-germanium-doped layers-into a conventional Fabry-Perot (F-P) cavity, the wavelength-dependent material dispersion is exploited to compensate for the phase shift induced by oblique incidence, thereby significantly suppressing angular sensitivity. At 11 mu m, when the incident angle increases to 40 degrees, the relative resonance drift of the dispersion-tailored filter is suppressed from 2.6% to 1.4%, representing a 185% improvement in angular robustness. Moreover, this approach preserves the advantages of high refractive index contrast while simultaneously enhancing the transmittance and narrowing the full width at half maximum, providing a simple and efficient route toward high-performance wide-angle infrared micro-and nanophotonic devices.

InAs nanowires (NWs) self-catalyzed grown on graphene surface frequently exhibit a large number of stacking-fault defects. However, the control of these defects in InAs NWs still remains a large challenge, which significantly limits the applications of InAs NWs in electronics and optoelectronics. In this work, the self-catalyzed growth of InAs NWs on graphene/Ge substrate by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) is systematically investigated. Growth models for InAs NWs and parasitic islands on graphene/Ge are developed. Through rational design of growth parameters, the self-catalyzed growth of defect-free InAs NWs on graphene surfaces is ultimately achieved. Our experimental results indicate that lower growth temperature can effectively suppress the formation of stacking-fault defects in InAs NWs, no visible stacking-fault defects are observed in the samples grown below 510 degrees C, and the intrinsic mechanism for this is clarified with the density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

While transition metal selenides (TMSes) are attractive anode materials for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to their high capacity, they do suffer from sluggish kinetics, dissolution, and shuttling of intermediate phases, inducing rapid degradation of cycling performance. Herein, a coupling strategy based on NbSe2/MoSe2 heterojunction anodes and electrolyte adaptability is proposed: the compatible electrolyte facilitates the enrichment of fluoroethylene carbonate (FEC) at the heterojunction interface, thereby enabling the in situ formation of a LiF-rich solid electrolyte interphase (SEI) This SEI dynamically couples with the built-in electric field of the heterojunction, significantly reducing the desolvation energy barrier of Li+ and interfacial migration resistance, thus optimizing the interfacial ion transport kinetics. Density functional theory calculations, molecular dynamics simulations, and electrochemical tests collectively confirm that this dynamic coupling mechanism between the heterojunction and the electrolyte not only accelerates the interfacial kinetics of Li+ but also effectively suppresses the dissolution and shuttling of lithium polyselenides (Li2Sex). Notably, the application of this strategy enables efficient participation in electrochemical reactions even under low-temperature conditions, thereby imparting enhanced temperature adaptability. The NbSe2/MoSe2 half cell demonstrates an excellent capacity of 862.7 mAh g-1 at 25 degrees C and 487.8 mAh g-1 at -25 degrees C. Under the cycling conditions of 0.1 A g-1 discharge and 1.0 A g-1 charge, the capacity remains at 93.1% and 88.6% after 100 cycles, respectively. This work provides an effective strategy for enhancing the interfacial kinetics and temperature adaptability of TMSe anodes.

Mg2+ is essential for all living organisms, yet its transport across mammalian membranes remains poorly understood. Here, we present cryoelectron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of a full-length mammalian Mg2+ transporter on the plasma membrane, human CNNM4, in outward-facing and occluded states, revealing an unexpected tetrameric assembly organized as a dimer of asymmetric dimers—distinct from the symmetric dimers in prokaryotic homologs and long assumed for eukaryotic CNNMs. We show that Mg2+/ATP binding stabilizes the dynamic intracellular domains and promotes tetramerization, while an acidic patch binds additional Mg2+, potentially acting as a sensor to couple cytoplasmic Mg2+ levels to transport activity. Within the transmembrane domain, a key glutamate flips upon Na+ binding and destabilizes the Mg2+-binding site in the outward-facing state, thereby promoting Mg2+/Na+ exchange. Together, these findings establish a mechanistic framework for CNNM transport and regulation that diverges from prokaryotic models and links CNNM function to human physiology and disease.

Topological chiral semimetals possess nondegenerate chiral fermions dominated by large Chern numbers, making them an ideal material platform for quantum control of chirality degree of freedom. However, high-throughput chirality identification of a chiral enantiomer, which is the first and foremost basic characterization, is still lacking. In this work, we demonstrate that terahertz (THz) emission from ultrafast excited circular photogalvanic effects can be used to effectively identify the chirality of topological chiral semimetal. As demonstrated for the topological chiral semimetal RhSn, the emitted THz electric fields excited by certain circularly polarized ultrafast light pulses are reversed for the opposite enantiomer. By comparing the single-crystal X-ray diffraction results, we show that THz emission serves as a high-throughput, contactless, and nondestructive method for identifying the chirality of topological chiral semimetals. Our findings will facilitate and thus promote the study of topological chiral semimetals and further advance the quantum manipulation of the chirality degree of freedom in topological materials.

The dynamic coupling between NbSe 2 /MoSe 2 heterojunctions and a compatible electrolyte in situ forms a LiF-rich interphase, which synergistically optimizes interfacial ion kinetics, affording an anode with superior temperature adaptability.

The interfacial electric field (IEF) in semiconductor heterojunctions plays a vital role in self-powered photodetection. However, effectively modulating the IEF to enhance broadband photodetection in single heterojunctions remains a significant challenge. In this study, we present a strategy for IEF-modulated broadband self-powered photodetection using a plasmonic W18O49/TiO2 heterojunction film. The film is fabricated through the solvothermal growth of W18O49 nanowires on TiO2 nanorod arrays. By applying external voltage treatment, we demonstrate the ability to tune the Fermi level of the plasmonic W18O49 component, which in turn modulates the IEF at the W18O49/TiO2 heterojunction. The enhanced IEF facilitates both the separation of interband-excited electron-hole pairs and the ultrafast transfer of IR-excited plasmonic hot electrons. Notably, compared with 0 V and -2 V treatments, the +2 V-treated heterojunction film exhibits a remarkable similar to 2.9-fold and similar to 4.5-fold enhancement in 365 nm responsivity (598.6 mu A/W), respectively. Additionally, the 0 V-treated film shows a similar to 3.2-fold higher 940 nm responsivity than the -2 V-treated counterpart. In contrast, single-component films exhibit negligible responses, confirming the essential role of the IEF in enabling self-powered UV-to-NIR broadband photodetection. This work offers a promising approach for achieving high-performance optoelectronics by modulating the IEF in semiconductor heterojunctions.