Roadmap for Next-Generation Electrochemical Energy Storage Technologies: Secondary Batteries and Supercapacitors.

The transition from fossil fuels to environmentally friendly renewable energy sources is crucial for achieving global initiatives such as the carbon peak and carbon neutrality. The use of secondary batteries and supercapacitors based on electrochemical energy storage principles provides high energy density, conversion efficiency, and rapid response times, offering essential solutions for stabilizing and ensuring the reliability of energy supply from renewable sources despite their intermittency. In recent years, increased demands for higher energy density, improved rate performance, longer cycle life, enhanced safety, and cost-effectiveness have driven researchers to delve deeper into electrode materials, electrolytes, and storage mechanisms in secondary batteries.

Kilogram-Scale Production of Ultrafast-Charging Micro-Expanded Graphite Anode toward High-Power and Long-Life Ah-Level Pouch Batteries.

The exponential growth of electric vehicle industry necessitates to rapidly develop fast-charging technology for lithium-ion batteries. However, the mainstream graphite anode encounters significant challenges in fast-charging scenarios, including capacity decay and shortened lifespan caused by the sluggish lithiation kinetics and unstable solid electrolyte interphase. Herein, the kilogram-level scalable production of ultrafast-charging anode (C@MEG) consisting of micro-expanded graphite coated by an ultrathin disordered carbon layer (5 nm) is reported, which simultaneously compensates for the conventional limitation of internal lithium diffusion kinetics and reconfigures the external electrode-electrolyte interface.

Advances in MEMS, Optical MEMS, and Nanophotonics Technologies for Volatile Organic Compound Detection and Applications.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are a class of organic compounds with high vapor pressure and low boiling points, widely present in both natural environments and human activities. VOCs released from various sources not only contribute to environmental pollution but also pose threats to ecosystems and human health. Moreover, some VOCs are considered biomarkers in exhaled breath and can be utilized to identify various diseases.

Near-Sensor Edge Computing System Enabled by a CMOS Compatible Photonic Integrated Circuit Platform Using Bilayer AlN/Si Waveguides.

The rise of large-scale artificial intelligence (AI) models, such as ChatGPT, DeepSeek, and autonomous vehicle systems, has significantly advanced the boundaries of AI, enabling highly complex tasks in natural language processing, image recognition, and real-time decision-making. However, these models demand immense computational power and are often centralized, relying on cloud-based architectures with inherent limitations in latency, privacy, and energy efficiency. To address these challenges and bring AI closer to real-world applications, such as wearable health monitoring, robotics, and immersive virtual environments, innovative hardware solutions are urgently needed.

Photonic Bayesian Neural Networks: Leveraging Programmable Noise for Robust and Uncertainty-Aware Computing.

Photonic neural networks (PNNs) based on silicon photonic integrated circuits (Si-PICs) offer significant advantages over microelectronic counterparts, including lower energy consumption, higher bandwidth, and faster computing speeds. However, the analog nature of optical signal in PNNs makes Si-PIC solutions highly sensitive to device noise, especially when using fixed-value deterministic models, which are not robust to hardware fluctuation. Furthermore, current PNNs are unable to handle data uncertainty, a critical factor in applications such as autonomous driving, medical diagnostics, and financial forecasting.

Effect of infectious bursal disease virus infection on the expression of immune checkpoint molecules in SPF chickens.

Infectious bursal disease (IBD) is an acute, highly contagious, and immunosuppressive avian disease caused by infectious bursal disease virus (IBDV). Immune checkpoint molecules are vital for regulating immune equilibrium, preventing autoimmune responses, and controlling the scale and duration of immune reactions. These molecules are implicated in the immunosuppressive mechanisms initiated by viral infections.

An ultrastretchable seamlessly integrated contactless charging microsystem towards skin-attachable wireless microelectronics.

For electronics to be wearable, contactless charging and overall deformability are necessary pre-conditions. However, the current heterogeneous integration based on different active materials and separate manufacturing often leads to mechanical mismatch. Here, we report an ultrastretchable all-in-one integrated MXene-based microsystem comprising wireless coils, micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) and strain sensors.

Calmodulin interacts with androglobin and regulates the nitrite reductase activity.

Androglobin (Adgb) was discovered as the fifth mammalian globin, but its structure and function remain elusive. In this study, the heme-binding globin domain of Adgb was expressed and its interaction with calmodulin (CaM) was investigated. The protein structure of Adgb and its complex with CaM were predicted using AlphaFold3 and HDOCK.

Different intensities of physical activity for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson disease: A Mendelian randomization study and meta-analysis.

Background: The causal relationships between amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson disease and different intensities of physical activity (PA) are still inconclusive. To evaluate the causal impact of PA on ALS and Parkinson disease (PD), this study integrates evidence from Mendelian randomization (MR) using a meta-analysis approach.

Methods: MR analyses on genetically predicted levels of PA (compose of self-reported moderate-to-vigorous physical activity [MVPA], self-reported vigorous physical activity [VPA], and strenuous sports or other exercises [SSOE]) regarding ALS and PD published up to July 27, 2024, were obtained from PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase.

Multimodal In-Sensor Computing System Using Integrated Silicon Photonic Convolutional Processor.

Photonic integrated circuits offer miniaturized solutions for multimodal spectroscopic sensory systems by leveraging the simultaneous interaction of light with temperature, chemicals, and biomolecules, among others. The multimodal spectroscopic sensory data is complex and has huge data volume with high redundancy, thus requiring high communication bandwidth associated with high communication power consumption to transfer the sensory data. To circumvent this high communication cost, the photonic sensor and processor are brought into intimacy and propose a photonic multimodal in-sensor computing system using an integrated silicon photonic convolutional processor.

Tailoring Light-Matter Interactions in Overcoupled Resonator for Biomolecule Recognition and Detection.

Plasmonic nanoantennas provide unique opportunities for precise control of light-matter coupling in surface-enhanced infrared absorption (SEIRA) spectroscopy, but most of the resonant systems realized so far suffer from the obstacles of low sensitivity, narrow bandwidth, and asymmetric Fano resonance perturbations. Here, we demonstrated an overcoupled resonator with a high plasmon-molecule coupling coefficient (μ) (OC-Hμ resonator) by precisely controlling the radiation loss channel, the resonator-oscillator coupling channel, and the frequency detuning channel. We observed a strong dependence of the sensing performance on the coupling state, and demonstrated that OC-Hμ resonator has excellent sensing properties of ultra-sensitive (7.

Surface plasmons-phonons for mid-infrared hyperspectral imaging.

Surface plasmons have proven their ability to boost the sensitivity of mid-infrared hyperspectral imaging by enhancing light-matter interactions. Surface phonons, a counterpart technology to plasmons, present unclear contributions to hyperspectral imaging. Here, we investigate this by developing a plasmon-phonon hyperspectral imaging system that uses asymmetric cross-shaped nanoantennas composed of stacked plasmon-phonon materials.

Dynamic construction of refractive index-dependent vibrations using surface plasmon-phonon polaritons.

One of the fundamental hurdles in infrared spectroscopy is the failure of molecular identification when their infrared vibrational fingerprints overlap. Refractive index (RI) is another intrinsic property of molecules associated with electronic polarizability, but with limited contribution to molecular identification in mixed environments currently. Here, we investigate the coupling mode of localized surface plasmon and surface phonon polaritons for vibrational de-overlapping.

Eliciting tactile sensations in the hand through non-invasive proximal nerve stimulation: a feasibility study.

Recently, non-invasive proximal nerve stimulation has been widely investigated to restore tactile sensations. It has been demonstrated that tactile sensations in the hand could be elicited by nerve stimulation on the upper arm. However, it is still unknown whether tactile sensations could be elicited by stimulation at a proximal location close to the neck.

Generation of a monoclonal antibody against duck circovirus capsid protein and its potential application for native viral antigen detection.

Introduction: Duck circovirus (DuCV) infection is currently recognized as an important immunosuppressive disease in commercial duck flocks in China. Specific antibodies against DuCV viral proteins are required to improve diagnostic assays and understand the pathogenesis of DuCV infection.

Methods And Results: To generate DuCV-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs), a recombinant DuCV capsid protein without the first 36 N-terminal amino acids was produced in .

Expanding chiral metamaterials for retrieving fingerprints via vibrational circular dichroism.

Circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy has been widely demonstrated for detecting chiral molecules. However, the determination of chiral mixtures with various concentrations and enantiomeric ratios can be a challenging task. To solve this problem, we report an enhanced vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) sensing platform based on plasmonic chiral metamaterials, which presents a 6-magnitude signal enhancement with a selectivity of chiral molecules.

Ultrasensitive Molecular Fingerprint Retrieval Using Strongly Detuned Overcoupled Plasmonic Nanoantennas.

Tailoring light-matter interactions via plasmonic nanoantennas (PNAs) has emerged as a breakthrough technology for spectroscopic applications. The detuning between molecular vibrations and plasmonic resonances, as a fundamental and inevitable optical phenomenon in light-matter interactions, reduces the interaction efficiency, resulting in a weak molecule sensing signal at the strong detuning state. Here, it is demonstrated that the low interaction efficiency from detuning can be tackled by overcoupled PNAs (OC-PNAs) with a high ratio of the radiative to intrinsic loss rates, which can be used for ultrasensitive spectroscopy at strong plasmonic-molecular detuning.

Meta-Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Novel RNA Viruses in .

Lined seahorse, , is an important aquatic animal due to its medicinal and ornamental purposes. However, our understanding of the viral spectrum in is still limited. Here, we studied the viruses in using meta-transcriptomic sequencing.

Detection and Characterization of Goose Astrovirus Infections in Hatcheries and Commercial Goose Flocks.

Goose astrovirus (GoAstV) has frequently been isolated in China since it was first identified as the etiological agent of visceral gout in goslings in 2017. However, the actual prevalence of GoAstV infection and its economic impact on commercial goose production remain poorly characterized. Here, virus detection and serological testing were conducted to determine the extent of GoAstV infection in commercial goose flocks.

Machine learning-augmented surface-enhanced spectroscopy toward next-generation molecular diagnostics.

The world today is witnessing the significant role and huge demand for molecular detection and screening in healthcare and medical diagnosis, especially during the outbreak of COVID-19. Surface-enhanced spectroscopy techniques, including Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) and Infrared Absorption (SEIRA), provide lattice and molecular vibrational fingerprint information which is directly linked to the molecular constituents, chemical bonds, and configuration. These properties make them an unambiguous, nondestructive, and label-free toolkit for molecular diagnostics and screening.

Midinfrared Spectroscopic Analysis of Aqueous Mixtures Using Artificial-Intelligence-Enhanced Metamaterial Waveguide Sensing Platform.

As miniaturized solutions, mid-infrared (MIR) waveguide sensors are promising for label-free compositional detection of mixtures leveraging plentiful absorption fingerprints. However, the quantitative analysis of liquid mixtures is still challenging using MIR waveguide sensors, as the absorption spectrum overlaps for multiple organic components accompanied by strong water absorption background. Here, we present an artificial-intelligence-enhanced metamaterial waveguide sensing platform (AIMWSP) for aqueous mixture analysis in the MIR.

MOF/Polymer-Integrated Multi-Hotspot Mid-Infrared Nanoantennas for Sensitive Detection of CO Gas.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) have been extensively used for gas sorption, storage and separation owing to ultrahigh porosity, exceptional thermal stability, and wide structural diversity. However, when it comes to ultra-low concentration gas detection, technical bottlenecks of MOFs appear due to the poor adsorption capacity at ppm-/ppb-level concentration and the limited sensitivity for signal transduction. Here, we present hybrid MOF-polymer physi-chemisorption mechanisms integrated with infrared (IR) nanoantennas for highly selective and ultrasensitive CO detection.

Wavelength-multiplexed hook nanoantennas for machine learning enabled mid-infrared spectroscopy.

Infrared (IR) plasmonic nanoantennas (PNAs) are powerful tools to identify molecules by the IR fingerprint absorption from plasmon-molecules interaction. However, the sensitivity and bandwidth of PNAs are limited by the small overlap between molecules and sensing hotspots and the sharp plasmonic resonance peaks. In addition to intuitive methods like enhancement of electric field of PNAs and enrichment of molecules on PNAs surfaces, we propose a loss engineering method to optimize damping rate by reducing radiative loss using hook nanoantennas (HNAs).