Tailoring Low-Miller-Index Crystal Facets Realizes Perovskite Solar Cells with Flat Grain-boundary Grooves.

Charge transport and nonradiative recombination loss at the buried interface are important factors, which limit the efficiency and stability of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, we screen a series of diphosphate Lewis-base molecules, where N,N-bis(diphenylphosphino)amine (N-DPPM) with appropriate alkyl chains and multiple active sites not only can efficiently facilitate carrier transport but also coordinate with undercoordinated Pb and interact with FA through N⋯H bond. These features prompt the formation of high-quality perovskite films along (100)/(200) crystal facets.

On-chip graphene photodetectors with a nonvolatile p-i-n homojunction.

Graphene's unique photothermoelectric (PTE) effect, combined with its compatibility for on-chip fabrication, promises its development in chip-integrated photodetectors with ultralow dark-current and ultrafast speed. Previous designs of on-chip graphene photodetectors required external electrical biases or gate voltages to separate photocarriers, leading to increased power consumption and complex circuitry. Here, we demonstrate a nonvolatile graphene p-i-n homojunction constructed on a silicon photonic crystal waveguide, which facilitates PTE-based photodetection without the need for electrical bias or gate voltages.

Simple yet Fine: Highly Uniform Sub-microscale Patterned Slippery Liquid-like Surfaces and Bioarrays via Ammonia-Assisted Transfer Printing.

Slippery surfaces with covalently attached liquid-like polymer brushes have gained increasing research attention as unique liquid-repellent surfaces with dynamic omniphobic properties and excellent biofouling resistance. However, ultrafine patterning of such surfaces has yet to be explored in a straightforward manner. This work reports a facile polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) stamp-based transfer printing approach to generate highly uniform patterns with submicrometer sizes on slippery liquid-like surfaces over large areas.

Genetic dissection of QTL for important agronomic traits and fine-mapping of qGL4 and qGW6 based on a short-width grain rice CSSL-Z691.

Rice chromosome segment substitution lines (CSSLs) are ideal for creating natural variation and dissecting complex quantitative traits. In addition, it builds a bridge for molecular breeding and accurate identification of quantitative trait loci (QTLs). In this study, to construct an rice library of single-segment substitution lines (SSSLs) spanning the whole genome, a rice CSSL-Z691 carrying four substitution segments (4.

Tailoring Buried Interface and Minimizing Energy Loss Enable Efficient Narrow and Wide Bandgap Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells by Aluminum Glycinate Based Organometallic Molecule.

Rational regulation of Me-4PACz/perovskite interface has emerged as a significant challenge in the pursuit of highly efficient and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Herein, an organometallic molecule of aluminum glycinate (AG) that contained amine (-NH) and aluminum hydroxyl (Al-OH) groups is developed to tailor the buried interface and minimize interface-driven energy losses. The Al-OH groups selectively bonded with unanchored O═P-OH and bare NiO-OH to optimize the surface morphology and energy levels, while the -NH group interacted specifically with Pb to retard perovskite crystallization, passivate buried Pb-related defects, and release residual interface stress.

Engineering 3D microtip gates of all-polymer organic electrochemical transistors for rapid femtomolar nucleic-acid-based saliva testing.

Point-of-care testing (POCT) of trace amount of biomarkers in biofluids is critical towards health monitoring and early diagnosis. In particular, to facilitate non-invasive saliva testing, the development of low-cost, lightweight and disposable biosensors is in urgent need, while the ultrahigh sensitivity beyond conventional clinical tests remains a great challenge. Herein, we demonstrate a simple and fully printable all-polymer organic electrochemical transistor (OECT) biosensor to detect femtomolar (fM)-level biomolecules in saliva within a few minutes by employing highly conducting lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI)-doped poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(4-styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) serving as both the channel and gate.

Dual-Modal Memory Enabled by a Single Vertical N-Type Organic Artificial Synapse for Neuromorphic Computing.

Complementary neural network circuits combining multifunctional high-performance p-type with n-type organic artificial synapses satisfy sophisticated applications such as image cognition and prosthesis control. However, implementing the dual-modal memory features that are both volatile and nonvolatile in a synaptic transistor is challenging. Herein, for the first time, we propose a single vertical n-type organic synaptic transistor (VNOST) with a novel polymeric organic mixed ionic-electronic conductor as the core channel material to achieve dual-modal synaptic learning/memory behaviors at different operating current densities via the formation of an electric double layer and the reversible ion doping.

Toward At-Home and Wearable Monitoring of Female Hormones: Emerging Nanotechnologies and Clinical Prospects.

Steroid hormones, especially progesterone (P), estradiol (E), and testosterone (T), are key bioactive regulators in various female physiological processes, including growth and development, ovulation, and the reproductive cycle, as well as metabolism and mental health. As lipophilic molecules produced in sex glands, these steroid female hormones can be transported through blood vessels into various body fluids such as saliva, sweat, and urine. However, the ultralow concentration of steroid hormones down to picomolar (pM) level necessitates great demands for ultrasensitive but low-cost analytic tools to implement accurate, point-of-care or even continuous monitoring in a user-friendly fashion.

Successive Reactions of Trimethylgermanium Chloride to Achieve > 26% Efficiency MA-Free Perovskite Solar Cell With 3000-Hour Unattenuated Operation.

The rapidly increased efficiency of perovskite solar cells (PSCs) indicates their broad commercial prospects, but the commercialization of perovskite faces complex optimization processes and stability issues. In this work, a simple optimized strategy is developed by the addition of trimethylgermanium chloride (TGC) into FACsPbI precursor solution. TGC triggers the successive interactions in perovskite solution and film, involving the hydrolysis of vulnerable Ge─Cl bond forming Ge─OH group, then forming the hydrogen bonds (O─H···N and O─H···I) with FAI.

Hardware-Feasible and Efficient N-Type Organic Neuromorphic Signal Recognition via Reservoir Computing.

Organic electrochemical synaptic transistors (OESTs), inspired by the biological nervous system, have garnered increasing attention due to their multifunctional applications in neuromorphic computing. However, the practical implementation of OESTs for signal recognition-particularly those utilizing n-type organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors (OMIECs)-still faces significant challenges at the hardware level. Here, a state-of-the-art small-molecule n-type OEST integrated within a physically simple and hardware feasible reservoir-computing (RC) framework for practical temporal signal recognition is presented.

25.71 %-Efficiency FACsPbI Perovskite Solar Cells Enabled by A Thiourea-based Isomer.

Various isomers have been developed to regulate the morphology and reduce defects in state-of-the-art perovskite solar cells (PSCs). To insight the structure-function-effect correlations for the isomerization of thiourea derivatives on the performance of the PSCs, we developed two thiourea derivatives [(3,5-dichlorophenyl)amino]thiourea (AT) and N-(3,5-dichlorophenyl)hydrazinecarbothioamide (HB). Supported by experimental and calculated results, it was found that AT can bind with undercoordinated Pb defect through synergistic interaction between N1 and C=S group with a defect formation energy of 1.

Adaptive decision threshold algorithm based on a sliding window to reduce BER of free-space optical communication systems.

Free-space optical communication (FSOC) systems face susceptibility to several factors, such as transmission distance, atmospheric turbulence, and alignment errors. These elements contribute to fluctuations in the signal strength reaching the receiver. The resultant signal fluctuations can result in misjudgments and an elevated bit error rate (BER).

Magnetic Hyperporous Elastic Material with Excellent Fatigue Resistance and Oil Retention for Oil-Water Separation.

Oily wastewater has caused serious threats to the environment; thus, high-performance absorbing materials for effective oil-water separation technology have attracted increasing attention. Herein, we develop a magnetic, hydrophobic, and lipophilic hyperporous elastic material (HEM) templated by high internal phase emulsions (HIPE), in which free-radical polymerization of butyl acrylate (BA) and divinylbenzene (DVB) is employed in the presence of poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), lecithin surfactant, and modified FeO nanoparticles. The adoption of the emulsion template with nanoparticles as both stabilizers and cross-linkers endows the HEM with biomimetic hierarchical open-cell micropores and elastic cross-linked networks, generating an oil absorbent with outstanding mechanical stability.

Glycol Monomethyl Ether-Substituted Carbazolyl Hole-Transporting Material for Stable Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells with Efficiency of 25.52 .

Organic self-assembled molecules (OSAMs) based hole-transporting materials play a pivotal role in achieving highly efficient and stable inverted perovskite solar cells (IPSCs). However, the reported carbazol-based OSAMs have serious drawbacks, such as poor wettability for perovskite solution spreading due to the nonpolar surface, worse matched energy arrangement with perovskite, and limited molecular species, which greatly limit the device performance. To address above problems, a novel OSAM [4-(3,6-glycol monomethyl ether-9H-carbazol-9-yl) butyl]phosphonic acid (GM-4PACz) was synthesized as hole-transporting material by introducing glycol monomethyl ether (GM) side chains at carbazolyl unit.

Ultrasoft and High-Adhesion Block Copolymers for Neuromorphic Computing.

The "von Neumann bottleneck" is a formidable challenge in conventional computing, driving exploration into artificial synapses. Organic semiconductor materials show promise but are hindered by issues such as poor adhesion and a high elastic modulus. Here, we combine polyisoindigo-bithiophene (PIID-2T) with grafted poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) to synthesize the triblock-conjugated polymer (PIID-2T-PDMS).

Versatile Neuromorphic Modulation and Biosensing based on N-type Small-molecule Organic Mixed Ionic-Electronic Conductors.

The ion/chemical-based modulation feature of organic mixed ionic-electronic conductors (OMIECs) are critical to advancing next generation bio-integrated neuromorphic hardware. Despite achievements with polymeric OMIECs in organic electrochemical neuronal synapse (OENS). However, small molecule OMIECs based OENS has not yet been realized.

Tip-Enhanced Sub-Femtomolar Steroid Immunosensing via Micropyramidal Flexible Conducting Polymer Electrodes for At-Home Monitoring of Salivary Sex Hormones.

Noninvasive testing and continuous monitoring of ultralow-concentration hormones in biofluids have attracted increasing interest for health management and personalized medicine, in which saliva could fulfill the demand. Steroid sex hormones such as progesterone (P4) and β-estradiol (E2) are crucial for female wellness and reproduction; however, their concentrations in saliva can vary down to sub-pM and constantly fluctuate over several orders of magnitude. This remains a major obstacle toward user-friendly and reliable monitoring at home with low-cost flexible biosensors.

Near-noiseless and small-footprint phase sensitive optical parametric amplifier using AlGaAs-on-insulator waveguides.

Phase sensitive amplifiers (PSAs) based on optical parametric amplification feature near noiseless amplification, which is of considerable benefit for improving the performance of optical communication systems. Currently, the majority of research on PSAs is carried out on the basis of highly nonlinear fibers or periodically poled lithium niobite waveguides, with the impediments of being susceptible to environmental interference and requiring complex temperature control systems to maintain quasi-phase matching conditions, respectively. Here, a near-noiseless and small-footprint PSA based on dispersion-engineered AlGaAs-on-insulator (AlGaAsOI) waveguides is proposed and demonstrated theoretically.

Free-space transmission of picosecond-level, high-speed optical pulse streams in the 3 µm band.

The utilization of mid-infrared (mid-IR) light spanning the 3-5 µm range presents notable merits over the 1.5 µm band when operating in adverse atmospheric conditions. Consequently, it emerges as a promising prospect for serving as optical carriers in free-space communication (FSO) through atmospheric channels.

3D-Printed Intrinsically Stretchable Organic Electrochemical Synaptic Transistor Array.

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) for skin-like bioelectronics require mechanical stretchability, softness, and cost-effective large-scale manufacturing. However, developing intrinsically stretchable OECTs using a simple and fast-response technique is challenging due to limitations in functional materials, substrate wettability, and integrated processing of multiple materials. In this regard, we propose a fabrication method devised by combining the preparation of a microstructured hydrophilic substrate, multi-material printing of functional inks with varying viscosities, and optimization of the device channel geometries.

150 Gbps multi-wavelength FSO transmission with 25-GHz ITU-T grid in the mid-infrared region.

The 3∼5 µm mid-infrared (mid-IR) light has several exceptional benefits in the case of adverse atmospheric conditions compared to the 1.5 µm band, so it is a promising candidate for optical carriers for free-space communication (FSO) through atmospheric channels. However, the transmission capacity in the mid-IR band is constrained in the lower range due to the immaturity of its devices.

150 Gbit/s 1 km high-sensitivity FSO communication outfield demonstration based on a soliton microcomb.

A high-sensitivity and large-capacity free space optical (FSO) communication scheme based on the soliton microcomb (SMC) is proposed. Using ultra-large bandwidth stabilized SMC with a frequency interval of 48.97 GHz as the laser source, 60 optical wavelengths modulated by 2.

Multi-modulation compatible miniaturization system for FSO communication assisted by chirp-managed laser.

In recent years, the thriving satellite laser communication industry has been severely hindered by the limitations of incompatible modulation formats and restricted Size Weight and Power (SWaP). A multi-modulation compatible method serving for free-space optical (FSO) communication has been proposed assisted by chirp-managed laser (CML). The corresponding demonstration system has been established for realizing free-switching between intensity (OOK) and phase modulation (RZ-DPSK).

High-Transconductance, Highly Elastic, Durable and Recyclable All-Polymer Electrochemical Transistors with 3D Micro-Engineered Interfaces.

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have emerged as versatile platforms for broad applications spanning from flexible and wearable integrated circuits to biomedical monitoring to neuromorphic computing. A variety of materials and tailored micro/nanostructures have recently been developed to realized stretchable OECTs, however, a solid-state OECT with high elasticity has not been demonstrated to date. Herein, we present a general platform developed for the facile generation of highly elastic all-polymer OECTs with high transconductance (up to 12.