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Ye, Yiran; Jiao, Boxin; Li, Minghao; Tan, Liguo; Zhao, Jianqiao; Li, Hang; Ren, Ningyu; Su, Ruihao; Prochowicz, Daniel; Liu, Yue; Ding, Mohan; Wang, Weipeng; Zhang, Zhengjun; Chen, Yu; Yi, Chenyi

doi: 10.1002/smll.202501410pmid: 40317823

Surface passivation of the perovskite layer is crucial for enhancing the photovoltaic performance of perovskite solar cells (PSCs). Vacuum evaporation is a scalable solvent‐free method for depositing a uniform and homogenous thin layer with better control of film thickness. While the use of the vacuum‐deposition method to obtain high‐quality perovskite thin films is recently adapted, the evaporation of organic additives for surface passivation of the perovskite layer has not been widely studied. In this work, a vacuum evaporation method is introduced to uniformly deposit a novel multifunctional organic salt, 2‐chlorophenethylamine pentafluorobenzene sulfonate (2‐ClPEAPf), onto a perovskite surface. It is observed that 2‐ClPEAPf not only effectively passivates the interfacial defects but also prevents moisture invasion into the perovskite film. As a result, planar n–i–p PSCs exhibit maximum PCE up to 25.16% with an aperture area of 0.1 cm2 and PCE of 24.00% (certified) on an active area of 1.0 cm2. In addition, the 0.1 cm2 device with vacuum‐evaporated 2‐ClPEAPf reveals enhanced operational stability maintaining 92.5% of its initial efficiency after 800 hours of continuous light irradiation.

Paun, Radu A.; Li, Ling; Mouncef, Adam; Radzioch, Danuta; Tabrizian, Maryam

doi: 10.1002/smll.202409012pmid: 40317886

Despite significant advances in cancer immunotherapy, many patients fail to respond to current treatments, outlining the need to develop novel therapeutic modalities. Therapeutic resistance in cancer cells is mediated by significant genomic instability due to their oncogenic transformation and evolutionary pressures inside the tumor microenvironment (TME). However, these cellular and molecular adaptations can result in a significant increase in the baseline endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress in TME‐resident cells. This can be taken advantage of as a therapeutic strategy by using the metal chelate copper diethyldithiocarbamate (CuET), a potent inhibitor of the p97‐UFD1‐NPL4 protein complex to induce cytotoxicity and exacerbate ER stress in cancer cells. Here, CuET is combined with the anti‐inflammatory drug 6‐bromo‐indirubin‐3′‐oxime (BIO), a potent GSK3 inhibitor, to modulate the aberrant inflammatory response inside the TME. However, both CuET and BIO are highly hydrophobic and exhibit poor bioavailability, requiring the development of an appropriate carrier. Herein, it is demonstrated that CuET and BIO can be efficiently loaded into liposomes that are stabilized by poly(vinylpyrrolidone). The liposome‐loaded drug combination resulted in a significant decrease of 47% and 76% in the tumor burden of syngeneic B16F10 and YUMM1.7 mouse models, respectively, without any major acute toxicity.

Chen, Peng; Ding, Bing; Dou, Hui; Zhang, Xiaogang

doi: 10.1002/smll.202503743pmid: 40317830

The low energy density and safety problems of lithium‐ion batteries based on liquid electrolyte have set off a new wave of high specific capacity and high safety battery design to meet the need of future market. Solid‐state lithium metal battery has been widely concerned for its high energy density, safety, and electrochemical stability. Especially, polymer‐based solid‐state electrolytes (polymer SSEs) have attracted much attention due to the good interfacial contact, flexible mechanical properties, and physical/chemical stability. However, the deficiencies of low ionic conductivity and weak mechanical strength limit the further development of polymer SSEs. Here, hybrid ceramic–polymer composite solid‐state electrolytes (CSSEs), specifically consisted of polymers and inorganic ceramic active fillers, can achieve good interfacial contact, high ionic conductivity, excellent mechanical properties, and Li dendrite growth inhibition. Based on the intrinsic characteristics of polymers, this review expounds the strategies to improve the performance of ceramic–polymer CSSEs. Especially, the screening and modification strategies of polymer and ceramic active fillers in recent years, including structural design, surface modification, and interface engineering, are reviewed. Finally, the core ideas of the existing designs, and proposed feasible solutions, aiming at providing future development and industrialization of ceramic–polymer CSSEs are summarized.

Zhou, Pengyou; Lin, Xiaorui; Song, Yuxin; Pang, Yuanfeng; Chen, Rui

doi: 10.1002/smll.202409610pmid: 40317845

It is still a challenge to fabricate nanozymes with both of high catalytic activity and specificity. Herein, a ligand engineering method is developed to fabricate osmium (Os) nanocluster‐Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) heterostructure with superior peroxidase‐specific activity. It has been verified that polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as ligands can confine amorphous Os nanoclusters growing on the MoS2 nanosheet, mechanism studies indicated that PVP acts as appropriate size‐limiting reagent and electronic transmission bridge between of Os and MoS2 which can synergistically improve the peroxidase‐specific activity. Moreover, the ligand engineering will not affect the peroxidase‐mimic specificity of MoS2‐Os. Further, it is found that MoS2‐Os possessed superior photothermal conversion efficiency, therefore, MoS2‐Os can be used as colorimetric and photothermal dual‐mode tags. MoS2‐Os combined lateral flow strip is established for breast cancer HER2+ exosomes colorimetric and photothermal detection with superior sensitivity and broader liner range, MoS2‐Os based interference‐free salivary glucose biosensor is also established with a LOD of 0.1 µM, almost 100‐fold sensitivity than that of Glucose Assay Kit. Therefore, this work developed a ligand‐engineering strategy to regulate Os nanocluster on MoS2 and improve the peroxidase‐specific activity, the multifunctional MoS2‐Os nanozyme can be used for accurate and multimode biosensing in varies scenes.

Kim, Jae‐Won; Kim, Suji; Lee, Na‐Kyung; Cho, Ha‐Eun; Park, Seung Jun; Kim, Jae‐Hyun; Lee, Nohyun; Kim, Sun‐Kyung; Cho, Seok Ho; Lee, Sung‐Min

doi: 10.1002/smll.202501374pmid: 40025929

Despite the many promising properties of perovskite solar cells (PSCs), ultraviolet (UV)‐induced degradation remains a critical issue for their long‐term reliability. One potential solution is the selective inhibition of UV exposure before it reaches the PSCs; however, this approach leads to a reduction in PSC efficiency due to limited photon utilization. In this regard, here a universally applicable method is presented to address the UV stability issue of PSCs without compromising their high‐level efficiency while also providing device flexibility. A UV‐absorbing colorless polyimide (CPI) substrate serves as a flexible protective shield against UV illumination. The photocurrent loss in CPI‐based PSCs is mitigated by a nanostructured photonic sticker that incorporates a UV‐to‐visible downshifting medium, which can be easily integrated with the fabricated PSC substrate. Through the combined effects of downshifting and synergistic light trapping, the efficiency of UV‐resistant CPI‐based PSCs is improved from 18.6% to 20.4%, making it comparable to the performance of UV‐damageable glass‐based PSCs. Together with numerical modeling, various experimental characterizations of optical and photovoltaic properties, as well as stability assessments under UV, bending, and off‐normal incidence conditions, provide insights into the underlying physical phenomena and optimal design considerations for successful application.

Wang, Kebing; Liu, Guang; Gong, Jianhu; Wang, Lingfeng; Chen, Qiming; Zhang, Xinyang; Zhang, Zhengming; Yan, Mi; Wu, Chen

doi: 10.1002/smll.202501547pmid: 40285556

Soft magnetic nanocrystalline alloys are technically crucial in power electronics, whereas confront the traded‐off between high saturation magnetic flux density (Bs) and low coercivity (Hc) due to the incorporation of non‐magnetic elements or harsh crystallization process. To tackle this challenge, deep supercooling solidification and strong immiscibility system are employed to prepare Fe86Si1.3B9C2Cu1.7 nanocrystalline alloy with superior magnetic softness. Benefitting from synergistically enhanced glass‐forming ability (GFA) and atomic immiscibility, grain nucleation is thermodynamically promoted with the formation of dense Cu‐rich clusters and Fe‐rich regions. Such localized chemical heterogeneity induces significant elemental gradients between the amorphous matrix and growing grains, resulting in enhanced competitive growth and decreased grain size. Dynamic magnetization and micromagnetic simulations reveal that the dense and fine nanocrystalline microstructure contributes to smooth domain motion as well as reduced magnetic anisotropy energy and exchange energy, giving rise to exceptional magnetic properties (Bs = 1.90 T, Hc = 4.0 A m−1). As such, this study not only unveils chemical heterogeneity to enhance soft magnetic properties of nanocrystalline alloys but also provides a novel strategy for tailoring the microstructure of amorphous/nanocrystalline alloys to improve electrical, mechanical, and catalytic properties.

Bruno, Marco; Portaluri, Luigi; De Vittorio, Massimo; Gorb, Stanislav; Scaraggi, Michele

doi: 10.1002/smll.202570189pmid: N/A

Hu, Fuai; Guo, Feifei; Mu, Wenxiang; Cao, Tingting; Wang, Lei; Gao, Zeliang

doi: 10.1002/smll.202502928pmid: 40249214

Self‐powered X‐ray detectors enable operating without applying bias, enabling detector portability and making them highly valuable in the industrial and medical fields. This study demonstrates high‐performance self‐powered detectors using polar α‐BaTeMo2O9 (α‐BTM) and β‐BaTeMo2O9 (β‐BTM) oxide crystals. It is proven that the carriers are driven by the internal electrostatic field along the polar axis, and the internal electrostatic field has a favorable effect on the polar oxide crystal self‐powered X‐ray detector. The β‐BTM self‐powered detector has a sensitivity of 300.2 µCGyair−1cm−2 under 40 keV X‐rays, which is 15 times that of α‐Se detectors (20 µCGyair−1cm−2). The polar structure simultaneously addresses the inherent trade‐off between dark current and photocurrent enhancement observed in conventional detectors. The polarization structure of α‐BTM and β‐BTM crystals leads to the macroscopic polarization along the polar axis, resulting in internal electrostatic fields of 34 and 66 V mm−1. Furthermore, the ion activation energies of BTM are larger than 828 meV, which is higher than that of most perovskite materials, resulting in excellent stability and low dark current. The breakthrough performance stems from the synergistic effects of built‐in polarization fields and robust crystalline structure, opening new avenues for portable radiation detection technologies.

Zhang, Xuntao; Yin, Xinxin; Ma, Huan; Wang, Min; Liu, Yang; Cao, Yali

doi: 10.1002/smll.202502749pmid: 40289419

Na4Fe3(PO4)2P2O7 is thought to be a promising cathode material for sodium‐ion batteries (SIBs) because of its inexpensive cost and quick 3D pathways for sodium ion migration. However, traditional modified methods often result in the formation of electrochemically inactive triphylite NaFePO4 and low‐capacity NaFeP2O7, alongside low electronic conductivity, leading to a capacity loss for Na4Fe3(PO4)2P2O7. Herein, this investigation presents the initial development of an innovative 1D, high‐entropy Na4Fe2.5(MgCuZnNiCo)0.1(PO4)2P2O7 (NFPP‐HEES) cathode material tailored for SIBs, utilizing electrostatic spinning technology for the first instance, which exhibits incredible reversible capacity and ultrahigh rate performance. The electrochemical activity of Ni2+ contributes to the maintenance of high specific capacity in NFPP‐HEES, reaching 127.6 mAh g−1. Additionally, Zn, Co, Cu, and Mg serve as structural pillars, minimizing the cell volume change of NFPP‐HEES to a remarkable 0.02%. This results in improved rate performance and cycling stability, especially at 50 C, where the capacity remains at 90 mAh g−1. The synergetic effect of high‐entropy ions significantly narrows the bandgap of NFPP‐HEES and diminishes the Na+ diffusion energy barrier, thereby substantially improving the kinetic performance. This research presents a novel strategy for the advancement of SIBs cathode materials with high capacity and superior rate capability.

Tang, Tiantian; He, Hanwen; Liu, Yukun; Yang, Hongrui; Yu, Jiabei; Lin, Xinshuang; Song, Yang; Zhang, Sen; Deng, Chao

doi: 10.1002/smll.202412068pmid: 40277254

The exploration of oxygen catalyst with superior behaviors in a wide temperature range is a key issue for Zn–air battery. Herein, the CoN‐CoSe2@C hollow cages with a built‐in electric field (BIEF) on heterointerface are explored as the oxygen electrocatalyst for Zn–air battery (ZAB). Based on the theoretical analysis, the large work function difference (∆WF) of CoN‐CoSe2 heterostructure propels the interfacial electron redistribution, which results in the strong BIEF and facilitates high catalytic activities. In addition, the CoN‐CoSe2 nanocrystals are embedded in the hollow carbon nanocage to fully realize its performance. The central hollow structure of the carbon based nanocages provides the facile electron/ion/mass pathways and endows fast kinetics. Taking the advantages of both the strong BIEF and the well‐designed substrate, the CoN‐CoSe2@C hollow cages achieve the superior bifunctional electrocatalytic behaviors and good cycling performance even down to low‐temperature such as −30 °C. Moreover, the full ZAB with CoN‐CoSe2@C hollow cage cathode shows the superior performance and high reliability in diverse working conditions. Therefore, it is a promising power source candidate for the electronics in practical applications.