Two-dimensional (2D) materials, such as MoS₂, show exceptional potential for next-generation electronics. However, the poor stability of these materials, particularly under long-term operations and high temperature, impedes their practical applications. Here, we develop a terminal passivation interface decoupling (TPID) strategy to significantly improve the stability of MoS₂, by mitigating the interaction between the substrate and the 2D material within the in-situ growth process. Specifically, the strong electron-withdrawing terminal group hydroxyl, prevalent on the oxide substrate, is passivated by carbon groups. Due to this, the structure of MoS₂ materials remains stable during long-term storage, and its electronic devices, field-effect transistors (FETs), show remarkable operational and high-temperature (400°C) stability over 60 days, with much-improved performance. For example, mobility increases from 9.69 to 85 cm²/(V·s), the highest value for bottom-up transfer-free single crystal MoS₂ FETs. This work provides a new avenue to solve reliability issues of 2D materials and devices, laying a foundation for their applications in the electronic industry.

Smart agriculture is an inevitable trend in the modernization of agriculture. Achieving efficient and precise monitoring of trace pesticides is an important research direction in smart agriculture, with significant implications for a safe food supply chain. However, highly sensitive and high-throughput determination of pesticides still faces formidable challenges. Herein, we demonstrate a kind of sensitive and highly selective organophosphorus pesticide device based on organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). The unique signal amplification capability of OFETs and acetylcholinesterase modification on the active channel layer enables the achievement of accurate analysis of chlorpyrifos, parathion-methyl, and omethoate at the ppb level. Moreover, the simultaneous analysis of multiple samples is realized via the preparation of multichannel devices. Additionally, a portable monitoring applet is developed, enabling real-time assessment of the pesticide contamination status of samples based on the current response. This work provides a new avenue for constructing highly sensitive, real-time, high-flux intelligent agriculture sensing technology.

With the demand for sustainable preparation of nanocellulose, the extraction of holocellulose nanofibers with surface-coated hemicellulose from various biomass is drawing more and more attention. However, detailed preparation processes and some fundamental properties of holocellulose nanofibers, such as rheological behavior and redispersibility, still need systematic investigation. An in-depth understanding of these processes and properties plays a crucial role in guiding the preparation and subsequent material design of holocellulose nanofibers. Herein, a concise method is reported to prepare bamboo-derived holocellulose nanofibers (BHCNFs) from bamboo residue and has been characterized in detail. To facilitate subsequent application, comprehensive exploration and understanding of the rheological behavior of BHCNF were conducted, along with an investigation into the redispersibility after freeze-drying. The presence of hemicellulose significantly affects the rheological behavior and gives BHCNF a certain redispersibility. To achieve better redispersibility, aerogel powder was prepared via spray freeze-drying, offering new insights into the drying and practical application of BHCNF.

Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs), with their potential for low-cost manufacturing and compatibility with flexible substrates, have emerged as an indispensable element in next-generation electronics. However, the existing OFETs are significantly hindered by their lack of reconfigurability and multifunctionality for application in complex electronic systems. To address these limitations, we propose a novel design strategy to develop a dual-gate organic field-effect transistor (DG-OFET), primarily featuring a synergistic combination of interface charge trapping and the nonvolatile nature of ferroelectric polarization, which realizes the multifunctional integration within a single platform. Specifically, the DG-OFET can be utilized as synaptic devices that can successfully perform both short-term and long-term synaptic plasticity by manipulating the input gate of artificial pulse voltages, depending on the switching mechanism between bottom-gate controlled electrostatic doping and top-gate induced ferroelectric polarization. Besides, the presynaptic spike applied to a specific gate electrode can trigger the excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic current response. The potentiation and depression of synaptic weight are mimicked by consecutive positive and negative spikes, respectively. The dual-gate coupling strategy further expands its functionality towards simulating the operation of logic gates. By modulating the combination of dual-gate input signals, the channel conductivity can analogously perform a family of elementary Boolean logic operations, including AND, OR, NAND, NOR, XOR, and XNOR. These results highlight the electronic reconfigurability of DG-OFET and tremendous potential for applications in energy-efficient neuromorphic computing networks and organic circuits, thus providing a versatile strategy for the development of advanced and efficient multifunctional integration.

The von Neumann architecture is encountering challenges, including the “memory wall” and “power wall” due to the separation of memory and central processing units, which imposes a major hurdle on today’s massive data processing. Neuromorphic computing, which combines data storage and spatiotemporal computation at the hardware level, represents a computing paradigm that surpasses the traditional von Neumann architecture. Artificial synapses are the basic building blocks of the artificial neural networks capable of neuromorphic computing, and require a high on/off ratio, high durability, low nonlinearity, and multiple conductance states. Recently, two-dimensional (2D) materials and their heterojunctions have emerged as a nanoscale hardware development platform for synaptic devices due to their intrinsic high surface-to-volume ratios and sensitivity to charge transfer at interfaces. Here, the latest progress of 2D material-based artificial synapses is reviewed regarding biomimetic principles, physical mechanisms, optimization methods, and application scenarios. In particular, there is a focus on how to improve resistive switching characteristics and synaptic plasticity of artificial synapses to meet actual needs. Finally, key technical challenges and future development paths for 2D material-based artificial neural networks are also explored.

The structural damage of carbon–polymer composites is a significant factor limiting their development and stable application. To solve this problem, polymers with fast self-healing and recyclability were first obtained by introducing dynamic polymer chain segments in different proportions. When the molar ratio of H-linked 2-[[(butylamine)carbonyl]oxy]ethyl ester (PBC) and boric acid ester–linked poly(4-hydroxymethyl) phenylboronic acid (PBA) is 2:1, the highest mechanical strength (2.9 ± 0.2 MPa) and elongation (700%) of the PBC₂-PBA₁ were achieved. Subsequently, the hydroxylated modified carbon nanotube foams (CNTF) were used as templates, which were filled with PBC₂-PBA₁ via a physical impregnation process to prepare CNTF polymer composites (PBC₂-PBA₁/CNTF). When the CNTF content is 13.4 wt%, the composite exhibits high tensile strength of 5.5 MPa, 189% higher than the mechanical strength of PBC₂–PBA₁. Furthermore, it exhibits the self-healing properties were by the recovery of tensile strength (100%), thermal conductivity (98.7%), and electrical conductivity (100%) at –20°C∼100°C. In addition, the composite materials can be recycled and the reassembled material can restore 100% of its original mechanical properties. Therefore, optimization of molecular structure and modification of phase interfaces are the strategies to produce carbon-polymer composites with excellent self-healing and recycling functions.

Schwannoma surgeries pose a significant risk of postoperative neurological impairment. While intraoperative neuromonitoring (IONM) has improved surgical outcomes, it offers an indirect assessment of neural structures and functions. However, during the surgeries, it is not feasible to achieve comprehensive visualization of the nerves. To address this limitation, we introduced a multi-channel flexible microelectrode array (FMEA) characterized by its exceptional resolution, consistent conductivity, and unwavering electrical properties. FMEA conforms precisely to the uneven tumor surface during IONM, capturing detailed spatiotemporal patterns of neural signals. Consequently, neurosurgeons can delineate nerve trajectories on the schwannoma surface with heightened precision and evaluate the functional potential of the residual nerve by analyzing signal amplitudes. For surgical guidance, we developed algorithms enabling real-time intraoperative neuro-mapping. This innovation is poised to refine schwannoma surgical practices, promoting nerve anatomical preservation after surgery and guaranteeing postoperative neural outcomes.

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) hold potential for in-sensor computing and wearable healthcare systems. Nevertheless, their inherent limitations in stretchability and conformability hinder their scalability and practical deployment. In a recent study, Liu et al. introduce a wearable in-sensor computing platform that leverages stretchable OECTs, exhibiting over 50% elongation capability while preserving stable operational performance. This innovation enables the development of wearable systems that can accurately acquire biosignals.

Electrocatalytic CO reduction (COR) offers a promising alternative approach for synthesizing valuable chemicals, potentially at a lower carbon intensity as compared to conventional chemical production. Cu-based catalysts have shown encouraging selectivity and activity toward multi-carbon (C₂₊) products, albeit typically in the form of a mixture. Steering COR selectivity toward specific types of C₂₊ products, such as liquid products with high energy density, remains a challenge. In this study, we developed a Cu/Zn bimetallic catalyst composite and demonstrated enhanced selectivity toward liquid products as compared to reference CuO and Cu-based catalysts, approaching 60% at a high current density of 300 mA/cm². Our investigation highlights that the introduction of Zn promoted the emergence of a Cu/Zn heterojunction interface during COR. Density functional theory simulations were used to rationalize the observed differences in selectivity, revealing that interface plays a crucial role in diminishing the oxygen adsorption at the Cu-sites and modifying the adsorption energy of COR reaction intermediates, consequently leading to enhanced selectivity toward liquid products.

Ionic-electronic coupling serves as the core process enabling the operation of organic mixed ionic-electronic (semi)conductors (OMIECs) based devices, for instance, organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs). Replacing hydrophobic side chains of conjugated polymers with hydrophilic ethylene glycol/ionic ones is a well-developed approach to enable transistor channels with coupled ionic and electronic transport. Here, in contrast, we introduce a hydrophilic glycol chain-modified photocrosslinker (DtFGDA) for the direct photolithography process and blend it with various representative hydrophobic conjugated polymers. The precise patterning of blended films by direct photolithography is achieved while tremendous enhancements of OECTs performance are attained, with maximum six orders of magnitude higher transconductance, significantly decreased hysteresis, and lower threshold voltage. Through spectroelectrochemical characterization, surprisingly, no obvious variations in polaron absorption peaks are observed in all conjugated polymer/crosslinker blends. An ionic-electronic separated conduction mechanism, which is never reported in OECTs before, is further proposed based on the characterization of the transmission electron microscope, wherein ions primarily migrate within the crosslinker while holes transport within the semiconducting polymer. This work proposes an efficient strategy, which involves incorporating hydrophilic chains into the photocrosslinker necessary for direct photolithography and blending it with hydrophobic semiconducting polymers, achieving synergistic ionic-electronic transport in the blended film.