Small Methods最新文献

Monolithic integration is widely regarded as a practical pathway toward scalable perovskite solar modules (PSMs). Despite substantial progress in understanding and mitigating laser-scribing-induced damage, laser-scribed groove regions remain important localized sources of performance loss and degradation that can affect module efficiency, reproducibility, and long-term stability. While a growing number of studies have reported various post-processing approaches for laser-scribed grooves, the field still lacks an engineering-oriented framework connecting laser-induced damage mechanisms with practical module-level mitigation strategies. In this review, we specifically focus on laser-scribed grooves as functionally dominant degradation zones, rather than treating them as minor processing defects. We introduce an engineering-oriented damage cascade framework to describe how laser-induced thermal disorder, defect generation, structural disruption, and transport processes are hierarchically coupled. Based on this perspective, existing post-processing strategies for grooves are systematically classified according to the stages of the damage cascade they primarily address. This enables a mechanism-guided evaluation of their effectiveness, trade-offs, and scalability.

The practical application of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) electrolytes in solid-state lithium metal batteries is severely constrained by low ionic conductivity at ambient temperature. To address this intrinsic limitation, we introduce FeF₃ as a multifunctional additive into the PEO/poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVDF‑HFP) matrix, yielding the FeF₃‑PEOPVLi electrolyte. Fe³⁺ ions with strong Lewis acidity competitively coordinate with the ether oxygen atoms via Fe³⁺-O-C interactions, thereby weakening the native Li⁺-O-C coordination and substantially reducing the energy barrier for Li⁺ hopping. Concurrently, the strong electron withdrawing nature of Fe³⁺ promotes lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) dissociation by weakening the Li-N bond, increasing the concentration of free Li⁺ ions available for ionic transport. Benefiting from these synergistic effects, the FeF₃‑PEOPVLi electrolyte achieves high ionic conductivity of 0.13 mS cm^{- 1} at 25°C. Solid-state Li||LiFePO₄ batteries deliver discharge capacity of 120.6 mAh g^{- 1} at 0.5 C at 25°C and retains 88.4% of its capacity after 1000 cycles. This work demonstrates that rational modulation of the coordination environment within PEO provides a viable and effective pathway toward high‑performance room‑temperature solid‑state lithium metal batteries.

While electrochromic devices employing solid polymer electrolytes offer advantages in safety and mechanical durability compared with conventional devices using liquid electrolytes, their performance is often limited by slow switching speeds and low coloration efficiency mainly due to slow ion transport within the solid medium. To address these challenges, we introduced a nanostructured solid polymer electrolyte (NSPE) featuring high-density nanoscale ion-transport channels embedded within a mechanically robust polymer matrix. These nanochannels provide efficient ion-conduction pathways while minimizing light scattering. Using a complementary WO₃/NiO electrochromic configuration, we evaluated the effect of the NSPE architecture on device performance. The resulting device exhibited a high bleached-state transmittance of 74.5% and a large optical modulation of 63.7% in the visible region. Notably, the device exhibited rapid switching kinetics, with coloration and bleaching times of 11.8 and 2.1 s, respectively, together with a high coloration efficiency of 146.7 cm² C^{- 1}. Furthermore, the electrolyte enabled the successful fabrication of both large-area (80 mm × 80 mm) and flexible electrochromic devices while retaining electrochromic functionality, highlighting its scalability and mechanical adaptability. These results demonstrate that nanochannel-engineered solid electrolytes provide an effective strategy for achieving high-performance, transparent, and mechanically versatile electrochromic devices for next-generation smart window applications.

Ultrathin lithiophilic alloy foils (<10 µm) are highly desirable for advancing high-energy-density rechargeable lithium metal batteries toward practical applications, particularly in view of the persistent dendrite formation associated with pure Li anodes. Here, an ultrathin eutectic Sn-Bi-In alloy foil is fabricated through a simple melt-cooling-rolling process at 62°C. The foil enables uniform and dense Li deposition with an ultrahigh areal capacity of 200 mAh cm^-2 through the synergistic effects of dynamic creep-induced wrinkling, which guides Li nucleation, and elemental diffusion, primarily of In, which homogenizes the local Li⁺ flux. The resulting dendrite-free, columnar Li deposits exhibit excellent plating/stripping reversibility, sustaining stable cycling for 3500 h at 2 mA cm^-2 and 1 mAh cm^-2 with a low overpotential of only ∼13 mV. Full cells paired with LiFePO₄ cathodes achieve an average Coulombic efficiency of 98.69% over 600 cycles. These findings establish a scalable electrode design strategy that integrates mechanical adaptability with chemical self-regulation, offering a promising pathway toward practical high-energy-density lithium metal batteries.

Rechargeable aqueous zinc-air batteries are critically hindered by dendrite formation, parasitic hydrogen evolution (HER), and corrosion at the zinc anode. Here, we employ a multimodal characterization strategy, bridging nanoscale visualization with macroscale information, to understand the effects of boric acid (BA) as an additive in alkaline media. In-situ liquid phase TEM (LPTEM) observations demonstrate that BA additive suppresses HER and promotes a uniform, compact plating with highly reversible stripping. This contrasts sharply with the base electrolyte, which shows vigorous bubbling, nonuniform plating, and incomplete stripping. This nanoscale mechanism translates to the macroscale, where BA induces a transformation from dendritic structures to the desirable, compact "boulder-like" deposit. Macroscale electrochemical analysis quantifies this effect, revealing that 130 mM BA suppresses the corrosion current density by an order of magnitude significantly inhibiting HER. Further investigations combining XRD, ICP-OES suggest that BA is likely to exist as the tetrahydoxyborate anion, which functions as a non-consumed, non-incorporated surface-active agent. Finally the cycling of ZnO-PTFE composite anode in BA containing electrolyte over 75 cycles at a current density of 120 mAh/g_Zn at 30% DOD with 100% columbic efficiency shows the promise of BA as a practical electrolyte additive.

Electrode-electrolyte interphases (EEIs) govern battery performance, yet the interplay between their chemical composition and spatial organization remains challenging to resolve. Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) provides rich 3D chemical depth profiles of these interfaces, yet conventional analyses simplify the complexity by collapsing the data into 1D depth profiles or 2D maps, obscuring critical spatial features. Here, we apply a machine-learning-based approach directly to 3D TOF-SIMS depth profiles, leveraging their full spatial and chemical richness to investigate the interphase structure and chemistry more comprehensively than conventional analyses. Principal component analysis (PCA) identifies fragments that dominate chemical heterogeneity across the EEI, reveals correlated and anticorrelated spatial distributions, and enables direct comparison of average interphase chemistry and chemical variability. Building on this, t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (t-SNE) and uniform manifold approximation and projection (UMAP) resolve stratified structures and fine-scale spatial interphase variations. Finally, applying PCA to fragment-specific thickness maps enables comparison of interphase thickness heterogeneity and identifies the chemical species responsible for local thickness variations. Together, the approach creates a generalized framework for extracting chemically and spatially meaningful information from complex TOF-SIMS datasets, linking interphase chemistry to electrochemical behavior and guiding the design of uniform interphases for advanced battery systems.

This article presents a correlative analytical strategy for studying nanoparticle-microbe interactions. Understanding the intracellular transformations of metallic nanoparticles (MNPs) provides critical insights into their antimicrobial mechanisms and informs the design of safe, durable antimicrobial materials. Conventional analytical techniques, however, are limited in their ability to simultaneously capture nanoscale morphological changes and the chemical-state evolution of nanoparticles within microbial cells. To address this, a strategy integrating high-resolution scanning electron microscopy (HR-SEM) with sputtering-enabled intracellular x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (SEI-XPS) was developed, enabling depth-resolved, chemically specific analysis of nanoparticle-microbe interactions. Using AgNPs and PtNPs as model systems, their fate was investigated in one bacterium (Arthrobacter sp.) and two phylogenetically distinct fungi (Alternaria obovoidea and Cladosporium sp.). SEM revealed rapid membrane disruption in bacteria and slower, species-dependent structural impairment in fungi. SEI-XPS demonstrated biologically induced oxidation of AgNPs, with increasing Ag(I) and higher-order oxidized species correlating with exposure time and microbial damage, while PtNPs remained predominantly metallic, confirming an ion-release-independent antimicrobial mechanism. Depth profiling enabled direct chemical-state mapping of intracellular nanoparticle residues, revealing persistent metallic cores for both AgNPs and PtNPs. This approach provides mechanistic insight inaccessible through conventional assays and establishes SEI-XPS as powerful, laboratory-based method for probing nanoparticle transformations in living microbial systems. The methodology also offers a framework for rational design of next-generation antimicrobial coatings, including those intended for cultural heritage conservation.

Heterogeneous integration of dissimilar functional materials enables advanced micro/nano devices with unprecedented functionalities, yet the resulting interfacial multiphysics interactions can introduce hidden energy leakage pathways beyond conventional bulk systems. Here, we reveal a previously overlooked carrier-mediated acoustic leakage mechanism in piezoelectric-semiconductor heterostructures. By developing an electromechanical-carrier coupling model, we demonstrate that interfacial carrier accumulation reconstructs electrical boundary conditions, causing piezoelectric fields to penetrate into non-resonant regions. The resulting electric field distortion activates parasitic mechanical vibrations, which radiate bulk acoustic waves into the silicon substrate and degrade the quality (Q) factor. Ultrafast femtosecond laser pump-probe spectroscopy is further employed to characterize carrier dynamics, establishing a quantitative link between carrier modulation and acoustic performance. Guided by this mechanism, multiphysics decoupling strategies based on material engineering and electric field engineering are developed to suppress carrier-mediated acoustic leakage. By reconstructing electrical boundaries through defect-state modulation and asymmetric electrode design, the Q factor of piezoelectric-semiconductor devices is substantially enhanced while maintaining compatibility with standard fabrication processes. This work reveals an unconventional role of semiconductor carriers as mediators of acoustic energy redistribution and provides a mechanism-guided strategy for designing high-performance heterogeneously integrated micro/nano devices.

Micro/nanorobots have garnered significant attention due to their potential applications in biomedical fields such as minimally invasive surgery, targeted drug delivery, and cell manipulation. Magnetic field actuation, as a non-invasive and highly biocompatible driving method, has become a research hotspot. However, traditional magnetic functionalization methods like magnetron sputtering suffer from complex processes, high costs, and poor biocompatibility. Meanwhile, the mixture method combining magnetic particles with photoresist is constrained by particle dispersion and molding quality. To address these challenges, this study developed a low-cost, rapid, efficient, uniform, and stable magnetic coating method for Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles. This technique utilizes a rotating magnetic field to rapidly transport and concentrate Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles around the photoresist microstructure, where the kinetic energy imparted by the magnetic field forcefully overcomes interfacial electrostatic repulsion, allowing strong van der Waals forces to drive their firm and uniform adhesion within 5 min. Systematic experiments demonstrate that this method exhibits outstanding performance in particle attachment uniformity, motion stability, durability, and biological environments. Its motion capabilities are comparable to those achieved by conventional magnetron sputtering, providing significant reference for the functional design and biomedical applications of magnetic micro/nanorobots.

Self-powered sensing devices for human-machine interaction suffer from poor mechanical robustness, fragile structural stability, and fluctuating sensing signals under cyclic deformation, severely restricting their long-term operational reliability. Integrating self-healing functionality into triboelectric substrates is an effective approach to address these bottlenecks, but it remains challenging to simultaneously realize superior stretchability, steady electrical output, and efficient self-healing performance in a single material system. Inspired by the arm structure of brittle stars, a waterborne polyurethane (WPU) incorporating dynamic disulfide and hydrogen bonds was fabricated, and the hydrogen-bonding interfacial network between MXene and WPU was tailored. A composite system enabling synergistic multilevel energy dissipation through reversible dynamic bonds and disulfide exchange was therefore constructed. The resulting MXene/WPU (M-WPU) composite film exhibits a tensile strength of 14.7 MPa, an elongation at break of 970%, a triboelectric output of 14 µA, and a self-healing efficiency of 89% after thermal healing at 100°C for 12 h. The flexible sensor assembled from this M-WPU film, integrated with machine learning, enables accurate handwriting recognition and human-machine interaction. Notably, after macroscopic crack self-healing, the M-WPU can still maintain stable electrical signal output, offering novel design insights for the development of long-life, highly reliable self-powered flexible sensors.