All existing models to forecast the corrosion performance of reinforced concrete structures exposed to chloride environments are based on one common theoretical concept, namely, a chloride threshold, as a sharply defined trigger for corrosion, followed by a period of active corrosion. We critically review the resulting treatment of corrosion initiation and propagation as two distinct, successive stages

In this era of the Internet of Things, the development of innovative sensors has rapidly accelerated with that of nanotechnology to accommodate various demands for smart applications. The practical use of three-dimensional (3D) nanostructured materials breaks several limitations of conventional sensors, including the large surface-to-volume ratio, precisely tunable pore size and porosity, and efficient

Home-use, wearable healthcare devices may enable patients to collect various types of medical data during daily activities. Electrocardiographic data are vitally important. To be practical, monitoring devices must be wearable, comfortable, and stable, even during exercise. This study develops a breathable, stretchable sensor sheet by employing a kirigami structure, and we examine the size dependence

Living systems are composed of molecules that are synthesized by cells that use energy sources within their surroundings to create fascinating materials that have mechanical properties optimized for their biological function. Their functionality is a ubiquitous aspect of our lives. We use wood to construct furniture, bacterial colonies to modify the texture of dairy products and other foods, intestines

Electrospinning is one of the most accessed nanofabrication techniques during the last three decades, attributed to its viability for the mass production of continuous nanofibers with superior properties from a variety of polymers and polymeric composites. Large investments from various sectors have pushed the development of electrospinning industrial setups capable of producing nanofibers in millions

Composite lithium metal anodes with three-dimensional (3D) conductive fabric present great potential to be used in high-energy-density flexible batteries for next-generation wearable electronics. However, lithium dendrites at the top of the fabric anode increase the risk of separator piercing and, therefore, cause a high possibility of short circuits, especially when undergoing large mechanical deformation

Recently, significant progress has been made in the development of new techniques for the fabrication of mechanically durable, bright, and deformable electroluminescent devices, leading to the emergence of various technologies, such as soft robots, actuators, flexible/stretchable/wearable electronics, and self-healable devices. However, these devices mostly possess coplanar structures, wherein the

Polarized neutron reflectometry is a powerful technique to interrogate the structures of multilayered magnetic materials with depth sensitivity and nanometer resolution. However, reflectometry profiles often inhabit a complicated objective function landscape using traditional fitting methods, posing a significant challenge for parameter retrieval. In this work, we develop a data-driven framework to

Exploring effective, facile, and universal tuning strategies to optimize material physicochemical properties and catalysis processes is critical for many sustainable energy systems, but still challenging. Herein, we succeed to introduce tensile strain into various perovskites via a facile thermochemical reduction method, which can greatly improve material performance for the bottleneck oxygen-evolving

Spontaneous oscillations in a variety of systems, including neurons, electrochemical, and semiconductor devices, occur as a consequence of Hopf bifurcation in which the system makes a sudden transition to an unstable dynamical state by the smooth change of a parameter. We review the linear stability analysis of oscillatory systems that operate by current–voltage control using the method of impedance

In recent years, the role of optically sensitive nanomaterials has become powerful moieties in therapeutic techniques and has become particularly emphasized. Currently, by the extraordinary development of nanomaterials in different fields of medicine, they have found new applications. Phototherapy modalities, such as photothermal therapy (PTT) by toxic heat generation and photodynamic therapy (PDT)

We report a transient plasmonic spin skyrmion topological quasiparticle within surface plasmon polariton vortices, which is described by analytical modeling and imaging of its formation by ultrafast interferometric time-resolved photoemission electron microscopy. Our model finds a twisted skyrmion spin texture on the vacuum side of a metal/vacuum interface and its integral opposite counterpart in the

Two challenging scientific disciplines, i.e., the physics of glasses [Anderson, Science 267, 1615 (1995); Kennedy and Norman, Science 309, 75 (2005)] and interface chemistry [Sanders, 125 Questions: Exploration and Discovery (Science/AAAS, 2021); Yates and Campbell, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U. S. A. 108, 911 (2011)], converge in research on the dynamics of glass surfaces. In recent decades, studies have

This Review highlights basic and transition metal conducting and semiconducting oxides. We discuss their material and electronic properties with an emphasis on the crystal, electronic, and band structures. The goal of this Review is to present a current compilation of material properties and to summarize possible uses and advantages in device applications. We discuss Ga2O3, Al2O3, In2O3, SnO2, ZnO

Computational meta-imagers synergize metamaterial hardware with advanced signal processing approaches such as compressed sensing. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are gradually reshaping the landscape of meta-imaging. Most recent works use AI for data analysis, but some also use it to program the physical meta-hardware. The role of “intelligence” in the measurement process and its implications

Cortical neurons emit seemingly erratic trains of action potentials or “spikes,” and neural network dynamics emerge from the coordinated spiking activity within neural circuits. These rich dynamics manifest themselves in a variety of patterns, which emerge spontaneously or in response to incoming activity produced by sensory inputs. In this Review, we focus on neural dynamics that is best understood

The emergent field of cavity quantum materials bridges collective many-body phenomena in solid state platforms with strong light–matter coupling in cavity quantum electrodynamics. This brief review provides an overview of the state of the art of cavity platforms and highlights recent theoretical proposals and first experimental demonstrations of cavity control of collective phenomena in quantum materials

The exotic properties of two-dimensional materials and heterostructures, built by forming heterogeneous multi-layered stacks, have been widely explored across several subject matters following the goal to invent, design, and improve applications enabled by these materials. Successfully harvesting these unique properties effectively and increasing the yield of manufacturing two-dimensional material-based

Tailoring light properties using metasurfaces made of optically thin and subwavelength structure arrays has led to a variety of innovative optical components with intriguing functionalities. Transmitted/reflected light field distribution with exquisite nanoscale resolution achievable with metasurfaces has been utilized to encode holographic complex amplitude, leading to arbitrary holographic intensity

Due to nonideal behavior, current organic thin film transistor technologies lack the proper models for essential characterization and thus suffer from a poorly estimated parameter extraction critical for circuit design and integration. Organic thin film transistors are often plagued by contact resistance, which is often less problematic in inorganic transistors; consequently, common models used for

Because of their unique structural, chemical, optical, and biological properties, metal phosphate coatings are highly versatile for various applications. Thermodynamically facile and favorable functionalization of phosphate moieties (like orthophosphates, metaphosphates, pyrophosphates, and phosphorus-doped oxides) makes them highly sought-after functional materials as well. Being a sequential self-limiting

Exchange bias is a physical effect that is used in many spintronic devices like magnetic read heads, magnetic random access memories, and most kinds of magnetic sensors. For the next generation of fully organic devices, molecular exchange bias, if existing, could have a huge impact for developing mechanically soft and environment friendly devices. The observation of molecular exchange bias has been

For photonic devices, structural disorder and light scattering have long been considered annoying and detrimental features that were best avoided or minimized. This review shows that disorder and complexity can be harnessed for photonic device applications. Compared to ordered systems, disordered systems provide much more possibilities and diverse optical responses. They have been used to create physical

Leon Chua's Local Activity theory quantitatively relates the compact model of an isolated nonlinear circuit element, such as a memristor, to its potential for desired dynamical behaviors when externally coupled to passive elements in a circuit. However, the theory's use has often been limited to potentially unphysical toy models and analyses of small-signal linear circuits containing pseudo-elements

Organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have attracted great attention since their discovery in 1984 due to their flexibility and biocompatibility. Although an intense focus has been put on the design of new organic semiconductors, fewer efforts are directed toward the development of optimized electrolytes. However, the electrolyte is an integral part of OECTs and strongly influences the transient

Layered vanadate cathodes hold promise for aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) owing to their multiple redox reactions as well as large interlayer space for Zn2+ storage. However, they are limited by vanadium dissolution during cycling, in association with severe capacity fade and unsatisfactory cyclic life. To address this challenge, we herein report a pre-inserted dual-cation vanadate (NaxZnyV3O8·nH2O)

Nonvolatile memories are in strong demand due to the desire for miniaturization, high-speed storage, and low energy consumption to fulfill the rapid developments of big data, the Internet of Things, and artificial intelligence. Hafnia (HfO2)-based materials have attracted significant interest due to the advantages of complementary-metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) compatibility, large coercive voltage

Practical applications of next-generation stretchable electronics hinge on the development of sustained power supplies to drive highly sensitive on-skin sensors and wireless transmission modules. Although the manufacture of stretchable self-charging power units has been demonstrated by integrating stretchable energy harvesters and power management circuits with energy storage units, they often suffer

The Seebeck and Peltier effects have been widely studied and used in various thermoelectric technologies, including thermal energy harvesting and solid-state heat pumps. However, basic and applied studies on the Thomson effect, another fundamental thermoelectric effect in conductors, are limited despite the fact that the Thomson effect allows electronic cooling through the application of a temperature

In a blueprint for topological electronics, edge state transport in a topological insulator material can be controlled by employing a gate-induced topological quantum phase transition. Here, by studying the width dependence of electronic properties, it is inferred that zigzag-Xene nanoribbons are promising materials for topological electronics with a display of unique physical characteristics associated

Deterministic solid state quantum light sources are considered key building blocks for future communication networks. While several proof-of-principle experiments of quantum communication using such sources have been realized, most of them required large setups—often involving liquid helium infrastructure or bulky closed-cycle cryotechnology. In this work, we report on the first quantum key distribution

Recent experiments on bulk Zintl CaAl2Si2 reveal the presence of nontrivial topological states. However, the large family of two-dimensional (2D) Zintl materials remains unexplored. Using first-principles calculations, we discuss the stability and topological electronic structures of 12 Zintl single-quintuple-layer (1-QL) AM2X2 compounds in the CaAl2Si2-structure (A = Ca, Sr, or Ba; M = Zn or Cd; and

Cr(1+δ)Te2 are pseudo-layered compounds consisting of CrTe2 transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) layers with additional (δ) self-intercalated Cr atoms. The recent search for ferromagnetic 2D materials revived the interest into chromium tellurides. Here, Cr(1+δ)Te2 nanolayers are epitaxially grown on MoS2 (0001), forming prototypical van der Waals heterostructures. Under optimized growth conditions

The unidirectional spin Hall and Rashba−Edelstein magnetoresistance is of great fundamental and practical interest, particularly in the context of reading magnetization states in two-terminal spin–orbit torque memory and logic devices due to its unique symmetry. Here, we report large unidirectional spin Hall and Rashba−Edelstein magnetoresistance in a new material family—magnetic insulator/topological

Spin–orbit torque induced ferromagnetic magnetization switching brought by injecting a charge current into strong spin–orbit-coupling materials is an energy-efficient writing method in emerging magnetic memories and spin logic devices. However, because of the short spin coherence length in ferromagnetic layers, the interfacial effective spin–orbit torque typically leads to high critical current density

For an engineered thick tissue construct to be alive and sustainable, it should be perfusable with respect to nutrients and oxygen. Embedded printing and then removing sacrificial inks in a cross-linkable yield-stress hydrogel matrix bath can serve as a valuable tool for fabricating perfusable tissue constructs. The objective of this study is to investigate the printability of sacrificial inks and

There has been a challenge for many decades to understand how heterogeneities influence the behavior of materials under shock loading, eventually leading to spall formation and failure. Experimental, analytical, and computational techniques have matured to the point where systematic studies of materials with complex microstructures under shock loading and the associated failure mechanisms are feasible

Quantum emitters have become a vital tool for both fundamental science and emerging technologies. In recent years, the focus in the field has shifted to exploration and identification of new quantum systems enabled by the emerging library of atomically thin, two dimensional materials. In this review, we highlight the current state of the art in engineering of quantum emitters in 2D systems, with an

Persistent room temperature phosphorescence (pRTP) is important to high-resolution imaging independent of autofluorescence and the scattering of excitation light for security and imaging applications. Although efficient and bright pRTP is crucial to imaging applications, photophysical processes from the triple states of heavy-atom-free chromophores have been explained by making many assumptions that

The modus operandi in materials research and development is combining existing data with an understanding of the underlying physics to create and test new hypotheses via experiments or simulations. This process is traditionally driven by subject expertise and the creativity of individual researchers, who “close the loop” by updating their hypotheses and models in light of new data or knowledge acquired

Pre-amplification of ultrasmall signals directly in the mechanical domain and boosting quality (Q) factors in nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS) are intriguing scientific questions and technical challenges. These are particularly enticing in resonant NEMS enabled by emerging two-dimensional (2D) layered crystals, toward revealing fundamental limits and potential of 2D NEMS in both science explorations

The ever-increasing world-wide energy consumption and crisis of environmental pollution have aroused enthusiasm on developing high-efficiency and green-clean energy conversion technology. Thermoelectric materials enable an environmentally friendly conversion between heat and electricity, and therefore serve as an optimum candidate for solving the current dilemma and contribute to the carbon-neutral

Lack of crystalline order in amorphous alloys, commonly called metallic glasses (MGs), tends to make them harder and more wear-resistant than their crystalline counterparts. However, finding inexpensive MGs is daunting; finding one with enhanced wear resistance is a further challenge. Relying on machine learning (ML) predictions of MGs alone requires a highly precise model; however, incorporating high-throughput

Over the past few decades, Bombyx mori silk fibroin has become a ubiquitous material for applications ranging from biomedical devices to optics, electronics, and sensing, while also showing potential in the food supply chain and being re-engineered as a functional material for architecture and design-related applications. Its widespread use derives from its unique properties, including biocompatibility

The widespread application of high-frequency electronic and communication devices has caused increasingly severe electromagnetic pollution. It is highly desirable but challenging to develop ultralight electromagnetic wave (EMW) absorbers with strong absorption performance to eliminate the negative effects of electromagnetic pollution. Herein, a secondary ion adsorption and defect-anchoring strategy

Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs), owing to their intrinsic anisotropic property and capability of generating programmable complex morphologies under heat, have been widely used for applications ranging from soft robotics, photonic devices, cell culture, to tissue engineering. To fulfill the applications under various circumstances, high actuation efficiency, high mechanical strength, large heat and

Interface modification is considered as a straightforward strategy to regulate the electrochemical environment of metal anodes and to provide a physically protective interphase. Herein, we develop galvanically replaced artificial interfacial layers, where Sn, Sb, and Bi layers are uniformly grown on Zn anodes, for use in high-performance aqueous rechargeable zinc batteries. The corrosion and dendrite

Ferroelectric interfacial devices consist of materials systems whose interfacial electronic properties (such as a 2D electron gas or an interfacial magnetic spin configuration) are modulated by a ferroelectric layer set in its immediate vicinity. While the prototypical example of such a system is the ferroelectric field effect transistor first proposed in the 1950s, only with the recent advances in

Hybrid organic–inorganic perovskites (HOIPs) are the emerging family of perovskite materials showing a diverse plethora of unique optoelectronic properties for promising energy applications for sustainable and green environment. These materials also show potential promise for fine tuning of structural, electronic, and optical properties under external stimuli like pressure, temperature, and electric

Dynamic molecular crystals showing light-triggered macro-movements have attracted great attention due to their unique ability for light–force conversion. These molecular crystals are driven remotely without any intermediary devices like wires and motors, which can transform light energy into mechanical work directly. However, the limited space restricts molecular rotation and motion in the crystalline

Diagnosis of disease at an early, curable, and reversible stage allows more conservative treatment and better patient outcomes. Fluorescence biosensing is a widely used method to detect biomarkers, which are early indicators of disease. Importantly, biosensing requires a high level of sensitivity. Traditionally, these sensors use antibodies or enzymes as biorecognition molecules; however, these can

Structured light, especially beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM), has gained much interest due to its unique amplitude and phase structures. In terms of communication systems, multiple orthogonal OAM beams can be potentially utilized for increasing link capacity in different scenarios. This review describes challenges, advances, and perspectives on different aspects of the OAM-based optical

Conventional computing based on von Neumann architecture cannot satisfy the demands of artificial intelligence (AI) applications anymore. Neuromorphic computing, emulating structures and principles based on the human brain, provides an alternative and promising approach for efficient and low consumption information processing. Herein, recent progress in neuromorphic computing enabled by emerging two-dimensional

One-dimensional nanostructures commonly refer to nanomaterials with a large length-to-diameter ratio, such as nanowires, nanotubes, nanorods, and nanopillars. The nanoscale lateral dimensions and high aspect ratios of these (quasi) one-dimensional nanostructures result in fascinating optical and electrical properties, including strongly anisotropic optical absorption, controlled directionality of light

Lead zirconate titanate (PZT) thin films stand for a prominent technological brick in the field of microsystems. The recent improvements of their manufacturability combined with excellent piezoelectric properties have enabled their introduction in industrial clean rooms all around the world. These films require annealing temperatures beyond 600 °C to crystallize in the desired perovskite phase, which

Autonomous experimentation and chemical discovery strategies are rapidly rising across multiple fields of science. However, closed-loop material development approaches have not been widely employed in colloidal nanoscience mainly due to the challenges in synthesis space size, sensitivity to reaction conditions, and the complexity of monitoring multiple synthesis outputs. Recent advancements in automated

Nanoscale interfaces with biological tissue, principally made with nanowires (NWs), are envisioned as minimally destructive to the tissue and as scalable tools to directly transduce the electrochemical activity of a neuron at its finest resolution. This review lays the foundations for understanding the material and device considerations required to interrogate neuronal activity at the nanoscale. We

Efficient and controlled charge transport in networks of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes is the basis for their application in electronic devices, especially in field-effect transistors and thermoelectrics. The recent advances in selective growth, purification, and sorting of semiconducting and even monochiral carbon nanotubes have enabled field-effect transistors with high carrier mobilities

Once merely ancient arts, origami (i.e., paper folding) and kirigami (i.e., paper cutting) have in recent years also become popular for building mechanical metamaterials and now provide valuable design guidelines. By means of folding and cutting, two-dimensional thin-film materials are transformed into complex three-dimensional structures and shapes with unique and programmable mechanical properties

The interest in two-dimensional and layered materials continues to expand, driven by the compelling properties of individual atomic layers that can be stacked and/or twisted into synthetic heterostructures. The plethora of electronic properties as well as the emergence of many different quasiparticles, including plasmons, polaritons, trions, and excitons with large, tunable binding energies that all