Nanoscience News (<front>)

Excitations with a Twist

Quantum geometry allows us to quantify the distance between quantum states. It underpins numerous phenomena in condensed matter physics, from electron transport in flat band systems to topological twists of electronic wave functions. In this talk, I will give an overview of how quantum geometry can be extended to explore the excited states of materials. Focusing on excitons, bound electron-hole pairs, I will first give an overview of the possible exciton topological phases as they arise from the underlying electron and hole states. I will next describe how quantum geometry dictates that topological excitons are larger than their trivial counterparts and show how this results in enhanced exciton diffusion. I will use a family of organic semiconductors hosting topological excitons to illustrate these ideas.

• Speaker: Professor Bartomeu Monserrat, University of Cambridge
• Wednesday 07 May 2025, 14:30-15:30
• Venue: Unilever Lecture Theatre, Yusuf Hamied Department of Chemistry.
• Series: Theory - Chemistry Research Interest Group; organiser: Lisa Masters.

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PhD Students' talks

Abstract not available

• Speaker: Speakers listed in abstract in due course
• Friday 30 May 2025, 14:00-17:00
• Venue: MR3.
• Series: Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP); organiser: Professor Grae Worster.

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The incorporation of Mo triggers a high-spin to low-spin transition in Co centers, achieving efficient nitrate-to-ammonia conversion. This spin-engineered catalytic system establishes a transformative platform for sustainable energy technologies, advancing frontier applications in electrocatalysis.

Abstract

Metal nitrides, renowned for their spin-lattice-charge interplay, offer vast potential in catalysis, electronics, and energy conversion. However, spin polarization manipulation in these nitrides remains a challenge for multi-electron electrocatalytic processes. This study introduces Co3Mo3N with a low-spin polarization configuration, achieved by incorporating spin-free lattice Mo with 4d orbitals into high-spin polarization Co4N. This innovation delivers outstanding nitrate-to-ammonia electrosynthesis, ranking among the best to date. Mo inclusion induces competing magnetic exchange interactions, reducing the spin polarization degree and enabling rate-determining step of NO2* to NO-OH* conversion via vertex-sharing NMo6 octahedra. A paired electro-refinery with a Co3Mo3N cathode achieves 2 000 mA cm−2 at 2.28 V and sustains an industrial-scale current of 1 000 mA cm−2 for 2,100 h, with an NH3 production rate of ≈70 mg NH3 h−1 cm−2. This work establishes a transformative platform for spin polarization degree-engineered electrocatalysts, driving breakthroughs in energy conversion technologies.

Does AI help humans make better decisions? A statistical evaluation framework for experimental and observational studies.

The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), or more generally data-driven algorithms, has become ubiquitous in today’s society. Yet, in many cases and especially when stakes are high, humans still make final decisions. The critical question, therefore, is whether AI helps humans make better decisions compared to a human-alone or AI-alone system. We introduce a new methodological framework to empirically answer this question with a minimal set of assumptions. We measure a decision maker’s ability to make correct decisions using standard classification metrics based on the baseline potential outcome. We consider a single-blinded and unconfounded treatment assignment, where the provision of AI-generated recommendations is assumed to be randomized across cases with humans making final decisions. Under this study design, we show how to compare the performance of three alternative decision-making systems— human-alone, human-with-AI, and AI-alone. Importantly, the AI-alone system includes any individualized treatment assignment, including those that are not used in the original study. We also show when AI recommendations should be provided to a human-decision maker, and when one should follow such recommendations. We apply the proposed methodology to our own randomized controlled trial evaluating a pretrial risk assessment instrument. We find that the risk assessment recommendations do not improve the classification accuracy of a judge’s decision to impose cash bail. Furthermore, we find that replacing a human judge with algorithms— the risk assessment score and a large language model in particular—- leads to a worse classification performance.

• Speaker: Kosuke Imai (Harvard University)
• Friday 16 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
• Venue: MR12, Centre for Mathematical Sciences.
• Series: Statistics; organiser: Qingyuan Zhao.

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Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/D4EE05559D, Review Article Open Access &nbsp This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.Muhammad Adil Riaz, Panagiotis Trogadas, David Aymé-Perrot, Christoph Sachs, Nicolas Dubouis, Hubert Girault, Marc-Olivier Coppens
Large-scale, sustainable, low-cost production of hydrogen can reduce the negative effects of climate change by decarbonising energy infrastructure. Low-carbon hydrogen can be synthesised via water electrolysis. Today, however, this only...
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Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/D5EE00943J, Review ArticleKunjie Wang, Xingyu Cui, Jingxuan Zhao, Qing Wang, Xu Zhao
Alkaline hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) and hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) are cornerstones for hydrogen utilization in anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) and hydrogen production in anion exchange membrane water...
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Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/D5EE00455A, PaperXiaoning Wang, Xiangyu Shen, Jianxiao Wang, Fuzhen Bi, Huanxiang Jiang, Hao Lu, Cheng Sun, Chunming Yang, Yonghai Li, Xichang Bao
Side chain engineering plays an important role to modulate the aggregation of organic photovoltaic materials. However, exploration of the specific sites of side chains remains very limited. Herein, we attach...
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Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/D5EE01064K, PaperTongtong Li, Zhiyang Zheng, Zherui Chen, Mengtian Zhang, Zhexuan Liu, Huang Chen, Xiao Xiao, Shaogang Wang, Haotian Qu, Qingjin Fu, Le Liu, Ming Zhou, Boran Wang, Guangmin Zhou
The urea oxidation reaction (UOR) efficiently treats urea-containing wastewater while replacing the high theoretical potential of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER), thereby enabling wastewater valorization.
To cite this article before page numbers are assigned, use the DOI form of citation above.
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PhD Students' talks

Abstract not available

• Speaker: Speakers listed in abstract in due course
• Friday 30 May 2025, 14:00-17:00
• Venue: MR2.
• Series: Fluid Mechanics (DAMTP); organiser: Professor Grae Worster.

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Translation Validation for LLVM's AArch64 Backend

Alive2 is a practical oracle for determining whether a transformation on LLVM IR is a refinement—that is, whether it is valid under the rules for LLVM optimizations. In this talk I’ll describe an analogous translation validation solution for LLVM ’s AArch64 backend that we’ve used to find 42 miscompilation bugs, many of which were in architecture-neutral code and hence could have also affected other backends. Our tool, arm-tv, reuses Alive2 as a source of LLVM semantics and offers a choice of two AArch64 semantics, one that we wrote by hand and the other derived from ARM ’s machine readable specification of their ISA .

John Regehr is a computer science professor at the University of Utah, USA . He liked to build tools for compiler developers to use, and then write papers about them.

If you want to attend the compiler social, please remember to sign up: https://grosser.science/compiler-social-2025-06-05/

• Speaker: John Regehr - University of Utah
• Thursday 05 June 2025, 15:00-16:00
• Venue: Computer Laboratory, William Gates Building, LT1.
• Series: compiler socials; organiser: Luisa Cicolini.

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Explainable AI in Neuroscience: From Interpretability to Biomarker Discovery

Explainability plays a pivotal role in building trust and fostering the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare, particularly in high-stakes domains like neuroscience where decisions directly affect patient outcomes. While progress in AI interpretability has been substantial, there remains a lack of clear, domain-specific guidelines for constructing meaningful and clinically relevant explanations. In this talk, I will explore how explainable AI (XAI) can be effectively integrated into neuroscience applications. I will outline practical strategies for leveraging interpretability methods to uncover novel patterns in neural data, and discuss how these insights can inform the identification of emerging biomarkers. Drawing on recent developments, I will highlight adaptable XAI frameworks that enhance transparency and support data-driven discovery. To validate these concepts, I will present illustrative case studies involving large language models (LLMs) and vision transformers applied to neuroscience. These examples serve as proof of concept, showcasing how explainable AI can not only translate complex model behavior into human-understandable insights, but also support the discovery of novel patterns and potential biomarkers relevant to clinical and research applications.

• Speaker: Mike Mamalakis (University of Cambridge)
• Tuesday 13 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
• Venue: Lecture Theatre 2, Computer Laboratory, William Gates Building.
• Series: Artificial Intelligence Research Group Talks (Computer Laboratory); organiser: Mateja Jamnik.

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Thermally fueled, self-moving twisted rings made from liquid crystal elastomers are investigated. By studying single rings and linked knots, it is shown how autonomous locomotion emerges through coupling between the rings. The movement is programmable via handedness control at connection points, offering insights into collective behavior and programmable motion in soft materials.

Abstract

In nature, the interplay between individual organisms often leads to the emergence of complex belabours, of which sophistication has been refined through millions of years of evolution. Synthetic materials research has focused on mimicking the natural complexity, e.g., by harnessing non-equilibrium states to drive self-assembly processes. However, it is highly challenging to understand the interaction dynamics between non-equilibrium entities and to obtain collective behavior that can arise autonomously through interaction. In this study, thermally fueled, twisted rings exhibiting self-sustained movements are used as fundamental units and their interactive behaviors and emergent functions are investigated. The rings are fabricated from connected thermoresponsive liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) strips that undergo zero-elastic-energy-mode, autonomous motions upon a heat gradient. Single-ring structures with various twisting numbers and nontrivial links, and connected knots where several LCE rings (N = 2,3,4,5) are studied and linked. The observations uncover that controlled locomotion of the structures can emerge when N ≥ 3. The locomotion can be programmed by controlling the handedness at the connection points between the individual rings. These findings illustrate how group activity emerges from individual responsive material components through mechanical coupling, offering a model for programming autonomous locomotion in soft matter constructs.

A high-performance anti-sintering catalyst with efficient and ultra-stable Ni-W catalytic layer on reductive WC (NiAWC) with stabilized Niδ+ sites for superior high-temperature RWGS reaction. Here the concept of design of high-performance catalysts through metal-substrate synergistic effects offers a promising path to engineering superior high-temperature thermal catalysis.

Abstract

The reverse water-gas shift (RWGS) reaction stands out as a promising approach for selectively converting CO2 into CO, which can then be upgraded into high-value-added products. While designing high selectivity and stability catalysts for RWGS reaction remains a significant challenge. In this study, an efficient and ultra-stable Ni-W catalytic layer on reductive WC (NiAWC) is designed as an anti-sintering catalyst for superior high-temperature RWGS reaction. Benefiting from the unique structures, the NiAWC catalyst exhibits exceptionally high performances with a CO production rate of 1.84 molCO gNi −1 h−1 and over 95% CO selectivity, maintaining stability for 120 h at 500 °C. Even after 300 h of continuous testing at 600 °C and five aging cycles at 800 °C, the activity loss is only 0.34% and 0.83%, respectively. Unlike the conventional mechanism in RWGS reaction, it is demonstrated that the Ni-W limited coordination can stabilize the Ni sites and allow a pre-oxidation of Niδ+ by CO, which produces an O* electronic reservoir and hinders the charge transfer from Ni to W-O, thereby avoiding the dissolution of Ni atoms. The design of new, efficient, and selective catalysts through metal-substrate synergistic effects is suggested to offer a promising path to engineering superior thermal catalysts.

3D-printed picoliter droplet networks have been fabricated that control gene expression in bacterial populations by releasing chemical signals with precise spatial definition and high temporal resolution. This system of effector release is widely applicable, offering diverse applications in biology and medicine.

Abstract

Synthetic cells, such as giant unilamellar vesicles, can be engineered to detect and release chemical signals to control target cell behavior. However, control over target-cell populations is limited due to poor spatial or temporal resolution and the inability of synthetic cells to deliver patterned signals. Here, 3D-printed picoliter droplet networks are described that direct gene expression in underlying bacterial populations by patterned release of a chemical signal with temporal control. Shrinkage of the droplet networks prior to use achieves spatial control over gene expression with ≈50 µm resolution. Ways to store chemical signals in the droplet networks and to activate release at controlled points in time are also demonstrated. Finally, it is shown that the spatially-controlled delivery system can regulate competition between bacteria by inducing the patterned expression of toxic bacteriocins. This system provides the groundwork for the use of picoliter droplet networks in fundamental biology and in medicine in applications that require the controlled formation of chemical gradients (i.e., for the purpose of local control of gene expression) within a target group of cells.

A macrophage-evading nano-lubricant is designed to enhance osteoarthritis (OA) treatment by suppressing complement C3 adsorption and subsequent macrophage phagocytosis. Through a zwitterionic PMPC brush layer, this strategy reduces inflammation, preserves joint lubrication, and prevents OA progression. This work highlights the pivotal role of complement C3 in nanoparticle clearance and offers a novel therapeutic approach for OA management.

Abstract

Administering a bio-lubricant is a promising therapeutic approach for the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), in particular, if it can both manage symptoms and halt disease progression. However, the clearance of these bio-lubricants mediated by synovial macrophages leads to reduced therapeutic efficiency and adverse inflammatory responses. Herein, it is shown that this process is predominantly mediated by the specific binding of complement C3 (on nanoparticle) and CD11b (on macrophage). More importantly, through a systematic evaluation of various interface modifications, a macrophage-evading nanoparticle strategy is proposed, which not only minimizes friction, but also largely suppresses C3 adsorption. It involves employing a zwitterionic poly-2-methacryloyloxyethyl phosphorylcholine (PMPC) brush layer grafted from a crosslinked gelatin core. In vitro studies demonstrate that such a nanoparticle lubricant can evade macrophage phagocytosis and further prevent the pro-inflammatory M1 polarization and subsequent harmful release of cytokines. In vivo studies show that the designed PMPC brush layer effectively mitigates synovial inflammation, alleviates OA-associated pain, and protects cartilage from degeneration, thus preventing OA progression. These findings clarify the pivotal role of complement C3-mediated macrophage recognition in nanoparticles clearance and offer a promising nanoparticle design strategy to restore joint lubrication.

TBC

TBC

• Speaker: Anja Meyer, University of Loughborough
• Wednesday 21 May 2025, 16:30-17:30
• Venue: MR12.
• Series: Algebra and Representation Theory Seminar; organiser: Adam Jones.

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A non-contact intelligent sensing system that can accurately recognize patterns formed by NIR light is reported. Black phosphate (BP)-based organogel with anti-freezing and water retention properties as non-contact sensor can be used in extremely cold or hot environments. The designed non-contact sensing system shows good robustness by maintaining high sensitivity over a wide temperature range, long working distances, different current intensities, and dark conditions.

Abstract

With the development of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, non-contact sensors are expected to realize complex human-computer interaction. However, current non-contact sensors are mainly limited by accuracy and stability. Herein, an intelligent infrared photothermal non-contact sensing system is developed that provides long-distance and high-accuracy non-contact sensing. A black phosphorus (BP)-based composite organogel is designed, which exhibits excellent photothermal properties and environmental stability, as the active material. This material can detect patterns created by near-infrared (NIR) light through various patterned masks monitored by an infrared thermal imager. The constructed non-contact sensing system is capable of accurately recognizing 26 letters with an impressive accuracy rate of 99.4%. Furthermore, even small size non-contact sensors can maintain high sensitivity and stability across a wide temperature range, at long working distances, and under different current intensities and dark conditions, demonstrating exceptional robustness. Combined with machine learning method, it is demonstrated that the non-contact sensing system excels in pattern recognition and human-computer interaction. These features highlight its potential applications in intelligent robotics and remote control systems.

Recreating the Physical Natural World from Images

For centuries, unraveling the mysteries of nature through the lens of physics has captivated countless scientists. Today, generative AI models excel at reproducing visual worlds in pixels, but still struggle with basic physical concepts such as 3D shape, motion, material, and lighting—-key elements that connect computer vision to a wide range of real-world engineering applications, including interactive VR, robotics, biology, and medical analysis. The main challenge arises from the difficulty of collecting large-scale physical measurements for training machine learning models.

In this talk, I will discuss an alternative unsupervised approach based on inverse rendering, which enables machine learning models to learn explicit physical representations from raw, unstructured image data, such as Internet photos and videos. This approach thus circumvents the need for any direct supervision, allowing us to model a wide variety of 3D objects in nature, including diverse wildlife, using only casually recorded imagery. The resulting model can generate physically-grounded 3D assets with controllable animations instantly, ready for downstream rendering and analysis. The papers presented can be found at: https://elliottwu.com/.

Link to join virtually: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/87421957265

This talk is being recorded. If you do not wish to be seen in the recording, please avoid sitting in the front three rows of seats in the lecture theatre. Any questions asked will also be included in the recording. The recording will be made available on the Department’s webpage

• Speaker: Dr Elliott Wu - Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge
• Wednesday 21 May 2025, 15:05-15:55
• Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, Computer Laboratory, William Gates Building.
• Series: Wednesday Seminars - Department of Computer Science and Technology ; organiser: Ben Karniely.

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Type-driven Development with Idris 2

Idris is a functional programming language with first-class types, which allow properties to be expressed in the type system, and with an interactive type-driven editor which allows programs to be developed as a formal conversation with the machine. In this talk I will introduce Idris and its type system, and cover recent developments in Idris 2. In particular, I will describe how the quantities in the type system give additional expressivity which allows us to implement state machines and communicating systems and verify their properties, interactively.

Link to join virtually: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/87421957265

This talk is being recorded. If you do not wish to be seen in the recording, please avoid sitting in the front three rows of seats in the lecture theatre. Any questions asked will also be included in the recording. The recording will be made available on the Department’s webpage

• Speaker: Dr Edwin Brady - School of Computer Science, University of St Andrews
• Wednesday 14 May 2025, 15:05-15:55
• Venue: Lecture Theatre 1, Computer Laboratory, William Gates Building.
• Series: Wednesday Seminars - Department of Computer Science and Technology ; organiser: Ben Karniely.

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Translation Validation for LLVM's AArch64 Backend

Alive2 is a practical oracle for determining whether a transformation on LLVM IR is a refinement—that is, whether it is valid under the rules for LLVM optimizations. In this talk I’ll describe an analogous translation validation solution for LLVM ’s AArch64 backend that we’ve used to find 42 miscompilation bugs, many of which were in architecture-neutral code and hence could have also affected other backends. Our tool, arm-tv, reuses Alive2 as a source of LLVM semantics and offers a choice of two AArch64 semantics, one that we wrote by hand and the other derived from ARM ’s machine readable specification of their ISA .

John Regehr is a computer science professor at the University of Utah, USA . He liked to build tools for compiler developers to use, and then write papers about them.

• Speaker: John Regehr - University of Utah
• Thursday 05 June 2025, 15:00-16:00
• Venue: Computer Laboratory, William Gates Building, LT1.
• Series: compiler socials; organiser: Luisa Cicolini.

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