Supramolecular Conductive Hydrogels With Homogeneous Ionic and Electronic Transport
Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) based conductive hydrogels have received great attention in bioelectronics on account of their tissue-like mechanical properties. However, inhomogeneous morphologies of the conducting PEDOT phase limits their electrical and mechanical properties. Here, supramolecular hydrogels with self-doped PEDOT (S-PEDOT) homogeneously distributed are reported, which simultaneously exhibit high toughness (620 kJ m−3), softness (10.5 kPa) and conductivity (5.8 S cm−1).
Abstract
Mechanically resilient hydrogels with ion-electron mixed transport properties effectively bridge biology with electronics. An ideal bioelectronic interface can be realized through introducing electronically conductive polymers into supramolecular hydrogels. However, inhomogeneous morphologies of conducting polymers, such as poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS), have limited mechanical properties and ion-electron interactions. Here, supramolecular conductive hydrogels that possess homogeneous ionic and electronic transport are achieved. The materials demonstrate high toughness (620 kJ m−3), stretchability (>1000%), softness (10.5 kPa), and conductivity (5.8 S cm−1), which surpasses commonly used inhomogeneous PEDOT:PSS-based hydrogels. The homogeneous network leads to higher charge injection capacitance and lower skin impedance compared to commercial electrodes or commonly used inhomogeneous PEDOT:PSS conducting networks. This significant advance arises from the homogeneous incorporation of the hydrophilic self-doped conducting polymer S-PEDOT, which has polymerized within a supramolecular polymer network template mediated by high-binding affinity host-guest crosslinks. Furthermore, the compatibility of S-PEDOT with hydrophilic secondary networks enables the realization of fully dryable and reswellable electronic devices, facilitating reusability and improving their ease of handling. It is anticipated that achieving such material architectures will offer a promising new direction in future synthesis and implementation of conductive hydrogels in the field of bioelectronics.
Rational Design of a Bilayer Interface for Long‐Term Stability of Zn Anodes and MnO2 Cathodes
A bilayer electrode–electrolyte interface engineering strategy is presented to introduce sodium thioctate into bare ZnSO4 electrolytes. Benefiting from the bilayer electrode-electrolyte interface, optimized solvation structure, and reconstructed inner Helmholtz plane, the resulting Zn−MnO2 batteries exhibit prominent cycling stability. This work provides effective guidance for the rational design of safe and long-life aqueous zinc-ion batteries.
Abstract
Understanding the composition–characteristics–performance relationship of the electrolyte–electric double layer–electrode–electrolyte interface (EEI) is crucial to construct stable EEIs for high-performance aqueous Zn–MnO2 batteries (AZMBs). However, the interaction mechanisms in AZMBs remain unclear. This work introduces sodium thioctate (ST) into ZnSO4 electrolyte to construct a stable bilayer EEI on both Zn and MnO2 electrodes. First, zincophilic ST regulates the solvation structure of hydrated Zn2+, suppressing corrosion and the hydrogen evolution reaction. Second, the specific adsorption of ST reconstructs the inner Helmholtz plane, facilitating the desolvation of hydrated Zn2+ and homogenizing charge distribution. Finally, ST molecules undergo reversible polymerization at the interface, forming a stable bilayer EEI with a poly(zinc thioctate) outer layer and a ZnS–organic amorphous inner layer, which ensures uniform zinc-ion flux and enhances mechanical stability. Additionally, the dynamic disulfide bonds in ST further enable self-regulation and self-healing of the interface, mitigating damage during cycling. As a result, the ST-enhanced Zn symmetric battery achieves 7800 cycles at 60 mA cm−2, while the AZMB exhibits only 0.0014% capacity decay over 10 000 cycles at 2000 mA g−1. This bilayer EEI engineering strategy offers effective guidance for the rational design of safe and long-life aqueous zinc-ion batteries.
Ceramic crystals stretch like metal
Nature Nanotechnology, Published online: 29 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41565-025-01912-5
Nanoscale, covalently bonded GeSe crystals can withstand up to 12.8% recoverable tensile strain through an atomic mechanism called reversible shuffle twinning, giving rise to anisotropic superelasticity.Nanofabrication of silk microneedles for high-throughput micronutrient delivery and continuous sap monitoring in plants
Nature Nanotechnology, Published online: 29 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41565-025-01923-2
Porous and hollow silk fibroin microneedles nanofabricated with phase front assembly allow the authors to establish a prolonged interface with plants for delivery of micronutrients, crop fortification and continuous plant health monitoring.All-electrical perpendicular switching of chiral antiferromagnetic order
Nature Materials, Published online: 29 April 2025; doi:10.1038/s41563-025-02228-4
By introducing an unconventional spin–orbit torque, the authors demonstrate an all-electrical way to bidirectionally switch the perpendicular chiral antiferromagnetic order in Mn3Sn, promoting the application of antiferromagnetic spintronics.Wed 07 May 14:00: Synthesis RIG Postdoc Seminar - Dr Antti Lahdenpera and Dr Sona Krajcovicova
“Strategies for controlling enantioselectivity in radical reactions” and “Novel Synthetic Approaches for Next-Generation Therapeutics”
- Speaker: Dr Antti Lahdenpera and Dr Sona Krajcovicova
- Wednesday 07 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
- Venue: Dept. of Chemistry, Wolfson Lecture Theatre.
- Series: Synthetic Chemistry Research Interest Group; organiser: Dr. Robert J. Phipps.
Fri 30 May 13:00: Gravitational Wave Signatures of Dark Matter in Neutron Star Mergers
Binary neutron star mergers provide insights into strong-field gravity and the properties of ultra-dense nuclear matter. These events offer the potential to search for signatures of physics beyond the standard model, including dark matter. We present the first numerical-relativity simulations of binary neutron star mergers admixed with dark matter, based on constraint-solved initial data. Modeling dark matter as a non-interacting fermionic gas, we investigate the impact of varying dark matter fractions and particle masses on the merger dynamics, ejecta mass, post-merger remnant properties, and the emitted gravitational waves. Our simulations suggest that the dark matter morphology – a dense core or a diluted halo – may alter the merger outcome. Scenarios with a dark matter core tend to exhibit a higher probability of prompt collapse, while those with a dark matter halo develop a common envelope, embedding the whole binary. Furthermore, gravitational wave signals from mergers with dark matter halo configurations exhibit significant deviations from standard models when the tidal deformability is calculated in a two-fluid framework neglecting the dilute and extended nature of the halo. This highlights the need for refined models in calculating the tidal deformability when considering mergers with extended dark matter structures. These initial results provide a basis for further exploration of dark matter’s role in binary neutron star mergers and their associated gravitational wave emission and can serve as a benchmark for future observations from advanced detectors and multi-messenger astrophysics.
- Speaker: Violetta Sagun, University of Southampton
- Friday 30 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Potter room/Zoom.
- Series: DAMTP Friday GR Seminar; organiser: Xi Tong.
Tue 27 May 13:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Giovanna Maria Dimitri, University of Siena (Italy)
- Tuesday 27 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.
Tue 13 May 13:00: 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.
Fri 30 May 12:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Pietro Lesci (University of Cambridge)
- Friday 30 May 2025, 12:00-13:00
- Venue: Room FW26 with Hybrid Format. Here is the Zoom link for those that wish to join online: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/4751389294?pwd=Z2ZOSDk0eG1wZldVWG1GVVhrTzFIZz09.
- Series: NLIP Seminar Series; organiser: Suchir Salhan.
Reconfiguring Zn Deposition Dynamics via Epitaxial Zn2+ Pathway in Profiled Viscose Rayon for Long-Cyclability Zinc-Ion Batteries
DOI: 10.1039/D5EE00052A, PaperSainan Ou, Jiaxian Zheng, Xingshu Chen, Ran Li, Zhanhui Yuan, Shude Liu, Yao Niu, Meng An, Ge Zhou, Yusuke Yamauchi, Xinxiang Zhang
Rechargeable aqueous zinc-ion batteries (AZIBs) are promising candidates for stationary energy storage due to their intrinsic safety, environmental sustainability, and cost-effectiveness. However, their cycling stability is hammered by uncontrollable dendrite...
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A pH-dependent microkinetic modeling guided synthesis of porous dual-atom catalysts for efficient oxygen reduction in Zn–air batteries
DOI: 10.1039/D5EE00215J, Paper Open Access   This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence.Tingting Li, Di Zhang, Yun Zhang, Danli Yang, Runxin Li, Fuyun Yu, Kengqiang Zhong, Xiaozhi Su, Tianwei Song, Long Jiao, Hai-Long Jiang, Guo-Ping Sheng, Jie Xu, Hao Li, Zhen-Yu Wu
Guided by the pH-field microkinetic model, we developed an porous Fe1Co1–N–C ORR catalyst, which exhibited excellent performance in zinc–air batteries and provided insights for advanced catalysts.
To cite this article before page numbers are assigned, use the DOI form of citation above.
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Tue 13 May 14:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Marco Badran (ETH Zurich)
- Tuesday 13 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
- Venue: MR13.
- Series: Partial Differential Equations seminar; organiser: Giacomo Ageno.
Mon 19 May 14:00: Title to be confirmed
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Tej-eddine Ghoul (NYU Abu Dhabi)
- Monday 19 May 2025, 14:00-15:00
- Venue: MR13.
- Series: Partial Differential Equations seminar; organiser: Giacomo Ageno.
Synergistic Cooperation between Photovoltaic and Thermoelectric Effects in Solar Cells
DOI: 10.1039/D5EE01548K, PaperPing Fu, Dong Yang, Yihua Chen, Ruixue Lu, Md Azimul Haque, Yucheng Liu, Yaoyao Han, Hui Li, Ruotian Chen, Jie qiong Liu, Wei Qin, Luis Huerta Hernandez, Fengtao Fan, Kaifeng Wu, Derya Baran, Huanping Zhou, Can Li
Efficient utilization of thermal energy generated from infrared light has long been a focal point in the development of high-efficiency photovoltaic (PV) devices. Theoretically, the thermal energy can be converted...
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Fri 23 May 16:30: Brain Mechanisms of Attention: Sensory Selection to Free Will The host for this talk is Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
The Host for this talk is Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
ABSTRACT : Selective attention relies on intricate neural mechanisms that shape how the brain processes information. In this lecture, I will present findings from our research on the neural underpinnings of voluntary spatial, feature, and object attention, utilizing EEG , fMRI and eye-tracking methods. I will highlight key findings related to attentional control within the frontal and parietal cortices, as well as how these mechanisms influence sensory and perceptual processing. In addition, I will present studies investigating voluntary attention in free-choice conditions, where individuals exert their free will to direct attention without external guidance. This presentation is framed by our Specificity of Control (SpoC) model of attention, which emphasizes the microstructural organization
The host for this talk is Sarah-Jayne Blakemore
- Speaker: Professor Ron Mangun,Center for Mind and Brain 267 Cousteau Place Davis, CA
- Friday 23 May 2025, 16:30-18:00
- Venue: Ground Floor Lecture Theatre, Department of Psychology.
- Series: Zangwill Club; organiser: Sara Seddon.
On the Interface Electron Transport Problem of Highly Active IrOx Catalysts
DOI: 10.1039/D4EE05816J, PaperJeesoo Park, Dong Wook Lee, Jonghyun Hyun, Hojin Lee, Euntaek Oh, Kyunghwa Seok, Gisu Doo, Hee-Tak Kim
Electron transport resistance at the interface between the catalyst layer (CL) and the porous transport layer (PTL) in the PEMWE anode has long been poorly understood despite its significant impact...
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Tue 13 May 13:10: Government intervention in linguistic heritage projects in Belfast
Abstract not available
- Speaker: Seamus Branch
- Tuesday 13 May 2025, 13:10-14:00
- Venue: Richard King room, Darwin College.
- Series: Darwin College Humanities and Social Sciences Seminars; organiser: Matthew Jones.
Fri 02 May 13:00: The Black Hole Threshold
Numerical evolutions show that, in spherical symmetry, as we move through the solution space of GR to the threshold of black hole formation, the resulting spacetimes tend to display a surprising degree of simplicity. A heuristic description of this behavior, called critical collapse, has been built around this empirical fact. Less is known when symmetry is dropped. In this presentation I will review the current status of the topic, focusing in particular on the struggle to understand the situation in axisymmetry.
- Speaker: David Hilditch, IST Lisbon
- Friday 02 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: Potter room/Zoom https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/87235967698.
- Series: DAMTP Friday GR Seminar; organiser: Daniela Cors.
Thu 01 May 13:00: Opening the Box of Chocolates: a Tasting Introduction to Studies of Cacao and Chocolate
Taking the form of a guided tasting, this talk will explore some of the key questions around the science and history of cacao cultivation and chocolate production.
- Speaker: Mika Hyman, History and Philosophy of Science
- Thursday 01 May 2025, 13:00-14:00
- Venue: 1 Newnham Terrace, Darwin College.
- Series: Darwin College Science Seminars; organiser: Alexander R Epstein.