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This review explores the integration of responsive materials and soft robotic actuators with implantable electronics to address key challenges in bioelectronic medicine. By enabling shape actuation, these technologies improve deployment, adaptability, and accuracy in minimally invasive procedures. The review discusses actuation mechanisms, device designs, and future opportunities for intelligent, responsive implants with enhanced therapeutic and diagnostic capabilities.

Abstract

Bioelectronic medicine uses implantable electronic devices to interface with electrically active tissues and transform the way disease is diagnosed and treated. One of the biggest challenges is the development of minimally invasive devices that can be deployed to patients at scale. Responsive materials and soft robotic actuators offer unique opportunities to make bioelectronic devices with shape actuation, promising to address the limitations of existing rigid and passive systems, including difficult deployment, mechanical mismatch with soft tissues, and limited adaptability in minimally invasive settings. In this review, an overview is provided of smart materials and soft robotic technologies that show promises for implantable use, discussing advantages and limitations of underlying actuation mechanisms. Examples are then presented where soft actuating mechanisms are combined with microelectrodes to create shape actuating bioelectronic devices. Opportunities and challenges for next-generation intelligent bioelectronic devices assisted by responsive materials and soft robotic actuators are then discussed. These innovations may allow electronic implants to safely navigate to target areas inside the body and establish large area and spatiotemporally controlled interfaces for diagnostic or therapeutic procedures that are minimally invasive.

Inspired by glow-worms, a high-performance multifunctional fluorescent actuator is fabricated by combining ultra-stable perovskite quantum dots with self-healing materials. It integrates large deformation, high brightness, high color-purity, color-changing function and full-device self-healing function together. The full-device self-healing function enables reconfigurable on-demand fluorescent patterns. This actuator opens new paths to soft robots and reconfigurable information encryption.

Abstract

Fluorescent actuators with light-emitting and shape-deformation properties are promising in bionics and soft robotics. However, current fluorescent actuators barely balance actuation performances with fluorescence properties, as they exhibit insufficient brightness, poor color-purity, low-stability, and few functional-integrations, limiting their applications in complex scenarios. Herein, inspired by glow-worms, a multifunctional fluorescent actuator by combining ultra-stable perovskite quantum dots with polyurethane and graphene oxide composites is reported, which integrates large deformation, high brightness, high color-purity, color-changing function and full-device self-healing function together. The actuator shows a large bending curvature of 2.48 cm−1. It exhibits excellent fluorescence performances, such as quantum yields as high as 58.88% and full-widths at half-maximum as narrow as 21 nm. The actuation and fluorescence properties show long-term stability during more than 1100 cycles of near-infrared irradiation and 12 h of ultraviolet exposure. Moreover, the actuator is integrated with color-changing and full-device self-healing functions, enabling a synergetic color/shape change and reconfigurable on-demand fluorescent patterns. Then, a smart gripper and a crawling robot with crawling/rollover motions are demonstrated. Finally, a non-contact dynamic display of reconfigurable encrypted information driven by light is fabricated to mimic light communications of glow-worms. This actuator demonstrates unprecedented multifunctionality, opening new avenues for fluorescent soft robotics.

This work presents a neuromorphic transistor integrating sensing, memory, and computing in one device to address the challenges of commercial artificial vision system. By varying top gate voltages, it can operate as an ultrasensitive photo-sensor (≈6.515 kA W−1), a non-volatile multi-level optical memory (>4 bits), and a neuromorphic visual synapse with 95.26% image recognition accuracy by combing artificial neural network model.

Abstract

In commercial artificial vision system (AVS), the sensing, storage, and computing units are usually physically separated due to their architecture and performance gaps, which thus increases the volume, complexity, and energy loss. This work develops a neuromorphic transistor integrating these different modules within one single device. Leveraging the gate-tunable out-of-plane electric field, the device achieves the multi-mode integration of photo-sensor, optical memory, and visual synapse. When operating at negative top gate voltage (VTG), a strong photo-gating effect enables highly sensitive photo-response with responsivity of ≈6.515 kA W−1 and detectivity up to ≈3.92 × 1014 Jones. Due to the charge storage effect, it can also act as a non-volatile multi-level (>4 bits) optical memory with a long endurance of over 10 000 s and a high writing/erasing ratio of up to 106. At zero or positive VTG, the transistor switches to visual synapse mode with neuromorphic computing capability, providing a pathway for complex biological learning and flexible synaptic plasticity. By further combining the synaptic plasticity with an artificial neural network (ANN), it achieves precise image recognition and classification with an accuracy of up to 95.26%. This work develops a multi-mode transistor that integrates key components of an AVS, addressing the existing challenges of all-in-one integration and manufacturing complexity.

LMB Seminar - Title TBC

Abstract not available

• Speaker: David Klenerman, University of Cambridge
• Monday 03 November 2025, 11:00-12:00
• Venue: In person in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre (CB2 0QH) and via Zoom link .
• Series: MRC LMB Seminar Series; organiser: Scientific Meetings Co-ordinator.

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LMB Seminar - Blueprints of Life: Understanding the Sex Chromosomes

Sex chromosomes represent the only chromosome pair that differ between males and females, and as such are responsible for the myriad sexual dimorphisms observed in mammals. However, relative to the rest of the genome, their biology remains under explored. In this talk, I will describe how the sex chromosomes appeared during mammalian evolution, the mechanisms by which they regulate their most celebrated role in germline development, and their contribution to male-female differences in disease.

• Speaker: James Turner, The Francis Crick Institute
• Monday 19 May 2025, 11:00-12:00
• Venue: In person in the Max Perutz Lecture Theatre (CB2 0QH) and via Zoom link https://mrc-lmb-cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/94132066038?pwd=OF2EjwrvRQxl0XgpGK0N5L4bDNaayi.1.
• Series: MRC LMB Seminar Series; organiser: Scientific Meetings Co-ordinator.

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A novel bifacial-iridescent solar cell is developed using an inverse opal perovskite photonic crystal. It exhibited unique iridescent structural colors on both sides and achieved an impressive bifacial equivalent efficiency of 18.00% for small cells and 12.77% for mini-modules.

Abstract

Colorful perovskite solar cells exhibit excellent potential for building-integrated photovoltaics (BIPVs), which increase the utilization of clean power. However, their efficiencies are lower than those of uncolored devices. Moreover, traditional mono-facial colored devices cannot satisfy diverse BIPV scenarios. Here a bifacial iridescent solar cell (BFI-SC) is developed, constructed by inverse opal (IO) perovskite photonic crystals and transparent front and rear electrodes. The developed BFI-SC exhibited bright vivid colors on both sides, which originate from the reflection at the photonic stop band of the IO perovskite photonic crystal. Moreover, this unique IO photonic crystal decreased the interfacial Fresnel reflection and generated a slow-photon effect, which increases the material light absorption and utilization to obtain high efficiency. Furthermore, the BFI-SC can harvest light from both sides, considerably enhancing the device efficiency. Thus, the BFI-SC achieved an impressive bifacial equivalent efficiency (η eq) of 18.00%, which is the highest value achieved for the reported multicolored (or iridescent) solar cell. A larger-scale BFI-SC module is successfully assembled, achieving a champion η eq of 12.77%. In addition, another perovskite material with an IO structure and wide-bandgap components exhibited vivid colors on both sides, indicating the universality of this coloring strategy and its independence of the perovskite components.

This work uncovers an anomalous density-scaling toughening law in discrete lattices, where ultrahigh specific fracture toughness can be achieved at ultralow relative density, thereby filling gaps in material property space. This anomalous toughening law stems from crack-tip blunting triggered by delocalized strut-buckling transformation at ultralow densities, which is universal across various lattice metamaterials with varying sizes, topologies, and component properties.

Abstract

Lightweight lattice metamaterials attract considerable attention due to their exceptional and tunable mechanical properties. However, their practical application is ultimately limited by their tolerance to inevitable manufacturing defects. Traditional fracture mechanics of lattice metamaterials are confined to localized tensile failure of a crack-tip strut, overlooking the toughening effect of buckling instability in discrete struts around the crack front. Here, via a combination of additive manufacturing, numerical simulation, and theoretical analysis, this work identifies an anomalous power scaling law of specific fracture energy with relative density, where the scaling exponent shifts to negative values below a critical relative density. This anomalous toughening law stems from crack-tip blunting triggered by delocalized strut-buckling transformation at ultralow densities, which is universal across various lattice metamaterials with varying length scales, crack orientations, node connectivity, and component properties. By strategically harnessing strut buckling mechanisms, exceptionally high specific fracture toughness can be achieved at extremely low relative density, thereby addressing gaps in the material property design space. These findings not only provide physical insights into discrete lattice fracture but also offer design motifs for ultralight, ultra-tough lattice metamaterials.

This study developed a bio-active, inhalable nanozyme-backpacked M13 phage (CZM) which specifically delivers to the ischemic core via the olfactory bulb pathway. Leveraging M1-microglia hitchhiking, CZM accumulates specifically at the lesion site, scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) to mitigate neuroinflammation and neuronal apoptosis, providing a safe and effective strategy for the precise treatment of neuroinflammatory disorders.

Abstract

There is a desperate need for precise nanomedications to treat ischemic cerebral injury. Yet, the drawbacks of poor delivery efficiency and off-target toxicity in pathologic parenchyma for traditional antioxidants against ischemic stroke result in inadequate brain accumulation. M13 bacteriophages are highly phagocytosed by M1-polarized microglia and can be carried toward the neuroinflammatory sites. Here, a bio-active, inhalable, Ce0.9Zr0.1O2-backpacked-M13 phage (abbreviated as CZM) is developed and demonstrates how M13 bacteriophages are taken up by different phenotypes’ microglia. With the M1 microglia's proliferating and migrating, CZM can be extensively and specifically delivered to the site of the ischemic core and penumbra, where the surviving nerve cells need to be shielded from secondary oxidative stress and inflammatory cascade initiated by reactive oxygen species (ROS). With non-invasive administration, CZM effectively alleviates oxidative damage and apoptosis of neurons by eliminating ROS generated by hyperactive M1-polarized microglia. Here, a secure and effective strategy for the targeted therapy of neuroinflammatory maladies is offered by this research.

A ZVO/RuO2 cathode is designed by coupling Zn0.85V10O24·7.4H2O (ZVO) and RuO2 through interfacial V─O─Ru bonds in which a dynamic reversible breakage and reconstruction of V─O─Ru, which provide a reversible electron transfer channel between RuO2 and ZVO, making RuO2 as an additional electron acceptor and donor, accelerating the migration kinetics of H+/Zn2+ in ZVO.

Abstract

Intercalation-type layered vanadium oxides have been widely explored as cathode materials for aqueous zinc–ion batteries (AZIBs). However, attaining both high power density and superior stability remains a formidable challenge. Herein, layered vanadium oxides are pre-intercalated with Zn2+ to form Zn0.85V10O24·7.4H2O (ZVO), which is then combined with RuO2 nanoparticles to construct a ZVO/RuO2 heterostructure featuring interphase V─O─Ru bonds. ZVO/RuO2 heterostructure exhibits a dynamic stable coupling at the interphase via V─O─Ru chemical bonds reconstruction during discharging/charging processes. The dynamically reversible reconstruction of interphase V─O─Ru bonds provides a fast electron transfer channel between RuO2 and ZVO cathode, as demonstrated by ex situ X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and density functional theory (DFT) calculations, making RuO2 an additional electron acceptor and donor, and accelerating the migration of H+/Zn2+ in layered ZVO cathode. Therefore, an ultra-high capacity (411 mAh g−1 at 0.5 A g−1, 225 mAh g−1 at 20 A g−1) and long cycling stability (a retention of 92.2% at 20 A g−1 over 20000 cycles) performances are achieved. This interphase reversible reconstruction route provides a promising approach to achieving excellent cycling stability in cathode materials.

A brand-new A-D1-D2-D1-A type electron acceptor BTPT-IC4F is designed, synthesized and integrated with donor polymer PBDB-T to achieve full-spectrum light harvesting. PBDB-T:BTPT-IC4F nanoparticles exhibit a promising external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 6.3% at 730 nm, which is attributed to efficient hole extraction from BTPT-IC4F* (excited BTPT-IC4F) to PBDB-T phase in the molecular-level heterojunction under pure near-infrared (NIR) photon excitation.

Abstract

The energy of sunlight is predominantly concentrated in near-infrared (NIR) region, posing a paramount limitation for practical application of conventional photocatalysts. Organic semiconductors can offer NIR absorption and tunable energy levels simultaneously through molecular engineering, which presents great potential in solar-driven catalysis. However, an individual organic semiconductor typically generates Frenkel excitons with large binding energy, hindering efficient electron-hole separation. Herein, we develop molecular-level heterojunction to suppress electron-hole recombination, thereby achieving a boosted hydrogen (H2) evolution reaction rate of 25.54 µmol h−1 (12.77 mmol h−1 g−1) under visible–near-infrared (Vis–NIR) light. Surprisingly, heterojunction nanoparticles (NPs) comprising donor polymer PBDB-T matched with an A-D1-D2-D1-A type acceptor BTPT-IC4F exhibit a promising external quantum efficiency of 6.3% at 730 nm. Transient absorption spectroscopy monitors effective extraction of photogenerated holes from the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) of BTPT-IC4F to the HOMO of PBDB-T, while first-principle calculations confirm the prolonged lifetime of excited BTPT-IC4F due to efficient hole capture by the PBDB-T phase. The outstanding performance of heterojunction NPs under NIR light is ascribed to strong hole transfer within the nanoparticle. This study provides valuable insights for designing molecular-level organic heterojunction photocatalysts toward NIR light-driven H2 evolution and other potential reactions.

This review uncovers the commonalities of rechargeable metal–sulfur batteries in aspects of sulfur redox reactions (electrochemical fundamentals, reaction mechanisms, innate challenges, and key influence factors) and advanced targeted methodologies to boost sulfur redox reactions in rechargeable metal–sulfur batteries. The existing shackles confronted by rechargeable metal–sulfur batteries and their future development directions are prospected as well.

Abstract

The profound understanding of chemical reaction essence and kinetic behaviors is crucial to develop rechargeable battery technologies. Based on multi-electron conversion, sulfur redox reactions hold great promise for establishing low-cost, high-energy-density, and longstanding rechargeable batteries. However, the sulfur redox reaction processes suffer from a series of common daunting cruxes, leading to incomplete redox reactions and inferior battery performance when working in rechargeable batteries. These innate challenges of sulfur redox reactions include poor sulfur reactivity, sluggish charge transmission, severe polysulfide shuttling, high redox energy barrier, and undesirable reaction reversibility. Accordingly, it becomes a consensus to effectively manipulate sulfur redox kinetics for developing competent rechargeable metal–sulfur batteries. Herein, this review centers on sulfur redox reactions, within the compass of understanding electrochemical fundamentals, principles, thermodynamics, dynamics, and kinetics as well as emphatically presents universal methodologies to boost sulfur redox reaction kinetics in rechargeable metal–sulfur batteries. The unique viewpoint on sulfur redox reactions in rechargeable metal–sulfur batteries can provide a deepened understanding of sulfur electrochemistry and lead to new insights into the sulfur cathode designs and battery configurations, thus accelerating reaction kinetics of sulfur cathodes and promoting practical progress on high-energy-density battery technologies.

Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/D4EE06071G, PaperDefu Li, Chen Fang, Santosh Thapa, Hadas Sternlicht, Gi-Hyeok Lee, Faiz Ahmed, Xiuyu Jin, Qiusu Miao, Raynald Giovine, Wanli Yang, Andrew Minor, Yang-Tse Cheng, Gao Liu
Achieving ballistic ion transport in a mixed electronic-ionic conductive polymer, its hierarchically ordered structure (HOS) facilitates ion diffusion and results in solid-state Li+ conductivity in the range of 10−4 to 10−3 S cm−1 from −20 to 70 °C.
To cite this article before page numbers are assigned, use the DOI form of citation above.
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What’s the DVM Research Admin Team Up To? Grants, Culture, Impact & New Collaborations!

Chaired by Muriel Dresen and Andrew Conlan

• Speaker: Margarida Rodrigue, Department of Veterinary Medicine
• Friday 02 May 2025, 08:45-10:00
• Venue: LT2.
• Series: Friday Morning Seminars, Dept of Veterinary Medicine; organiser: Fiona Roby.

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Malaria Mosquito Genomics Across Africa

Malaria is a preventable treatable infectious disease but still it kills up to 600,000 people each year, primarily children under the age of five. The disease is caused by a single celled parasitic organism that is only transmitted between humans by Anopheles mosquitoes. If the mosquitoes that transmit the parasite were eliminated or prevented from transmitting, malaria would end. Gaining a deeper understanding of Anopheles malaria mosquitoes is an especially important undertaking in Africa, where the vast majority of malaria deaths occur and where there are many species contributing to the disease burden. Among these, four are considered major malaria vectors, probably accounting for more than 95% of transmission. This talk will present several different genomic approaches we are taking to thoroughly characterise Anopheles mosquitoes. These include amplicon panels to understand mosquito species diversity and distributions, short read sequencing to glean a comprehensive understanding of population structure and selection, and long read sequencing to peek into rapidly diverging regions of the genome that short reads cannot offer resolution for. This talk will discuss what we have learned to date and how this contributes to malaria control.

More details here.

• Speaker: Dr Mara Lawniczak, Senior Group Leader, Wellcome Sanger Institute
• Monday 28 April 2025, 19:30-21:00
• Venue: Location: Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Churchill College, and Zoom.
• Series: Cambridge Society for the Application of Research (CSAR); organiser: John Cook.

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Bioelectronic Medicine

Neurological conditions affect one in six people, imposing significant health, economic and societal burden. Bioelectronic medicine aims to restore or replace neurological function with the help of implantable electronic devices. Unfortunately, significant technological limitations prohibit these devices from reaching patients at scale, as implants are bulky, require invasive implantation procedures, elicit a pronounced foreign body response, and show poor treatment specificity and off-target effects. Over the past decade, novel materials and fabrication methods inspired from the microelectronics industry have been shown to overcome these limitations. Recent literature provides powerful demonstrations of thin film implants that are miniaturised, ultra-conformal, stretchable, multiplexed, integrated with different sensors and actuators, bioresorbable, and minimally invasive. This talk discuss the state-of-the-art of these new technologies and the barriers than need to be overcome to reach patients at scale.

More details here.

• Speaker: Professor George Malliaras FRS, Prince Philip Professor of Technology, Department of Engineering, Cambridge University
• Monday 12 May 2025, 19:30-21:00
• Venue: Location: Wolfson Lecture Theatre, Churchill College, and Zoom.
• Series: Cambridge Society for the Application of Research (CSAR); organiser: John Cook.

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Title to be confirmed

Abstract not available

• Speaker: Jaap Jumelet (University of Groningen)
• Friday 13 June 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.

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Normalisation, adaptation, and the balance of excitation and inhibition

Abstract not available

• Speaker: Yashar Ahmadian, Dept of Engineering, University of Cambridge
• Monday 12 May 2025, 16:15-18:00
• Venue: Hodgkin-Huxley Seminar Room.
• Series: Adrian Seminars in Neuroscience; organiser: Dr Máté Lengyel.

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Stereo-photogrammetry of reef manta rays: insights into aggregation, maturity, and sexual dimorphism

Niv Froman is a marine biologist, PhD candidate at the University of Cambridge, Principal Researcher at the Manta Trust, and Director of Manta Expeditions. With over a decade of experience in the Maldives, Niv’s work focuses on the reproductive ecology, physiology, and behavior of mobulid rays. He uses cutting-edge techniques like ultrasonography and stereo-video photogrammetry to study wild populations and inform conservation strategies. His passion for manta rays began with firsthand encounters in the field and has since evolved into a career dedicated to their research and protection.

Chaired by Elizabeth Murchison and Sophia Belkhir

• Speaker: Niv Froman, Department of Veterinary Medicine
• Friday 25 April 2025, 08:45-10:00
• Venue: LT2.
• Series: Friday Morning Seminars, Dept of Veterinary Medicine; organiser: Fiona Roby.

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A novel approach to the maxillary nerve: The Palatine Technique

Chaired by Muriel Dresen and Andrew Conlan

• Speaker: Iliana Antonopoulou , Department of Veterinary Medicine
• Friday 02 May 2025, 08:45-10:00
• Venue: LT2.
• Series: Friday Morning Seminars, Dept of Veterinary Medicine; organiser: Fiona Roby.

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Quantum geometry effects in flat bands

By endowing the Hilbert space with a metric and a curvature, the modern theory of solids resorts to tools from differential geometry and topology to analyze the physical properties of electrons in a crystal. After introducing the concept of the quantum geometric tensor, I will explore the implications of the quantum geometry to flat bands, where the quasiparticles have zero group velocity. I will then address the possibility of using pumped light in flat Chern bands to create out-of-equilibrium excitons with finite vorticity in momentum space. Those excitons, called topological excitons, have their vorticity set by the difference between the Chern numbers in the conduction and valence bands. Topological excitons can be found optically through the non-linear Hall effect and can condense into a novel type of topological neutral superfluid with profile wavefunctions in momentum space that carry a finite vorticity.

• Speaker: Bruno Uchoa, University of Oklahoma
• Tuesday 15 April 2025, 14:00-15:30
• Venue: Seminar Room 3, RDC.
• Series: Theory of Condensed Matter; organiser: Gaurav.

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