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NanoManufacturing

Michael De Volder, Engineering Department - IfM
 

Living Fiber Dispersions from Mycelium as a New Sustainable Platform for Advanced Materials

Living fiber dispersions (LFD) from mycelium and their extracellular materials are prepared by a facile three-roll milling process. These dispersions can be easily converted into a wide array of multifunctional living materials. These living materials display increased emulsion stability, enhanced mechanical properties, superhydrophobicity, and instantaneous proximity sensing as a result of fungal growth.


Abstract

Functional biopolymeric fibers are key building blocks for developing sustainable materials within the growing bioeconomy. However, their flexible use in emerging advanced materials with smart properties typically requires processing methods that may compromise sustainability. Here, a sustainable route to generate living fiber dispersions (LFD) from mycelium that combines the excellent material-forming properties of biopolymeric fibers, and the highly dynamic properties of living materials is proposed. This is showcased by using industrially available liquid culture and mechanical defibrillation methods to generate well-dispersed living mycelium fibers. These fibers can form materials where precursors with good dispersibility and network formation properties are paramount and can harness dynamic properties through growth even in the absence of added nutrients. This is demonstrated in unique living emulsions with 3.6x slower phase separation and in living films with 2.5x higher tensile strength upon growth, the latter vastly outperforming the strongest pure mycelium materials to date. Further, humidity can be used to modulate mechanical properties and to trigger the superhydrophobic patterning of substrates, mechanical actuation, and degradation of lignocellulosic consumer goods at their end of life. In the future, combining synthetic biology with this promising platform for smart materials can expand the horizons for sustainable material manufacturing.

Targeted High‐Resolution 3D Imaging of Tumor Vasculatures at Different Stages Using Far‐Red AIE Nanoparticles Compatible with Tissue Clearing

This study presents an imaging technology for precise mapping and analysis of lung tumor vasculature at different stages using HA@TANP, a supramolecular assembly of far-red fluorescence nanoparticles with aggregation-induced emission (AIE), compatible with tissue optical clearing (TOC). The advanced imaging technique reveals significant insights into tumor vascular dynamics, offering valuable implications for cancer diagnosis and therapy.


Abstract

The occurrence and progression of blood vessels plays a pivotal role in different stages of tumor development, while current imaging techniques exhibit limited sensitivity to capture the dynamic changes of vasculature at different tumor stages. This drawback hinders the comprehensive understanding of the tumor microenvironment, thereby impeding the development of efficacious therapeutic strategies. Herein, a high-resolution three-dimensional (3D) imaging technology is developed for mapping and analyzing vasculatures at different tumor stages using HA@TANP, a supramolecular assembly of far-red fluorescence nanoparticles with aggregation-induced emission (AIE), compatible with tissue clearing. The hyaluronic acid (HA) in HA@TANP specifically targets CD44 antigen of tumor vasculature, while the acrylic acid in HA@TANP is applied for temperature-induced polymerization to ensure the covalent attachment of AIE fluorophores. Additionally, tissue optical clearing technology boosts light penetration and imaging resolution in dense tumor tissues. This strategy allows for the quantitative analyses of vascular diameter, length, and straightness and their correlation with various responses to treatments. The findings contribute to a more comprehensive understanding of distinct tumor vascular stages, providing valuable insights for enhanced cancer diagnosis and therapies from a tumor vascular-targeted perspective.

In‐Sensor Computing with Visual‐Tactile Perception Enabled by Mechano‐Optical Artificial Synapse

A mechano-optical artificial synapse that enables in-sensor computing with visual-tactile perception is achieved by integrating photostimulated luminescence with self-recoverable mechanoluminescence materials. The multimodal artificial synapse demonstrates an individual and synergistic plasticity in a remotely accessible manner and enables neuromorphic pattern recognition and materials identification. This work paves the way to construct flexible in-sensor computing systems with crossmodal integration and recognition.


Abstract

In-sensor computing paradigm holds the promise of realizing rapid and low-power signal processing. Constructing crossmodal in-sensor computing systems to emulate human sensory and recognition capabilities has been a persistent pursuit for developing humanoid robotics. Here, an artificial mechano-optical synapse is reported to implement in-sensor dynamic computing with visual-tactile perception. By employing mechanoluminescence (ML) material, direct conversion of the mechanical signals into light emission is achieved and the light is transported to an adjacent photostimulated luminescence (PSL) layer without pre- and post-irradiation. The PSL layer acts as a photon reservoir as well as a processing unit for achieving in-memory computing. The approach based on ML coupled with PSL material is different from traditional circuit–constrained methods, enabling remote operation and easy accessibility. Individual and synergistic plasticity are elaborately investigated under force and light pulses, including paired-pulse facilitation, learning behavior, and short-term and long-term memory. A multisensory neural network is built for processing the obtained handwritten patterns with a tablet consisting of the device, achieving a recognition accuracy of up to 92.5%. Moreover, material identification has been explored based on visual-tactile sensing, with an accuracy rate of 98.6%. This work provides a promising strategy to construct in-sensor computing systems with crossmodal integration and recognition.

Wed 19 Mar 14:05: Which Faculty Diversity Programs Work? Evidence from 600 U.S. Colleges and Universities

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 13:59
Which Faculty Diversity Programs Work? Evidence from 600 U.S. Colleges and Universities

Abstract:

Historically white, and male, colleges and universities in the U.S. began to diversify their undergraduate bodies in the 1960s and have made considerable progress since then. But progress on faculty diversity has stalled. That has wide-ranging implications for everything from university completion rates for students of color to the presence of new voices in medical research. Universities deserve much of the blame, for they implemented programs to diversify the faculty that their own social scientists had long ago proven to be ineffective. An analysis of the efficacy of diversity programs at 600 schools over 20 years sheds light on how universities can build faculties that look more like their students, and the wider society, in terms of gender, race, and ethnicity.

Bio:

Frank Dobbin is Henry Ford II Professor of the Social Sciences at Harvard. He holds a B.A. from Oberlin College and a Ph.D. from Stanford University in sociology. His Inventing Equal Opportunity (Princeton U. Press 2009) shows how HR managers and activists defined what it meant to discriminate in the eyes of the law, broadening the definition over time. His Getting to Diversity: What Works and What Doesn’t with Alexandra Kalev (Harvard U. Press [Belknap] 2022) looks at the effectiveness of dozens of different diversity programs, in over 800 companies across more than 30 years, to answer the questions: Which programs help, which hurt, and how can harmful programs be improved? Dobbin and Kalev are now investigating university programs designed to promote faculty diversity, using similar methods to sort out which are most effective. Dobbin has held fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Russell Sage Foundation, the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, the Radcliffe Institute, the Safra Center for Ethics, and the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study.

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Integrated Modeling the Transition Pathway of China’s Power System

http://feeds.rsc.org/rss/ee - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 13:43
Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/D5EE00355E, PaperZiheng Zhu, Da Zhang, Xiaoye Zhang, Xiliang Zhang
Accelerating decarbonization of the power system is at the heart of achieving China’s carbon neutrality goal and mitigating global climate change. However, deploying multi-terawatts of variable renewable energy (VRE) may...
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Tue 18 Mar 13:10: Extreme weather attribution and the evidential grounds for restorative climate justice

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 12:07
Extreme weather attribution and the evidential grounds for restorative climate justice

Extreme weather events are among the most salient outcomes of climate change. In recent years, the science of “extreme event attribution” has emerged, with the aim of distinguishing the subset of extreme weather events that are attributable to anthropogenic climate change from those that are not. A number of authors have recently suggested that such attribution studies can be used to distinguish the “real victims of climate change” from persons harmed by “bad luck weather”, and that drawing this distinction among impacted persons is necessary for the pursuit of climate justice. This talk rejects the use of extreme event attribution as a means​ for recognising the victims of climate change on both practical and moral grounds, and suggests an alternative evidential standard for the recognition of climate victimhood.

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Tue 11 Mar 15:00: CASCADE Poster Social (+ Compiler Tech Talk)

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 11:25
CASCADE Poster Social (+ Compiler Tech Talk)

CASCADE Poster Social

Please join us for a look at some of the cutting-edge research in computer architecture coming out of the Department of Computer Science and Technology with a poster session and light refreshments. We’ll have posters from students and postdocs working in the broad area of computer architecture, where you can browse at your leisure, speak directly to the authors and network with other computer architects whilst enjoying an early evening drink and light snacks in the William Gates Building.

Schedule

15:00 – 16:00 | Compiler Tech Talks

16:00 – 18:00 | Cascade Poster Social

Registration https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/cascade-poster-session-and-social-event-tickets-1249170325069

Before the Cascade Poster Social, we are hosting a Compiler Tech Talk with Sean Silva.

A High-Velocity Architecture for MLIR AI Compilers

In this talk we present an MLIR -based compiler architecture that delivers predictable performance for AI workloads. We derive its design from intuitive mental models, and along the way subsume seemingly competing goals of performance, portability, and generality into one concept: velocity (of developing the compiler). Hence we call this a high-velocity compiler architecture. We present this compiler architecture in detail, compare it with the most widespread competing architectural ideas, and connect it with prior art.

Sean Silva

... is a Principal Engineer at Encharge AI, where among other responsibilities he leads the architecture and implementation of the compiler. He previously worked on state-of-the-art AI software and hardware for 7 years at Google and Waymo, including IREE , XLA, Google Edge TPU , and Pixel Visual Core. His humble start in the LLVM community was refactoring TableGen in 2012 which has grown into a decade-long adventure through LLVM , Clang, LLD , and MLIR .

https://www.linkedin.com/in/sean-silva-144b611b5/

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Tue 25 Feb 14:00: Downvoted to Oblivion: Censorship in Online, LGBTQ+ Communities

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 11:15
Downvoted to Oblivion: Censorship in Online, LGBTQ+ Communities

Online communities enable surveillance among LGBTQ+ users despite being used as safe spaces where users can explore their identity free from most online harms. Coercion, doxxing, and public outing are all examples of privacy violations faced. These are experienced when users fail to conform to fellow community members’ expected language and expressions of gender identity and sexuality. Current moderation systems fail to capture this peer surveillance because of the complexity of language and unspoken rules involved. This talk will explore how surveillance is enabled as well as its effects on the censorship of gender identity/expression in online LGBTQ+ communities.

Paper Link: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10200690/

Zoom link: https://cam-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/84128296595?pwd=WJoeK08vOkhNVzLyAqbwwuDYAonFQP.1

Meeting ID: 841 2829 6595 Passcode: 505923

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Wed 19 Mar 14:30: Pushing back the boundaries for the atomistic simulation of electronic and ionic transport processes

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 11:04
Pushing back the boundaries for the atomistic simulation of electronic and ionic transport processes

The last decades have witnessed tremendous progress in Theoretical and Computational Chemistry. Development of ever more ingenious algorithms have allowed us to solve some of the most fundamental equations governing chemical processes at steadily improved accuracy or for larger systems/longer time scales. As a result, Computational Chemistry has now penetrated many disciplines of the Natural Sciences and Engineering including Material and Energy Science, Catalysis and Chemical Biology. In my talk I will survey a number of recent studies where our group has contributed to this endeavour. In the first part of my talk I will describe how we pushed mixed quantum-classical non-adiabatic molecular dynamics from the molecular to the true nanoscale (10-100 nm) revealing a new transport mechanism, transient quantum delocalization, of charge carriers[1,2] and excitons3 in organic photovoltaic and thermoelectric materials.[4] In the second part of my talk I will describe a machine learning method that we have recently developed to simulate condensed phase systems interacting with an external electric field, termed perturbed neural network potential molecular dynamics (PNNP-MD).[5] We find that PNNP -MD accurately describes the dielectric properties of liquid water, specifically the field-induced relaxation dynamics, the dielectric constant, the field-dependent IR spectrum5 and ionic conductivites6 up to surprisingly high field strengths of about 0.2 V/Angstrom with little loss in accuracy when compared to ab-initio molecular dynamics. Going forward, we expect PNNP to give vital atomistic insight into myriad processes, ranging from ionic conduction in electrolytes to field-directed catalysis to electrochemical energy conversion.

References:

[1] S. Giannini, A. Carof, M. Ellis, H. Yang, O. G. Ziogos, S. Ghosh, and J. Blumberger, “Quantum localization and delocalization of charge carriers in organic semiconducting crystals,” Nat. Commun., vol. 10, p. 3843, 2019. Geerts, F. Schreiber, G. Schweicher, H. Wang, J. Blumberger, M. Bonn, and D. and Beljonne, “Transiently delocalized states enhance hole mobility in organic molecular semiconductors,” Nat. Mater., vol. 22, pp. 1361-1369, 2023.

Giannini, L. Di Virgilio, M. Bardini, J. Hausch, J. Geuchies, W. Zheng, M. Volpi, J. Elsner, K. Broch, Y. H.

[3] S. Giannini, W. -T. Peng, L. Cupellini, D. Padula, A. Carof, and J. Blumberger, “Exciton transport in molecular organic semiconductors boosted by transient quantum delocalization,” Nat. Commun., vol. 13, p. 2755, 2022.

[4] J. Elsner, Y. Xu, E. D. Goldberg, F. Ivanovic, A. Dines, S. Giannini, H. Sirringhaus, and J. Blumberger, “Thermoelectric transport in molecular crystals driven by gradients of thermal electronic disorder,” Sci. Adv., vol. 10, p. eadr1758, 2024.

[5] K. Joll, P. Schienbein, K. M. Rosso, and J. Blumberger, “Machine learning the electric field response of condensed phase systems using perturbed neural network potentials,” Nat. Commun., vol. 15, p. 8192, 2024.

[6] K. Joll, P. Schienbein, K. M. Rosso, and J. Blumberger, in preparation, 2025.

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Thu 13 Mar 16:30: Algorithmic stability for regression and classification

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 10:52
Algorithmic stability for regression and classification

In a supervised learning setting, a model fitting algorithm is unstable if small perturbations to the input (the training data) can often lead to large perturbations in the output (say, predictions returned by the fitted model). Algorithmic stability is a desirable property with many important implications such as generalization and robustness, but testing the stability property empirically is known to be impossible in the setting of complex black-box models. In this work, we establish that bagging any black-box regression algorithm automatically ensures that stability holds, with no assumptions on the algorithm or the data. Furthermore, we construct a new framework for defining stability in the context of classification, and show that using bagging to estimate our uncertainty about the output label will again allow stability guarantees for any black-box model. This work is joint with Jake Soloff and Rebecca Willett.

A wine reception in the Central Core will follow this lecture

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Self-Limiting Surface Leaching Stabilizes Ru-Based Catalysts for Acidic Water Oxidation

http://feeds.rsc.org/rss/ee - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 10:47
Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/D4EE05220J, Paper Open Access &nbsp This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported Licence.Yang Liu, Xiyu Li, Haeseong Jang, Jianghua Wu, Min Gyu Kim, Xiaoke Xi, Zhanwu Lei, Yuchen Zhang, Yu Deng, Wensheng Yan, Jun Jiang, Shuhong Jiao, Jing-Li Luo, Ruiguo Cao
Ru-based catalysts are a promising alternative to Ir-based catalyst for the acidic oxygen evolution reaction (OER), but their poor long-term stability remains a significant challenge. Continuous leaching-induced loss of active...
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Moisture-inhibited deprotonation at the buried interface enables efficient perovskite solar cells with high fill factor over 86%

http://feeds.rsc.org/rss/ee - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 10:47
Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/D4EE04555F, PaperShengwen Zou, Jingjing Zhang, Yi Xin, Jinlong Jin, Guangxin Liu, Xiaojun Yan, Jianmei Huang
SnO2 is one of the best electron-transport materials for perovskite solar cells (PSCs). However, the limited interfacial contact and the reaction occurring at the buried interface between perovskite and SnO2...
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Synthesis of stretchable triboelectric material with strain-compensating ability using gradient interpenetrating polymer networks

http://feeds.rsc.org/rss/ee - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 10:47
Energy Environ. Sci., 2025, Accepted Manuscript
DOI: 10.1039/D4EE03110E, Paper Open Access &nbsp This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence.Do-Wan Kim, Hyeonwoo Mun, Yeonghun Kang, Weon-Guk Kim, Dahye Ahn, Seong-Yun Yun, Jeong-A Han, Do Hoon Lee, Taegoon Lee, Kihoon Jeong, Jihan Kim, Sung Gap Im, Yang-Kyu Choi
Unlike conventional rigid triboelectric nanogenerators (TENGs), elastic TENGs are considered attractive for energy harvesting and sensing applications in mechanically harsh conditions. However, the practicality of elastic TENGs has been limited...
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Mon 17 Mar 14:00: Exponential mixing with random cellular flows via hypocoercivity

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 10:20
Exponential mixing with random cellular flows via hypocoercivity

We study a passive scalar equation on a two-dimensional periodic box, where the advecting velocity field is given by a cellular flow with a randomly moving center. We prove that the passive scalar undergoes mixing at an exponential rate, independent of any underlying diffusivity. Furthermore, we show that the velocity field enhances dissipation, and we establish sharp decay rates that, for large times, are deterministic and remain uniform in the diffusivity constant. Our approach is purely Eulerian and relies on a suitable modification of Villani’s hypocoercivity method. This is a joint project with C. Seis (Universität Münster).

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Mon 03 Mar 14:00: Nonequilibrium steady states and subgeometric convergence in a kinetic model of chemotaxis

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 10:19
Nonequilibrium steady states and subgeometric convergence in a kinetic model of chemotaxis

This is based on a joint work with Emeric Bouin and Luca Ziviani. I am going to talk about a kinetic model describing run and tumble chemotaxis. In this model the bacteria respond to an external chemical signal by changing the rate at which they change direction depending on whether they are going up or down the gradient of the chemical signal. This a very unusual mechanism for producing spatial confinement. I will talk about how and why the steady state depends on the velocity domain and how this effects rates of convergence to equilibrium.

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Tue 11 Mar 18:00: Black Holes & spin-offs

http://talks.cam.ac.uk/show/rss/5408 - Tue, 25/02/2025 - 10:01
Black Holes & spin-offs

The popular notion of a black hole “sucking in everything” from its surroundings only happens very close to a black hole. Far away, the pull of the black hole is identical to that of anything else of the same mass. However, black holes do give rise to many remarkable phenomena such as extragalactic quasars and, in our own Galaxy, microquasars. This is because gravity is not the only law of physics that must be obeyed. Matter can be spun off from near black holes in the form of winds and jets that spread through their surroundings and thus cause black holes to have tremendous cosmic influence many light years beyond their event horizons. I will describe various approaches that I employ to investigate these phenomena, and their spin-offs.

Talks are priced at £4 for non-Scientific Society members. Scientific Society members will have free access to all our talks. Lifetime membership costs £15 and gives free access to all talks, members-only events and priority access to oversubscribed SciSoc events.

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Eliminating Radioresistance With a Magnetic Ion‐Generator by Simultaneously Augmenting DNA Damage and Diminishing Immunosuppression

Traditional medicine has encountered certain bottlenecks in dealing with radioresistance. To address this, a “three birds with one stone” strategy based on the constructed radioresistance model is developed. This innovative magnetic ion-generator can not only release Fe2+ and Mn2+ ions to induce ferroptosis and activate the STING pathway, enhancing DNA damage synergistically with radiotherapy, but it can also modulate the immunosuppressive microenvironment effectively, thereby reversing radioresistance.


Abstract

Radiotherapy (RT) hinges on DNA damage-induced cancer cell death and the subsequent anti-tumor immunity. However, the efficacy of RT is curtailed by cell cycle heterogeneity and an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment, which foster radioresistance. Here an ion generator-based RT enhancement strategy is demonstrated in a mouse model of the radioresistant tumor. The ion generator is degraded in the tumor microenvironment, resulting in iron-triggered ferroptosis that enhanced immunogenic cell death and a manganese-activated stimulator of interferon gene that reversed the immunosuppressive environment. As a result, the proposed strategy promotes dendritic cells maturity, augmentes CD8+ T cell infiltration of tumors, suppresses intratumoral myeloid-derived suppressor cells, and limits the M2 macrophages polarization, indicating the formation of an immunoreactive microenvironment. Significantly, this approach impedes the growth of not just primary, but also distal metastatic tumors. It is thus believed that the current ion generator provides a robust and enduring countermeasure to radioresistant cancer and its metastasis, with potential implications for enhancing the efficacy of RT in clinically resistant tumors.

Quantum Geometric Moment Encodes Stacking Order of Moiré Matter

The Berry curvature dipole (BCD) changes across valley Chern transitions. A new electrical technique is developed to use such BCD sign flips for distinguishing the stacking order of a moiré material, namely twisted double bilayer graphene. Such a method, analogous to spectroscopic techniques, establishes a link between quantum geometry and stacking order, and is applicable to other moiré materials.


Abstract

Exploring the topological characteristics of electronic bands is essential in condensed matter physics. Moiré materials featuring flat bands provide a versatile platform for engineering band topology and correlation effects. In moiré materials that break either time-reversal symmetry or inversion symmetry or both, electronic bands exhibit Berry curvature hotspots. Different stacking orders in these materials result in varied Berry curvature distributions within the flat bands, even when the band dispersion remains similar. However, experimental studies probing the impact of stacking order on the quantum geometric quantities are lacking. 1.4° twisted double bilayer graphene (TDBG) facilitates two distinct stacking orders (AB-AB, AB-BA) and forms an inversion broken moiré superlattice with electrically tunable flat bands. The valley Chern numbers of the flat bands depend on the stacking order, and the nonlinear Hall (NLH) effect distinguishes the differences in Berry curvature dipole (BCD), the first moment of Berry curvature. The BCD exhibits antisymmetric behavior, flipping its sign with the polarity of the perpendicular electric field in AB-AB TDBG, while it displays a symmetric behavior, maintaining the same sign regardless of the electric field's polarity in AB-BA TDBG. This approach electronically detects stacking-induced quantum geometry, while opening a pathway to quantum geometry engineering and detection.

Monomolecule Coupled to Oxygen‐Doped Carbon for Efficient Electrocatalytic Hydrogen Peroxide Production

Cobalt phthalocyanine molecule-modified oxygen-doped carbon catalyst achieves superior oxygen reduction with two-electron selectivity of 99% and hydrogen peroxide yield of 10.4 mol·g−1·h−1. The modulation of the electronic structure of active sites through π-π stacking-mediated oxygen doping optimizes the interaction between active sites and intermediate *OOH.


Abstract

The electrocatalytic production of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is an ideal alternative for the industrial anthraquinone process because of environmental friendliness and energy efficiency, depending on the activity and selectivity of catalysts. Carbon-based materials possess prospects as candidate catalysts for the production of H2O2. Herein, cedar-derived monolithic carbon catalysts modified with coupling oxygen doping and phthalocyanine molecules are synthesized. Cobalt phthalocyanine (CoPc) molecules are introduced onto the carbon surface to construct monomolecular active sites via π-π stacking. The electronic structure of CoPc is modulated by oxygen doping on carbon substrates, mediated by monomolecular π-π stacking. A synergistic effect optimally modulated the interaction between CoPc and key intermediate to H2O2. The energy barrier for oxygen reduction is reduced to optimize the selectivity to H2O2. CoPc@OCW provided up to 99% selectivity to H2O2 at 0.7 V versus RHE. In a three-phase flow cell, CoPc@OCW achieved an H2O2 yield up to 10.4 mol·g−1·h−1 at 0.2 V versus RHE with stable running for 24 h. The advantages of carbon-based catalysts including the adjustable chemical structure depending on π-π stacking and electronic structure of carbon atoms through oxygen doping improved the catalytic performances in the production of H2O2. This proof-to-concept research demonstrates the potential application of carbon-based molecular catalysts for electrochemical synthesis.

Organomolecular Ferroelectric Nanocatalyst Augments Tumor Immunotherapy by Inducing Apoptosis and Ferroptosis

This work reports on the engineering of a biodegradable organomolecular ferroelectric nanoplatform to facilitate effective ferroelectric nanocatalyst catalysis for augmented tumor immunotherapy through inducing apoptosis and ferroptosis.


Abstract

Immunogenic programmed cell death effectively triggers acute inflammatory responses, thereby enhancing antitumor immunity. The advancement of biodegradable nonmetallic dual inducers represents a promising strategy. Herein, a biodegradable organomolecular ferroelectric nanoplatform (C60-TCNQ, CT) is designed to facilitate effective ferroelectric catalysis, thereby augmenting tumor immunotherapy through apoptosis and ferroptosis. CT-mediated ultrasound-triggered ferroelectric catalysis promotes ferroelectric polarization and significantly increases the production of reactive oxygen species, leading to substantial tumor cell apoptosis. Moreover, the polycyano group of CT nanoparticles selectively reacts with cysteine under mild conditions, resulting in redox imbalances and the accumulation of lipid peroxides, which contribute to the induction of ferroptosis in tumor cells. Additionally, the apoptosis and ferroptosis induced by CT stimulate immunogenic cell death progression, eliciting robust immune responses. In vivo evaluation using a bilateral tumor model demonstrates the capacity of CT to sensitize anti-PD-L1 therapy under ultrasound irradiation, achieving an impressive antitumor response rate of 96.2% against malignant melanoma and an 80% inhibition of tumor metastasis. RNA sequencing analysis revealed that treatment with CT resulted in a downregulation of gene signatures associated with the immune-related Jak-Stat signaling pathway. This study opens a novel avenue to developing organomolecular ferroelectric nanomedicines for effective tumor immunotherapy.

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We are seeking to hire a research assistant to work on carbon nanotube based microdevices. More information is available here: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/28202/

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We are seeking to hire a postdoc researcher to work on the structuring of Li-ion battery electrodes. More information is available here: www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/28197/