Efficient topical drug delivery remains a significant challenge in glaucoma management. Although nanoparticle formulations offer considerable promise, their complex preparation processes, co-delivery issues, and batch consistency have hindered their potential. A scalable fabrication strategy is developed here for preparing solid drug nanoparticles (SDNs) with enhanced drug delivery efficiency. Utilizing hydrophobic antiglaucoma drugs brimonidine (BM) and betaxolol (BX), uniform fixed combination BM/BX SDNs are fabricated through a continuous process, improving batch-to-batch consistency for combined glaucoma treatment. With trehalose being used as a lyoprotectant, BM/BX SDNs can be stored as dry powder and easily reconstituted in phosphate buffered saline. Importantly, reconstituted BM/BX SDNs form clear, homogenous solutions, and exhibit negligible cytotoxicity and irritation, making them well-suited for topical administration as eyedrops. Ex vivo and in vivo studies demonstrated that topically applied BM/BX SDNs permeate through the cornea significantly (about two fold to three fold) compared to their hydrophilic counterparts, i.e., brimonidine tartrate, and betaxolol hydrogen chloride. Notably, BM/BX SDNs displayed consistent intraocular pressure lowering effects in vivo in both normotensive rats and glaucoma mice. Collectively, this study demonstrates the potential of the scalable fabrication strategy and the resultant BM/BX SDNs for improving glaucoma management through eyedrops.

Upscalable printing of high-performance and stable perovskite solar cells (PSCs) is highly desired for commercialization. However, the efficiencies of printed PSCs lag behind those of their lab-scale spin-coated counterparts owing to the lack of systematic understanding and control over perovskite crystallization dynamics. Here, the controlled crystallization dynamics achieved using an additive 1-butylpyridine tetrafluoroborate (BPyBF4 ) for high-quality ambient printed α-formamidinium lead triiodide (FAPbI3 ) perovskite films are reported. Using in situ grazing-incidence wide-angle X-ray scattering and optical diagnostics, the spontaneous formation of α-FAPbI3 from precursors during printing without the involvement of  δ-FAPbI3 is demonstrated. The addition of BPyBF4 delays the crystallization onset of α-FAPbI3 , enhances the conversion from sol-gel to perovskite, and reduces stacking defects during printing. Therefore, the altered crystallization results in fewer voids, larger grains, and less trap-induced recombination loss within printed films. The printed PSCs yield high power conversion efficiencies of 23.50% and 21.60% for a 0.09 cm-2 area device and a 5 cm × 5 cm-area module, respectively. Improved device stability is further demonstrated, i.e., approximately 94% of the initial efficiency is retained for over 2400 h under ambient conditions without encapsulation. This study provides an effective crystallization control method for the ambient printing manufacture of large-area high-performance PSCs.

Superhydrophobic coating has a great application prospect in self-cleaning and oil-water separation but remains challenging for large-scale preparation of robust and weather-resistant superhydrophobic coatings via facile approaches. Herein, this work reports a scalable fabrication of weather-resistant superhydrophobic coating with multiscale rough coral reef-like structures by spraying the suspension containing superhydrophobic silica nanoparticles and industrial coating varnish on various substrates. The coral reef-like structures effectively improves the surface roughness and abrasion resistance. Rapid aging experiments (3000 h) and the outdoor building project application (3000 m2 ) show that the sprayed superhydrophobic coating exhibits excellent self-cleaning properties, weather resistance, and environmental adaptability. Moreover, the combined silica-coating varnish-polyurethane (CSCP) superhydrophobic sponge exhibits exceptional oil-water separation capabilities, selectively absorbing the oils from water up to 39 times of its own weight. Furthermore, the molecular dynamics (MD) simulation reveals that the combined effect of higher surface roughness, smaller diffusion coefficient of water molecules, and weaker electrostatic interactions between water and the surface jointly determines the superhydrophobicity of the prepared coating. This work deepens the understanding of the anti-wetting mechanism of superhydrophobic surfaces from the perspective of energetic and kinetic properties, thereby paving the way for the rational design of superhydrophobic materials and their large-scale applications.

Despite the rapid progress in perovskite light-emitting diodes (PeLEDs), the electroluminescence performance of large-area perovskite devices lags far behind that of laboratory-size ones. Here, we report a 3.5 cm × 3.5 cm large-area PeLED with a record-high external quantum efficiency of 12.1% by creating an amphipathic molecular interface modifier of betaine citrate (BC) between the perovskite layer and the underlying hole transport layer (HTL). It is found that the surface wettability for various HTLs can be efficiently improved as a result of the coexistence of methyl and carboxyl groups in the BC molecules that makes favorable groups to selectively contact with the HTL surface and increases the surface free energy, which greatly facilitates the scalable process of solution-processed perovskite films. Moreover, the luminous performance of perovskite emitters is simultaneously enhanced through the coordination between C═O in the carboxyl groups and Pb dangling bonds.

The reproducible fabrication of large-area zeolite membranes for gas separation is still a great challenge. We report the scalable fabrication of high-performance zeolite MFI membranes by single-step secondary growth on the 19-channel alumina monoliths for the first time. The packing density and mechanical strength of the monolithic membranes are much higher for these than for tubular ones. Separation performance of the monolithic membranes toward the butane isomer mixture was comparably evaluated using the vacuum and Wicke-Kallenbach modes. The n-butane permeances and n-butane/i-butane separation factors for the three membranes with an effective area of ∼84 cm2 were >1.0 × 10-7 mol (m2 s Pa)-1 and >50 at 343 K for an equimolar n-butane/i-butane mixture, respectively. We succeeded in scaling up the membrane synthesis with the largest area of 270 cm2 to date which has 1.3 times the area of an industrial 1 m long tubular membrane. Monolith supported zeolite MFI membranes show great potential for industrial n-butane/i-butane separation.

Developing manufacturing methods that are scalable and compatible with a roll-to-roll process with low waste of material has become a pressing need to transfer organic photovoltaics (OPVs) to a viable renewable energy source. For this purpose, various spray printing methods have been proposed. Among them, electrospray (ES) is an attractive option due to its negligible material waste, tunable droplet size, and tolerance to the substrate defects and roughness. Conventional ES with a circular spray footprint often makes the droplets well separated and unlikely to merge, giving rise to \"coffee rings\" which cause a rough and flawed film morphology. Here, a quadrupole electrode is introduced to generate a compressing electric field that squeezes the conical ES profile into the shape of a thin sheet. The numerical simulation and experimental data of the trajectories of sprayed droplets show that the quadrupole apparatus can effectively increase the long axis to short axis ratio of the oval spray footprint and hence bring droplets closer to each other and make the merging more likely for the deposited droplets. By promoting the merging of droplets, individual coffee rings are also suppressed. Thus, the quadrupole ES offers untapped opportunities for effectively reducing voids and improving the flatness of the ES-printed active layer. The devices with a PM6:N3 active layer printed by the sheet ES exhibited the highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of up to 15.98%, which is a noticeable improvement over that (14.85%) of counterparts fabricated by a conventional conical ES. This is the highest PCE reported for ES-printed OPVs and is one of the most efficient spray-deposited OPVs so far. In addition, the all-spray-printed devices reached a PCE of 14.55%, which is also among the most efficient all-spray-printed OPVs.

Although a variety of nanoparticles with better-than-bulk material performances can be synthesized, it remains a challenge to scale the extraordinary properties of individual nanoscale units to the macroscopic level for bulk nanostructured materials. Here, we report a general and scalable biosynthesis strategy that involves simultaneous growth of cellulose nanofibrils through microbial fermentation and co-deposition of various kinds of nanoscale building blocks (NBBs) through aerosol feeding on solid culture substrates. We employ this biosynthesis strategy to assemble a wide range of NBBs into cellulose nanofibril-based bulk nanocomposites. In particular, the biosynthesized carbon nanotubes/bacterial cellulose nanocomposites that consist of integrated 3D cellulose nanofibril networks simultaneously achieve an extremely high mechanical strength and electrical conductivity, and thus exhibit outstanding performance as high-strength lightweight electromagnetic interference shielding materials. The biosynthesis approach represents a general and efficient strategy for large-scale production of functional bulk nanocomposites with enhanced performances for practical applications. Industrial-scale production of these bulk nanocomposite materials for practical applications can be expected in the near future.

Free-standing silicon nanoprobes (SiNPs) are critical tools for intracellular bioelectrical signal recording, while a scalable fabrication of these tiny SiNPs with ab initio geometry designs has not been possible. In this work, we demonstrate a novel growth shaping of slim Si nanowires (SiNWs) into SiNPs with sharp tips (curvature radii <300 nm), tunable angles of 30°, 60°, to 120° and even programmable triangle/circular shapes. A precise growth integration of orderly single, double, and quadruple SiNPs at prescribed locations enables convenient electrode connection, transferring and mounting these tiny tips onto movable arms to serve as long-protruding (over 4-20 μm) nanoprobes. Mechanical flexibility, resilience, and field-effect sensing functionality of the SiNPs were systematically testified in liquid nanodroplet and cell environments. This highly reliable and economic manufacturing of advanced SiNPs holds a strong potential to boost and open up the market implementations of a wide range of intracellular sensing, monitoring, and editing applications.

The development of highly conductive electrodes with robust mechanical durability and clear transmittance in the visible to IR spectral range is of great importance for future wearable/flexible electronic applications. In particular, low resistivity, robust flexibility, and wide spectral transparency have a significant impact on optoelectronic performance. Herein, we introduce a new class of covellite copper monosulfide (CuS) nanosheet films as a promising candidate for soft transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs). An atmospheric sulfur adsorption-corrosion phenomenon represents a key approach in our work for the achievement of wafer-scale CuS nanosheet films through systematic control of the neat Cu layer thickness ranging from 2 to 10 nm multilayers at room temperature. These nanosheet films provide outstanding conductivity (∼25 Ω sq-1) and high transparency (> 80%) in the visible to infrared region as well as distinct flexibility and long stability under air exposure, yielding a high figure-of-merit (∼60) that is comparable to that of conventional rigid metal oxide material-based TCEs. Our unique room temperature synthesis process delivers high quality CuS nanosheets on any arbitrary substrates in a short time (< 1 min) scale, thus guaranteeing the widespread use of highly producible and scalable device fabrication.

Developing scalable processing methods with low material waste is still one of the remaining challenges for organic photovoltaics (OPVs) to become a practical renewable energy source. Here, we report the first study on printing active layers of OPVs containing non-fullerene acceptors (NFAs) by electrospray (ES). The properties of the solvent significantly influence the interfacial morphology of ES-printed organic thin-films, and solvent engineering is essential to facilitate the formation of efficient active-layer films. We introduce low-vapor-pressure non-halogen solvent o-xylene (OXY) into the high vapor pressure solvent of chloroform to form a binary solvent system with appropriate evaporation time, electric conductivity, and solubility. The characteristic times of the ES process using binary solvents are quantified to provide insights into the dynamic formation of thin films. A longer droplet evaporation time with decent solubility collectively decrease the roughness and domain size of the polymer/NFA blend films, thus increase the photocurrent and fill factor of the ES-printed OPV devices. The ES-printed active layers show enhanced crystallinity and phase separation of NFA molecules than the spin-coated films. The champion cell with an ES-printed PTB7-Th:FOIC active layer exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 9.45%, which is on par with the spin-coated cells and is among the highest of spray-deposited organic solar cells to date. This work demonstrates that ES is an effective method to prepare OPVs on NFAs.