An advanced scanning probe microscopy system enhanced with artificial intelligence (AI-SPM) designed for self-driving atomic-scale measurements is presented. This system expertly identifies and manipulates atomic positions with high precision, autonomously performing tasks such as spectroscopic data acquisition and atomic adjustment. An outstanding feature of AI-SPM is its ability to detect and adapt to surface defects, targeting or avoiding them as necessary. It is also designed to overcome typical challenges such as positional drift and tip apex atomic variations due to the thermal effects, ensuring accurate, site-specific surface analysis. The tests under the demanding conditions of room temperature have demonstrated the robustness of the system, successfully navigating thermal drift and tip fluctuations. During these tests on the Si(111)-(7 × 7) surface, AI-SPM autonomously identified defect-free regions and performed a large number of current-voltage spectroscopy measurements at different adatom sites, while autonomously compensating for thermal drift and monitoring probe health. These experiments produce extensive data sets that are critical for reliable materials characterization and demonstrate the potential of AI-SPM to significantly improve data acquisition. The integration of AI into SPM technologies represents a step toward more effective, precise and reliable atomic-level surface analysis, revolutionizing materials characterization methods.

Electron spin qubits are becoming an important research direction in the field of quantum computing and information storage. However, the quantum decoherence has seriously hindered the development of this field. So far, few qubits exhibit long phase memory time (Tm), and even fewer qubits that can reach room temperature. Some reports show that the coherence times of radicals are generally long, so radicals may be the preferred spin carriers for qubits. Here, we demonstrate the qubit properties of a photogenerated radical (1a) based on 2,4,6-Tri(4-pyridyl)-1,3,5-triazine (tpt, 1). More importantly, the photogenerated radical is a spin self-diluting complex, which the dilution is generally used in the investigation of qubits to reduce the interference of environment on qubits in order to overcome the decoherence of qubits. It is surprised that radical tpt has a stable Tm = 1.1 μs above 20 K, even keep it to room temperature. In addition, the tpt-film prepared by the vacuum evaporation is significantly increase the T1 and Tm at low temperature.

Achieving selective sensing toward target volatile organic compound gases is of vital importance in the fields of air quality assessment, food freshness evaluation, and diagnosis of patients via exhaled breath. However, chemiresistive sensors that exhibit specificity like biological enzymes in a complex environment are rare. Herein, we developed a strategy of optimizing oxygen vacancy structures in tin oxides to induce specific catalysis, activating 100% selective sensing toward amine gases at room temperature. In situ technologies and theoretical calculations reveal that the \"donor-receptor\" coordination between nitrogen atoms from amine molecules and bridging oxygen vacancies (OVBri)-induced electron-deficient center is the essence of specific catalysis and provides the bridge from the surface oxidation reaction to electrophysical characteristics evolution, which allows the sensor to exhibit amine-specific sensing behavior, even in gas mixtures. Moreover, OVBri enhances the selectivity by enabling a room-temperature sensing pathway where lattice oxygens participate in catalytic oxidation for amine molecules, resulting in record-high sensing values: 19,938.92 toward 100 ppm of triethylamine, 15,236.78 toward trimethylamine, and 123.41 toward diethylamine. Our findings illustrate the feasibility of designing specific active sites through defect engineering and can contribute to the advancement of highly selective sensors based on catalytic processes.

AgNW networks show high promise as a conductive material due to excellent flexibility, low resistance, high transparency, and ease of large-scale preparation. However, the application of AgNW networks has been hindered by their inherent characteristics, such as easy oxidation degradation, chemical corrosion, and structural instability at high temperatures. In this study, a dense SiOx protective layer derived from perhydropolysilazane was introduced to fabricate a robust SiOx/AgNW nanocomposite coating through an all-solution process at room temperature. The achieved nanocomposite coating shows outstanding thermal stability up to 450 °C, resistance to ultraviolet radiation, and excellent mechanical performance by maintaining stability after 10,000 cycles of bending at a radius of 2.5 mm, 1000 cycles of peeling, and 1200 cycles of wearing. Meanwhile, the nanocomposite coating demonstrates exceptional chemical tolerance against HCl, Na2S, and organic solvents. A transparent heater based on the nanocomposite coating achieves a remarkable benchmark with a maximum temperature of 400 °C at 20 V. These features highlight the potential of the nanocomposite coating in flexible electronics, optoelectronics, touch screens, and high-performance heaters.

The matching of poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based electrolytes with ultrahigh-nickel cathode materials is crucial for designing new-generation high-energy-density solid-state lithium metal batteries (SLMBs), but it is limited by serious interfacial side reactions between PEO and ultrahigh-nickel materials. Here, a high-concentration electrolyte (HCE) interface with a customized Li+ solvation sheath is constructed between the cathode and the electrolyte. It induces the formation of an anion-regulated robust cathode/electrolyte interface (CEI), reduces the unstable free-state solvent, and finally achieves the compatibility of PEO-based electrolytes with ultrahigh-nickel cathode materials. Meanwhile, the corrosion of the Al current collector caused by lithium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide (LiTFSI) ions is prevented by lithium difluoro(oxalato)borate (LiDFOB) ions. The synergistic effect of the double lithium salt is achieved by a well-tailored ratio of TFSI- and DFOB- in the first solvation sheath of Li+. Compared with reported PEO-based SLMBs matched with ultrahigh-nickel (Ni ≥ 90%) cathodes, the SLMB in this work delivers a high discharge specific capacity of 216.4 mAh g-1 (0.1C) even at room temperature. This work points out a direction to optimize the cathode/electrolyte interface.

We have developed a HPLC system where phase-separation multiphase flow works in the separation column as an eluent. We call the novel separation mechanism a phase-separation mode. The ternary mixed solution of water/acetonitrile/ethyl acetate, which is one of the two-phase-separation mixed solutions, caused the phase-separation multiphase flow via phase change from homogeneous to heterogeneous with the temperature effect (from 20 to 0 °C). In this study, we tried to perform phase-separation multiphase flow with the pressure effect instead of the temperature one. The fused-silica capillary tube (50 cm length and 50 µm inner diameter) was allied to the downstream of the column to apply the pressure of 5.5 MPa to the system. Model analytes of 2,6-naphthalenedisulfonic acid (2,6-NDS) and 1-naphthol (1-NA) were examined. For example, solutions (the volume% of water/acetonitrile/ethyl acetate; 20:55:25, organic-rich) and (60:30:10, water-rich) were used as eluent. The model analytes were not separated with both solutions at the pressure of 1.5 MPa and 20 °C. But with the organic-rich solution, 1-NA and 2,6-NDS were separated in this order and with the water-rich solution, they were separated in the reverse order at the pressure of 5.5 MPa and 20 °C. The phase-separation mode could be performed at the high pressure even at the room temperature.

Advances in structural biology have relied heavily on synchrotron cryo-crystallography and cryogenic electron microscopy to elucidate biological processes and for drug discovery. However, disparities between cryogenic and room-temperature (RT) crystal structures pose challenges. Here, Cryo2RT, a high-throughput RT data-collection method from cryo-cooled crystals that leverages the cryo-crystallography workflow, is introduced. Tested on endothiapepsin crystals with four soaked fragments, thaumatin and SARS-CoV-2 3CLpro, Cryo2RT reveals unique ligand-binding poses, offers a comparable throughput to cryo-crystallography and eases the exploration of structural dynamics at various temperatures.

Wastewater treatment is inevitably required to alleviate the pollution of water resources by various contaminants such as antibiotics. MOFs are novel materials with photocatalytic activities. In this study, sonophotocatalytic degradation of tetracycline (TC) by the Cerium-based MOF (Ce-MOF) is optimized by modification of its synthesis route. Ce-MOF synthesis by room temperature (RT), hydrothermal (HT), and sonochemical synthesis (SC) are studied. TC degradation experiments revealed the superiority of SC synthesis. The interplay of main synthesis parameters, namely, initial ligand concentration, ultrasound (US) power and time on sonophotocatalytic activity of Ce-MOF, were investigated by response surface methodology model (RSM) utilizing the central composite experimental design (CCD). The optimum SC synthesis conditions are an initial ligand concentration of 8.4 mmol/L, a sonication power of 50 amplitude, and a US time of 60 min. The optimally synthesized Ce-MOF was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, FTIR, XRD, FE-SEM, TEM, zeta potential analysis, diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, particle size analysis, Mott-Schottky analysis, photocurrent analysis, electrochemical impedance spectra, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. The findings indicate that the removal efficiency of TC can reach up to 81.75% within 120 min in an aqueous solution containing an initial TC concentration of 120 ppm and 1 g/L Ce-MOF at pH of 7. Mineralization efficiency of the process is 71% according to COD measurements. The Ce-MOF catalyst retained its chemical stability and remained active upon TC degradation which makes it a promising candidate for wastewater treatment.

The persistent challenge of poor recovery characteristics of NO2 sensors operated at room temperature remains significant. However, the development of In2O3-based gas sensing materials provides a promising approach to accelerate response and recovery for sub-ppm of NO2 detection at room temperature. Herein, we propose a simple two-step method to synthesize a one-dimensional (1D) In2O3@ZnO heterostructure material with hollow microtubes, by coupling metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) (MIL-68 (In)) and zinc ions. Meanwhile, the In2O3@ZnO composite-based gas sensor exhibits superior sensitivity performance to NO2 under visible light activation. The response value to 5 ppm of NO2 at room temperature is as high as 1800, which is 35 times higher than that of the pure In2O3-based sensor. Additionally, the gas sensor based on the In2O3@ZnO heterostructure demonstrates a significantly reduced response/recovery time of 30 s/67 s compared to the sensor based on pure In2O3 (74 s/235 s). The outstanding gas sensing properties of the In2O3@ZnO heterostructure-based sensors can be attributed to the enhanced photogenerated charge separation efficiency resulting from the heterostructure effect, and the improved receptor function toward NO2, which can increase the reactive sites and gas adsorption capacity. In summary, this work proposes a low-cost and efficient method to synthesize a 1D heterostructure material with microtube structures, which can serve as a fundamental technique for developing high-performance room-temperature gas sensors.

A phosphorus-doped carbon nanotube (CNT) aerogel as the support material was loaded with Pt nanoparticles in fuel cell-type gas sensors for ultrasensitive H2 detection. The high surface area of the CNT scaffold is favorable to providing abundant active sites, and the high electrical conductivity facilitates the transport of carriers generated by electrochemical reactions. In addition, the CNT aerogel was doped with phosphorus (P) to further enhance the conductivity and electrochemical catalytic activity. As a result, the fuel cell-type gas sensor using the Pt/CNT aerogel doped with the optimal P content as the sensing material shows considerable performance for H2 detection at room temperature. The sensor exhibits an ultrahigh response of -921.9 μA to 15,000 ppm of H2. The sensitivity is -0.063 μA/ppm, which is 21 times higher than that of the conventional Pt/CF counterpart. The sensor also exhibits excellent repeatability and humidity resistance, as well as fast response/recovery; the response/recovery times are 31 and 4 s to 3000 ppm of H2, respectively. The modulation of the structure and catalytic properties of the support material is responsible for the improvement of the sensor performance, thus providing a feasible solution for optimizing the performance of fuel cell-type gas sensors.