Defects can greatly influence the properties of oxide materials; however, facile defect engineering of oxides at room temperature remains challenging. The generation of defects in oxides is difficult to control by conventional chemical reduction methods that usually require high temperatures and are time consuming. Here, we develop a facile room-temperature lithium reduction strategy to implant defects into a series of oxide nanoparticles including titanium dioxide (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), tin dioxide (SnO2), and cerium dioxide (CeO2). Our lithium reduction strategy shows advantages including all-room-temperature processing, controllability, time efficiency, versatility and scalability. As a potential application, the photocatalytic hydrogen evolution performance of defective TiO2 is examined. The hydrogen evolution rate increases up to 41.8 mmol g−1 h−1 under one solar light irradiation, which is ~3 times higher than that of the pristine nanoparticles. The strategy of tuning defect oxides used in this work may be beneficial for many other related applications.

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Brain–computer interfaces (BCIs) enable direct and near-instant communication between the brain and electronic devices. One of the biggest remaining challenges is to develop an effective noninvasive BCI that allows the recording electrodes to avoid hair on human skin without the inconveniences and complications of using a conductive gel. In this study, we developed a cost-effective, easily manufacturable, flexible, robust, and gel-free silver nanowire/polyvinyl butyral (PVB)/melamine sponge (AgPMS) electroencephalogram (EEG) electrode that circumvents problems with hair. Because of surface metallization by the silver nanowires (AgNWs), the sponge has a high conductivity of 917 S/m while its weight remains the same. The flexible sponge framework and self-locking AgNWs combine to give the new electrode remarkable mechanical stability (the conductivity remains unchanged after 10 000 cycles at 10% compression) and the ability to bypass hair. A BCI application based on steady-state visual evoked potential (SSVEP) measurements on hairless skin shows that the BCI accuracy of the new electrode (86%) is approximately the same as that of conventional electrodes supported by a conductive gel (88%). Most importantly, the performance of the AgPMS on hairy skin is not significantly reduced, which indicates that the new electrode can replace conventional electrodes for both hairless and hairy skin BCIs and other EEG applications.

A kind of pollution known as electromagnetic interference (EMI), which results from ubiquitous usage of various electronic communication and military radar equipment, has been receiving increasing attention recently. However, large-area EMI shielding on transparent and/or curved surfaces, including building windows, curved glass wall, and special requirements spaces (SRSs), remains hard to achieve. In this paper, a silver nanofiber (AgNF) based flexible and transparent EMI shielding film was successfully assembled via a room-temperature roll-to-roll production method. For transparent application scenario, AgNF with 89% transmittance in visible range and 1 μm thickness shows~20 dB shielding efficiency (EMI SE). On the other hand, total shielding (>50 dB) is obtained when the thickness of AgNF increases to 10 μm, while its transmittance in visible range remains higher than 75%. Considering the facile and scale-free production technology, this material can be readily applied in large-scale, transparent, and/or SRSs EMI shielding.

Atomically dispersed Pt is prepared by photochemical synthesis at a record-low temperature of −60 °C, which exhibits ultrahigh catalytic activity.