An ideal anti-counterfeiting technique has to be inexpensive, mass-producible, nondestructive, unclonable and convenient for authentication. Although many anti-counterfeiting technologies have been developed, very few of them fulfill all the above requirements. Here we report a non-destructive, inkjet-printable, artificial intelligence (AI)-decodable and unclonable security label. The stochastic pinning points at the three-phase contact line of the ink droplets is crucial for the successful inkjet printing of the unclonable security labels. Upon the solvent evaporation, the three-phase contact lines are pinned around the pinning points, where the quantum dots in the ink droplets deposited on, forming physically unclonable flower-like patterns. By utilizing the RGB emission quantum dots, full-color fluorescence security labels can be produced. A convenient and reliable AI-based authentication strategy is developed, allowing for the fast authentication of the covert, unclonable flower-like dot patterns with different sharpness, brightness, rotations, amplifications and the mixture of these parameters.

Based upon advances in theoretical algorithms, modeling and simulations, and computer technologies, the rational design of materials, cells, devices, and packs in the field of lithium-ion batteries is being realized incrementally and will at some point trigger a paradigm revolution by combining calculations and experiments linked by a big shared database, enabling accelerated development of the whole industrial chain. Theory and multi-scale modeling and simulation, as supplements to experimental efforts, can help greatly to close some of the current experimental and technological gaps, as well as predict path-independent properties and help to fundamentally understand path-independent performance in multiple spatial and temporal scales.

We herein present a three-in-one nanoplatform for sensing, self-assembly, and cascade catalysis, enabled by cyclodextrin modified gold nanoparticles (CD@AuNPs). Monodisperse AuNPs 15-20 nm in diameter are fabricated in an eco-friendly way by the proposed one-step colloidal synthesis method using CD as both reducing agents and stabilizers. First, the as-prepared AuNPs are employed as not only scaffolds but energy acceptors for turn-on fluorescent sensing based on guest replacement reaction. Then, the macrocyclic supramolecule functionalized AuNPs can be controllably assembled and form well-defined one- and two-dimensional architectures using tetrakis(4-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin as mediator. Finally, in addition to conventional host-guest interaction based properties, the CD@AuNPs possess unpredictable catalytic activity and exhibit mimicking properties of both glucose oxidase and horseradish peroxidase simultaneously. Especially, the cascade reaction (glucose is first catalytically oxidized and generates gluconic acid and HO; then the enzymatic HO and preadded TMB (3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine) are further catalyzed into HO and oxTMB, respectively) is well-achieved using the AuNPs as the sole catalyst. By employing a joint experimental-theoretical study, we reveal that the unique catalytic properties of the CD@AuNPs probably derive from the special topological structures of CD molecules and the resulting electron transfer effect from the AuNP surface to the appended CD molecules.

Supercapacitors have attracted much interest in the past decades owing to their important applications, but most of them are focused on solitary or simple metal oxides. Here, a novel supercapacitor electrode composed of multicomponent MnCo 2 O 4 @Ni(OH) 2 belt-based core-shell nanofl owers is reported by a facile and cost-effective method. This hybrid electrode exhibits a signifi cantly enhanced specifi c capacitance. An asymmetric supercapacitor based on this unique hybrid nanofl owers as anode and an activated carbon fi lm as cathode demonstrates high energy density, high power density, and long cycling lifespan.

Natural photosynthesis is a solar light-driven process utilized by plants to convert CO 2 and water into carbohydrate molecules. The goal of artificial photosynthesis is the reduction of CO 2 directly from air into high purity value-added products at atmospheric pressure. However, its realization, combined with deep mechanism investigation, is a huge challenge. Herein, we demonstrate that hexagonal tungsten bronze M 0.33 WO 3 (M = K, Rb, Cs) series with {010} facets, prepared by a peculiar "water-controllable releasing" solvothermal method, showed excellent full spectrum (UV, visible, and NIR lights)-induced photocatalytic CO 2 reduction performance directly from the air at ambient pressure. Particularly, after 4 h near-infrared light irradiation, ca. 4.32% CO 2 in the air could be converted into CH 3 OH with 98.35% selectivity for Rb 0.33 WO 3 . The experiments and theoretical calculations unveiled that the introduced alkali metal atom occupied the tunnel of hexagonal structure and donated more free electrons to reconstruct the electronic structure of M 0.33 WO 3 , which can enhance the polaron transition, modify the energy band structure, selectively adsorb CO 2 rather than O 2 from the air, decrease the activation energy of CO 2 reaction, and finally make the effective CO 2 reduction in the air a reality. This work may provide a new possibility for the practical application of artificial photosynthesis.